Wait. There is a world of articles, books, and information out there when it comes to Christianity, but we are mostly stuck with rhetoric and double talk when it comes to our relationship with the Lord, our new identity as believers, and the security and finality of the work of Christ. Are you getting everything you need spiritually from your church, or do you find yourself feeling hungry for more? Join Lenny as he unpacks what Scripture really taught about our Lord Jesus Christ in context and why this matters to you. Wake up, wake up, wake up to grace.

When I was growing up attending the Catholic Church with my parents, you had appointed people carrying baskets on a stick going from row to row. The people collecting the money weren't about to let you get your grubby hands on it. Will a man rob God? Not on their watch. The basket on a stick allowed the collector to keep an eye on the basket, but it also allowed them to look directly at you while waving the basket in front of your face. You were certainly on the spot for that moment, just long enough for people to see. I remember observing certain persons quickly making a gesture into the basket with nothing in their hand, and then others slowly raising up their offering with a slight pause for dramatic effect, proud of their obedience and loyalty. Now the Protestant churches I experienced as a young adult were a bit more laid back in their approach. They let you pass the basket around the rows. They trusted that you'd do the right thing. But they certainly didn't hold back on talking about it. The church I attended preached the tithe at least once a month, and it seemed like it was always when I invited someone. It was just a matter of time and then the words would come out will a man rob God? They used Malachi three hundred eight as their proof text to support their case. Malachi three eight says Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, How have we robbed you? And your tithes and contributions. There's nothing like making your guests think your church is after their money. Despite being obedient to their teaching, this always made me uncomfortable. It seemed like a sales tactic. It made going to church appear more like a business transaction. One look at the large building and its furnishings proved that nobody was robbing that church. Yet the leaders seemed to think so. But my feelings weren't enough to overrule the scripture. If the Bible said it, who am I to argue? Besides, as my church always pointed out, there is a benefit if you stop robbing God that anyone who is a good steward would receive. Malachi 3 10 says, Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. So we can either rob God by not tithing to our church, or give ten percent of our income, before taxes, to our church, and have the Lord open up the windows of heaven and pour his blessings down on us. This is true. You'd have to be crazy not to pay your church what they ask. Are you kidding me? You would be faithless to not follow through with this if God commanded you to do this in Scripture. The only problem is he never did. This passage addresses the nation of Israel directly. The whole writing was about national Israel. It had nothing to do with you. When the Lord revealed the truth about the passage, well a man robbed God to me, it suddenly applied more to the leaders of the church I attended. The thieves were robbing me, not them. I nearly wrote them a letter requesting my money back because I could completely prove that they were less than honest in their dealings. This is just wrong. But then an interesting thing took place when I shared the truth with those in my circles. No one really seemed to care too much one way or another. The most popular reaction was, well, they gotta keep the lights on, and look at all the good they're doing with the money. Others would say, I just don't pay attention to that part of their service. I just tune it out. So I found multitudes ignoring the tithe simply because they didn't like it. While others condone error because the church business had to prosper. This teaching is pure deception and needs to be spoken against. Do you think anyone would support you if you robbed them and donated some of their money to charity? Would anyone in your church respect you if you robbed them of a portion of their income and drew a salary and a pension off of it? Our Lord considers lying and stealing sin. As Paul the Apostle so eloquently said in Romans 6, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? We really should stop defending those who deceive others in the name of Jesus. A profitable business like today's church institutions will not stop their behavior unless their customers reject what they're offering. Are you saying my church is robbing God? Yeah, I am saying that. But I'm not going to just say it. I'm going to prove it. Let's start by getting some context, shall we? First we should define what a tithe is. If we're to understand the meaning of the will a man rob God passage, we'll have to know what it is that a man can rob God of. Your church has probably told you that a tithe is 10% of your income. Unfortunately, we have a slight problem here. There's nothing in Scripture to support the notion. In Scripture, a tithe was a requirement of the law, in which the Israelites were to give 10% of the crops they grew and the livestock they raised to the temple. Leviticus twenty seven says, Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees is the Lord's. It is holy to the Lord. Then a couple verses later, and every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman's staff shall be holy to the Lord. You must understand that God gave them all these things when they entered Canaan, the promised land. Essentially God taxed the Israelites to provide for the priests and Levites, whom he excluded from the inheritance. Numbers eight twenty one says To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting, so that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel, they shall have no inheritance. For the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as a contribution to the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance among the people of Israel. