just a thought

Do we abhor the right to such an extent that we will hurt one another for selfish gain? What does it truly profit us if we gain wealth and status but lose truth and love? I would prefer a life of righteous conduct both to myself and to my neighbor; even if that life meant absolute poverty. But, poverty is a relative concept, for if I lived in a place that was void of every luxury but found in that place brotherly love than I would be the richest man in existence.
To believe that joy is proportionate to the amount of wealth one has is a great deception. Yet, it is wealth that men seek. For the attainment of wealth men and women sacrifice their children. To live in luxury they live godlessly. To have riches they abstain from righteous conduct. Wealth is their god and to this god they pay homage. To him they give all that is truly important in life so that he will bestow upon them his blessing. But, they do not perceive that the blessings of this god are really curse’s in disguise. Wealth is a god that seeks the destruction of man, his purpose is to bring a downfall to civilization.
Nothing corrupts the heart faster and darker than wealth. It is a scourge on families and nations. The want of it has caused more strife and war than anything else. We as a race must brake free of it’s charms lest we as a race face the final result of them; which will be an end. An end to the love and joy that the deepest part of our hearts long for.
I believe that the god of wealth has great power but in comparison to the will of men his power is nothing. So than let us use the power of our will and with it serve a god that will fulfill our sincerest desire and bless us with truth. Let us serve the god of brotherly love, not in secret nor with hypocrisy; but, openly and in truth. If we follow the dictates of holiness then we can make for ourselves a world in his image. The greatest dictate of holiness is love. If we conduct our actions in the confines of love then the family of humanity would dwell together in unity and peace. Too often though we love with dissimulation. Love with self at the center is not love at all. But, when you put the well being and good of others in higher regard than your own that is what love is.
Love will solve all of the problems that we now face. It is the cure for everything that troubles us. By love there is peace and safety in love there is hope and joy. But, so long as love remains just a word that is spoken rather than a word that is lived love will accomplish nothing. It is necessary for us to follow the discipline of love with 100% of who and what we are 100% of the time, anything short of that will not do.

Points to Ponder Before This Sunday....

How important do we really think simplicity is?

We have been running around saying phrases such as "Live simply that others may simply live" and "There's enough for everyone's need, not for everyone's greed". And discussing how, as Americans, we have a ridiculous overabundance of resources and luxury as compared to the poverty of the rest of the world. It is obvious that the earth cannot sustain our overconsumption and the gospel doesn't stand for us doing so on the backs of poverty stricken third world countries. Nik and I would like to really discuss this more. Here's a not-comprehensive list of questions to consider:

1. What specifically is our responsiblity in living out simplicity according to the Scripture?
2. What can we cut out of our lives right away?
3. What goals should we set for the future?
4. What does living simply say about debt?
5. What are examples of things we can share as a group? (I.e. buying items in bulk together at Cosco, car pooling, book swapping, mending torn clothing, sharing tools)

Ramblings of a recovering youth pastor...

How accurately are we portraying the clergy roles in the church? Especially the pastor?

Obviously this is a big part of the baggage that I carry from the traditional church, and I guess it especially pokes in my sides when I hear stories and witness the struggle of the church leadership to have to pretend so hard to be so perfect. We allow for them to place this pressure upon themselves and their families. We demand that they be placed under a microscope. We don’t allow them room to breathe. We force them to become fake, hollow, and hypocritical. The church wouldn’t ever allow for leadership to remain in tact if they are undergoing marriage counseling, filing for bankruptcy, or in the processes of dealing with their “unruly” teenagers…. Have you ever questioned why pastor’s kids have such terrible reputations? Do you think it is because of the anxiety that is passed from parent to child in the response of this perfect lime light that is cast upon them? It appears to me that more often than not we force them to become “white washed tombs”, where they are perfect on the outside but day by day becoming more and more decrepit on the inside. There are currently more than 500,000 paid pastors serving in the United States, out of these consider the following stats:

