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Test Me in This Says the Lord

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After a phone conversation with a commenter on this blog, I think it’s time to dissect Malachi 3:10

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

There are some misconceptions about this verse that need to be clarified.

Misconception #1:  Malachi 3:10 Is the Tithing Test

If you read Malachi 3:10 correctly, there is no tithe challenge. Tithing had already been commanded and God was not trying to encourage or challenge the Israelites to do what He already expected them to do. He was not trying to pander to their ego either by making this some sort of thrilling dare. If you understand the passage correctly it reads – “Test Me in this, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven”.  Because God stated, “Test Me“, He was placing himself under scrutiny, not tithing. But, once again, our humanism has defaulted to making our good works as the focus in this passage instead of God’s works.

Misconception #2: This was the only time God allowed us to tempt God.

Our minds flashback to Matthew 4:7 when Jesus said, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'” Malachi 3:10 was not a once-in-a-lifetime, free pass to be mischievous in attempting to challenge God’s authority. Most of us are deceived into believing that tithing is the only time in the bible God is allowing us to tempt him. The truth is, God’s promises are put to the test every day. Relying on any of God’s promises is a test of faith, not a devilish temptation.

If I promised my children a $100 bill for a report card with all “A’s”, who would think it’s unique or astounding that I challenged them to test and see if my promise is true? No one would. The only reason why there are those putting so much emphasis on this occasion is that they are grasping at anything that makes tithing so extraordinary that it cannot be dismissed by something even as powerful as the cross, spiritual rebirth, or a new covenant.

Misconception #3: The Church is the Storehouse

This is a simple concept to grasp and yet so many experienced, learned theologians get this misconception wrong. Nonetheless, I will try to make it even easier for us all to understand. If a storehouse stores something, what exactly is the Church storing? Maybe. . . just maybe . . . the church isn’t a storehouse. Maybe . . . just maybe . . . Jesus tried to answer this question in Matthew 6:20 when he said, “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven“. Another question you could ask yourself is where does your church store its offerings? I would venture to say that it’s where most people store their money – in a bank. There is no correlation between a storehouse and the Church anywhere in scripture.

Scripture is trying to correlate the storehouse with our eternal home where we store up treasures in heaven. On the other hand, most of us know that the temple correlates to our body as stated in 1 Corinthians 6:19 – do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?

So plain and simple here – The Old Testament storehouse is pictorial of heaven and the temple is pictorial of our body. This eliminates the Church as the storehouse.

Misconception #4: Having Food in God’s House Means Having the Word of God

Yes, there are many verses that describe God’s word as water, honey, meat, and bread; but in this instance, God literally wanted  ‘food’ in the storehouse. The storehouse was not a place where God’s Word was read. It was a silo not a place of worship. There needed to be real food in the temple storehouse because of the physical needs of the priests and the poor. Since it was the priests and the poor who actually ate the meat in God’s house, is it fair to say that pastors and the poor are the only ones who get to hear the word of God today?

Still today it is true that there needs to be food in God’s house. The principle is that we need to take care of the needs of those serving and the poor. There is no correlation between the food in the temple storehouse with the word of God in the Church today. This interpretation should be taken literally not figuratively.

Tactics Used to Convince You to Tithe

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Need more tithers at your church? Here are some methods you can use to get more people to tithe.

1. Tithing chants

Kenneth Copeland had this brainwashing method to have the Church chant a tithing creed. here it is below

“The tithe guarantees financial favor.
“The tithe guarantees your covenant partnership with God.
“The tithe is proof of honor.
“The tithe is proof of obedience.
“The tithe silences the devourer in your life.
“The tithe guarantees consistent harvest on your seed.
“The tithe opens the windows of heaven …”

I want you to stare at the spiraling image and repeat this 50 times every day before you go to bed

“We are a cult and Kenneth Copeland is our leader”
“We are a cult and Kenneth Copeland is our leader”
“We are a cult and Kenneth Copeland is our leader”

2. Tithing pledge cards

hitlerI’ve been in a church where I have seen two pledging materials in the pocket of the seat in front of me. One pledge was on an offering envelope. Another pledge was on a commitment card. Was there a bible or a bulletin? No, just pledge cards, and two of them nonetheless as if one pledge card wasn’t enough.

