A Pastor’s Black Bag of Tricks
Posted on March 8th, 2007 by Reformed Pope into the David Mackin Writes: categoryHere is an article submitted by David Mackin:
Speaking of Lev 27:30, One Prosperity Pastor I Know says, "If the priest were to ask us to give ten percent of your seed before you sow your field that would be difficult because the seed is the most precious and you would probably feel that you would need all your seed to sow your field. Everyone just close your eyes right now….what is the seed that God would have you give?"
Because of the fact that what he says here about Leviticus 27:30 has nothing to do with this verse or its context, I have to say that, in my opinion, his "Seed Harvest Offerings" is nothing more than another excuse from "the Word of God" to raise money annually for his church. For him, and other prosperity preachers, the Bible (especially the OT) has become a black bag of fund-raising tricks for the entrepreneurial imagination of the pastor turned fund-raiser.
Who is to say what aspect of the OT financial system is binding upon Christians today and which ones are not? What does the NT say about each claim? Does anyone care to look? Is it the fund-raising pastor who makes such decisions - especially if his church is deep into debt? If so, then why don't we obey the following OT "principles" and giving "patterns"? Are they not "the Word of God" just as much as any other verse?
1. Since the levites, at least initially, were given the tithes because they were NOT able to own any personal property in Israel (Numbers 18:20-22), would that not mean that the only pastors who qualify for the tithes are those who do NOT own any personal property - let alone investment properties?!
2. Since the tithe in Leviticus was a tithe of grain and produce (Leviticus 27:30), would it not be more "biblical" if we gave pastors a bag of groceries so that they wouldn't have to go to Safeway for themselves?
3. Since the Israelites were not to tithe on their new fruit trees until the fourth year since they were considered unholy until then (Leviticus 19:24), why would that not tell us that when a Christian gets a new job, that he doesn't have to tithe on his pay checks for the first four years?
4. Since king David raised millions of dollars for the central temple through war, and his son, Solomon, used taxes to do the same, why doesn't the NT temple, the Church, become militant as well as exercise the power to tax its members? Would that not be operating according to the "Bible pattern" shown by these famous kings of Israel?
5. Since the tithe in Deuteronomy was to go only to the central temple in Jerusalem (12:11), why would that not mean that Christians do not have to bring their tithe to Jerusalem until after the temple is rebuilt again on the Temple Mount (according to Dispensationalism)?
6. Since the Law, at least later in Israel's history, required the Israelites to add a twenty-percent surcharge to their tithe if they exchanged it for money (Leviticus 27:31), why would that not be the "divine pattern" for Christians to pay more in their tithe if they decided to pay it in money instead of cattle or produce?
7. Since the people were to tithe to the levites and the levites were to tithe to the priests, and the priests were to tithe to the high priest and his family (Numbers 18:28), should that not tell us that the senior pastor should receive none of the tithes of the people but only the tithes from his church staff or elders?
8. Since Abraham did not tithe on his regular income or possessions, but only tithed from the war spoils of his enemies he just defeated in battle (Genesis 14:20; Hebrews 7:2), why would that not mean that Christians, as the "children of Abraham," are only required to tithe on whatever belongs to others?
I could add to such a list ad infinitum. Once pastors open the door to using specific fund-raising ideas out of the OT, instead of sticking with Paul's general teaching on voluntary offerings in the NT (2 Corinthians 8-9), they turn God's Word into a black bag of fund-raising tricks. They are continually coming up with "new revelations," "deeper truths," along with more "Bible patterns" and "divine principles" from under the Law.
Pastors will bring in outside speakers in order to make their fund-raising gimmicks appear to have more credibility. They claim, "The Lord showed me…" when the Lord did not show them! By doing so, they completely distort the Bible until their congregations forget that they are under a New Covenant of grace - not a covenant of tricks or gimmicks subjectively selected from a bygone day to cast a giving spell over an ignorant and gullible people. Unlike the Bereans, most do not study the New Testament every day to see if what their pastor is telling them is really true (Acts 17:11).
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March 8th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Love it!
March 8th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Good one David.
March 8th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Thank You David !
You just said this truth precicely as I have been trying to put it together and present it here for a long time. Now I don’t need to continue because I couldn’t say it any better. Add: In the earlier years of Bible Temple, giving teachings were for the most part taken from 2 Cor. 8&9 and look how it prospered. PI never wanted to know how much anybody gave. But at some place in time, BT took a wrong turn. Money and selfness became its doctrine. Since then, their direction has been nowhere but down. Most of the God loving people who were the backbone of that once glorious church have long departed. Gee! Need we wonder why? Lemmings.