94 % feel pressured to have an ideal family
90% work more than forty-six hours a week
81% say they have insufficient time with their spouses
80% believe that pastoral ministry affects their family negatively
70% do not have someone they consider a close friend
70% have lower self-esteem than when they entered the ministry
50% feel unable to meet the demands of the job
80% are discouraged or deal with depression
43% report that they are suffering from burnout, frantic schedules, and unrealistic expectations
33% consider pastoral ministry an outright hazard to the family
33% have seriously considered leaving their position in the past year
40% of pastoral resignations are due to burnout

Most pastors are expected to juggle sixteen different tasks per day. For this reason more than 1,400 pastors of every Protestant denomination are fired or forced to resign each month. Over the past twenty years the average length of the pastorate has declined from seven to only four years! Sadly, pastors don’t connect the dots to discover that it is their office that causes this underlying turbulence. Jesus Christ never intended any person to sport all the hats a present day pastor is expected to wear. He never intended any one person to bear such a load.

I personally have felt the demands of the eldership and pastorate and found them to be crushing; they will drain any mortal dry. And our so called “brothers and sisters” will aid in hanging us out to dry (and I’ve been on both sides). Just imagine working for a company that paid you on the basis of how good you made people feel. What if your pay depended on how entertaining you were, how friendly you were, how popular you were, and how perfect your behavior was?
Can you imagine the unmitigated stress this would cause you? Can you see how such pressure would force you into playing a pretentious role - all to keep your authority, your prestige, and your job security? (For this reason, many pastors are resistant to receiving any kind of help.)
The pastoral profession dictates standards of conduct just like any other profession, whether it be teacher, doctor, or lawyer. The profession dictates how they are to think, act, speak, and dress. This is one of the major reasons why they are forced to live very artificial lives.
Because of all this, I feel that the pastoral role is forced to foster dishonesty. We expect our pastors to always be cheerful, completely spiritual, and available at a moments notice. Professional loneliness is another virus that plagues pastors. The lone-ranger disease drives some ministers into other careers. It drives others to crueler fates.
Its lonely at the top, I believe, because God never intended for anybody to be there - except Jesus Christ! In effect the present day pastor tries to shoulder the fifty-eight New Testament “one another” exhortations all by himself. It is no wonder that many of them get crushed under the weight. It’s because of this that I feel we need to reexamine the scriptures that discuss the role of the pastor. Honestly, I don’t see any clarity there at this point. Ephesians 4:11 simply states pastors, (and note that it is plural), and no where does the word describe the capacity of service these roles are to play. It expounds tremendously on the Eldership, which in present day you rarely see played out in traditional churches. Pastor from the Greek, is a word that John Calvin coined to describe a “Sheppard”…. throughout the primitive church in the New Testament, not a single pastor of any of these groups has ever been named. History explains the role we call today “Pastor” much clearer than scripture, but do to the massive amounts of constant whining over the length of my blogs I’ll pause hear in hopes of creating a dialogue at this point….until next time - CHEERS!

Church Dreamings

So here is what I've come up with so far for the "Dream Church" question:

It would be a church which is not afraid to reimagine what church is - that is, a church dedicated to discerning the specific hurts and challenges of today's world (i.e. widespread poverty, lack of education, casual sex, women's rights etc.) and confront those problems with Jesus as a guide.

A focus on deep relationships, marked by a willingness to admit failures/faults and open up as the individual and the community to pursue healing and restoration. An environment like this must of course, first be a place of grace and trust, but also hopefully of accountability and truth.

A variety of ages, beliefs, and backgrounds would be represented.

Everyone would be allowed to (expected to) participate during our time together - teaching each other, or worshiping in the ways that reflect each of our passions. We would embrace creativity in worship through singing, poetry, art, or what the heck ever people are interested in.

A constant connection to the larger church (local churches) would be kept through service/conversation/relationships.

We would be disciplined in our faith to pray, study, and move towards justice in our community and world.

There would not be constant separation of families, but we would learn to pray, worship, learn, and serve together to show our kiddos what community looks like and allow them to share in the relationships. Plus I'm sure we can learn a thing or two from them in the process.

