Love Shares, It Does Not Take

(Galatians 6:6)

There are some ministers in the church who take this scripture and twist it to their own purposes.

This is unfortunate but not unheard of as there are some in the church who do twist scriptures to gain a personal advantage. And we are warned about this in the Bible, that there will be some leaders in the church who take advantage of the flock in their care.

That is why it is important that we understand the depth of the words themselves, not in isolation from the rest of the gospel, but as part of it so that we do not misinterpret and wrongfully use the gospel of the Lord.

Teachers

Teachers are gifted by the Lord to teach the words of the gospel and the depths of the New Covenant. I cannot emphasise this point too strongly.

The ability to teach the words of God come through the working of the Holy Spirit in those to whom this gift is given.

Contrary to popular belief and opinion, teachers are not made in Bible schools or Universities who offer diplomas and degrees in theology. A true teacher of the doctrines of Jesus Christ are gifted to do this work by the Lord, just as the twelve apostles were selected by Him to carry His words and His work to the rest of the world.

Is it just me saying this? No. The scripture tells us as much also, as we see here in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:

8 Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:8-13)

The ministry to teach is given by the Lord to those whom He selects. This does not mean that someone who has gone through one of the many schools cannot receive this gift, but likewise it does not mean that someone who has NOT been through one of the many bible schools cannot be a teacher appointed by God.

It is my opinion, based upon scripture, that one of the challenges for those who go through a bible college to seek to teach the gospel, is that they lose sight of the teachings of the Lord. They become focused on the need to meet the requirements of the courses of study that it may become difficult for them to hear the voice of God speaking to them and leading them.

Furthermore, in all of the bible schools, students are being taught a specific line of doctrine. They are being taught to think in a certain way that aligns with the teachings of the church that delivers the information.

For example, if they go to a Catholic University, or an Anglican University, or a Pentecostal Bible College, then they are being taught the doctrines of the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church or the particular Pentecostal Church respectively. When the course ends they are ordained as a teacher of the doctrines of that particular church.

They are being taught by men to follow a certain line of doctrine and thinking. And it is the rare individual that can rise above the teachings of men to be able to listen to and hear the teachings of the Lord, which are often opposed to what man teaches, even in many of the Bible schools and universities.

And what does the Bible say in regards to who we should be learning from?

It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. (John 6:45)

This is why there are some who have NOT gone through bible schools who are better teachers of the gospel than those who do attend such schools. It is because they have been taught by God and not ordained by men. Similarly, there are some who DO go through the Bible schools and still manage to rise above the teachings to listen to and hear the word of God in their lives and so teach the truth.

Don’t get me wrong here. I am not opposed to people going to bible schools to seek to learn the gospel. But likewise I do not believe we should reject the words of someone who has NOT attended a bible college or university simply because they do not have a degree or diploma.

Congregations

Which brings me back to the verse under study today, especially as it affects the congregations of the church.

One of the great challenges in some of the Bible schools is the twisting and misinterpretation of the scriptures, as can happen with this one today, which says:

Let him who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches. (Galatians 6:6)

There are those who would take this verse and assume that it means the teachers have a right to take from their congregations. And this happens in many of the churches today because they are taught specific doctrines in their bible schools, most of which are false, concerning the taking of money from the members of the church.

They are instructed on how to raise funds in the church by “guilting” the members of the church into paying up through tithes and offerings, not understanding that they are using the scriptures falsely. They do not understand the teachings of tithing and have been taught false information in their bible schools, which they then promulgate to their churches, keeping the people under bondage.

And by so doing, they turn this scripture around so that it is not a call for the people in the church to “share” as a gift of love, but it becomes a weapon to enable the teachers to “take” the property of the church members under false pretences. The sharing then no longer is a gift, but becomes an exaction or a tax, and this is not the trust of this verse, nor the process of the New Covenant.

This scripture is a call for the congregation to share all good things with the people who teach them. This is particularly necessary where the teacher of the doctrine is full-time engaged in this work as they have no other means of income.

