ht: Otogosh
A Short Sermon on the Amount
Let's face it; every
church wants your hard earned money and resources. "Send it
in..." is the mantra with proof texts to follow. How much do you
have to give to your Church when it comes right down to it?
The first answer is
"absolutely nothing."
Each one must give as he has decided in his
heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
That's
all you need to know. No more proof texts about what exactly that means.
No twisting it around for two hours until you forget it is in your Bible.
No being told erroneously that we can only discern this by going "here a
little and there a little." The real meaning of that scripture is
hilarious and has nothing to do with how to study your Bible but we'll skip
that for now.
Now if you want to
stress yourself or rather be stressed by "You have robbed God," and
"Prove me now herewith," knock yourself out. But give as you
are able trumps that every time.
If you really think an
actual God needs your money or can be robbed of it to the point of throwing a
hissy fit and wreaking utter destruction and curses on the earth for not paying
up, then I can't help you. I'm going to go with human priests thought
that one up and it has guilted and frightened millions for millennia into
giving, not as they are able, but as they are afraid not to give. Humans
feel robbed and humans get miffed about not collecting their religious taxes,
not any real God.
Do I have to tithe?
Of course not. You
don't have to do anything. See above.
Do I have to actually
give a pledge I pledged when I felt I was guilted into pledging what I did not
actually have to pledge? In other words, do I have to give what I have
not got?
Of course not. Now
here's the trick you have to understand. In Acts, Peter, well the Holy
Spirit who you can never quite pin down, struck two nasty young church members
down for holding back on a pledge they made of THEIR land and THEIR
money. Somehow Peter says there as a moment when it was actually theirs,
but once they said...”I pledge..." all bets were off and you
were going to die if you didn't pony up. Great story and great fear,
which is the effect you want, came on the whole church when they saw them
buried in the alley outside the building...uh huh. Do you really think
Romans would not wonder why people dropped dead at your services or some kid or
family member didn't wonder why mom/dad, aunt/uncle or my kids didn't come home
from your church this week...where are they?
Listen to me once and
for all and get this story used as threat reveals its true sense for
you. This story, written by Luke, cohort of Paul who both thought Peter,
who denied Jesus was NO better than a Judas who betrayed him, is meant as a
joke on Peter. It is meant to send a not so subtle message to Paul's followers
to reject Peter. Because see...here we have two fine church folk who said
they would do one thing, give it all, but then held back being killed off by
the grand and glorious Apostle Peter, who also said he would do one
thing...never deny leave or forsake Jesus and denied him! Get
it? It's a slam against Peter and not a pay up or else story for
you. There are lots of subtle and not so subtle slams the apostles throw
at each other in the New Testament if you know where to look but I spare
you. This one is not about scaring you into sending anything in
when you realize the reality of your situation cannot actually match the generosity
of your spirit the day your were badgered into giving what you actually did not
have for something you may not actually agreed with in the first place.
If you're mind says
"That's a stupid reason to send my money in," goes off before,
"Oh...I better do this," go with the first thought. It's rather
like if your head tells you one thing and your stomach another, your stomach is
telling you the truth.
You cannot give what you
have not got nor should you. You put your family and children
first. You don't short yourself to enrich your church. You don't put off
personal needs to meet the needs of others if you feel inside that you can't
but outside that you should. You don't need to obey any man in these
matters and while dozens of scriptures can be thrown at you to make you feel
like a Bronze Age Church member, YOU don't have to give what you do not have or
do not wish to give.
And actually I hope you
never do again no matter how sincere you are and convinced of the truth taught
by your church. I never met anyone who fessed up to belonging to the wrong,
false or deceived Church so I expect none of you feel that way either. But
don't let anyone falsely guilt you into giving or using the specter of a God or
Big Bad Apostle visit to get you to meet your "obligations."
You have no obligations
in these matters if you stop running all over the Bible from Genesis to
Revelation trying to figure it out. Giving is an inside job from YOU to
THEM and not an expectation of you from THEM TO YOU.
And a real God doesn’t
need your money incase that comes up again... But men do...
Each one must give
as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God
loves a cheerful giver.
And that's today's
Sermon on the Amount...