New Testament Tithing Going Kablooey (Updated)
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to go ahead and preach on the fact that tithing is antithetical to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. My post, Confessions of a Tithing Party Crasher, caused a bit of commotion because many had pegged me as one of those “Word of Faith” preachers who holds that tithing has everything to do with triggering God’s blessings. Since then, a few better writers have weighed in and I think you should give them a read:
- Dan Edelen - Banking on God: The Tithe, Part 2
- Stephen Winters - I Just Don’t Have the Tithe
- Phil Cook - Giving to Get: A Prosperity Update (see also Lee O’Grady’s article here)
Dan’s and Stephen’s articles focus, like mine, on the fact that the Gospel changes everything (yes, I am a Word guy). Phil’s is a little bit different in that it focuses more on the motivations that may lie behind “giving (tithing) to get” preaching.
CBS is reporting that “tithing is a hot-button issue on the internet.” See Charisma and CBS articles.
Also, just for those who haven’t seen the old posts on tithing:
- Tithing - Part 1 (Malachi)
- Tithing - Part 2 (Law is Finished)
- Tithing - Part 3 (The Devourer)
- Tithing - Part 4 (Curses!)
- Tithing - Part 5 (Call a Doctor)
The old posts examine the most popular arguments for tithing in today’s pulpits in light of New Testament truth. The podcasts, Tithing and the Gospel of Christ, also examine “tithing preaching,” but also establish (in the near future) the NT basis for giving.
Dear Peter,
I have never been a fan of Chrisman Magazine or Lee O’Grady because they have a history of reporting on WOF from a negative point of view.
For instance;
Grady said, “But before he died in 2003 and left his Rhema Bible Training Center in the hands of his son, Kenneth Hagin Jr., he summoned many of his colleagues to Tulsa to rebuke them for distorting his message. He was not happy that some of his followers were manipulating the Bible to support what he viewed as greed and selfish indulgence.”
In the above quote from Grady’s article, he fails to provide any quotes from this meeting or who attended, but does mentioned several WOF Preachers in his article. At a minimum he is implying that these men were all in attendance in Hagin’s meeting. Further, he did not actually provide any of the names of the attendees, leaving people to speculate that it could have been any of the WOF Preachers, leaving the reader to a group condemnation of all WOF Preachers. Is he using the word rebuke to mean reject of instruct? Why didn’t he seek interviews with some who were in attendance to find out what the exact statements Hagin made and the context in which Hagin was speaking? …also, what did the attendees have to say to Hagin? Was there any resolutions reached during the meeting?
Grady said, “Those who were close to Hagin Sr. say he was passionate about correcting these abuses before he died. In fact, he wrote a brutally honest book to address his concerns. The Midas Touch was published in 2000, a year after the infamous Tulsa meeting.”
Regarding the above quote; Who were these people who were close to Hagin. Specifically who did Hagin have in mind when he wrote his book? I read “Midas Touch” a long time ago, but I don’t remember Hagin singling out any of the prominent WOF Preachers Grady mentioned earlier in his article.
Grady said, “Kenneth Hagin Sr. was not happy that some of his followers were manipulating the Bible to support what he viewed as greed and selfish indulgence.”
Regarding the above quote. Again, exactly what did Hagin say? Who are these followers? The above quote is presumption for which the author has not laid any factual foundation for.
Grady said, “Many Word-Faith ministers ignored the book. But in light of the recent controversy over prosperity doctrines, it might be a good idea to dust it off and read it again.”
Again, which WOF ministers? Without names, he is in effect causing people to doubt all WOF ministers.
Quoting Hagin, Grady said, ““1. Financial prosperity is not a sign of God’s blessing. Hagin wrote: “If wealth alone were a sign of spirituality, then drug traffickers and crime bosses would be spiritual giants. Material wealth can be connected to the blessings of God or it can be totally disconnected from the blessings of God.””
Regarding the above quote; This quote is not from the actual meeting, but he apparently selected this quote to associate all of his un-named WOF suspects to drug runner and organized crime figures. As a matter Gradey has not quotes from this meeting, no list of attendees, no minutes from the meeting and no first hand accounts of the meeting. Grady is using his lack of specificity as to who he is talking about, his undocumented account of the meeting, his undocumented characterization of the meeting as a vehicle to use Hagin’s book to condemn all WOF Preachers and Charismatic’s of preaching a heretical prosperity message.
Which brings us to the quote from Gradey that reveals what his one sided tabloid style article is really about.
“Thanks to the recent resurgence in bizarre donation schemes promoted by American charismatics, the prosperity gospel is back under the nation’s microscope. It’s time to revisit Hagin’s concerns and find a biblical balance.”
The above statement is an open attack on people who preach that it is God’s will that Christians prosper and be in health. I expect Grady would attack anyone who preaches this by claiming they are preaching a heretic prosperity message.
Hagin may have had sharp disagreements with some WOFers over what has become generally known as, and often misrepresented, prosperity message. One striking point that Gradey failed to mention is that Haign did believe that it is God’s will to prosper Christians.
IMHO: Grady’s article is a pooly engineered attempt to attack the prominent the WOF belief that it is God’s will to prosper us, even if tithing isn’t the true path to success. David
What doew “awaiting” mean?
“Posted by David DeFrees (Your comment is awaiting ”
Correction:
What does “awaiting” mean?
“Posted by David DeFrees (Your comment is awaiting ”
Hi Peter. It was nice to stumble upon your site. I am the now infamous Russell Earl Kelly from the CBS and Charisma articles. I have also been on Moody Prime Time and was a primary contributor to the Wall Street Journal article October 23rd.
I invite you to peruse my site and notify me if I can join in on any of your dicussins. It has over 150 articles and would ltake a week to read. I am searching for grace-giving-only church to list on my site if you know of any.