Tithing - What the Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination teaches about tithing and why it is wrong.
Before I get started I must premise this section by telling you that this is one of the most dangerous and destructive false teaching of the Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination. Teaching tithing is absolutely unbiblical and nothing more than mind control manipulation. There has been a lot of good information on the truth about tithing made available online and I will provide some links at the bottom of this page to web sites that I have read and agree with. The purpose of this page is not to go into a lot of detail about tithing. I would simply like to point out the false teachings of the Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination in this area and touch on some of the important points about tithing that show why it is wrong.
When I recently asked an Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination minister about tithing this was his reply was: "When men will not tithe, (1) God's work on earth is hindered, (2) the non-tither is robbing God, (3) God will withhold His blessing, even chastening the non-tither. However, God has categorically promised to bless those who will so honor Him. Even other people would perceive God's blessing upon them as they returned to tithing."
False Teaching #1: Tithes vs. Offerings
The basis of the Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination teachings for tithe is a distinction between "Tithes" and "Offerings". The Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination teaches that there is a difference between the two. Basically Tithes is 10% of your monetary Gross (before taxes) income and Offerings is anything over and above the tithe. They further teach that a person is commanded to tithe to the "Local" or "Home" church (the church with which they consider their permanent place of worship). They teach that if you wish to give over and above the tithe you can do so by giving more to the local church or to another ministry. They further teach that if you give your tithe to another ministry then it doesn't count as tithe but offerings and you are still "robbing God" if you don't give your tithe to your home church. The Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination used such verses as Deuteronomy 12:6,11; 2 Chronicles 31:12; Nehemiah 10:37; Nehemiah 12:44; Nehemiah 13:5; and Malachi 3:8 for the basis of their teachings. The offering isn't required, however, the tithe is required.
False Teaching #2: The "Devourer" - Curses for Not Tithing
The Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination uses Malachi 3:10-11 to teach that if you don't tithe, the "Devourer" (Satan) will come and destroy your property as a punishment so that you will incur more financial burden. They teach that if you tithe God will protect your property and your finances through Divine Intervention and not allow bad things to happen that take up your resources such as cars breaking down and leaky roofs.
Here they spell out specifically that God promised that He would "rebuke the devourer." The word so translated as (lka awkal) literally means "the eater." The reference was to hoards of voracious insects which had destroyed their crops. Further, God promised that their vine would not prematurely "cast her fruit before the time in the field." The word translated as cast her fruit (lkv shawlol) has the sense of a "miscarriage." What had happened was that God had sent bad weather which caused the grape crop to be pre-maturely blown on the ground. It may have been by high winds, hail, or a combination of them. God had gotten His tithe. Israel, however, had missed God's blessing and had in fact paid the penalty for not tithing.
False Teaching #3: Blessings for those that Tithe
The Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination wrongly teaches that tithing opens the door for God's blessings and when we don't tithe we are robbing from God and we will be cursed by God withholding His blessings from us. They sight Proverbs 3:9-10 and Malachi 3:7-11 for this belief.
They teach that the degree of giving was based upon how "God hath prospered" which they will say clearly implied proportional giving. In other words, we ought to give in direct proportion as God has blessed us. And of course the universal proportion throughout the Scripture is ten percent as the tithe. They think that Paul clearly is not referring to the tithe regarding the offering for the impoverished Judaean churches, the principle lies just beneath the surface here.
They will bring you back to the Israelites and tell you that as Israel began to tithe (even upon their greatly diminished crops) God promised that He would "open the windows of heaven." They say the reference is likely to sorely needed rain. (The phrase "the windows of heaven" is found three times in the Bible. Notably in the time of Noah it clearly referred to God sending rain. See Genesis 7:11, 8:2. It also is alluded to in II Kings 7:2,19 in the time of Elisha and the siege of Jerusalem. There it also likely was a reference to needed rain.) God prompted them to "prove me now herewith." In other words, "Put me to the test, and see if I will not bless you in return." God promised that as they began to once again tithe, He would pour out blessings for them such they would not be able to receive it all.
