Question, We are getting ready to adopt our 4th child (1st adoption). We see adoption as a ministry. We are faithful tithe payers to our church. So here is my question... Would it be wrong to split the tithe we pay between the adoption and the church?
The best thing you could do is study what the tithe really was in the Old Testament. That tithe never had anything to do with monetary wages. It was exacted ONLY against crops and livestock.
No carpenter had to hand over every tenth chair, table, bench, or anything else they made (knock on wood, hint, hint) to the Levites or priests. Clothiers did not have to turn over every tenth yard of material they wove, wine makers didn't have to turn over every tenth gallon of wine they made, and fishermen didn't have to hand over every tenth fish they caught to the Levites. Get the picture? The tithe was not about money and wages. If you want to know why, then I will tell you, but will not belabor the point here.
Today and historically, however, preachers and priests the world over make the tithe about money, money, money. Rather than to teach the truth, they teach lies in the belief that the end justifies the means. They know intuitively that they would not have all the fancy monuments to their pride all around the world. Think about how much good could have been done with the trillions of dollars poured into real estate, buildings, cathedrals, pipe organs, artistically stained glass windows, et al. That's TRILLIONS! Do you get that? All of those trillions supposedly were what was "given to God," and yet billions have had to walk on by those monuments to men's pride with empty stomachs and unfulfilled needs.
Yes, there are all kinds of testimonies out there of tithing allegedly bringing people blessing. It's easy to blindly draw parallels to something that is actually unrelated, and bring to bare the battering ram of Malachi against anyone who dares challenge their lies. Never do those false teachers behind pulpits allow testimonies from people who tithed faithfully, and yet suffered loss.....with some suffering tremendous losses. If it is heard in the community that a faithful tither suffered loss, it is vomited that they must have fallen into sin or suffered a lack of faith in some matter. Reality just won't do to further their agenda for getting the people hand over a full tenth+ of their income for the furtherance of programs. Reality is just too painful to deal with, so they spin the illusions that faithful tithing (to them) ALWAYS leads to prosperity and blessing.
So, my question to you is: Do you want testimonies you can't substantiate, or do you want the TRUTH; keeping in mind that Malachi was talking to a people who were still under the Law, as was Jesus when He addressed the pharisees about their gardens of anise and cumin. Jesus also told men to go to the priests and offer up their burnt sacrifices after having healed them.....just in case someone chirps about Jesus's words about the tithe. They will yammer about faithful tithing on that basis, and yet ignore the burnt sacrifices.....claiming that Jesus fulfilled those, but not the other. They say that nonsense at the expense of ignoring that the veil of the temple was ripped open from top to bottom, exposing the Holy of Hollies for all to see and enter. The tithe was tied DIRECTLY to that temple, its activities, the priesthood that served there, and its storehouse. That temple was destroyed in about 70 AD, and was never rebuilt. Even had it been rebuilt, it is meaningless, for WE are the temple of Holy Spirit. WE are the priests unto the Most High God.
What about you? Do you still want illusions, or do you want reality and TRUTH? Seek the truth in God's word, not from men. Read the truth yourself. Take responsibility for what you choose to believe by reading it for yourself, as is encouraged in 1 John 2:27. I'm not looking for a following, as do so many false teaching preachers and priests out there. I would rather you become a conveyor of TRUTH in a religious world of lies.
Jr