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe, and your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the wine press. So you shall also present a contribution to the Lord from all your tithes, which you received from the people of Israel, and from it you shall give the Lord's contribution to Aaron the priest. The Old Testament law required Israelites to tithe for various purposes and at different times in order to support the Levites, to celebrate the feasts, and to care for the poor of the land. I have links to all these references on my blog post. When your church teaches you that the prophet Malachi is telling you, bring the full tithe into the storehouse, and that storehouse is their establishment, they've just proclaimed two reckless errors. One, their establishment is the temple of God. Two, you are a Jew who is under the law of Moses. What your church is telling you in their teaching is that they are the Jewish temple, and you are the Jewish people. They're the Levite priesthood, and you, the people of Israel, must bring your tithes into their storehouse. They even go as far as to extend the blessing Yahweh directed to the people of Israel right unto you. It's so generous of them to take this upon themselves, isn't it? As Christians we ought to know what our New Testament would say about your church being the house of God. Acts seven forty eight says, Yet the most high does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says. Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord? Or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things? You stiff necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you will always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. What did the Apostle Paul say about the temple under the New Covenant? In first Corinthians three, we read, Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him, for God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. If the Apostle Paul visited your church on their tithe preaching week, what would he say? Would he be proud of what they're teaching? What would Jesus do? Would he smile and say, Well, they gotta keep their lights on, right? I don't think so. I know what Paul might do, because he did the same thing to Peter when he was influencing Gentiles to live like Jews in Antioch. He begins with a judgment. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. And then he brings the challenge in Galatians 2.14. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews? Paul went right to the top. He rebuked the leader of the error. But that didn't excuse the others. We have record of what he wrote to others later when a similar error had made its way into the group. This is what I see Paul writing to the people of your church who sit on their hands allowing this ridiculous doctrine into their circles. Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Would Paul be blessing the ignorance that he sees if he attended your church? Or would he say what he wrote to the Galatians in chapter three verse ten? For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them. Cursed is everyone who does not abide in all things written in the book of the law? Are you who tithe the biding and all six hundred and thirteen commandments under the law of Moses? Is your pastor who acts as a Levite high priest offering animal sacrifices for your sin? Is your church under the blessings of the apostles or under their apostolic judgment? Does your church deserve a blessing or a curse? Paul taught the truth about grace. In Romans 6 14 he says, For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. But to your church you would say what he says in the next verse. What then? Are we to sin because we're not under law but under grace? By no means. Sitting on your hands and condoning the sin of putting others under the law of Moses isn't excusable. Making light of this sin makes a mockery of grace. We need to do our part and lovingly rebuke these wicked leaders for what they are doing to the church. If we ever want to experience real fellowship, we have to get real with those who we claim to share fellowship with. It's high time we bring truth back into our fellowship and put a stop to this massive error. Maybe we need to look at our leaders and ask, will a man rob God? But people will say Jesus taught the tithe, it's in our Bible. Well let's have a look at that. Matthew twenty three verse twenty three. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faithfulness. Those you ought to have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self indulgence. Who did Jesus speak to here? Was it to you and your church? It wasn't, was it? It was to the Jewish leaders of Israel. He spoke to the Pharisees, who were under the law of Moses, the hypocrites. Not only that, Jesus affirms here in plain words that the tithe is a matter of the law. Are Christians under law? Or under grace? Why do our churches pose as a temple that the hand of God destroyed in AD seventy? How have we fallen so far? So do we just not give at all? What does God expect us to do under grace? Well, grace giving mirrors grace living. It's really not complicated. In Second Corinthians nine we read The point is this whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things and at all times you may abound in every