????
March 8th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
I just have a question was abraham under the old covenant or the new one? Because the bible does say he was made righteous by faith and called the friend of GOd plus he did tithe to Melchizedek. So is he under the law or is he justified by faith? he did live in old testament times but his covenant with God was by faith… It’s just a thought…
March 8th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
I really like this one, David.
Jack
March 8th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Tutio said: I just have a question was Abraham under the old covenant or the new one? Because the Bible does say he was made righteous by faith and called the friend of God plus he did tithe to Melchizedek. So is he under the law or is he justified by faith?
Tutio: This is an excellent question! Before I respond, I want to make sure that I understand you correctly. What I hear you saying is that you see a potential conflict between Abraham being a tither and yet also being an example of justification by faith (or, faith righteousness). I hear you asking: How could he be a tither, which was mostly done under the Law, and still be one declared just before God by faith alone (per Paul)? Did his tithing have anything to do with God declaring him righteous?… Is that close to what you’re asking? Thanks for letting us know…
March 8th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Lucygirl said: You just said this truth precicely as I have been trying to put it together and present it here for a long time.
Lucygirl: Thanks for sharing! Your comment makes me very happy, If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly has been bothering you for some time? Are you referring to the Faith Harvest Offering theology in general? Frank’s use of the OT and the tithe? All of the above? I’m just curious…
March 8th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Don’t you think MOST churches take on tithing much the same as CBC? I cannot see that the whole issue is select unto them.
I grew up Lutheran and was taught to tithe 10%.
Don’t some churches take “pledges” and pretty much expect the people to actually fulfill that amount?
The last church I attended, an Assembly of God church, the pastor nearly choked on his spit when I told him I no longer tithed to that church because I did not morally support some of the ventures he recently was promoting and supporting. Told him it is in the same way I don’t give to United Way as they support entities I don’t agree with. MAN… did that rile him up.. to have his church compared to United Way…
A huge problem with him, and MANY pastors, is that they consider the church they are senior pastor of to be THEIR church and proceed to rule much as a dictator might.
On another note… I am SO tired of hearing “Oh.. but the Bible says not to forsake the gathering of the body… ” or whatever it exactly is… “you NEED to be in a church” and so on and so on.
Whatever
March 8th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
LL, most churches teach tithing. Most people who write me after reading my tithe articles, are typical church goers. But every once in awhile, a minister writes, to confess that they have known all the while that the tithe doctrine is false, but preached it anyway because they did not trust their congregation to give sufficiently to support the pastor, staff, building and utilities, ministries, etc. So the tithe is preached as a minimum standard.
What do you suppose would the response of people when they learn their pastors don’t trust them, and so sought to control them with lies? Oh that’s right, business as usual.
March 8th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
I know that what I am about to do is rather shameless — but it is for such a good cause and it is something actually worth giving money to.
Soooo:
My friend Randi P. is running in the San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon in order to raise money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society — 26 miles people — 26 MILES. This is her 2nd year doing it and last year she was able to raise just over $4000 dollars that went toward finding a cure for cancer (hells yes). She is doing it again this year and I am trying to help her out as much as possible by (as said before) shamelessly requesting that people simply check out her site:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntor/tntorRPetrau1
…and if you find yourself willing and able, then contribute what you can.
Randi herself is an awesome person — not only is she a good person, she is a very nice one too (doesn’t always come hand in hand). Besides, she is a girl and her first name is Randi (not short for anything), and her last name is Petrauskus. It doesn’t get much cooler than that.
And even if she wasn’t — you would still be helping people work toward the goal of living in a world where cancer actually has a cure.
So please check out her link and hear what she has to say.
Thank you!
If this kind of post isn’t allowed then I’m sorry and you can delete it.
March 8th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
P.S. That pic of the girl in the purple shirt is actually Randi. See, she is for peace too!
Alternately, here are some pictures of her pretending to strangle my boyfriend with a chain:
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d134/lovey77/P1010021.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d134/lovey77/P1010022.jpg
Just for fakes though.
March 9th, 2007 at 6:56 am
I think you find the answer to that in Romans 4, which is probably my favorite Bible passage. It also answers a lot of questions about faith, and the order of events on how God’s blessing (salvation) works.