The way of the gospel in Jesus Christ is to give. It is all about giving joyfully what you can, not being forced into giving what you may not be able to afford. When giving becomes a compulsory process, then it is no longer a freewill offering out of the love of the brethren and the Lord, but is a tax and can breed discontent.

Tithing

Tithing under the Old Covenant was indeed a tax on the people of Israel. The priests were instructed to TAKE the tithe from their brethren.

But tithing is not part of the doctrine of the New Covenant and has no place in the Christian Church. Those who promote tithing have either never studied it or have blindly accepted what they have been told without testing the truth of the process for themselves. Let me explain this in a little detail.

When the land of Israel was conquered and split up among the twelve tribes of Israel,the tribe of Levi did not receive any of the lands. The Lord God said to Israel that they were His portion and that they would serve Him in the temple service on behalf of all the people. The priesthood came from the Levites and no-one but a Levite could be a priest to God under the Old Covenant law.

Now because they did not receive any land, the Levites had no means of supporting their lives. They could not grow crops or breed flocks and so would have starved. But God instructed in the law that the Levites, (note: this is ALL of the tribe of Levi, not just the few priests), were to be paid a tithe of the flocks and crops by the other eleven tribes. They were given the right by God in the law to TAKE the tithe, not as a gift, but as an exaction. And this law gave them the tithe as a perpetual due. The tithe belonged to the tribe of Levi forever.

And then when the Levites had collected all of the tithes, they were instructed to take a tithe of the collected tithes as if they had raised the flocks or grown the crops, and give this tithe of the tithe to the temple.

No-one but a Levite had the right to take the tithe. And the the tithe was always given in produce as grain, crops and flocks or herds of cattle, sheep and goats. It was never given as money.

Why? Because the tithe was given from the gifts of God who gave the people the increase in flocks, herds and crops. But money is not a thing of God. Money is the invention of man, as Jesus showed in this verse.

”Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 15 Should we pay them, or should we not?” But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a coin, and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mark 12:14-17)

So we see here that money is of Caesar, not of God. Money was invented by man to facilitate trade, but at some point money became more important, and driven by greed, man sought money more than anything. But as this verse shows us, money is not of God. And under the law of tithing, the people were not instructed to tithe the things of man (money), but the things given by God.

So what does this all say about tithing in the modern church? It says that they have twisted and manipulated the scriptures for their own ends. They are not following the process of giving as defined in the New Covenant, but have twisted and misused the truth about tithing into a lie for the purposes of extracting money from the congregations. This is evil and shameful. Let me summarise it this way.

• Only a Levite was permitted to take tithes and this law is still in place today because the tithe was given to Levi forever. So any minister today who cannot prove they are descended from the tribe of Levi does not have the right to take tithes. They are in fact breaking God’s law by doing so.
• The only things that were ever to be tithed was the increase in the herds, flocks and crops. Money was never mentioned in relation to the tithes because the tithe was meant to be an offering of the things that God had given the people. Money is not of God. So when the modern ministers insist on monetary tithes, they are not asking for a tithes of the gifts of God but the workings of men. Money should not be tithed.
• The amount of the tithe that went to the temple was only a tithe of the tithe, that is, one percent, not ten percent. So when the modern church takes ten percent, they are extracting ten times the amount that was meant to go to be taken into the church.
• And finally, tithing was part of the law of the priesthood of Levi. But we follow Jesus who is NOT a priest of Levi, but is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. And we are told that when the priesthood changes, so too the law changes and nowhere did Jesus teach that we had to tithe because tithing is not part of the New Covenant. Tithing was part of the law under the Old Covenant, but Jesus came to set us free from that law so we could live by grace and truth.

And there are deeper issues related to tithing and the impact it has on the modern church, which space does not permit me to cover here.

The point of mentioning this issue of tithing is because it is a cornerstone of the “prosperity gospel” and those who teach this teaching are basing it on a mess of lies, twisted scripture and false teaching.

Yes, we are encouraged to “share all good things with those who teach.” But this sharing is through giving out of love, not by exaction or even extortion through twisted scriptures and lies.

Be conscious of this and beware of those who preach messages like the one above for they lead to bondage, and Jesus came and died to set you free from bondage, especially bondage to the old covenant law.

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