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Ejukwa OsamMonday, October 24, 2016
[email protected]
Calabar, Nigeria

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AN ANALYSIS OF FAITH TITHING AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO LEGALISTIC TITHING (PART 1)

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But that man who has doubts is condemned ...... everything that does not come from faith is sin (Romans 14: 22-24).

The earth and everything in it belongs to our Father Psalm 24: 1.

He owns all the gold and silver Hagai 2: 8

INTRODUCTION

hese series of papers concern only those who pay legalistic tithes but do not gain from such tithes. The paper starts with definitions, then the relevance of Old Testament faith narratives as a source of our motivation to exercise our faith. Then next is the interaction I had with a few Christians who pay legalistic tithes, but did not seem to experience the expected gains of tithing, I identified them as Non Progressive Tithers NPT. The phrase Non Progressive Tithers became a conundrum to my own curiosity why friends and some relatives with a history of paying tithes do not seem to enjoy any visible progress of riches. This paper is anchored on divine explanation why legalistic tithers do not gain from the expected blessings that was promised in Mal. 3: 10.

Legalistic Tithing

This refers to the practice of paying one tenth of an income according to the laws of Moses in obedience to God. Legalistic tithing is the attitude that believers show in interpreting the OT concept of obedience in the payment of one tenth of an income to God's representatives. Put differently if NT believers pay the ten percent of tithes according to the proclamations in the book of Malachi 3: 10 and also hold the view that if they do not pay tithe they are robbing God, they have paid tithes legalistically. Legalistic tithing is a Law of Moses which applies to ancient Jewish people of the OT. Depending on the tither's motive, if you paid because you are trying to obey God's OT laws, you have wasted your tithes and may attract a divine curse. This is because it was done legalistically (Gal 3: 10). Legalistic tithing as currently practiced in churches is offensive and in fact a sin against our Holy God. This is predicated on the fact that church founders and leaders including the clergies have erroneously reverted to the Old Testament Jewish history of legalism that focuses on the laws of Moses as a starting point of doctrine. Unknown to billions of believers in the world, the practice of reverting to the laws of Moses and legalistic tithing in particular undermines the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. The Cross which many are taking for granted remain a symbol of suffering and salvation for all genuine believers in Christ. To help His children, God passed through Apostle Paul to warn Christians and Jews alike about the dangers of legalism. Reading through the thirteen epistles of Paul, you get the emphasis that salvation is only by faith not by works. That is why Apostle Paul condemned Jewish traditions and legalists who sought to make the Cross of Christ be in vain due to OT laws (Gal. 2: 15-21; Rom 3: 21-24). I need to clarify that legalistic tithing precedes Non Progressive tithing NPT. You attain the level of NPT after decades of not seeing any gain from paying legalistic tithes.

Non Progressive Tithers

This phrase refers to Christian folks who have been legalistically tithing for decades but are yet to achieve their objectives of Malachi 3: 11 and also fulfilling their life ambition which may not be easily identified or restricted to this short list. These are attaining good health comprising physical emotional and psychological wellbeing, owning a private building, ability to cater for your family including sponsoring your children to respective schools, the ability to own and drive the car you desire, being useful to members of your community and any other appropriate aim or objective that you may desire to fulfill e.g. climbing Mt Kilimanjaro or travelling overseas or achieving any other feat that is not sinful. There is no doubt that some tithers may have prospered spiritually but if such prosperity does not reflect the physical realm of riches and promotion to be the head and not the tail (Deut 28: 13), then it becomes questionable why the aim of Mal. 3: 10-11 was not attained.

Faith Tithing

The corollary of legalistic tithing is faith tithing. There are two types of faith tithing. The first one is easy and the most popular form of tithing. This is a voluntary form of paying tithes in faith so that the windows of heaven can open for blessings to flow (Malachi 3:10-11).