As a follow up, read Hebrews 6 & 7, for a perspective on Abraham’s tithe and who he was tithing to. The answer is amazing!
March 9th, 2007 at 7:12 am
One more thing to ask yourself when reading Hebrews 7: Which came first, the tithe or the blessing?
March 9th, 2007 at 7:48 am
Unsrupulous Man wrote: “my tithe articles…a minister writes to confess that htey have known all along that the tithe doctrine is false…”
Unsr. Man: This is the kind of information that we need to spread to all tithing church members! I remember having lunch with one of the first pastors who left BT to plant a church, and then left the movement for the Vineyard ranks. I attended his church for awhile and wondered why he always had someone else take up the offering; sometimes they mentioned the tithe and sometimes they did not. Now I think I know why he did not take up the offerings himself: he as much admitted to me in private that he knew there was no NT basis for the tithe!
I did not know that you have written articles on the tithe. That’s great. I am presently writing a book against the mandatory tithe, and would give you credit for any resources you might bring to my attention. I would particularly be interested in noting any letters from pastors like you mentioned above. I feel that exposing this kind of hypocrisy and duplicity will help to blow the tithing scam right out of the water! I feel so strongly about this because after reading the way that many, many pastor/leaders twist the Scriptures in order to raise money for themselves and their churches, I’m on a crusade!
March 9th, 2007 at 8:10 am
I didn’t keep the emails, David. I stopped keeping replies to the tithe articles in 2001 (what I have is at http://www.lordyouare.com/a7.html ). Somehow it didn’t seem right to take someones confession, when they had repented, and use it that way. If I were to publish such letters, even anonymously, I would be asked ‘who is it’, what denomination do they belong to, what seminary did they attend, etc., in a witch hunt for reasons to discredit the persons confession.
Russell Kelly has written a book on the tithe doctrine, and there have been a few people come out of the woodwork to challenge his character, dispute his doctorate, etc.
Nothing new under the sun … people who cling to lies will stop at nothing to discredit the truth and those who speak it.
Sam (’Scrupe)
March 9th, 2007 at 10:00 am
Samaritan wrote: I stopped keeping…what I have is at…
Jack: Thank you for your response and your website address. If it’s okay with you, I will give you full credit for any ideas or quotes I use in my book from your materials.
In skimming some of the responses to your tithing articles, it appears that you have certainly blessed many people with the Spirit of freedom which is theirs in Christ (Galatians 5:1). I hope that you keep up the good work!
The attacks are inevitable, like you implied, but that is just a part of the territory of church reform. I am reminded of how the Ephesian idolaters attacked Paul’s team in light of how their preaching of the truth of the Gospel threatened to take away their financial income that came in from the people worshipping their idol Artemis/Diana (Acts 19:23ff).
Sadly, I can hear the cries of many megalomaniacal, greedy pastor/leaders applying what the pagan Demetrius said to his cohorts in order to save their revenue streams:
“Men [senior pastors!], you know that we get our wealth from this business [of the tithe]…And there is danger not only that this [tithing] trade [trick] of ours may come into disrepute, but also that the temple [the local church theater] of the great goddess Artemis [the senior pastor celebrity attraction] will be scorned, and she [we] will be deprived of her [our] majesty [money and power] that brought all Asia and the world to worship her [us].”
March 9th, 2007 at 10:10 am
I hold no copyright on any truth you find in them Dave. Use whatever you are led to use. One of the amazing things to me is how many of your points, which you have arrived at by the Spirit (or the ‘School of the Holy Spirit’), are identical what the Spirit has shown me. And confirms what I have come to believe, that I don’t really teach anyone anything - that’s the Spirit’s job - rather, the stuff I’ve written just serves as a confirmation to others whom the Spirit is teaching the same things.
The other day I was talking with a friend, about the marvel of that - how real prophetic / truthful revelation occurs. That the Spirit touches one vessel and His truth pours forth, then touches another vessel and the same truth pours forth … such beauty and comfort in how the Spirit testifies through multiple independent witnesses, who have never met, and in our case, are separated by thousands of miles … I should think as a hearer of the word, that God’s people would find great comfort in the common witness of many saints - separated by time and distance, but nevertheless the same message of truth, grace …
March 9th, 2007 at 11:00 am
I Timothy 6:10 — For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (NASB)
David, Samaritan, et. al. —
So do you believe this is the basis for the myriad of issues concerning the IC …. He does say love of money is the ROOT…
Part of me doesn’t want to “blame” this for the abuse that comes from churches many of us have attended at one time or another, and abuses that still continue to this day in MANY churches..
