How To Give To God

It may not be to a church...

Mar 23, 2024

This post is the fourth in the series re our responsibility to financially support the preaching of the Gospel.

In the first post, we discussed how to give to God. He warns us to be wary about to whom we give our money , for it is very easy to be deceived into supporting those who oppose God, rather than those who love him! (Matt 24:5-24, Mark 13:22, Luke 21:8, Acts 20:29-30, 2Cor 11:13-15, 2 Peter 2:1-3)

We should not look at the cross of Christ as being a way to make a profit!

We Need To Be Responsible About Whom We Give Our Money To

For most of the time in ancient Israel, up to and including the time of Christ, the temple was the spiritual centre of worship, so that whenever the Bible mentions giving to God, it was easy to see where the money was expected to go. (Matt 8:4)

The Israelites had one religion at the time of Christ, and only one Temple. Yet, there were various sects, such as the Pharisees and Sadducees, and no doubt there was some infighting about who had control of the finances.

In comparison, therefore, it was much simpler than it is today- where we have many ‘one and only true’ churches. As we can’t give our money directly to God, it’s incumbent upon a Christian to determine for himself what organization he will support, and if he should support any at all.

Paul strongly warned Timothy (and us) that there will be people seeming to be religious, that we need to avoid at all cost:

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; (2Tim 3:1-4)

What sort of people are these? They are religious! For the verse continues to tell us that they are: Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (2Tim 3:5)

Such people as this manipulate others for their own ends:

For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts, (such people are) Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2Tim 3:6-7)

They may seem to know a great deal about God, but they themselves are badly confused, and they also confuse and abuse others.

Judging The Fruits

Before we give our money to anyone, we have a weighty task ahead of us; we must determine if they should get it by judging by their fruits those who are doing the will of God, and those who are not. (Matt 7:15-20)

We can’t simply be careless with our gifts to God, and expect that he will guide those to whom we give our money to use it properly- blindly hoping that they will use it to do God’s work. Such an attitude is lazy and simplistic wishful thinking, without any scriptural foundation.

So, if you do find some good people, who are doing the will of God, continue to test them by their fruits, to ensure that your money is spent as they actually said it would be. (Matt 7:15-20)

God expects those organizations claiming to represent him, to be responsible in how they spend his money. He also expects you to be responsible in determining whom you give your money to, because if you are not careful you could be supporting those opposing God.

Many groups seem good when we first join them, but after a while we may find that what they say is not what they actually do. We may realize that we have been conned into supporting the work of man, and not of God. (Acts 20:29-30, 3John 1:9-11)

If you find you have been deceived, then learn from your mistake, and take your tithe and offerings elsewhere. You may lose some friends in the church, but you need to be loyal to God as your trusted friend, rather than remain in an organization, no matter how much time and effort you have already devoted to it.

Hold the group you join to a proper state of accountability regarding money. Don’t just accept a vague summary of what they have received and spent, but demand a detailed summary of wages and expenses.

One group I knew did tell the members how much was spent, but in doing so they lumped together all “expenses of preaching the gospel”, such as hall hire and wages for the ministry. So, the members didn’t know if the ministry was getting excessive wages, or they just had very expensive halls!

Yet, why should members not know how much the ministers gets paid, unless it’s too embarrassing for the leaders to show their excessive wages?

Given all the warnings in scripture about false ministers, the ministry should prove to you that they are truly doing God’s work.

Proper accountability is a sign of basic respect, honesty and integrity, and it’s no more than the tax office, or shareholders in any company, require, expect and generally get.

Tithes Or Offerings?

As stated in the third post, God expects us to give to him in a spirit of willingness:

Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity (not out of manipulation or fear): for God loveth a cheerful (willing) giver. (2Cor 9:6-8)

We also need to think about whom we are giving our money to and how much we are giving.

You will notice there is no mention of tithing in this scripture, yet these verses are often used to pressure people to give tithes. If tithing was the way that God expected you to support the Church, then this would have been the obvious place for Paul to mention it. Yet, tithing is completely omitted.

Indeed, it seems to be clear that Paul is exclusively talking about offerings, as a tithe would not be something that you need to consider in your heart, as it’s calculated on your increase. Tithing has nothing to do with being generous. It’s calculated on a specific amount of increase. If we don’t have an increase, then we don’t need to tithe- indeed we can’t tithe.

You will also notice that in the book of Hebrews, when it talks about Abraham giving tithes to Melchizedek, that no mention is made of the requirement for members to give tithes to the Church. (Heb 7:1-5)

Again, if tithing was carried over to the New Testament, then these verses in Hebrews would have been a very logical place to mention it. Yet, as stated in the second post in this series, tithing is only mentioned three times in the New Testament, and then it is never stated as a requirement for Christians.

Preachers also often claim that ministers are now in the role of the Levitical priesthood, and thus should logically get the tithes as did the Levites. Yet, while Hebrews 7:5 mentions the Levites getting the tithes, it actually completely omits to say that Christian ministers are in the role of the Levites, or that they too should get tithes.

If you want to give the tithe of your increase to God, that is fine, but there seems to be minimal scriptural support for the idea that tithing is actually expected of Christians.

Giving To Get From God?

Fear is also a major manipulation tool used by false preachers. They want you to give to them, and they use the line that “God can’t bless you, unless you give everything God expects you to give”.

We, however, must actually be motivated by our love for God, rather than be motivated by being afraid that he won’t bless us. Nor should we be afraid of the preachers and their manipulative words.

By paying tithes we can’t force God to do what we want.

Remember, God is not our servant, we are his servants. (Matt 4:10, 6:24)

We should therefore be careful that our motivation for tithing and giving offerings are pure and not covetous, or attempting to be coercive toward God.

We need to read the Bible to understand exactly what it means, so that we can think straight to enable us to develop a relationship directly with God.

We can also ask God for the wisdom to determine who are the wolves, and who are the true shepherds of God’s flock. (John 10:1-5 & 27)

While God promises to bless us for giving to him, he does not promise to protect us from being stupid.

When the TV evangelist tells you: I was poor and gave my last dollar to the Lord, and look how he has now blessed me! Do you really think you should believe him? Are you so gullible? Unfortunately, plenty of people obviously are, as they are paying for the TV show!

One particular female TV evangelist is keen on saying “I sometimes feel like giving when in a restaurant, so I decide to pay the bill for some stranger I don’t know. That is the way of Christ, to be generous”.

Do you really think that if someone is in a restaurant that they are in need of money? And do you think God would be pleased with you for giving to those who have more than enough? He that oppresses the poor to increase his riches, and he that gives to the rich, shall surely come to want. (Prov 22:16)

The Money Changers

So, who should we give our money to? If there was only one Church, that would still not guarantee that you could be sure that your money was going to the right place.

In the first century there was only the Temple as a place of worship. So, you would think that religious people collecting money in the Temple of God, would be doing it for the glory of God? Yet, even then we would need to be careful, as Jesus’ example of clearing out the money changers in the Temple illustrates:

And Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, It is written, "My house shall be called the house of prayer"; but you have made it a den of thieves. (Matt 21:12-13)

Selling anything in God’s temple, even animals for offerings, was not acceptable, but particularly selling at an exorbitant profit was blaspheming God’s name. (John 2:16, Rom 2:24)

God is not in any hurry to get money from you. Don’t you think that he would prefer that you were certain about whom you were supporting, rather than supporting someone who is actually opposed to the truth of God? (John 16:2)

The next post in this series will examine in more detail what is an increase and whom God expects us to give money to.