Solidarity: I already touched on this a bit, but I want to expand it to sharing with each other in everything - the struggles and triumphs, financial disasters or building a house, marital collapses or new babies - that we could just plain share life together. But our purpose would extend beyond just the enrichment of community to the responsibility of suffering and sacrifice that is required to be a disciple. The hope would be that we could also experience solidarity with the oppressed, and as a group would be able to do much more to work against that oppression than any of us could do on our own.

March 19th entry for "My Utmost for His Highest"

"He went out, not knowing where he was going." (Hebrews 11:8)

In the Old Testament, a person's relationship with God was seen by the degree of separation in that person's life. This separation is exhibited in the life of Abraham by his separation from his country and his family. When we think of separation today, we do not mean to be literally separated from those family members who do not have a personal relationship with God, but to be separated mentally and morally from their viewpoints. This is what Jesus Christ was referring to in Luke 14:26. ("If anyone come to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple.")

Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason - a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted int he knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world.

The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character, and we encounter many changes in the process. We feel the presence of God around us when we pray, yet we are only momentarily changed. We tend to keep going back to our everyday ways and the glory vanishes. A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles' wings, but is a life of day-in and day-out consistency; a life of walking without fainting (Isaiah 40:31). It is not even a question of the holiness of sanctification, but of something which comes much farther down the road. It is a faith that has been tried and proved and his withstood the test. Abraham is not a type or an example of the holiness of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith - a faith, tested and true, built on the truth God. "Abraham believed God..." (Romans 4:3).

Introductions

Wow! So let me just take a second to gush about the fact that we have a blog - Woo hoooo!! Our rag tag little group of friends is suddenly getting serious... serious enough to start writing thoughts that could be read by potentially the whole world. Frightening, really.
I have this terrible fear, however, of writing anything significant considering that later on I am bound to find said writing naive and flawed. Therefore I'm going to cheat for this first post and instead of answering that looming question about the church, I will introduce our group to the world (although I suspect that this readership may be limited to my mother).

Some background: We consider ourselves somewhere between a bible study and a church - more of a community, really, struggling together to find out who God is and how we fit into His plan. We have agreed that Christ called us into deep relationship as a primary part of His Kingdom work, and so we meet together to have meals and share our lives. We are admittedly young and idealistic, probably overly optimistic about some things and flatly wrong about others, but that's all part of the journey and the hope is that as we admit errors and mend theologies and change ideals we will remain family. So here we are -

Ariana- the practical and competent recently engaged (ya!) big sister figure of our group. She attempts to keep our unruly guys in line (emphasis on attempts). Ariana is a loyal friend and sensible thinker, always fun and outgoing. She adds the warmth necessary to keep us feeling like a family.

Jen is Ariana's lil sister who recently moved here from Oregon and has quickly become a part of the group. She possesses the organizational skills many of us lack ( props to you for the blog!). We also thoroughly enjoy the insights - Jen is not one to let us get away with sloppy theology.

Justin acts as the pondering element to our group, often sitting for an entire meeting without saying a single word, only to shock us all at the end with a detailed monologue about all of the intricacies and subtleties of the topics discussed. He can be compared to the Uh-Huh character in the movie Little Rascals. He also serves the important function of making us examine boundaries, as his bizarre T-Shirts often teeter in between hilarious and downright scandalous.

Tim is our groups manly man - the hunting, fishing, meatatarian type. He pretends to be a simpleton but has taught us all a lesson in forgiveness and humility. We also admire his gentleness and patience in all his dealings with his two lovely daughters, Isabelle and Lexi.

Alex is the deep thinker/mystic/poet of our group. His grasp of scripture and ability to articulate difficult topics adds a great deal, as well is his consistent wisdom in skillfully handling relationships with humility and understanding.

Emilie is a fairly recent joiner and still I think somewhat confused by our ramblings. She lends that all important traditional conservative edge to our discussions and has a lovely sweet quality which I admire greatly.

