18 Ways God (or Your Pastor) Has Changed Tithing

One of the arguments made by preachers who try to convince you that the "tithe" of 10% of your gross income is a Christian requirement, comes from their favorite tithing passage in the Old Testament, Malachi Chapter 3:

“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.  Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty." (Malachi 3:6, 7)

Then of course the pastor will explain that immediately after these verses God tells Malachi that people are robbing him (actually, God tells Malachi that the religious men of his day are robbing him, but that is another story) by not "bringing the tithe" to the "storehouse" - and that YOU, Christian, must also bring your tithe - 10% of your gross income to the church (today's "storehouse"). And then if you choose not to, God will poke holes in your purse, will cause your kids to turn out bad, and God will bring calamity to your family like job loss, wrecked cars, and God will actually "blow it all away" - that is the money that you did not tithe that was rightfully God's. Some say God might even kill you like he did Ananias and Sapphira. Oh, and if you don't tithe, you're helping to spread homosexuality.

So God does not change, thus the requirement to tithe is still in place, and thus preachers go to the most ridiculous and manipulative lengths to hang the burden and guilt of tithing around the necks of their members to keep church revenue up.

A friend here in Jacksonville who maintains the "Tithing.com" website, posted a masterful article yesterday on 18 ways the tithe HAS changed - either how God himself changed it within the Old Testament or between the Old and New Convenants - OR just ways that your pastor has decided to change the tithe to try to convince you to give 10% of your income to his church.

Read the article here to read about the 18 ways the tithe HAS changed. This is one of the best tithing articles I've read in years

I wanted to highlight and comment on a few of the 18 ways either God has changed the tithe, or preachers have decided to change it to "help" God:

The newest argument amongst the tithe-pushing preachers is the concept of "first fruits" - that the Old Testament teaches that God expects your FIRST and BEST - and thus your FIRST 10% of your income goes straight to the church. 

Yep, year after year, we must give. If the preachers believe the bible word for word, and they put the tithe on Christians, why are they not strictly adhering to what God said the tithe was and how often it is given? On what basis to preachers ignore the details of what God says in the bible regarding the tithe? Are they above God and can change God's standard for this tithe? [answer: apparently, yes].

The new, aggressive, "first fruits" tithing doctrine coming out of pulpits today contributes to the decline of people's church attendance drives people from their Christian faith: when they wake up to the fact that what the preacher is pushing as biblical truth concerning finances is not in the bible, and it is actually to their family's detriment - and pastor's use manipulative techniques to boot. The preacher's want you to put your tithe above your daughter's wedding, above your children's education, above the well-being of your family.

Make no mistake - to try to convince a church member through false teachings and manipulation that they MUST give 10% of their income to obtain the blessings of God and avoid the cursings of God is to convince a person that religion and institutions and religious holy men come before one's spouse and family - and that is about as anti-family as it gets.