Give not that which is
holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample
them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. (Matthew 7:6)
If there come any unto
you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid
him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
(2John 10, 11)
He that oppresseth the
poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come
to want. (Proverbs 22:16)
I want us to look at giving differently. I am sure you have
considered that tithing is an Old Testament practice, even if you still
practice it (read the post ‘Tithing’ elsewhere on the blog).
Do you know that God holds you accountable for all your giving?
Do you know that your gifts have a capacity of sending you to heaven or hell,
however generous or otherwise you might be? Of course many preachers talk about
a gift opening your way before great men. Does that only talk about humans?
Does it not apply even better to God and his agenda? Remember Cornelius?
And when he looked on
him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy
prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. (Acts
10:4)
Giving in the right place does open doors of God’s favor to
the giver just as giving in the wrong place can open the doors of God’s wrath.
I therefore want us to look at your giving as your treasure
even as we look at this explosive topic. This is because you are accountable
before God for every little gift you give. It is imperative therefore that you
look at that little coin you give as a pearl.
Why did Jesus commend the woman who ‘wastefully’ poured
costly ointment over Him instead of selling it to give to the poor? Did He not
care for the poor? That lady accessed the season and did the required action
for that season.
Like I have always argued, the difference between OT and NT
giving is the leading presence of the Holy Spirit. It means that however much we
give, if it is not consistent with the leading of the Holy Spirit, it is giving
your pearls to swine. Not only will it be wasteful and useless but you will be
judged for it.
Back to the tithe, assuming the incongruous. According to
Malachi 3: 10, where is the tithe supposed to be taken? To the storehouse of
course. Why? So that there is food in God’s house. Is there food in the
storehouse you take your tithe? Can the hungry access that food if it is there
at all?
Sadly, most storehouses are just that by name. Many are
personal or corporate accounts that can be accessed by a select few. It might
have the name XYZ church or ministry only for promotional purposes. Even the
giver may never be able to access that should his situation change and he go
hungry. Many times it is the wealthy that easily access that loot you foolishly
and trustingly gave.
I repeat that the tithe was meant for the Levites who had
been denied the opportunity to fend for themselves as they served God. It also
catered for the disadvantaged (orphans, widows, refugees and the poor).
Remember it also catered for the religious celebrations of the community.
Does the tithe you give do that? Does the tithe you give do
what your heart desires the Kingdom of God to be doing?
You see God’s purpose for giving to any person who worships
Him is so that he would continue His work on earth. That resource, from time to
strength to money exists to enjoin us to His redemptive purpose on this earth
as He sees fit.
It is therefore our responsibility to connect with God
concerning that purpose so that I do not waste any of that into a diversion from
that purpose. I am directly responsible and accountable to God for the way the
resource is used.
There is a common misconception that has now become a very
popular teaching of spiritual conmen. I at one time believed the same. And this
is that it really does not matter what the money (tithe and offering) you give
does provided you give it to the storehouse.
Sadly that is unscriptural. I am sure many are wondering
why.
For as many as are led
by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:14)
And that leading does not stop when we get to giving. Our
lack of guidance into our giving habits is akin to disobedience as God never
intended for us to use cruise control in any aspect of our Christian lives. If
you depend on the leading of the preacher to give to his storehouse, is it
possible to depend on the leading of the Spirit on any other thing? If the
prophet determines what you give him for his prophecy, does the Spirit ever
lead you into anything? If the crisis (real or imagined) of the storehouse is
the reason you give, what would you say is the reason Christ said it was better
that He leaves? Does the Holy Spirit lead us into anything if He is not allowed
unlimited control of those resources?
But the storehouse must be filled, even if it is the
personal or corporate wealth of a few. The owners of the storehouse must bend
their theology to convince you against the leading of the Spirit (sadly
feigning their being led of the same) so that their interests are well catered
for. Sadly that storehouse as I have said exists only by name. It might provide
some food once in a while as a public relations exercise especially when the
giving goes down or to convince more givers to sink their money there.
Does the Holy Spirit direct you as to where and whom you
will give your offering? That is the fundamental question. And it is because if
He does it would be impossible to see the extremes that are in churches
nowadays, especially the big churches where we have the poorest of the poor
‘worshipping’ with the wealthiest in society with no attempt at bridging the
gap. The pastor himself is many times a minister to the rich because they have
ensured that he is elevated to their level. In fact you will find that there
are different classes of pastors. I remember one time I was brought a concern
by a friend about such a church. The senior pastor is wealthy, drives an SUV yet
his associate was in dire straits as he had no money to take his wife to the a
maternity hospital for his child to be born.
God desires to guide your giving. And your giving has a
connection to the vision God has given you. It is connected to the burden God
has placed in your heart. And I believe God is very specific in those things.
The fact that the storehouse you give screams missions at
every opportunity does not mean it is interested in reaching the unreached
people group God has placed in your heart. The fact that they have a handful of
missionaries does not qualify them to take the Gospel to the place God has
placed in your heart. You see the storehouse manager will pursue his vision
(assuming he has one) to convince you to invest there. Yet do you know that God
will hold you accountable for the failure to reach the people He placed in your
heart? And that is so even when the storehouse is doing something similar to
what He has called you to do. You see being mission minded does not mean
reaching the person God gave you.
I believe the storehouse principle is the reason we have so
much of the world still unreached yet in the first century a handful of
believers were able to take the Gospel to the whole world in a generation. They
were able to do it because the church was sensitive to the leading of the Holy
Spirit concerning missions.
I believe God allowed the writing of Acts the way it is so
that we get adequate information to guide us. Have you ever asked where the 120
who were in the upper room ended since the only Peter is sufficiently
mentioned? What about the other 11 apostles? I believe God sent His ministers
all over the world and raised support for them from other believers like it
happened in Antioch or like He spoke to Philip amidst a revival in Samaria.
What are you doing with the vision God has given you? What
are you doing with the burden He has placed in your heart? What are you doing
with the ministry God has called you to? What are you doing with the community
He has called you to lead to Him? Are your resources focused there or must you
give to the storehouse that has no idea about it?
It is not a sin to let a storehouse to close down if it does
not provide food to the world. In fact it is a sin to let it continue being in
existence. And the ones keeping it there will be judged by the One whose business
it is that the world does not starve due to the selfish or corporate interest
of a few.
Give not that which is
holy unto the dogs
Giving what should go to the vision God has given you to a
storehouse lacking that vision is giving what is holy to the dogs.
It is your responsibility to ask God for clarity concerning
the resources He has given you. In fact there is no excuse for not doing so.
What has God called you to? Are you supposed to go or is it
your responsibility to facilitate the goers? Why not ask God to show you where
that money and other resources should be heading to? Why do you think the
pastor is better placed to know where to direct your money than the Lord of the
harvest? Or has your pastor convinced you that God only speaks to storehouse
managers?
How does God hold us accountable for every idle word we
speak (Matthew 12: 36) yet forgo how we have handled the resources He had
entrusted with us? Is it possible that God will overlook our diversion of the
resources He had given us to pursue the vision He had entrusted us with to a
storehouse that was pursuing a different, even though similar vision?
Will you listen to God concerning where you should take your
gifts and offerings?
God bless you
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