Jese is my husband and so I'll try hard not to be too syrupy in my description. I will say that he is a visionary, passionate, articulate and charismatic personality. He has a passion for theology and a fearlessness about pursing his ideals. His is always thinking forward, and keeps us from stagnation and lollygagging.

Lori and Jason drop in now and then to lend their inordinate wisdom and experience to us young bucks. We greatly appreciate their perspectives and brilliant ideas, as well as their adorable newborn Zoralee.

Well that's a brief look at who we are ( from my perspective). So that ends this first blog... until next time
-Nikki

Are tithing and clergy salaries biblical mandates?

Hmmm....interestesting subject.... Having grown up in the traditional church this has always been pounded into my head in a very fear driven and simple way - if you don't give 10% of any increase you are robbing God (sinning) - now easier going pastors try to put a little gentler spin on it and say that you are actually robbing yourselves because God is faithful, and declares "Test me" and He'll bless you ten fold. This issue seems to have been brought up quite a bit recently so I thought I'd take a crack at -


About a year ago I stumbled across this conversation with a friend of mine that many of you met last spring - Dan Lowe - from Communality, in Lexington, KY. He had mentioned an interesting journey that some community members were taking called "relational tithe", founded by Will Samson (another dear friend from Lexington), and had told me to check it out. They have a very cool website up and running http://www.relationaltithe.com/ which I encourage everyone to spend some time scoping out. The concept behind relational tithe is something we have all definitely talked about many times but I thought I would place some scriptures and things up here for all of us to seriously ponder and come to grips with - its just better to really, really know why we do something right?


So anyway, I have been reading a fantastic book called "Pagan Christianity" which Frank Viola and George Barna put together to basically help desconstruct the tradition that we so often take for granted as biblical mandates. Thanks to Lori and Jason by the way for the loaner :).... so here's an excerpt from their section on tithing and I would love for all of us to comment on where each of us stand with it...(trying to stay away from crippled rebellion):



"Unlike so many, we do not peddle the Word of God for profit." (Paul of Tarsus in 2 Cor 2:17 NIV)



"The church, embracing the mass of the population of the Empire, from the Caesar to the meanest slave, and living amidst all its institutions, received into her bosom vast deposits of foreign material from the world and from heathenism....Although ancient Greece and Rome have fallen forever, the spirit of Graeco-Roman paganism is not extinct. It still lives in the natural heart of man, which at this day as much as ever needs regeneration by the Spirit of God. It lives also in many idolatrous and superstitious usages of the Greek and Roman churches, against which the pure spirit of Christianity has instinctively protested from the beginning, and will protest, till all remains of gross and refined idolatry shall be outwardly as well as inwardly overcome, and baptized and sanctified not only with water, but also with the spirit and fire of the gospel." (Philip Schaff, Nineteenth-Century Church Historian)



"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, "How do we rob you?" In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse - the whole nation of you - because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. "Test me in this", says the Lord Almighty,"and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." (Malachi 3:8 - 10, NIV)



This passage seems to be many Christian leaders' favorite Bible text, especially when giving is at a low tide. If you have spent any time in the contemporary church, you have heard this passage read from the pulpit on numerous occasions. Consider some of the rhetoric that goes with it:



"God has commanded you to faithfully give your tithes. If you do not tithe, you are robbing God Almighty, and you put yourself under a curse."


"Your tithes and offerings are necessary if God's work will go on!" ("God's work" of course, includes paying the pastoral staff and footing the monthly electric bill to keep the building afloat.)


What is the result of this sort of pressure? God's people are persuaded to give one-tenth of their incomes every week. When they do, they feel they have made God happy. And they can expect Him to bless them financially. When they fail, they feel they are being disobedient, and they worry that a financial curse looms over them.


But let's take a few steps backward and ask the penetrating question : "Does the Bible teach us to tithe? And.... are we spiritually obligated to fund the pastor and his staff?"


The answer has totally shocked me but in more ways than one allowed me to feel like God is honoring what He has begun within our generation and in our personal group - lets join George and Frank in their exploration :

Is Tithing biblical?


