Once again another tithing video of someone being tackled for not tithing. Even if I did believe in tithing I wouldn’t think it’s funny, simply for the fact that real people do feel like they are being tackled for not tithing. It’s ironic that I don’t see tackling videos for those who aren’t serving.
Santa would have to tackle everybody on earth except Hebrews living inside national Israel.
Although money was common in Genesis, none of the 16 verses which describe the contents of the tithe include money. Tithes were always only food from inside Israel. Not even Jews could bring tithes from outside Israel.
NT giving principles from 2 Cor 8 and 9 are: freewill, sacrificial, generous, joyful, not by commandment or percentage and motivated by love for God and lost souls. That is sufficient.
You are right on the money when it comes to giving.
The problem is that people are not exercising freewill, generosity, or joy. They are not motivated by love for God or lost souls. People aren’t giving, period – the statistics bear this out.
While tithing is not by commandment or percentage this does not mean God encourages us not to give at all. Reality tells us a different story: the people who have all of those traits you mentioned generally give regularly, dedicate a minimum fixed percentage of their income to giving and look for ways to go above and beyond the tithe.
In the meantime, those who claim that “tithing is legalistic” or “tithing is optional” are generally those who are looking to make excuses for their own lack of giving.
God never told us to not give; he told us to not be tied down by legalism when giving. When people are freed from societal pressures, they should be open to give more – not less.
Your logic is that, since New Covenant giving does not pay the bills, then we need to be legalistis because God did not provide a system to sustain His church.
Churches which cannot survive without cursing its members who do not or cannot tihe have failed to preach personal evangelism and need to fail.
There are many strong churches and seminaries which survive without teaching tithing. Wheaton, Dallas, Talbot schools; Martin Luther, John MacArthur, Walter Elwell, Merrill Unger, Craig Blomberg, etc. etc, etc
To be honest, I didn’t especially enjoy the video although it was mildly amusing in the 3 Stooges style. But as to the topic of tithing, I do think it’s a good thing for all Christians to do. It’s very honouring to God and is a very practical way for each of us to remember that everything we have is really only on loan from the Lord anyways. It’s definitely not about getting on God’s good list – He loves us whether we tithe or not. I think in some ways it’s more for us, although the local church and other worthwhile ministries are certainly helped when we tithe. And it can’t be denied that if all Christians tithed, there would be no need for fundraisers.