So, church buildings, pastors, children's classes, and Bible study are all luxuries, to be paid for only if we feel like chipping in a few pennies, AFTER, of course, we have all our necessities, like video games, junk food, and dates.
In the spirit of counsel (advice), which is the purpose of this forum and this thread:
I uphold the family, which is a creation of the Lord. Communal facilities, professional staffing, and all the other trappings of luxury the modern model of the institutional church organization provides does indeed have some positive and beneficial activities within. I don't deny that.
However, I counsel (and encourage) that the parents are responsible first and foremost for their own spiritual growth, and then that of their children's spiritual upbringing and growth. Casting that responsibility off onto others is problematic, and downright irresponsible.
Granted: There are many hypotheitcals we can cast into a mix for discussion as examples for advising others in here, but I'll let that slide so we can deal with real-life issues people have and who are seeking advice.
Yet the very ones who believe this way are the ones calling the pastor at all hours of the day and night for help, and who get irritated when they are asked to give some non-monetary help, like cutting grass. Oh, and let's not forget, borrowing the church for weddings and such. Don't you DARE expect money for that. After all I am a MEMBER!!
As I've stated in some of my posts in this very thread, it's ok to support such things, but such support should be a lesser priority to the needs of people. Elevating the facility above the needs of people is just plain evil, which is a real problem in the minds of institutionalists. I counsel that people who have such up-side down priorities rethink their position on this.
How pathetic. Every man and his brother think they know what it takes to be a "professional" pastor. Everyone believes they know that this one is called, but that one is not.
Good point, and a point that I too have made in my posts here. Most tend to assume that all those men behind pulpits are called of God. That's a problem that more people should rethink.
Look, either support your church, or don't. Let God sort out who's right.
Actually, that's not advice I would give to those who seek answers to their dilemmas. Scriptures gives us such answers. Each believer is responsible for what they choose to believe, and it's all our responsibility to seek the answers rather than to sit passively, waiting in the hopes it'll fall in our laps....in time.
What the New Testament shows us is the believer's giving first and foremost to meet the needs of fellow believers, not to facilities and programs. Rarely do I ever find anyone who rejects the evidence with such blatant and blind indifference to the facts, but there are some. To those I would say go back and read the scriptures again. Positive points found within the institutional model serve as no excuse for turning the priorities in our giving, portrayed within scriptures, completely up-side down.
What I counsel is that we all remain consistent with the instructions and examples found within scriptures, and then support other
things as one so chooses.
We could read the Bible, but too many selfish men know how to twist it to allow them to keep their money - their idol, their god.
Very true indeed. Fortunately, my counsel has never been to hold on to what one has. My counsel has been to give in accordance with biblical instructions and examples, which is to meet the needs of those in one's own house, and then fellow believers, as is clearly exemplified within scripture. People are always more important than wood, brick, mortar and steel.
No one can serve God and Money. God said in the Old Testament to tithe.
Very true. The tithe was from the increase from the land, herds and flocks, never from the wages of wage earners like most of us here. Carpenters were not required to tithe, nor fishermen, tax collectors, clothiers, cobblers, or any other tradesman or laborer. That too is good counsel for others to consider when taught they are still under the enslaving bondage of the Law.
Jesus said nothing to counter that in the New Testament. Either your god is God or money. How you spend your money will tell you which is yours.
I counsel that those who are unsure about the topic of the tithe study the Old Testament, how the tithe was defined, and who was required to hand over such tithe to the Levites. Many erroneously assume wage earners, like most of us here, paid tithes, which is a false teaching.
Not even Jesus paid a tithe since He owned no producing lands, flocks or herds, and yet there's a very strong, silent assumption He did.....even though no verse exists anywhere in the Bible He did such, or that He was required by Law to do so.
Unless someone miraculously knows something not ever mentioned in scripture, those facts remain standing because no argument has yet been forthcoming from theologians that has the power to topple them. Those who teach otherwise generally rely on particulars that simply can't be found anywhere in scripture. They must inject those particulars into scripture, as if they were authorized by God to alter His inspired word.
Folks, you will indeed be blessed and store up treasure in Heaven when you give abundantly to meet the needs of fellow believers and those in your local communities. Just keep in mind that handing over to religious organizations the primary, largest portion of your giving is actually a support of something from which you personally reap benefit. That's not giving to God. That's paying your dues, like a masonic club.
When we give to the poor, we reap not direct, earthly benefit like they do when supporting a dead building and its various programs, with only the leftovers used for benevolent outreaches and missions.
Don't let others rob you by misleading you into the assumption that "giving to get" on this earth is consistent with biblical examples and teaching. Take responsibility for what you choose to believe by searching the scriptures for yourselves. I'm not looking for followers. I point only to Christ Jesus, unlike those who point at their facilities and programs rather than Christ Jesus. Jesus said that HE is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Amen
BTW