Tithing does appear in the Bible. So yes, tithing is biblical. But it is not Christian. the tithe belongs to ancient Israel. It was essentially their income tax. Never do you find first century Christians tithing in the New Testament.


Numerous Christians do not have the foggiest idea about what the Bible teaches regarding the tithe. So lets look at it. The word tithe means the tenth part. The Lord instituted three kinds of tithes for Israel as part of their taxation system. They are:

1. A tithe of the produce of the land to support the Levites who had no inheritance in Canaan. (Leviticus 27:30-33, Numbers 18:21 - 31)



2. A tithe of the produce of the land to sponsor religious festivals in Jerusalem. If the produce was too burdensome for a family to carry to Jerusalem, they could convert it into money.(Deut 14:22 - 27)



3. A tithe of the produce of the land collected every third year for the local Levites, orphans, strangers, and widows. (Deut 14: 28 - 29; 26:12 - 13.)

This was the biblical tithe. God commanded Israel to give 23.3% of their income every year, not 10%. (20% yearly and 10% every three years equals 23.3% per year. God commanded al three tithes in Nehemiah 12:44; Malachi 3:8 - 12; Hebrews 7:5)

These tithes consisted of the produce of the land - which included the seed of the land, the fruit of the land, and the herd or the flock. It was the product of the land, not money. A clear parallel can be seen between Israel's tithing system and the modern taxation system present in America. Israel was obligated to support their national workers(priests), their holidays(festivals), and their poor (strangers, widows, and orphans) with their annual tithes. Most modern tax systems serve a similar purpose.

With the death of Jesus, all ceremonial codes that belonged to the Jews were nailed to Christ's cross and buried, never to be used again to condemn us. For this reason, we never see Christians tithing in the New testament, just as we don't see them sacrificing goats and bulls to cover their sins.

Paul writes,"When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross...Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day - things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." (Colossians 2:13 - 14, 16 - 17 NASB see also Hebrews 6 - 10)

Tithing belonged exclusively to Israel under the Law. When it comes to financial stewardship, we see the first-century saints giving cheerfully according to their ability - not dutifully out of a command. (2 Cor 8:3-12; 9:5-13) Giving in the early church was voluntary. And those who benefited from it were the poor, orphans, widows, sick, prisoners, and strangers.

I can hear some of you (and those of us who study together Tuesday nights know all too well) making the following objection right now: "But what about Abraham? He lived befor the Law. And we see him tithing to the high priest Melchizedek (Gen. 14:17-20). Does this not overturn your argument that the tithe is part of the Mosaic Law?"

No, it doesn't. First, Abraham's tithe was completely voluntary. It wasn't compulsory. God did not command it as He did with the tithe for Israel.

Second, Abraham tithed out of the spoils that he acquired after a particular battle he fought.
He didn't tithe out of his own regular income or property. Abraham's act of tithing would be akin to you winning the lottery, or receiving a work bonus, and then tithing it.

Third, and I feel it is the most important, this is the only recorded time that Abraham tithed out of his 175 years of life on this earth! We have no evidence that he ever did such a thing again. Consequently, if you wish to use Abraham as a proof text to argue that Christians must tithe, then you are only obligated to tithe one time - ! - Which I might add is also true for Jacob. In Genesis 28:20-22, Jocob vowed to tithe to the Lord. But like Abraham's tithe, Jacob's tithe was completely voluntary. And as far as we know, it wasn't a lifetime practice. If in fact Jacob did begin tithing regularly (and this can't be proven biblically) then he waited 20 years before he started! To quote Stuart Murray, "Tithing appears to be almost incidental to the stories of both Abraham and Jacob and no theological significance is accorded to this practice by the author."

So this all brings us back to that oft-quoted text in Malachi 3. What was God really saying there?

First, this passage was directed to ancient Israel when they were still under the Mosaic Law. God's people were holding back their tithes and offerings. Consider what would happen if a large portion of Americans refused to pay their income taxes. American law views this as robbery. Those found guilty would be punished for stealing from the government (whether we agree or not).

