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This is from yet another person who testifies to an "awakening" regarding the tithe, in March of 2001. It was graciously donated by the author after we asked permission to post it. Author's homepage is: http://www.LordYouAre.com/

-Teri


To Tithe Or Not To Tithe
(The $earch For Truth)
By Jack Helser  <Jack@LordYouAre.com>

Though I’ve always struggled with the tithe, I still shook my head in disgust when I heard about the preacher who’s congregation quietly left the church during the prayer following a long sermon on tithing. He said "Amen", looked up and cried out "half my church is gone!" I laughed saying "they must have fled the conviction of the Holy Spirit".

What the Lord said took me completely by surprise: "They fled from error and guilt-based giving". "What?!?" - I’ve heard more sermons on the tithe than on any other topic except perhaps our need of Jesus for eternal life! After I picked up my jaw from the floor, the Lord prompted me to study tithing and giving. Throughout the Bible study I prayed for His guidance and in the end I reached the inescapable conclusion that the "tithe" is to the modern church what the issue of "circumcision" was to the church in Paul’s time.

NOTE: Nothing in this article is intended as an excuse to stop giving as the Lord leads you to give.

The verse most often cited in support of the tithe is from the Old Testament, found in Malachi 3:8-10:

8. ""Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, `How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. 9. You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me. 10. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. Many preachers shorten Malachi 3:8-10 to just "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse", and almost always with the inference that their church is the "storehouse". For purposes of this paper, the Lord had me concentrate on the passage: "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house". From that passage, the Lord had me research several questions:
    1) What is the tithe?
    2) What was the tithe for?
    3) What is the storehouse?
Fruit1) What is the tithe? The tithe is 10% of the increase, established in Leviticus 27:30-33 as an offering Holy to the Lord. The scripture identifies the tithe as grain and fruit, herd and flock. The tithe is food! An example of the tithe can be seen in a shepherd with a flock of 100 sheep who is blessed with the birth of 50 lambs in the spring. Five of the lambs must be offered to the Lord as a tithe. The tithe was brought to the temple in Jerusalem in acknowledgement and appreciation of God’s provision for His people.

2) What was the tithe for? God doesn’t need the food – God doesn’t eat. God doesn’t desire sacrifices or offerings ( Psalm 40:6 and Hosea 6:6 ) – He desires mercy. God doesn’t need us to give Him a 10th of everything – when He already owns everything ( Psalm 24:1 and Job 41:11b ). The tithe was used to feed the Levite priests (and their families) who were required to work in the temple day and night ministering to God on behalf of God’s people ( 1 Chronicles 9:33 ). Without the tithe, the Levite priests would have needed to raise their own food, thereby taking them away from ministering before God. Hence the reference in Malachi 3:10 "…that there may be food in my house". Nehemiah 13:10-13 records a time when the Levite priests were not receiving the tithe wherein they abandoned their daily temple responsibilities to work the farms to feed their families. The reference to ‘robbing God’ in Malachi 3:8 is in fact robbing God of ministry and worship by failing to take care of God’s priests through the tithe of food items. Unlike the other tribes of Israel who were given land as their inheritance, the Levites were not given any land – only a few cities in which to live. God was their inheritance ( Numbers 18:20-21 ). Thus, the remaining tribes were obligated to provide the Levites with food since they had no land on which to grow their own.

3) What is the storehouse? 2 Chronicles 31 teaches that the storehouse is the Temple in Jerusalem. When the tithe was re-instituted under King Hezekiah, the king gave orders to prepare storerooms in the temple to hold the tithe. Apparently the grain "tithe" was heaped up in the streets, which caused a traffic jam of sorts. King Hezekiah had the storehouse built to relieve a bad case of urban congestion in ancient Jerusalem.

Having established the original purpose of the tithe, the Lord prompted me with several more questions.

Q: "What happened to the temple (storehouse)?"
A: It was destroyed in 70AD and has not been rebuilt.

GrainQ: "Why?"
A: The old covenant system of animal sacrifice to atone for sin is finished. The new covenant is in the blood of Christ who is the final and everlasting sin sacrifice.

Q: "Where is the temple now?"
A: 1 Corinthians 6:19 says WE are the temple of the Holy Spirit. God no longer resides in a stone temple, but in the hearts of his children through the Holy Spirit.

Q: "What happened to the Levite priests?"
A: The Levite priesthood is no longer necessary as the old covenant system of animal sacrifice in the temple was superceded by the everlasting covenant of Christ’s blood.

