If Jesus Addressed Matthew 23:23 To Christians...

Matthew 23:23 and Luke 11:42 are the favorite verses for the tithe teachers because in this verse Jesus “commands” people to tithe!!!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

Tom Brown, a Word of Faith preacher says the following in this website:

Notice Jesus said, “You should have practiced the latter (justice, mercy and faithfulness), without neglecting the former (tithing)….Some argue that Jesus’ words are not applicable to us today, because Jesus was under the Law and spoke to those under the Law. Their theory goes something like this: Jesus was giving an instruction to the Jews so His words are not binding to us. The problem with this interpretation is that these teachers are bringing Christ down to the level of a Jewish prophet or Teacher of the Law. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, so this means every word that comes out of His mouth is eternal. He cannot say anything without it being “spiritual law” and everlasting. Jesus emphasizes this point by saying, “Heaven and earth may pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matt 24:35). These supposed Bible teachers are making the words of Jesus pass away—obsolete and out of date.

If Christians need to use the logic of the likes of Tom Brown, then we should also consider the other saying of Jesus and obey them! Shouldn’t we?

1. Thou shalt not tell anyone about thy healing…

Matthew 8:4 / Mark 8:40-44

Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.

Matthew 9:30

And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: “See that no one knows about this!”

a) Christians are not supposed to tell anyone if they get healed.

b)Take the offering prescribed by Moses to the Pastor of the local Church?

2.Thou shalt evangelize ONLY the Jews and not other people group.

Matthew 15:24

Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep–the people of Israel.

3. And say to non-Jews that God’s blessings are not for gentiles

Matthew 15:26

Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.

4. Thou shalt not proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah to anyone…

Matthew 16:20

Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.

Wondering if tithe teacher John Hagee referred this verse before declaring that Jesus was not the Messiah.

5. Christians must sell all their possessions and give them to the poor.

Matthew 19:21

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

6. Christians must follow all man made laws including Corban offering!

Matthew 23:1-3

v1. Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,

v2. The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.

v3. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.

Notice, in verse three Jesus says “So practice and obey whatever they tell you…”

7. The Word of Faith people should NOT call Kenneth Hagin Sr., Dad/Papa.

Matthew 23:9

Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.

The WoF community often describes Kenneth Hagin Sr., as Dad Hagin or Papa Hagin.

8. No tithe “teachers” in our midst, only tithe brothers!

Matthew 23:8

But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.

We have a lot of WoF teachers.

9.Christians need to call Apostle Peter as Apostle Satan (and remember the scripture cannot be broken)

Mark 8:33

But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

10. Justification is NOT by faith but by obeying the commandments of Moses!

Matthew 19:17

And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

So in order to lead an unbeliever to salvation, Christians must ask them to keep the commandments of Moses instead of asking them to trust Jesus.

11. Thou shalt randomly enter into any house and thou shalt not stay in Hotel rooms!

Luke 9:4 / Luke 10:7

“Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city.

When we go to minister to the lost, Christians should randomly enter into a house and stay if they accept Christians. We should not make reservations to stay in hotel rooms! No continental breakfast and wireless internet for tithe teachers!!!

12. Thou shalt not attend thy Father’s wake/funeral and when thy Father dies, thy shall proclaim the Gospel everywhere!

Luke 9:60

But He (Jesus) said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.

13. Christians should not carry wallet,money, check book, credit card when they go for ministry!!!

Luke 10: 4

Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way.

Christians are not supposed to wear shoes, boots and sandals and we should go bare foot while going for ministry. No bags are allowed and we can save on flight ticket. Greet no one on the way…. Christians should not say Hi to anyone on the way, no smiling, no good mornings and no good afternoons. No eye contacts but frown at whoever you come across on the way!

13. Follow Jesus’ method while evangelizing:

Luke 10:25-26

v25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”

v26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”

Christians must ask seekers “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”

14. Thou shalt not wash thy hands and thou shalt not use hand sanitizers!

Luke 11:38

When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal.

15. Never invite friends and relatives for lunch or dinner!

Luke 14:12

And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.

16. Only invite poor, crippled, lame and blind

Luke 14:13

But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

17. Thou shalt celebrate the passover!

Luke 22:8

And Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it.”

All the above mentioned points were uttered by Jesus Himself and we know His words will not pass away even when heaven and earth pass away!

Therefore tithe teachers, why do you need to obey Matthew 23:23 alone? What about the other sayings of Jesus?

Church Father Irenaeus On Tithing!

Let us first examine the writing of Saint Irenaeus who was one of the early Church Fathers:

Who was Irenaeus?

Saint Irenaeus, was bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, which is now Lyons, France. His writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology. He was a notable early Christian apologist. He was also a disciple of Polycarp, who was said to be a disciple of John the Evangelist. His best-known book, Against Heresies (c 180) enumerated heresies and attacked them. Irenaeus wrote that the only way for Christians to retain unity was to humbly accept one doctrinal authority—episcopal councils.Irenaeus was the first to propose that all four gospels be accepted as canonical.

From Irenaenus’ Popular Book – Against Heresies

Chapter XIII.-Christ Did Not Abrogate the Natural Precepts of the Law, But Rather Fulfilled and Extended Them. He Removed the Yoke and Bondage of the Old Law, So that Mankind, Being Now Set Free, Might Serve God with that Trustful Piety Which Becometh Sons.

Section 3

“And for this reason did the Lord, instead of that [commandment], `You shall not commit adultery,’ forbid even concupiscence; and instead of that which runs thus, `You shall not kill,’ He prohibited anger; and instead of the law enjoining the giving of tithes, to share all our possessions with the poor; and not to love our neighbors only, but even our enemies; and not merely to be liberal givers and bestowers, but even that we should present a gratuitous gift to those who take away our goods”

Please pay attention that Irenaeus saying “…instead of the law enjoining the giving of tithes, to share all our possessions with the poor…”.