False Teaching #4: If you don't tithe you are branded a Thief
If you don't pay tithes the Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination considers you a thief. The Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination teaches that it is the members' responsibility to support the church financially. They use Mal. 3:8-10 to support this and they call the withholder of the tithes and offerings a thief. They even extend this fallacy to the New Testament claiming that I Corinthians 9:1-14, especially verse 14, obligates believers to support the church in precisely the same way that the Tabernacle was supported - by tithes and offerings.
False Teaching #5: Tithe Must come from the Gross Income
This is a huge deal for the Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination. They teach that if you don't tithe from your gross income then your tithe doesn't count because in II Proverbs 3:9-10 the Lord tells us to "Honor the Lord with Firstfruits" which they interpret to mean that one should set aside the tithe FIRST and that it should come out of your gross income, before all other bills and expenses. They teach that if you leave the tithe until last, God usually misses out.
False Teaching #6: Storehouse Tithing
The Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination teaches that tithing is to be "storehouse" tithing. Storehouse tithing means the giving of the tithes into God's appointed place. In Old Testament days, the storehouse was the Jewish temple.
In the Old Testament, The storehouse mentioned was the treasury or warehouse adjacent to the Temple. The economy of the day was largely agriculture and trade was commonly done by barter. It was the practice of the Israelites to bring their tithe to the Temple in the form of the actual commodity (grain, figs, wine, etc.) These then were stored in a warehouse-type of building called the storehouse which was a part of the treasury of the Temple. (Interestingly, Paul used the equivalent Greek word translated as store in I Corinthians 16:2, referring to the local church.) As they did not tithe, the work of the Temple, specifically in the provision of the Levites food, was damaged.
In New Testament days, the storehouse is the treasury of one's local or home church. They use Acts 4:35, 37 5:2 to justify these teachings. According to Acts 4:35,37 and Acts 5:2, the Christians brought their tithes and offerings to the Apostles' feet. They also point to both Malachi 3 and Paul's mention of the "storehouse". According to 1 Corinthians 16:1,2 the Christians at Corinth were to collect their tithes & offerings and bring them to their local church at Corinth, or 'lay by him in store' on the first day of the Week, Sunday. They believe that I Corinthians 16:3 indicates not only that the storehouse is the church treasury, but that the church body collectively has the responsibility to designate where God's money is to be spent. The collective belief among the Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination is that in this day and age the STOREHOUSE for your tithe is your LOCAL CHURCH. The Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination does not believe that it is not God's plan for you to give your tithe wherever you decide.
If you ask them WHY ARE WE TO PLACE OUR TITHE INTO OUR CHURCH? they will respond with what simply amounts to a guilt trip. They will tell you that your tithes and offerings are for the support, upkeep, and ministry of your Church. Tithes should never be designated by the giver. They are to be left for use as the Church body decides. As mentioned previously they teach that offerings over and above the tithe can go to other deserving ministries, but God says your tithe should go to your local church. They teach that if everyone gave their tithe to worthy ministries outside the local church, the local church would die and they take 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 out of context for this belief.
The Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination is very good at telling the word translations from the Septuagint. They believe that the word translated as in store (yhsaurizw thesaurizo) is the same word used in the Septuagint for "storehouse" in Malachi 3:10. The greater point is that the local church of the New Testament has become the "storehouse" for the giving by God's people even as the Temple was during the time of the Law.
False Teaching #7: Tithes must be given on the First day of the Week - Sunday
The Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination will present to you I Corinthians 16:2 where Paul directs how giving ought to be done. "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." They will say that this is a clear indication to the day of the week on which the gentile church assembled. It no longer was the Sabbath on Saturday. Because of our Lord's resurrection on the first day, the early church began to assemble thereon. They will also point to Acts 20:7.
They will convince you by stating that some claim Paul was admonishing them to personally and privately set aside funds to this end each Sunday until Paul arrived. However, that neither makes sense nor meshes with the context. But they argue that if that were the case, why not lay funds aside on payday which probably was Friday or some other day? The fact that Paul directed this be done on the Lord's day, when the church assembled, lends direct credence to the position of giving in the church service (i.e., putting it in the offering plate or whatever device they used). Furthermore they will tell you that Paul made clear that he did not want to be involved with taking such an offering when he arrived. It therefore follows that each Sunday, they were to take a special offering to be duly set aside toward the day of Paul's arrival.