Q: "Who is the priesthood now?"
A: 1 Peter 2:5 and 9 says those who have received Jesus as Lord and Savior are the priesthood.

Come On Laity, Let’s Do The Twist

Burdening the Body of Christ with the Tithe requires several twists and reinterpretations of scripture.

1) The tithe must be imported from the OT law of Moses to the new covenant of grace by Christ’s blood.
2) The tithe must be redefined from "flocks, herds, fruit and grain" to "money" and often "time".
3) The storehouse must be redefined from the temple in Jerusalem to the local church building.
4) The Body of Christ must buy into the ordained clergy as the new priesthood, thereby replacing the Levite priesthood as the rightful recipient of the tithe.
5) The Body of Christ must forfeit their own priesthood and buy into the notion that they are the "laity".
The tithe has been introduced to the Body of Christ using 2 tactics of the enemy.
1) Sowing guilt and shame into the Body of Christ by quoting Malachi 3:8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, `How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings." What devoted Christian wants to rob God? The net effect of sowing guilt has been to extort money from the Body of Christ, thereby robbing the Body of the joy and blessing of giving as God leads. The practice ignores Paul’s instructions to the church at Corinth: "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver ( 2 Corinthians 9:7 )."

2) Blaming the "laity" for the financial troubles in the Body of Christ , by telling the Body they are not blessed by God because they do not tithe. Often Malachi 3:10 is emphasized "Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." In so doing, believers are challenged to tithe, with the promise that God will bless them if they do. Such giving is not out of love for God, but out of selfishness. It implies a reward for works, which contradicts Ephesians 2:8-9 , and completely ignores our status as sons of God by faith in Christ ( Galatians 3:26 ) and joint heirs of God with Christ ( Romans 8:17 ). The practice also ignores Christ’s words in Matthew 4:7 "Do not put the Lord your God to the test".

The Apostles Did Not Teach Gentiles To Tithe

Acts 15:1-31 records a dispute over circumcision that arose in the Gentile church at Antioch. Several false brothers had attempted to require Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians to be circumcised. Paul and Barnabas sharply opposed the false brothers and traveled to Jerusalem to discuss the issue of circumcision with the other apostles. In Jerusalem, they reported the miracles and conversions among the Gentiles. The apostles were filled with joy over God’s work there, and they agreed that circumcision was not a requirement for salvation. Following the meeting, the apostles and elders in the church at Jerusalem sent Paul and Barnabas back to Antioch with a letter of welcome to the Gentile Christians. The essential text of the letter is found in Acts 15:28-29. It reads: "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell."

The apostles did not want to burden the Gentiles with Old Testament practices! The proof is in their letter to the Gentiles and the fact that the apostles did not impose the tithe on them.

Come, Let Us Reason Together ( Isaiah 1:18 )

Let’s suppose for the sake of argument that Jesus had commanded us to continue tithing. It would be appropriate then to use the tithe to feed the priesthood as originally purposed. Who then is the priesthood? The apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:5 and 9 that every believer is a priest ! Hebrews 5-8 also teaches us that Jesus is the only priest that we need . However the institutional church has borrowed from the Old Testament model of the Levitical Priesthood, thereby establishing a new priesthood (ordained clergy) that is separate from the rest of the Body of Christ. The division between the clergy, and the so-called "laity" is not Biblical (Is this the doctrine of the Nicolaitan’s that Jesus says He hates in Revelation 2:6 ) ?In fact, Jesus did not establish the ordained clergy – He chose fishermen and tax collectors to preach His gospel. Neither did He establish division in His church, He desires unity ( John 17:20-23 ). The apostles did not set up an ordained clergy – they chose men full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom to serve the Body ( Acts 6:3, 1 Timothy 3 ). This man-made division between "clergy" and "laity" has effectively served to divert the offerings of the Body of Christ away from the people it is intended to bless and the offerings are most often used in ways contrary to the will of God. The net result has been starvation and financial bondage for many believers, and the real priesthood – the whole Body of Christ – has not been prepared to carry out Christ’s command to preach the gospel to all nations!