good work. As it is written, He has distributed freely, He has given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. We are free, and so we give freely, just as the Lord gives freely to us. Do we need a church institution to act as a middleman? Do we need to give to a church at all? We must realize that in the days of the apostles, those who preached were wandering the land. Oppressors beat, killed, and kicked them out of the synagogue communities. The Christians needed to support each other to survive after society banished them. This wasn't the case at all times and in all places, so some groups would support others who faced hardship. In the Book of Acts, Luke records a most interesting situation that arose in the early church. In Acts four, verse thirty-four, we read There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of what was sold, and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Do we see anyone paying salaries or pensions here? No, they used the money to give to those in their group that had need. I imagine a lot of pastors love to quote Paul from time to time. They probably see themselves as great leaders, such as the Apostle Paul. Do you think they might take after him and work with their hands to earn a living while leading their flock? In 1 Corinthians nine, Paul writes, For if I do this of my own will I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as to not make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. As I mentioned, many in those days needed the church to support them to survive. They traveled with the good news, they lost their jobs due to their faith, and they lost access to the Jewish communities that provided what they needed to live. In those times making a living was simply living. They didn't make a career for themselves and enjoy retirement benefits. Despite all this, Paul worked with his hands to earn a living rather than leaning on the church. He built tents as he travelled from town to town with the gospel. We don't see career pastors in our Bible. We don't need career pastors in our church. The gospel is a message of freedom and we should share it free of charge. There's nothing wrong with supporting ministries freely. Are they reaching people with truth? Great, we can certainly support that if we desire to do that. Is a Christian a good writer or speaker? Maybe you want to help them a bit to reach more people. The true church is a community that helps each other. If you want to give to the poor, you can do that. You don't need your church to do it for you. God never intended for us to support one man bringing us all of our teachings once a week in an expensive business establishment. With all the knowledge and resources we have at our disposal today and the ability to study the Bible for ourselves in the comfort of our own homes, we have no need to support one teacher for all of our needs in a local gathering. We obsess over stages and entertainment, while Christ alone should occupy the stage. Do we need to ditch today's church structure with career pastors and go back to a simpler way, such as we found in Paul's letter to the Corinthians? In the first century church we saw group participation, accountability for teachings, everyone sharing and rejoicing in Christ freely. There was no one man at a pulpit. The early church paid no salaries or pensions. Church buildings didn't even exist. Do we even need to pay a teacher or a leader now that the first century apostles fulfilled the apostolic age with massive success? A practice like this should be circumstantial rather than systematic, as we discern truth from error. First churches were merely Christians coming together in truth and spirit, with the goal of unity, and it was a beautiful thing. In Acts four thirty two, we read, Now the full number of those who believe are of one heart and soul. This phenomenon came through the gospel. It came through a group that was seeking truth from the Holy Spirit. A corporate environment that depended on tithes and offerings did not produce it. It didn't require Moses to supply the bricks and mortar. Are we doing church all wrong today? Would we find it so hard to connect with those who desire Christ, express ourselves and encourage and edify one another in truth outside of the institution? Are you afraid to approach your pastor about this error? Is your church actually suppressing the Spirit of God by trying to stuff it into a little McDonald's happy meal sized box? To be clear, this is not a call to hatefully rebel against your church out of anger. I'm not telling you that you should or shouldn't leave your church. And it's not me telling you to give me your donation instead of them. I don't operate on donations, I work with my hands, and the Lord will provide for my ministry however he sees fit. But maybe this is your call to stand before the leaders of your church lovingly in truth. Maybe God is calling you to cast your vote against the law of Moses in your Christian church, and propose a more graceful approach, while announcing that you'll no longer be giving according to Moses, but will reserve your donations for a higher calling. Maybe you're bold enough to say the passage, will a man rob God, does not apply to you, but in context may apply more towards them. I'll be talking to you guys again soon. That's what I got for today, and until then, grace and peace to you all in Christ Jesus our Lord. The content of this message can be found on my blog post at wakinguptograce.com. My writings include linked references and visual aids, which will give even more valuable insight, and it's always free of charge. The comment section below each message is a place where we can share mutual encouragement and insight on another outside of the social media.