Why is it that those who have the truth like to argue; and those who do not have definitive answers for their beliefs, do not like to argue? It annoys me that people say that i just like to argue about tithing. I don’t like to look at it as arguing. I like to see it as spreading the truth. Sure, we could say that there’s no sense in arguing, but you see it all the time in the bible. The truth of the matter is that as long as wrong has the opportunity to infiltrate right, then there should always be arguing.
Whether you like the tension or not that is created because of arguing, you should never be one to go against it. I guess “arguing” is a bad word. I guess you could say that it is more along the lines of “stating your case”. Doesn’t “witness” come with the meaning of standing up for your beliefs?
All I’m trying to say is don’t be upset for my tithing arguments. Don’t look down upon me because i am strongly opposed to mandated giving. Don’t shut your opposition up either.
I can say that my experiences so far in life have shown me how not to be. There has not been much experiences in my life that have shown me how I should be. I guess I could say that is true up through my life in college. Once outside of college I became involved with a bunch of friends that were able to show how to be. One of the things we did often was discuss and debate issues in the bible.
People think that if you are debating that you are questioning God. Arguing can be a part of seeking God. Most of us have the same goal right? We want to do our best and to do what’s right. To simply state that you don’t like to argue, is stating that you think you are always right and do not want to change your ways. If we were all perfect, i could go along with the peaceful non-argumentative discussions, but the problem is that I am not perfect. You are not perfect.
Iron sharpens iron, right? You can’t sharpen iron without beating it and heating it. You are not going to sharpen iron by just polishing it. Iron is strong, just like our stubborn personalities. We have to be beaten. A soft polish will not help us become sharper. Positive thinking and conversations that do not consist sometimes of debating keep us dull.
I know what some of you are thinking, “I stay sharpened by praying, reading my bible, and fellowshipping at my church.” I would say to you, “WAKE UP!” There is a literal battle going on between good and evil – between right and wrong. And here we go just, fra la la, thinking that the absence of conflict means that everything is good. You are SO wrong. The absence of conflict means that you are not in the fight you dummy!
Church history over and over has repeated this mistake. We don’t like to debate and we don’t like conflict so we’ll just divide and separate ourselves and begin a whole other denomination. Instead of creating arguments and debate that is healthy for growth, we’ve decided that what we believe is right and separated ourselves from all those who are so very wrong. We’ve gotten out of the fight, and became complacent. Every single denomination is a testament to the fact that what we think is right, and what everyone else thinks is wrong. We think we have it all figured out. We will just call ourselves Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Pentecostals, that way everyone knows what we’re about. Our identity portrays our core denominational beliefs and allows everyone to separate out the wheat and the chaff.
Ok, back from the denominational rabbit trail. In my experiences arguing the tithing debate, there have been countless times where people have bowed out of this discussion because they do not want to debate. I call them feather Christians. They fight with a feather instead of a sword. I post many comments on blogs that are very thoughtful and even open minded but my comments are not approved just for the fact that they disagree and don’t like arguing. I guess that’s what prompted this post. I posted on a blog on some financial website and my comments were never approved. Instead, that blogger just posted his own comment stating his criteria for allowing comments. Suffice it to say he has had very little comments. Another note about that blogger is that the very few comments that are left are mostly comments praising the blogger. A pride issue? I don’t know. . . maybe?
I can say for myself that i don’t have any ethical or moral guilt about arguing. Arguing and debating fuels me spiritually, and mentally. It forces me to search the scriptures, and find out the truth. It helps me pursue God. Even though I have put so many hours into tithing studies, i have corrected and tweaked so many of my writings due to ability to debate. I would venture to say that debating fuels a lot of men. Us men want a fight. We want a challenge. I’m sorry ladies but that’s how we’re fueled. That’s why we watch sports or play video games(for those of you who do not watch sports). I am addicted to both LOL!
Is there a right and wrong time to debate? Sure there is. Do I start debating every time i hear the word “tithing”? No. But I am always ready for a good challenge? How about you?
By the way if you want a list of tithing arguments that i have debated with scripture please visit the link here
https://www.tithing.com/topargumentsfortithing.html