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Tithing: a salvation issue?
Is the (non)payment of tithing a salvation issue?
I went to a church yesterday and heard a message that pulled out all the stops on how if one did not pay tithing or wasn't up to date on tithing, then that person wouldn't go to be with Jesus and was in fact hellbound. Of course, mixed in there we got to hear about how God has miraculously provided for this particular ministry, how God would make millionaires out of some people there who paid tithing, and how God had a plan to grow this particular church to 1000 strong in two more years (currently has 134 members). Oh yeah, and the pastor is entitled to all the tithing.
I really disagree with this line of preaching. It didn't strike me as being very edifying to Jesus (and in fact, outside of the singing and the praying, Jesus wasn't mentioned at all). Granted, I am not naive enough to think that money grows on trees or that people shouldn't support churches with their donations, but this just seemed egregious. He was very clear that there were some people in attendance who were not (in his mind) up to date on their tithing and he was By God going to hammer them into getting out their checkbooks and paying their tithing even before they paid their bills.
I guess I was also taken aback by the fact that this church is paying $7,100/month for a space in a strip center that is distinguished only by its proximity to the state university, and not by much of anything else.
It was not an awfully edifying experience to me, but I've been out of Apostolic circles for a very long time and maybe I'm just not used to that kind of preaching and I'm still being naive.
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