I’m not counting the bulletin that was handed out when you came in the front door, because that was also asking you to commit money to the building fund as well.

I really don’t have anything against making pledges. Many times pledges are committed at an emotional time in one’s life. We need to decipher if it’s the Holy Spirit convincing us, or if our emotions are clouding our judgment.

I’m not a fan of pep rallies in churches that are focused on building campaigns. Look around you at your church’s next pep rally for the building project. See how big people’s eyes get when they show the 3-D models of  the new facility. The big eyes . . . um yeah. . . classic sign of the materialism pitfall. Last i checked, eyes only get that big when we see what we’re getting out of this deal, and not when our money is going to the mission center in downtown.

3. Tithing Challenge

**FINE PRINT
This is just some fine print that will tell you that you have done a very bad thing whenever you don’t read this. Just to let you know we are fooling you by making this very very small. Don’t worry your grandma can read this. All she needs is a big magnifying glass. If you were smart you would realize that the larger the print the least important it is. The smaller print is what’s important.

This is acclaimed as a “Win-Win” situation for both the giver and the receiver. Here’s the deal with this. Usually, you commit to giving the tithe over a 3-month period of time. If by the end of that period, you cannot pay your bills or if tithing has brought you debt, then the church will refund your tithe back to you.

That seems fair until you ask for the money back from the church. At that time they will want to probe into your finances and tell you how you spent too much money on going out to eat or buying Starbucks. That’s when you realized that the small print at the bottom of the tithing challenge was actually important. Silly us, we thought it was the large print that was actually the most important. (sigh)

Another thing the church is relying on are those who actually have enough intestinal fortitude to ask for your money back. I mean come on. Who is gonna walk into a church and ask for their money back? It’s almost like stealing candy from a baby. Seriously, could you imagine the guilt trip for taking from a church? Not only that, what about the embarrassment or humiliation of having to ask for your money back? I mean is the Church like a Walmart? I doubt you’ll have long lines in the return aisle.

4. Tithing Testimonies

Harmless right? Not if the testimonies are one-sided or in a twisted perspective. If you believe that your situation will play out just like the testimony you heard, then I feel bad for you.  Not that everyone believes their own storyline will turn out exactly the way the other people have, but they do believe the results, in the end, will be the same.

For every good tithing testimony you hear, you can easily find a bad one. If you can’t seem to find a negative tithing testimony, then you probably have gotten used to those rose-colored glasses you have on.

Look, i don’t want to just slam testimonies. I guess they have their place.

The Tithing Challenge

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“And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing.” (Malachi 3:10)

Has anyone read about the tithing challenge? What’s the big deal about this tithe challenge thing? I mean really? Isn’t the validity of all of God’s promises always on trial? What if God says prove me, “I am going to reward you in heaven for your good works”? Everyone acts like God is double dog daring us to do something out of character.

Isn’t this another way of God asking us to once again hold him to his word? If God says he’s gonna do something in return for what we do, then it’s up to us to prove that he’s telling the truth. All God is saying is, “believe me when I say that I will do something.” In other words, he’s saying, “if you don’t believe me, then prove me wrong.” God’s been saying this throughout his eternal existence. We act as though the bible is the written account of everything that God has said at all times. As if this is the only time God asks us to try him. Isn’t our act of obedience a form of proving God, and holding him to his word? The word “try” here is more of a form of accountability. It is not to be mistaken as tempting God.

In Deuteronomy, it says, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah.” Well, in Massah (Exodus 17:7), Israel was murmuring and complaining and it was testing the patience of God. In Malachi, Israel was told to prove God on his promises of tithing. They weren’t given permission to provoke God to act against his character and will.

You have permission to test God in all of his promises. Hold him to his word. He wants you to see that he is truthful and just. As a challenge name some other areas in your life that you have already tested and proved God in?