Jesus is the Word of God in the flesh ( John 1:14 ). He knew that Malachi 3:10 says "bring the whole tithe into the storehouse" when He instructed the rich man to sell everything and give the proceeds to the poor ( Matthew 19:21 ). I imagine the Scribes and Pharisees about choked on what Jesus said as they were in the habit of devouring widow’s houses for profit ( Luke 20:47 ) and the rich man’s possessions would have been a real feast for them. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus reiterated His desire to help the poor in the parable of separating the sheep from goats, wherein at judgement Jesus will reward those who feed the hungry and clothe the poor. Since Jesus judges us for our care of the poor and hungry, and since He commands us to preach the gospel throughout the world, why is most of our giving used for church buildings and salaries with only a small percentage devoted to the poor, missions and evangelism?

Is the church making goats out of us by not feeding the hungry and clothing the poor with our offerings?

Let’s not wait until the Judgement of Christ to find out!

Sins of the Church Against the Needy

HerdThe Lord has been trying to bring me to the truth about giving for years. On many occasions, He prompted me to take what I would have normally put in the offering plate at church and give it directly to someone in need. I love giving like that! Still, in the absence of specific giving instructions from the Lord, I never questioned the common practice of giving everything to the church, whereupon I trusted the church to administer my gifts. That is until the day the Lord had me witness an abomination that left me nauseous.

In the main office of a church I attended years ago, I was fixing a computer one Friday morning. Two young black women, with 3 adorable children dressed in their Sunday best, came into the office to ask for a food donation. The 3 secretaries of our all white upper middle class church stared at them, and finally one said nervously "our deacon of benevolence is in the office on Thursday afternoons – can I make an appointment for you next Thursday?" One of the women pleaded "We can’t wait a week, we need food now". The secretary repeated her offer, and I became sick to my stomach. I left quickly and drove a mile up the road to a cash machine and came directly back to the church only to find that the 2 women and 3 children had left empty handed. The staff did not know where they had gone, and I returned to my car and wept. I felt as if I had failed but the Lord said "you did not fail son, the church failed".

Since that first eye-opening experience, the Lord has shown me many more sins of the church against the poor that have left me ill. One church considered installing an air conditioning system for which several members had pledged $35,000 while another member of the church who was wheelchair bound from advanced multiple sclerosis didn’t have enough money to buy food at the end of the month with what little state aid she received. Often she was forced to chose between food, medicine or heat in winter. For many months my wife and I gave to her anonymously and when she went to be with the Lord last winter, she was at peace – the kind of peace that only acts of love can bring ( 1 John 3:18, James 1:22 ). As she was relieved of her financial stress, she blessed everyone around her with unquenchable joy. Most importantly, she taught us about right giving.

More recently, I attended a conference where the host appealed to the audience to give "an offering for the poor". I heard the Lord say "the poor are among you" ( Mark 14:7 ) and immediately I thought of a dear friend in attendance who is experiencing financial difficulties and had recently lost her home. The next day I began a letter to the host saying "Last night you took an offering from the poor" . I groaned at the error and started to rip the page from my notebook when the Lord said "that is not an error – last night’s offering was taken from the poor".

The Lord then brought to mind the parable of the sheep and goats, specifically Matthew 25:40 where it says "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine , you did for me". The words "these brothers of mine" had not made an impression on me before, and the Lord brought me to the understanding that our first obligation to the poor is to the poor within the Body of Christ. The Lord then brought Matthew 15:26 to mind wherein Jesus said "It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs".

The early church had a much better understanding of Christ’s intent to care for the needs of the Body of Christ than we do today. The proof of their caring for each other can be seen in Acts 2:44-47 and Acts 4:32-37 where the Body of Christ shared everything, and through their giving, they eliminated poverty and indebtedness. In fact, Acts 4:34 says "there were no needy persons among them!" Taking up offerings to feed the Body of Christ was common in the early church. In Acts 11:27-30, the Gentile church at Antioch took up an offering for the believers in Judea who were experiencing a time of famine. Can you imagine a church today taking up an offering for a cross-town rival?

How did the church get so far off course?

Giving as Christ Intends

Though the tithe is not a requirement for the Body of Christ, we are still instructed to give. What changed from the Old Testament to the New is our motivation for giving. In the Old Testament, giving was compulsory – a tenth (tithe). In the New Testament we are to give with joy as we are led to give ( 2 Corinthians 9:7 ), not by compulsion.

Two CoinsOur attitude about giving should be like that of the poor widow who Jesus esteemed in Mark 12:41-44. She put 2 small copper coins, worth a penny, into the temple treasury. They were all the widow had to live on. She understood that God owns everything and was willing to give all that she had with cheer as God had prompted her to do.