The second type of faith tithing involves those with a monumental challenge that has practically defied a medical or a spiritual solution; as a means of tackling the problem a believer applies the highest level of faith in tithing to achieve victory. Through fasting and prayers backed by biblical faith passages, one can enter a covenant with the Lord Jesus to fulfill some spiritual tasks. A devoted believer who hears from the Lord can negotiate to pay to the Lord's representatives at least ten percent or more of an income by utilising faith passages as a means of achieving a break through. There is a caveat, such believers must vigorously strive to be holy even as they exercise strong faith and believe the promises of the Lord for a miracle (Osam, 2016). Faith tithing requires the highest level of holiness matched by faith and dedication to sustain the practice in order for God to empower a faith tither to command any circumstances to submit according to the principles of Mark 11: 22-25; John 14: 12 and Luke 17: 6. Seemingly any proclamation against a demonic circumstance will be overcome. Because of the rigour in consistent fasting and prayers to sustain such faith, few believers have been able to follow through the demands of faith tithing (Osam, 2016).

Why Old Testament Texts are Relevant for Faith and Spiritual Growth

Although OT laws of Moses are practically obsolete in this era of grace, (Heb 7: 18; 8: 7-13), faith narratives remain vital for our spiritual growth. Seemingly born again Christians are at liberty to choose any aspect of OT narrative that resonates with their faith so as to confront the circumstance of the moment. By building on their faiths, folks are at liberty to strongly identify any aspect of OT faith miracles then immerse themselves in the word and deeply meditate in anticipation of a breakthrough and blessings. There are numerous narratives and faith passages that liberated ancient Israelis from their enemies; such liberation showed the omnipotence and omniscience of Almighty God.

For example in the midst of danger, one could sing and praise the Lord and the spiritual wall of Jericho will crash. One could be like Daniel in the Lion's den when confronted by spiritual lions; once you fast and pray and also sustain strong faith, the spiritual lions will be defeated. Strong prayers can overcome any spiritual nemesis that may potentially pose as a lion or as a serpent bent on attacking God's children. We can learn from the narrative of King Nebuchadnezzar and the three Jewish children who survived the fiery furnace (Dan. 3: 1-30) by eliminating any fear of death. This is because the Bible instructs us not to fear those who can kill the body but have no control over the soul (Math. 10: 28). We can learn from Prophet Samuel who wholly obeyed God and challenged King Saul in a bid to do God's will (1 Samuel 13) We can learn from the narratives of Elijah and Elisha and the theological significance of their oral proclamations (2 Kings 2: 19-22). We could also learn from the rise of Gideon as a man of valour whom Almighty God used to fight the Lord's battles and save Israel from the Philistines (Judges 6-8). The most popular narrative that is worthy to be cited pertains to the emergence of David a young shepherd and how he took up Goliath's challenge and subsequently killed him (1 Samuel 17). In spite of his weaknesses, he remained a man after God's heart. I will not omit the financial prosperity that comes by faith. Seemingly believers can learn from the life of Abraham how he exercised his faith and obeyed God to the point where he became a friend of God and gained righteousness and material blessings. In the same vein there are numerous faith passages in the books of Psalm, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes that are relevant for rebuilding ones faith and solidifying our trust in our saviour Jesus.

Given my interaction and close observation and interviewing of a few relatives and friends across the four countries that I spent a significant amount of my life, all those that tithe did not seem to see the material blessing other than life and fresh air. Let me share my own brief narrative on tithe.

Although I paid tithes a few times, there are three factors that made me to stop paying. I realised the source of all citations on Tithe are found in Old Testament, seemingly the practice does not relate to Christians in the era of grace. See Lev. 27:30-33; Num. 18:21; Deut. 14:22-29, Mal. 3:8-12; 2 Chron. 31:5-6. From past research reports on this topic (Brace, n.d; Osam, 2016), these writers argued that in the era of grace, the payment of OT tithe is not required; even the Math 23:23 and Luke 11: 48 which is wrongly cited by OT legalists were corrected. I reported that Jesus refers to their sectarian names Pharisees and Scribes, seemingly the texts on tithes were only meant for the primary audience notably the disciples of Jesus and the Jews of the ancient world. The secondary audiences and future Gentile Christians of all nationalities were excluded. How did I figure this out? Unlike other moral instructions of Jesus that were repeated all over the NT texts, His apostles and the editors of NT texts did not identify any passage commanding Gentile Christians of all ethnicities and nationalities to tithe (Osam, 2016 ).

