Last Sunday, 25th February 2018, Pastor Sam Adeyemi of the Daystar Churches in Lagos, joined the tithe debate. He said that no Christian was under a curse for not tithing. He said that tithing under the law was expired and no Christian should be made to feel guilty for not tithing today. His exact words:
“You are free to decide what to give. But if you sow sparingly you will reap sparingly. Tithing as practised under the law has expired but tithing as a general principle cannot expire. A Christian is free to give any percentage of his money. But bear in mind that 10% is still part of the number. If somebody chooses to give 10%, he should not be condemned and if he gives less or more than that, he has a right to decide what to do.”
Sam Adeyemi reached this position by studying the subject of the tithe a little further, as a result of the recent debate that it has elicited in recent time; especially following Daddy Freeze’s campaign against tithing. The last piece of information reveals what many of us have long suspected about modern Pentecostal Pastors. Most of what many of them preach is passed on information from some other popular minister. Their convictions on salient matters of the gospel do not come from the study of scriptures and personal conviction. I believe that there is a lot more these ministers will learn if they will look a little deeper into their Bibles.
Nonetheless, I must commend Sam Adeyemi for his candour and boldness. Very few ministers of his calibre will know what he has discovered and taken a position in public on it. God bless him and may the Lord cause him to see more in the gospel than these. The mere fact of saying that Christians are not cursed for not tithing and that people have the freedom to use their money the way they please is liberating.
But there is more…
For me personally, the question of tithing or not tithing brought about a personal reformation of my Christian beliefs. It led me to understand what is true and what is false. In a real way, your position on tithing will determine whether or not you will go to heaven.
I find it intriguing that as Sam Adeyemi gave his position on tithing, he resorted to discussing the New Testament and the core doctrine that come with it. He spoke of the abolishing of the law and the liberty of the Christian. I wonder if Mr Adeyemi’s studies revealed to him what was the cause of these wonderful truths of the scriptures. If he did not see it, I will show him.
The Christian is free from the laws of Moses because of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. The living Jesus on earth was born of the Holy Spirit, thereby giving him no sinful nature like every other man on earth. In the process, our Lord fulfilled the law of Moses perfectly. The fact that Christ had no sinful nature did not prevent his being tempted. Christ was tempted but he did not sin.
Thus making him the blameless Lamb of God who could stand as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all men. With this sacrifice, there was no need for the sacrifice of bulls and goats again; thus, bringing an end to a central practice of Moses’ law.
Therefore anyone who believes in Jesus will have his sins forgiven and he would put on the perfect righteousness of the Son of God. Because of Jesus, the Christian is justified from all thing; and in Jesus, the Christian has perfect righteousness.
Thus, the law of Moses that led us to Christ, has lost its significance because Christ has fully fulfilled its requirements – through his life and his death.
So that when Jesus walked the earth, he was already beginning to give the Jews a picture of the New Covenant he was to enact. Jesus broke the Jews’ strict observance of the Sabbath and he never rebuked his disciples for doing the same. He was showing the Jews that in him, observance of the law was ebbing away.
After Jesus had departed to heaven, the first major conflict in the Church had to do with the position of whether or not to continue certain aspects of the law. In Acts 15, the Apostles agreed among themselves that Gentiles were not to be compelled to be circumcised to be saved. In other words, there was no place for strict adherence to the laws of Moses in Christendom. What we have now is the law of Christian love and the demands of the Spirit in our hearts.
Through the centuries, Christians have debated different aspects of the law and their place in the Church. It is an enlightened minister indeed that knows the true place of the law in this dispensation of grace.
But the challenge with Sam Adeyemi newfound position is that it is still not a thorough biblical position. To say that a “general principle of tithing” still exists today is to continue the old doctrine but in a new garb. Sam Adeyemi adds the biblical position of “he that sows sparingly will reap sparingly” to support this position.
In doing this, Mr Adeyemi confirmed my fears that what is really at stake here is not the gospel or the matter of salvation, but the need for Christians to secure their finances. What Sam Adeyemi has posited is another means of securing the god of mammon that modern Charismatics worship.
At the heart of the Charismatic message is a good life: more money, no sickness, no curse, increase, breakthrough, abundance, open heavens, etc. The modern Charismatic message, which Sam Adeyemi himself preaches, secures the good life for Christians. So, while taking a sound biblical position on tithing, Sam Adeyemi succeeds in retaining the god of mammon in his message.
In 2 Corinthians 9, when Paul spoke of “he that gives sparingly will reap sparingly”, he was talking about tithing or a life of breakthrough. He was speaking to Christians and encouraging them to give to a worthy cause of providing support to some other Christians in need. There had been famine in Jerusalem and Paul was encouraging Gentile Christians to give toward the cause.
And to encourage them to give towards this cause, he made it clear that those who give sparingly will reap sparingly. The text did not have a big church, that amasses millions every Sunday in mind. It did not have to give to Pastors who themselves are already living large and ostentatiously lives in mind. That text had poor and needy Christians in mind.
Thus, my admonition to Sam Adeyemi and those who listen to him is to encourage them to return again to their Bibles and read it with an open heart. What God needs from us is not our money; what he needs is our heart. Let Mr Adeyemi and other Charismatic Christians return to scriptures and renounce the god of mammon they worship and return to follow the true Christ of the Bible.
Then will their giving make any sense? Then will they understand the place of giving to support Christian work? Then will they understand that the welfare of the poor and needy in our midst is the Bible’s priority when it calls Christians to take a collection each Sunday?
It is not all bad though. Just last week, Pastor Benny Hinn comes out to own up to preaching a prosperity gospel. Now it is Sam Adeyemi saying that Christians are not cursed for not tithing. More and more, these Pastors will find ears to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches. They will repent of their ways and find true Christianity and eternal life in the process.