In the same way, when Israel held back her taxes (tithes), she was stealing from God - the One who instituted the tithing system. The Lord then commanded His people to bring their tithes into the storehouse. The storehouse was located in the chambers of the Temple. The chamber were set apart to hold the tithes (which were produce, not money) for the support of the Levites, the poor, the strangers, and the widows. (Neh 12:44, 13:12-13; Deut 14:28-29, 26:12)

Notice the context of Malachi 3:8-10. In verse 5, the Lord says that He will judge those who oppress the widow, the fatherless, and the stranger. He says,"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me." (NIV)

The widows , fatherless, and strangers were the rightful recipients of the tithe. Because Israel was withholding her tithes, she was guilty of ignoring the needs of these groups. Herein is the heart of God in Malachi 3:8-10. He opposes oppression of the poor.

How many time have you heard pastors point this out when they preached Malachi 3? In scores of sermons I have heard on tithing, I was never told what the passage was actually talking about. That is, tithes were given to support the widows, the fatherless, the strangers, and Levites (who had absolutely no possesions).

The Origin Of the Tithe and The Clergy Salary

The New Testament urges believers to give according to their ability. Christians in the early church gave to help other believers as well as to support apostolic workers, enabling them to travel and plant churches. One of the most ouststanding testimonies of the early church has to do with how generous the Christians were to the poor and needy. This is what provoked outsiders, including the philosopher Galen, to watch the awesome, winsome power of the early church and say: "Behold how they love one another."

In the third century, Cyprian of Carthage was the first Christian writer to mention the practice of financially supporting the clergy. He argued that just as the Levites were supported by the tithe, so the Christian clergy should be supported by the tithe. But this is misguided thinking. Today, the Levitical system has been abolished. We are all priests now. So if a priest demands a tithe, then all Christians should tithe to one another!

Cyprian's pleas were exceedingly rare for his time. It was neither picked up nor echoed by the Christian populace until much later. Other than Cyprian, no Christian writer before Constantine ever used Old Testament references to advocate tithing. It was not until the fourth century, three hundred years after Christ, that some Christian leaders began to advocate tithing as a Christian practice to support clergy. But it did not become widespread among Christian until the eighth century. According to one scholar,"For the first seven hundred years tithes are hardly ever mentioned."

Charting the history of Christian tithing is a fascinating exercise the more you think about it. Tithing spread from the state to the church. Here's the story:

In the seventh and eighth centuries, leasing land was a familiar charascteristic of the European economy. The use of the tithe, or the tenth, was commonly used to calculate payments to landlords. As the church increased its ownership of land across Europe, the 10 percent rent charge shifted from secular landlords to the church. Ecclesiastical leaders became the landlords. And the tithe became the ecclesiastical tax. This gave the 10 percent rent charge new meaning. It was creatively applied to the Old Testament law and came to be identified with the Levitical tithe! Consequently, the Christian tithe as an institution was based on a fusion of Old Testament practice and a common system of land-leasing in medieval Europe.

By the eighth century, the tithe became required by law in many areas of Western Europe. But by the End of the tenth century, the tithe as a rent charge for leasing land had all but faded. The tithe, however, remained and it came to be viewed as a moral requirement supported by the Old Testament. The tithe had evolved into a legally mandatory religious practice throughout Christian Europe.

To put it another way, before the eighth century the tithe was practiced as a voluntary offering. But by the end of the tenth century, it had devolved into a legal requirement to fund the state church - demanded by the clergy and enforced by the secular authorities!

Today the tithe is no longer a legal requirement in any nation. Yet the obligatory practice of tithing is as much alive today as it was when it was legally binding. Sure, you may not be physically punished if you fail to tithe. But in many ministries you will either be told or be made to feel that you are sinning.