It is time to invest cheerfully in what is eternal, specifically in God’s children for the completion of Kingdom work ( Matthew 6:19-21 ). The children must be fed, clothed and equipped to carry Christ’s gospel throughout the whole world and to make the Bride of Christ ready for her soon returning Savior. Imagine what it could be like if we resumed giving and sharing as Jesus intends. Surely we would rediscover the same abundant and powerful living as the early church enjoyed!

On the topic of giving, John 8:36 might seem like a strange scripture to cite: "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed". While it is true that Jesus set us free from the curse of the law ( Galatians 3:10-13 ), sin and death ( Romans 8:2 ), our failure to give as Jesus taught us has kept the Church in financial bondage, and has prevented the Church from completing the work of Christ on earth. How many children of God fail to reach their full potential as ministers of the Gospel because they lack provision? It is through our giving and sharing that we equip the Church for service, eliminate hunger and poverty, and realize the fullness of our freedom in Christ.

We can no longer afford to misuse our offerings for church buildings, parsonages, conference centers, multi-purpose buildings, air conditioning, padded pews, pipe organs, and the like, all of which will soon be forgotten, while God's children go hungry, poor and ill equipped to minister the Gospel. Instead, like Abel, we should give our best gifts to the true Church – the people – because we love God and want to see God's work accomplished on the earth.

On concluding my study, the Lord asked one final question: What building ever won a person to Christ?

Ask the Lord to show you what to give and to whom, and remember that His words "Feed my sheep" (John 21:17) go much deeper than a pastor's sermon on a Sunday morning. His words are spiritual, and they are literal.

Jack Helser



ADDENDUM 1:

Jack received a large volume of e-mail after his testimony was released via e-mail. Below is the reply he sent out en masse:

Tithe Follow-up

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the past when I’ve sent an article to Pam Clark for publication on the Trumpet Wind Prophetic Bulletin, I typically received 3-4 replies and I responded to each one individually.

The article "To Tithe Or Not To Tithe – The $earch For Truth" has received over 60 replies within a day of publication and I’m hard pressed to respond to each one individually. Readers of Pam’s newsletter are now forwarding the article, and I’m receiving a 2nd generation of replies. Most are words of encouragement and agreement, others affirm that the Lord has been revealing the same truth to them in recent months – some have been bullied into silence about the truth. Several said the article finally settled the tithe issue for them, and the Holy Spirit has given them peace and the freedom to give as the Lord leads (Praise the Lord!).

A few dear brothers and sisters also received permission from the Lord to sow into their own ministries,  which is a wonderful idea. I didn’t mention in the article, but the Lord has had me sow into my own ministry a few times in the past. Once in my early 20’s (I’m 45 now) I had a Christian band and a public music ministry. For a time we used our offerings to purchase a PA system and over the course of 4-5 years, we sang at 200 churches, prisons, military bases, and schools in the Seattle area. We had a blast going wherever we were invited and the Lord blessed us. We had good jobs so whatever we received from the concerts was given to the poor, or donated to area food banks. More recently, the Lord launched my wife Karen and I into music ministry, and we purchased a small sound system for our concerts.

After hearing from one sister who just received the Lord’s blessing to sow to her ministry in foreign missions, the Lord spoke to my heart about our ministry. A few years ago, the Lord called me via 1st Timothy 1:12 (NKJV) and impressed my wife and I to move from the Seattle area to north central Illinois. We incurred moving expenses, but we never considered them ministry expenses even though it was the Lord who directed us to move here for ministry. The Lord has impressed on me that our moving expenses are indeed ministry expenses and that it is OK to use what we would normally give to pay the moving expenses. Your responses have been a real blessing to me, and I’m glad to share another way in which the Lord has set me free to give as He leads me to give. Praise Him!

The Lord has reminded me of the verse “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” ( Psalm 37:4 ). I sense in many of your replies that your heart’s desire is for ministry, but you have been held back for lack of funding because you give your entire offering to the church you attend. I know several of the replies struck me as teachers, compassion ministries, encouragers and missionaries – in waiting. I believe the Lord wants me to encourage you to take that step of faith as He leads you, and sow seed money for the ministry He has for you ( Ephesians 2:10 ). It’s OK to do that. ;^) Note that giving to your own ministry is not tax deductible unless you have a registered not-for-profit organization. I’ll save you the embarrassment of asking the Lord about that; when I complained that a gift He’d asked me to give was not tax deductible, His reply was “So!?! I’m good for it!” ;^) (Oh me of little faith! ;^)

A few of the replies have been from a brother or sister in bondage over the Tithe issue. Years of hearing the tithe lie has robbed them of the joy of giving as they struggle to obey the rules they’ve been taught: “you must give 10% to the church or you have robbed God and He won’t bless you”. Is that out of my gross or net earnings? “Do you want a ‘gross’ or a ‘net’ blessing?” Argh! There was once such reply that brought me to travail (weeping intercessory prayer). What the enemy has done to that dear sister grieves me deeply.