Secondly, I realised the 613 laws were too numerous to pick and chose from (Wikipedia n.d.); so I had to rely on New Testament texts that focuses on faith in Jesus and the abundant grace to take control of my life. As a consequence, my focus has been on love offerings, contributions to worthy causes, donations and free will offerings to God and to those in needs.

Although I have not paid tithes for a long time, others who have been paying didn't seem to be rich or financially better off than non tithers. I became curious as I sought opinion from Christian friends in the four countries that I spent a significant part of my life. To my surprise I was not fortunate to meet those who paid OT tithes and were financially prosperous or richer over and above every member in the churches that I worshipped. The exception is a business friend who is still resident in Durban South Africa and another bros in Calabar. The latter sells electronics and has a branch in Lagos. Another is an academic colleague at Unical who previously worked as an accountant at a federal government establishment before resigning to join the university; although they have a few assets in Nigeria, they are not very wealthy.

Personal Experience with Legalistic Tithers

I examined the life of some close relatives involved in paying tithes; they did not seem to financially prosper in all their years of tithing. I even understudied a close one for about twenty years, although she was a devoted Christian and also a faithful tither, yet she suffered from tremendous ill health throughout her life. When she ventured into transportation business, it was cases of accidents and misfortune. In the course of her business four of her five vehicles crashed in respective years. The last one was sold as scrap after the driver resigned to seek employment with the government. Although she was a faithful tither and a lovely Christian woman whose generosity assisted those in her Apostolic Church Assembly and many relatives that she trained, there was no real financial breakthrough in her life as she could not put up a building of her own! Perhaps her reward for tithing was the long life she endured she passed away at age 79 Feb 2014.

Similarly the other relatives and friends that paid tithes experienced the same hardship, sickness and lack of earthly riches like non tithers. One of them attracted my attention; I told him tithe is OT law which is not mandatory for New Testament Christians. He wouldn't listen as he kept insisting on not robbing God and quoted Malachi 3: 8 and Math 23: 23. There was a day we argued for over four hours on the irrelevance of legalistic tithes during the era of grace; at last I left him alone. After a year he told the Lord that he will pay 20% of tithes so as to gain from the blessings that God promised in Malachi 3: 10. After almost six to eight months he changed and began to tithe 10%. Although his health seemed okay, his financial condition did not improve as we expected. During a routine visit in June 2016, I inquired how he was doing on tithes; he revealed that he was unable to tithe even the ten percent due to financial constraints. This is a responsible elder and a faithful believer in position of leadership in the church. His faith could not carry him to tithe even the ten percent that would have been the threshold of a faith tither. I commend him for honesty in this time of austerity. His wife is also a tither but she is not rich.

I know of a close relative who preferred to move from church to church in search of miracles over her health issues. Given her position as a high civil servant and creditor, she was not poor. When there is a health scare, desperation sets in as that becomes the reason to seek spiritual help. In the course of worshipping in different churches, she often dispenses significant amount of monies to worthy causes championed by some decadent pastors who promised her miracles. In one encounter she bought a vehicle for one of the rogue pastors. Given her pattern of drifting from church to church, her donations helped to build some churches in Calabar CRS. It is sad to report that in exchange for miracles, a few of them deceived and also duped her of hundreds of thousands of naira, yet the miracles never occurred. When another medical problem threatens, she would rush to a new church for a prayer session; in the process she donates monies to never ending church projects. After decades of drifting from church to church, there was no final solution to her quest for miracles. She extended her drifting further afield to T B Joshua of Synagogue of all Nations in Lagos. After years of annual visits, her hope of recovery became elusive as she returned without any miracle except holy water. Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of naira were loaned out as she anticipated returns to be made by debtors but she got nothing in return!

