They have no shame

[Nitehawk013]

The troubling thing about threads like this is that they will ultimately amount to nothing almost universally.

The pro-tithers folks here, and in real life, will not debate the issue. I have heard them say it from pulpits, where they know they will not be challenged and can use the bully pulpit literally, that "there is no debate about tithing". They say it as though everyone just knows it is truth and everyone does it. Of course, that is a blatant lie and patently false. Now either they know that and are lying, or they are simply ignorant and refuse to learn. Either way, I struggle to have any faith that pro-tithe preachers, who are living off the tithe or simply making a supplemental income from it, will ever be open to even the realm of possibility that they could...heaven forbid...be wrong.

And on the flip side, those on the anti-tithe (NOT anti-giving) side will certainly never be convinced we are wrong. I know for me, there is no way I will ever go back to put the blinders back on and accept a doctrine as abusive, twisted and hermeneutically pathetic as tithing. I will stand with the overwhelming majority of histories best theologians in opposition to forced tithing in the NT church.

So this sort of "discussion" really only serves to arouse further frustration. The Pastors out there today won't wake up and stop preaching this tithe nonsense. So those of my age and such are stuck. Our options are to leave church, star our own churches or sit in churches that preach a pathetic, abusive doctrine of tithing. That snot to say that the church may not be fantastic across the board in every other way. In fact, I would argue my church really does excel in most everything...but the tithing nonsense is front and center most Sundays.

My hope, and I pray it isn't a vain hope, is that the next generation continues to have the blinders pulled off and they renounce this tithe nonsense. I want my sons to grow and be a part of churches where they aren't essentially told that their love for God and church is only measured by how much money they give to the church. Where they aren't fed a lie that they will burn in hell if they "rob God" by not tithing, despite no mention of a tithe being mandated in the NT church writings.

This next generation has the chance to shake off the garbage. I hope they do and in doing so, I hope that today's preachers of the tithe are around to see how wrong they have been. That you CAN build and maintain a living, thriving powerful church without using theological extortion on the people. That you can't "buy" blessings or make God become indebted to you by throwing money into a box or basket. And that the history is clear: tithing was NOT in the NT church at all for nearly 700 years and only then began to creep in as the greed of bishops and such rose and their desire for fancy buildings and a priestly class above the people manifested. That Paul and the other NT writers never endorsed tithing, merely that those who really preach and live the gospel should be taken care of by the church. That Jesus Himself NEVER ONCE paid tithe as He was almost certainly a carpenter and according to our Bible tradesmen DID NOT pay tithe under the law.

So I hope that this horrific doctrine goes the way of serpent seed and preaching against deodorant. Namely that it becomes something that is a joke in Pentecost, something that only the truly ignorant and foolish still believe.

And if it doesn't happen, then I hope to God we start seeing more alternatives to the churches we are all in that refuse to even discuss the issue. I would say just stick it out if possible and pray for your pastors to "see the light", but unfortunately...when it comes to money far too many even great men will not listen to any other view that might hurt the income and purse strings.