I want to share briefly 2 letters that raised 3 objections to the article and address the points of objection. As you exercise your freedom to give as the Lord leads, you’ll no doubt hear these objections and I feel led to share what the Lord has shown me. The Lord had me write the article around Malachi 3:8-10 . The objections refer to a few other scriptures that are often twisted and manipulated to support the tithe.

The “Melchizedek” Argument ( Genesis 14:18-20 )

Abraham gave a “tenth” (NIV) or “tithe” (KJV) to “Melchizedek” the King of ‘Salem (Jerusalem), High Priest of God, in Genesis 14:18-20 . The “tenth/tithe” was given out of the spoils of war, following Abraham’s victory over King Kedorlaomer and those kings allied with him after they had captured Abraham’s nephew Lot, Lot’s family and possessions, the people and possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah ( Genesis 14:11-12 ). The person who found fault with the tithe article notes the parallels between “Melchizedek” King of ‘Salem who received Abraham’s tithe of spoils ( Genesis 14:18-20 ) and Jesus who is High Priest in the order of “Melchizedek” (several mentions in Hebrews 5-7 ).

A close read of Hebrews 7 reveals that the author is NOT writing a defense of the “tenth/tithe” though it is mentioned several times. Rather the author discusses the end of the Levite priesthood and the effect Christ’s death has on the practice of the Law ( Hebrews 7:11-12 , Hebrews 7:18-19 ). Hebrews explains that Christ is the final and everlasting sacrifice and that He is our High Priest before God forever ( Hebrews 7:24 ) in the order of Melchizedek ( Genesis 14:18-20 , Hebrews 7:11 ).

A Tenth of Everything? Define Everything!

Abraham lived near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite ( Genesis 14:13 ) at Hebron ( Genesis 13:18 ). Hebron is about 25 miles south of Jerusalem. The Genesis account says Abraham pursued Kedorlaomer north “as far as Dan” ( Genesis 14:14 ) which is about 150 miles north of Jerusalem. Abraham’s pursuit took him about 175 miles north of his home in Hebron. Following his victory over Kedorlaomer, Melchizedek came out to meet Abraham in King’s Valley (to the east of Jerusalem) as he returned from Dan ( Genesis 14:17-18 , Hebrews 7:1 ). Abraham’s home was still another 25 miles to the south of King’s Valley at Hebron. Unless Abraham carried his household possessions with him to Dan and back (about 350 miles round trip), Abraham gave to Melchizedek only out of the spoils he carried back from his victory over Kedorlaomer ( Hebrews 7:2, 7:4 ). In that sense, it was Kedorlaomer, the enemy, who paid the tithe.

It is a tremendous perversion of scripture to take a perpetual tithe from the wages of the sons of God – the Church – when the original tithe was a one time thank offering given by Abraham to Melchizedek from the plunder of an enemy! It is shameful to treat the sons of God like the enemy! How should the sons be treated? Consider Jesus response to the temple tax. Jesus asked Peter “What thinkest thou, Simon? The kings of the earth, from whom do they receive toll or tribute? From their sons, or from strangers?” Peter answered “From strangers” and Jesus replied “Therefore the sons are free” . ( Matthew 17:24-27 ).

Gross Misinterpretation

Genesis 14:18-20 has been broadly interpreted to impose the tithe on the Church. Obvious errors are:

The “God Changes Not” Argument

“Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says ( Galatians 4:21 )?”