We were invited by our tithe paying cousin to join other relatives for a retreat and full day of fasting and prayers at the Apostolic Church MCC Road Calabar June 2014; mid way in those prayers, the Senior Pastor called me and this sister to come out before the congregation for special revelations and prayers. Immediately this man of God told me about my past challenges which started even before I left the shores of Nigeria. He revealed the challenges that I had abroad and the handiwork of my enemies even here in Nigeria. He prayed and prayed and broke the curses to set me free. I was convinced that he was a true prophet of God with insight to the spiritual realm of my past struggles. He went on and inquired who among you pay tithe? My sister beside me immediately acknowledged that she is a regular tither. The pastor revealed that all the tithes she has been paying were paid to occult pastors who handed the monies to the devil thereby blocking her recovery and prosperity. She would not recover any dime owed her by her debtors due to the pact these rogue pastors had with the devil! Apparently the devil passed through her debtors not to repay her loans and also to block her progress even after paying tithes to different churches! In the month of May 2016 she fell very sick and passed away in June 2016. Her death was unexpected as she left many unaccomplished goals. It meant all her tithes and contributions that would have opened the windows of heaven for progress was a waste. By the way my tithe paying cousin who organised the fasting is a faithful tither but she is not a millionaire but an ordinary civil servant.

Space will not let me share narrative of some pastors who are active tithers but they are poor. During my time as a student in Richmond VA USA, I had a Pastor friend from Liberia who paid tithes but gave up due to lack of progress. In the Seminary poverty persisted among the clergies.

Let me analyse on a broader level. Unlike Caucasian churches, African American churches emphasise on paying OT tithes in their churches, but they are the poorest racial group in the USA. In the course of my visitations to African American churches where the payment of tithes are common, I heard stories of family disorganisation, homelessness and the working poor on low wages. The others lost family members due to gun violence or are sent to prison for violating drug laws. Those released have no hope of employment because they are ex convicts. Apparently poverty and racism remain an integral aspect of their lives; as their integration in their tithe paying Churches had minimal effect on their prosperity or their rehabilitation.

Given the lack of statistical data where I worshipped, I am unable to generalise about the financial conditions of tithe paying members across the denominations in Nigeria, South Africa USA and New Zealand. They may be Christians who currently pay tithes and are multi millionaires. I cannot doubt such testimony after all with God all things are possible. What I have described above is only a snapshot of those I have met and interacted with that paid tithes but did not seem to be rich.

Let's consider this OT text on tithes which is the starting basis of most legalistic tithers.

Bring ye all the tithes into the store house, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now said the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall be not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes and he shall destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord (Mal. 3 10-11 KJV).

Although the above passage was addressed to the ancient Jews, NT believers may still adapt the promises to gain from the Lords blessings once they tithe. Unfortunately even after tithing, a significant number still suffered from a few consequences that unbeliever's experience. These are loss of property, frequent or periodic burglary or break in, losses in businesses, sudden death of close relatives and perpetual ill health and sicknesses. In spite of the wonderful promises of God to open the windows of heaven to those who paid tithes, the few tithers I know were not free from illnesses and poverty; many are still single. They may remain single throughout the rest of their lives if there is no urgent miracle for financial breakthrough to marry. The others lost items to thieves, a few lost to debtors or were duped by fraudsters. Across some denominations the ill luck did not spare those at the helm of leadership, for example the current Apostle and Field Superintendent in my former denomination in The Apostolic Church lost his wife. The same clergy also lost two of his grown up children resident overseas and a third one passed away in Nigeria. All this occurred while as head of the senior church leadership in CRS of Nigeria. My former District Pastor at Okuni Town in Ikom LGA CRS Nigeria also lost the wife at mid age. I recall a chief tither Pastor Kumuyi of Deeper Christian Life also lost his wife years ago. Some pastors also passed away in their prime even though they are tithers A few pastors were not exempted from this loss of spouses, general hardship and poverty. There are cases where grown up children of Apostles Bishops and Senior Pastors remain jobless years after graduation. Some legalistic tithers are barren even after marriage, others have been duped of thousands others encountered armed robbers, and some lost costly electronics at homes after a robbery incident. A few others lost laptops, the others expensive Jewelries and phones and even lost expensive posh cars. Since they are all tithers, it is a contravention of the promises in Mal. 3:10-11.