As far as clergy salaries go, ministers were unsalaried for the first three centuries. But when Constantine appeared, he institued the practice of paying a fixed salary to the clergy from church funds and municipal and imperial treasuries. Thus was born the clergy salary, a harmful practice that has absolutely no scriptural validity anywhere in the bible.

There is no doubt that it is imperative for believers to support the Lord's work financially and to give gernerously to the poor. Scripture enjoins both, and the Kingdom of God desperately needs both. The issue under scrutiny that I am trying to raise here, is the appropriateness of the tithe as a Christian "law" and how it is normally used: to fund clergy salaries, operational costs, and church building overhead.

A Burden on the Poor

If a believer wishes to tithe out of personal decision or conviction, that is fine. Tithing becomes a problem when it is represented as God's command, binding upon every believer. Under the Old Testament system, tithing was good news to the poor. However in our day, mandatory tithing equals oppression to the poor. Not a few poor Christians have been thrown into deeper poverty because they have felt obligated to give beyond their means. They have been told that if they do not tithe, they are robbing God and breaking his command. In such cases, the gospel is no longer "good news to the poor". Rather, it becomes a heavy burden. Instead of liberty, it becomes oppression. We are so apt to forget that the original tithe that God established for Israel was to benefit the poor, not hurt them!

Conversely, contemporary tithing is good news to the rich. To a high earner, 10 percent is but a paltry sum. Tithing, therfore, appease the consiences of the prosperous without impacting their lifestyles. Not a few welathy Christians are deluded into thinking they are "obeying God" because they throw a measely 10 percent of their income into the offering plate.

But God has a very different view of giving. Recall the parable of the widow's mite: "Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. he also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 'I tell you the truth'he said,' this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on'" (Luke 21:1-4)

Sadly, tithing is often viewed as a litmus test for discipleship and faithfullness. If you are a good Christian, you will tithe (so it is thought). But this is a bogus application. Tithing is no sign of Christian devotion. If it were, the first-century Christians in the churches that Paul raised up would be condemned as being undevoted because all available evidence shows that they did not tithe! (Read all Galatians especially Galatians 5:3)

Clergy salary - a tough subject for me to tackle considering I have close family that are supported by this means of living. Nonetheless, I believe we have to investigate the situation in its entirety. Not a few pastors feel that they must preach tithing to remind their congregation of its obligation to support them, their operational costs, and their programs. Regrettably, the promise of financial blessing or the fear of a financial curse has been employed too often as an incentive to ensure that the tithes keep rolling in.

In this way, tithing today is sometimes presented as the equivalent of a Christian stock investment. Pay the tithe, and God will give you more money in return. Refuse to tithe, and God will punish you. Such thoughts rip at the heart of the good news of the gospel.

The same can be said about the clergy salary. It, too, has no New Testament merit. In fact, the clergy salary runs against the grain of the entire New Covenant. (see Acts 20:17 - 38 - Paul's last words to the Ephesian elders, thinking he wouldn't ever see them again - 1 Thes 2:9; 1 Peter 5:1-2) Elders (shepherds) in the first centruy were not salaried. They were men with an earthly vocation. they gave to the flock rather than taking from it. It was to a group of elders that Paul uttered these sobering words: "I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'" (Acts 20:33 - 35)

Giving a salary to pastors elevates them above the rest of God's people. It creates a clerical caste that turns the living body of Christ into a business. Since the pastor and his staff are compensated for ministry, they are the paid professionals. The rest of the church lapses into a state of passive dependence.

If all Christians got in touch with the call that lies upon them to be functioning priests in the Lord's house (and they were permitted to exercise that call), the question would immediatey arise: "What on earth are we paying our pastor for!?"

But in the presence of a passive priesthood, such questions are never asked. On the contrary, when the church functions as she should, a professional clergy becomes unnecessary. Suddenly, the thought That it is the job of the pastor looks heretical. Put simply, a professional clergy fosters the pacifying illusion that the Word of God s classified (and dangerous) material that only card - carrying experts can handle. The words of Christ come to mind,"Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge..." (Luke 11:52 NIV)

But that is not all. Paying a pastor encourages him to be a man pleaser. It makes him the slave of men. His meal ticket is attached to how much his congregation likes him. Thus he is not able to speak freely without the fear that he may lose some heavy tithers. (I have actually listened to a pastoral meeting in Tennessee where several confessed this very thing.)