Here is another passage by Irenaeus on the same book “Against Heresies”:

Chapter XVIII.-Concerning Sacrifices and Oblations, and Those Who Truly Offer Them.

Section 2:

“And the class of oblations in general has not been set aside; for there were both oblations there [among the Jews], and there are oblations here [among the Christians]. Sacrifices there were among the people; sacrifices there are, too, in the Church: but the species alone has been changed, inasmuch as the offering is now made, not by slaves, but by freemen. For the Lord is [ever] one and the same; but the character of a servile oblation is peculiar [to itself], as is also that of freemen, in order that, by the very oblations, the indication of liberty may be set forth. For with Him there is nothing purposeless, nor without signification, nor without design. And for this reason they (the Jews) had indeed the tithes of their goods consecrated to Him, but those who have received liberty set aside all their possessions for the Lord’s purposes, bestowing joyfully and freely not the less valuable portions of their property, since they have the hope of better things [hereafter]; as that poor widow acted who cast all her living into the treasury of God.

Please notice that Irenaeus saying ” …And for this reason they (the Jews) had indeed the tithes of their goods consecrated to Him, but those who have received liberty set aside all their possessions for the Lord’s purposes…”

Here he contrasts between the Jews living under the law and the New Testament Christians who were living in the liberty of Jesus Christ.

Conclusions:

* Irenaeus believed that tithing was part of the law of Moses.

* These statements by Irenaeus proves that the early Christians did not tithe.

* The early Christians believed that they were commanded to share all their possessions with the poor INSTEAD of tithing.

* Irenaeus recorded that the Jews had tithed but Christians set aside all their possessions. He actually contrasted between Old Testament Jews and New Testament Christians!

* Money is not mentioned by Irenaeus at all.

It is interesting to see that these writings appear in his book “Against Heresies“. Irenaenus probably would have labeled all modern day tithe teaches as heretics!

Therefore my friends, please realize that the early Church never practiced tithes and they did not even believe that they were commanded to tithe unlike what our modern day tithe teacher tell us.

May the Lord open the eyes of whoever reads this blog post about the dangers posed by the mammon loving Word of Faith preachers.

Sources:

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/irenaeus-book4.html

http://slaveoftheword.blogspot.com/2006/03/tithing-in-ante-nicene-period-second_05.html

Questions Tithing Advocates Fail To Answer!

Many Unanswered Questions From The Pro-Tithe Camp:

Most of the pro-tithers cling onto Matthew 23:23 & Luke 11:42 and say that even Jesus said
so, therefore the NT Christians need to tithe.

If they take Matthew 23:23/Luke 11:42 as a command for New Testament Christians to tithe here are the questions they need to answer:

1. According to Mishna and Flavious Josephus the 1st century Jews practiced
multiple tithes (almost 3). How did the early Christians practice all 3 tithes?

2. Did the early Christians who did not own farms and cattle give 23% of their earned income to their Churches?

3. Levitical tithes were yearly and it went to Levites according to their
locations. Who are the Levites today and who were the Levites in 1st century
Christianity?

4. How did the “NT Levites” take the 10% of the 10% to the "NT Priests"?

5. If the NT Pastor is the priest don’t we have to tithe to the ushers, choir,
greeters and other Church staff members and let them tithe from their tithes to
the (senior) Pastor?

6. Why does the Senior Pastor collect all tithes today and give salaries to the
staff members and leave many Church workers unpaid? The OT High Priests did not
do that. The OT Aaronic Priests received only 1% of the total tithe.

7. In the OT the High Priests themselves did not tithe but why do our modern day prosperity
preachers tithe to their cohorts?

8. Regarding the festival tithe, do Christians need to go to Jerusalem to observe it as the Jews did? What is our Jerusalem now? Did the NT Christians practice pilgrimage to Jerusalem?. The festival tithe must be taken to Jerusalem. If that was prescribed to NT Christians we should make pilgrimage to Jerusalem like the Muslims visit Mecca?!?!?!

9. The 3rd tithe for poor (Charity Tithe): Why don’t tithe asking Pastors give their congregation the liberty to take care of the poor? Why would it go to the benevolent funds controlled by the Church board? Poor people need to go through hoops to get some help. That really complicates the process?

10. Even if we assume that tithing was commanded to NT Christians the pro-tithes fail to consider one important thing:

* The plurality of the NT Church leadership.

a. In the first century Christianity no Church was run by a single Pastor. The Churches were founded by Apostles and they in turn appointed elder a.k.a Pastors (in plural - more than one). Why can't the tithe seeking Pastors follow that model today?

b. Also the early Church had all 5 five fold ministries in the Church.

Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Evangelists and Pastors. Well, we all cannot agree if the offices of Apostles and Prophets exist today but we all can agree at least the offices of Pastors, Evangelists and Teaches exist in our contemporary Christianity. So the point is, even if the early Church received tithes it was divided amongst all 5 fold ministers and the money DID NOT GO TO A SINGLE PASTOR unlike what we see today. The tithing advocates today need to answer this question as well. They are unwilling to accommodate other types of ministries but want to dominate and control the finances which is totally unfair.

c. Many Senior Pastors have their associate Pastors. Most of them are not paid well and some of them are asked to "live by faith". These tithe hungry Pastors not only forget the poor but also neglect their own staff members. This example was certainly not followed by the first century Christian church.

Therefore the pro-tithers still would not meet the NT model of tithing even
if it was practiced by the early Christian church.

New Testament Christians Don't Be Deceived By these Mammon Lovers!!!