While it may be insinuated that some may not have paid tithes regularly, the question is how regular is regular? Although tithes are called for every week, all the tithe payers that I know faithfully paid at least once a month, yet they did not seem to see prosperity or open windows from heaven!

Why the lack of blessing after Tithing?

Since Mal 3: 10-11 cannot lie, how can one explain all these narratives of lack of visible progress? This trend of poverty among my tithing relatives and friends made me to be concerned each time I kneel to pray. It was indeed that concern that kept the flame of my curiosity alive as I continued praying and bothering God to reveal why the discrepancy between the promised blessings and the physical plight of believers seems apart. After a decade of pondering and praying, it was towards the end of 2015 that I had a revelation from the Lord about Faith Tithing. Apparently the lack of faith tithing is the undoing of many legalistic tithers. I prayed for the Lord to repeat and explain the message clearly. By His grace I got a similar message on faith tithing and detailed teaching. The Lord directed my attention to the scriptures below as the focal point of connection and meditation

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his Spirit. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom ……….Mathew 27: 50.

According to the NIV Bible the veil is "the inner curtain that separated the holy place from the most holy place. The tearing of the curtain signified Christ making it possible for believers to go directly into God's presence" (Heb 9: 14; 10: 14-22). Seemingly believers can approach Jesus to present any petition including prosperity or good health by faith it is theirs (Mark 11: 24; John 14:13).

What is wrong With Legalistic and Faithless Tithing?

Faithless tithing breaches two vital scriptures which I have cited many times in my past series. Galatians 3: 10 there is a curse for relying on the law and for inability to adhere to all the laws written in the book. The second is whatever is not of faith is sin (Rom 14: 22c). Apparently if your tithe was not paid in faith you have committed a sin. This point is unknown to many Bible carrying believers who have no idea of the condemnation they are under for reverting to legalistic tithing. Since General Overseers, Bishops, Senior and Junior Pastors and other church founders have the bully pulpit and the megaphone to preach and teach to their large followers; it is their responsibility to remind and teach congregants the principles of faith tithing and the blessings of exercising their faiths to tithe without trepidation.

Summary

From the introductory page there is no doubt that the earth and everything in it belongs to our Father (Psalm 24: 1). Similarly He owns all the world currencies notably Euro, Dollars, Pounds Sterling, Naira and all the gold and silver (Hagai 2: 8). Given such proclamations it means a faith tither ought to enjoy all the blessings accruing to believers without trepidation. I identified Faith Tithing, Non Progressive Tithers NPT and legalistic tithing as vital aspects of this analysis with NPT experiencing poverty due to their legalistic tithing habits. Legalistic tithing is the forerunner of Non Progressive Tithing. Although Osam ( 2016) articles on legalistic tithing have been against the spurious application of Old Testament laws of tithes as inappropriately applied to Christians by many clergies, OT Bible is still useful in understanding the mind of God and how God related with people of the ancient world as demonstrated by faith passages. Faith tithing is not compulsory. Tithe is not for everyone it is for those with strong faith to exercise faith tithing. God willing I will conclude on the principles of faith tithing in the next series.

To be concluded

Reference

Brace, R. A. (n.d.) Tithes and tithing: Can we honestly face up to the truth? https://www.ukapologetics.net/tithe.htm

Osam, E. (2016). In this era of grace can Christians rob God tithes? Biblical fact checking online

https://nigeriaworld.com/articles/2016/aug/041.html
https://nigeriaworld.com/articles/2016/aug/261.html
https://nigeriaworld.com/articles/2016/sep/126.html

Wikipedia (n.d.). Jewish OT laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments

Ejukwa Osam is a theologian and an alumnus of three accredited theological seminaries in the USA. Future seminarians can visit Association of Theological Schools of colleges in the USA and Canada website www.ats.edu He also holds an MA in Social Policy and BSW/MSW/PhD in Clinical Social Work. He lectures Social Work at the University of Calabar Nigeria.

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