An objection made the statement “God changes not”. While it is true God does not change, it is a poor argument to use on behalf of continuing the tithe. If the argument “God changes not” is a valid reason to keep one part of the Law – the tithe – then it is a valid reason to keep ALL of the law ( Galatians 5:3 ). Consider the uproarious implications! Burnt offerings and sacrifices on the altar of every church! “Come to our Sunday morning worship service and BBQ!” Every church with it’s own grain silo, winepress, and pasture / corral for the livestock people will be tithing! We’ll need much bigger offering plates! Oh and the joys we’ll all have practicing ceremonial cleanliness – women instructed to stay home from church 1 week per month ( Leviticus 12:2 ). Pastors inspecting rashes and teens staying home from church and school because of a zit outbreak ( Leviticus 13 )! Undertakers! Poor undertakers! Every time they touch a deceased person they are unclean for a week ( Numbers 19:16 )! If business is brisk, don’t expect to see the undertaker in church again! Yes Lord! We want to go back to the Law! Not!

Rebuke of the Scribes and Pharisees Argument

Jesus rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees for meticulously giving a “tithe/tenth” of their “mint, dill and cummin”, while neglecting the more important matters of the law: “justice, mercy, faithfulness”. Jesus said “these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (KJV) and “You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former” (NIV) - Matthew 23:23

Once again, there are several problems with using this scripture to support the tithe as applicable to the Body of Christ.

The Last Word

What part of “It is finished” ( John 19:30 ) is so difficult to understand?

Or what about “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law” Galatians 5:18 ?

There can be only one conclusion:

Mini$ter$ who $tre$$ tithe$ $how a $elfi$h intere$t in $omething be$ide$ $aving $oul$ for Je$u$.

Please pray that the Church breaks free from the tithe lie, guilt, manipulation and fear that keeps the Church in bondage. Pray for the Church to come into the complete freedom of Christ and for freedom to give AND live freely and joyfully as the Lord intends for each of us. Finally, please pray especially for those whom the enemy has bruised by the tithe lie.

If this and the original tithe article have blessed you, please pass them on as you feel led to do.

May the Lord bless each of you with abundance as you give as He leads you to give.

Get free and stay free!

Love in Christ, Jack

Jack Helser



ADDITIONAL 2:
This is a humorous musing by Jack:

Fun With Numbers

My corporate background is a business analyst (thanks, I'm much better now) , and I found myself looking at the institutional church in terms of overhead, and what the end product is for the majority of people. There is a sense in which the church exists to deliver the message, which in the institutional church is typically a 20-minute sermon on Sunday morning. For the vast majority of the congregation, the sermon is the product they take home. For those who's only church involvement is in the capacity of a listener on Sundays, everything other than the sermon is overhead. For giggles I examined the topic of dedicated giving using a typical church as an example.

The church has 500 members who collectively pay for a pastor to preach the gospel twice each Sunday for 20 minutes. That's 40 minutes of preaching the gospel per week - which amounts to 2080 minutes per year or 34.67 hours per year. We'll give the pastor credit for occasionally going overtime and round it up to 36 hours per year. Based on the standard corporate year of 2080 hours for full-time employment, the delivery of the "sermon" represents about 1.7% of the pastors work year. In the interest of fairness, it is necessary to credit that 36 hours of preaching to the congregation that hired the pastor to preach the gospel for them rather than do it themselves as Christ commanded in Matthew 28:19 . So those 36 hours spread equally across the 500 church members amounts to 4 minutes and 10 seconds per member per year. But wait! The pastor only preaches in the church where everyone is already saved (supposedly)! So that 4 minutes and 10 second credit for each member is WIPED OUT because it wasn't preached to the LOST - it was preached to the FOUND.

Each member is credited with 250 seconds per year. The church has an annual budget of $250,000 or the equivalent of $500 per member per year. 250 seconds of preaching per member at $500 per member breaks down to a total cost of (including overhead) $2 per second for the gospel message. The rate per minute is $120, per hour is $7200. Each 20-minute sermon requires the TOTAL annual offering of 5 members.

Obviously there are problems with my logic, nevertheless it serves to demonstrate the absurdities we've bought into for so long. I zeroed in on the pastor's sermon because we have made it the pinnacle of the church week, and many of us have bought into the notion that only an ordained pastor can preach. In a very real sense, much of the church is built around the pastor's message – just look at the sanctuary and the focus of the congregation: the altar, where usually the pulpit sits center-stage. Relegating our responsibility to preach the gospel throughout the world, to a pastor who preaches it to those already saved, effectively costs that church $2,400 per 20 minute sermon.

No wonder Peter left fishing for the ministry.

How will the members of that church fare before the judgement of Christ who commands us to be good stewards and to preach the gospel throughout the whole world?

Personally, I think the devil laughs himself silly about it.

Jack Helser


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