A further peril of the paid pastorate is that it produces clergy who feel "stuck" in the pastorate because they believe they lack employable skills. I personally know a respectable Pastor who served locally in our community for 20 years who, during financial hardship, was faced with the same fear. He wanted to be able to support his family and still be the Pastor, however all of his skills and training were dedicated to preaching the perfect sermon and studying the bible. While these skills can be noteworthy, they are of limited appeal in the secular job market. The major hurdle that Pastors like him face, and in this economy will continue to face, is forging a new career to support their families. The real hardship is that they really have nowhere to turn, this particular Pastor, due to the financial situation of the church, couldn't rely on Christ's body to help him and his family get re-established.

Even so, it is exceedingly difficult for many contemporary pastors to acknowledge the lack of scriptural support for their office simply because they are financially dependent upon it. As Upton Sinclair once said, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." No wonder it takes a person of tremendous courage and faith to step out of the pastorate. I know a number of us, as well as our friends, have admitted that they were a part of a religious system that subtly but profoundly injured them and their families. Unfortunately, most of us decide to continually be naive about the overwhelming power of the religious system. It is a faceless system that doesn't tire of chewing up and spitting out its own.

Ushers and the Collection Plate

Despite these problems, collecting tithes and offerings is now a part of almost every church service. How did the practice of ushers passing collection plates take shape? hThis is another post-apostolic invention. It began in 1662, although alms dishes and alms chests were present before then.

The usher originated from Queen Elizabeth 1's (1533 - 1603) reorganization of the liturgy of the Church of England. Ushers were responsible for walking people to their seats (in part to ensure that reserved spots weren't taken by the wrong people), collecting the offering, and keeping records of who took Communion. The predecessor of the usher was the churh "porter", a minor order (lesser clergy) that can be traced back to the third century. Porters had the duty of locking and opening the church doors, keeping order in the building, and providing gerneral direction to the deacons. Porters were replaced by "churchwardens" in England before and during the Reformation period. After the churchwarden came the usher.

Well, as I've seen it, tithing, while biblical, is not Christian. Jesus Christ did not teach it to His disciples. When referring to tithing it was always to challenge the inconsistency of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, not prescribing it as something we should follow. (Matt 23:23) The first century Christians didn't do it. Tithing didn't become a widely accepted practice among Christians until the eighth century, though they gave generously - often well above 10% of their resources - from the beginning.

Tithing is mentioned only four times in the New Testament. But none of these instances apply to Christians. Tithing belonged to the Old Testament era where a taxation system was needed to support the poor and a special priesthood that had been set apart to minister to the Lord. With the coming of Jesus Christ, there has been a "change of the law" - the old has been "set aside" and rendered obsolete by the new (Hebrews 7:12 - 18; 8:13 NIV)

We are all priests now - free to function in God's house. The Law, the old priesthood, and tithe have been crucified. There is now no Temple curtain, no Temple tax, and no special priesthood that stands between God and man. We have been set free from the bondage of tithing and from the obligation to support the unbiblical clergy system. May we, like the first-century Macedonian Christians, give freely, out of a cheerful heart, without guilt, religious obligation, or manuipulaton ... generously helping those in need (2 Cor 8:1 - 4; 9:6 - 7)

Sources:

Cox and Harvey, English Church Furniture

David C. Norrington, "Fundraising: The Method Used in the Early Church"

James Gilchrist, Anglican Church Plate

JG Davies, A New Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship

CB Hassell, History of the Church of God, from Creation to AD 1885

Murray, Beyond Tithing

Hatch, Growth of Christian Institutions

Durant, Age of Faith

Gough, Early Christians

Your "Dream" Church...

From studying Scripture, what components of "the church" would you include and embrace in the makeup of your dream church?