March 9th, 2007 at 11:20 am
I think it’s too harsh (wait, did I just say that?) to say that every pastor who teaches tithing is a greedy money whore. I think it’s fairer to say that most of those that do have bought into a system that sounds good to them because it gives them a means to control the congregation into giving on a regular basis.
There’s a huge gulf of faith needed to cross from “Everyone has to give 10%” to “I trust God to speak to people through the Holy Spirit on how much to give and when”. When most pastors depend on the giving of the church members for their church budget and their salaries, it’s easy to take the road that encourages a steady income, and they find it much more convenient to convince themselves and others that it is the Christian thing to do. They will use any Scriptures they can twist and bend to fit their “doctrine” rather than give up control over what they feel is somehow rightfully theirs. At first it seemed like a conflict of interest to me, but I began to realize that any other businessman would do the same things to make sure they get paid. It takes a pastor with a real love for people and God’s work to completely detach himself from the natural connection of people giving to the church to a monthly paycheck.
It is my opinion that this is why Paul commended pastors to be self-sufficient if possible, so that they may serve others with compromise.
That being said, I think it is also fair to say that some clergy are obsessed with money more than the lives of those that they “pastor”.
Do I think that the root of all the problems in the IC are the love of money? Nope. There are plenty of other issues too, this just happens to be a biggie, especially at CBC.
March 9th, 2007 at 11:23 am
I meant “without compromise”.
March 9th, 2007 at 11:27 am
The money is just one of many abuses. The root I suppose, is a people who want a God they can see, and so tend to elevate men to god-like positions of authority over them. Like Israel who wanted a King, so God through Samuel (?) gave them Saul … better a greedy and ruthless king they can see and know, than grope around for a King they can’t see and don’t know …
Honestly, I think people buy into the tithe because it’s promised (from the pulpit) with a return, as if tithing is more of an investment than giving, AND, because the flip side of the tithe, according to the NT method of complete surrender, is GIVING ALL. Hmmm … give 10% or GIVE ALL? For most people, that’s a no brainer.
So the one sews into the law, the other into His Kingdom. I suspect a lot of tithers are going to face Christ only to find out that in reality, they buried their talents by investing in the law, which is dead, rather than investing in high-risk venture that is crucified with Christ.
In giving the tithe, they have clung to their lives and remaining 90%, but those who give all - who are crucified with Christ, have lost their lives FOR Christ. The one will lose his life, the other will live.
Those of us who did what Christ commanded will be glad to receive the spoils of those who lived by the law, I’m sure. The parable of the talents potentially suggests that’s what will happen.
I’m reminded of the words of Morpheus to Neo (Matrix): “You take the red pill … and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.” The tithe is just the door to the rabbit hole. If the love of money is the ROOT, what crop has it grown?
No end to rotton fruit, I’m afraid …
March 9th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
living life said: do you think that the love of money is a root of many IC problems…
living life: I think that the love of money is one of the main roots of a lot more of the IC problems than we realize. I think that as I develop my file on the parallels of what makes a business sucessful and the popular understanding in many of the mega-churches, I will confirm just that. John, I think, helps us here as far as “roots” are concerned: the lust of the eye (big buildings, designer clothes, nice cars, large houses, image of worldly “success”), the lust of the flesh (all the creature comforts that money can buy) and the pride of life (self-promotion in ministry, “power-over” others, etc.)
March 9th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Former Inner Circle Member said: I think it’s too harsh to say that every pastor who teaches tithing is a greedy…
FICM: I agree. I apologize if I came across as meaning to condemn every pastor who teaches the tithe. I think we have pastors on all different levels of understanding, awareness, biblical knowledge, and greed and Self levels. Only God knows their hearts.
March 11th, 2007 at 7:23 am
LL, the scripture says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, but not the root of all evil. Until I looked it up again, I had thought it said “the love of money is the root of all evil”, but that was wrong.
The original evil, was pride, wasn’t it? It preceded Satan’s fall, which corrupted the entire world … money followed the original sin/fall … so the love of money is just an offshoot …
Might be interesting to answer the question: “is pride or money the bigger problem at CBC” (or any other church for that matter) …
Sam