"And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. -- Malachi 2: 1-2 (ESV)
https://charismamag.com/life/men/33471-are-you-cursing-your-money-without-realizing-it
It is the cog that keeps the church machine roaring. It is the granddaddy of false teaching in that it is so widely accepted and taught that it has literally become dogmatic tradition and very few challenge it. It is the third rail of Christianity -- tithing. I have had well intended, spirit filled pastors tell me that what I write on the subject while true, does not change that this was simply how they were brought up. My response would be then we are no better than Catholicism which is far more tradition based than Biblical based. We are supposed to do the work of Bereans beloved and scour the Scriptures to ensure we are being taught correctly not simply throw our hands up in the air and say, "Oh well, this is how we have always done it." Let me also state up front that this is not a message against giving to the church. I firmly believe if you are in a church that presents the uncompromised Gospel of Jesus Christ then you will find no better investment for your money. Giving is universal. There are binding principles of sowing and reaping. Not the heretical seed-sower theology that hucksters like Paula White and Mike Murdock use either. The New Testament clearly says that God loves a cheerful giver. This is not about giving. It is about beating the sheep of the Lord, lying to them, and ultimately robbing from them. I have written an entire book on this subject, debunking all of the tithing lies but every now and again an article will come out that needs rebuking and this week's example can be found at the link above. It is written by someone named Dr. Doug Weiss and to be honest I have never heard of him. He may very well be completely solid in every other biblical area but this article is horrifically bad, despite being relatively short. Let us reason together beloved and be freed from the yoke these teachers keep trying to string around our neck.
"There is a principle I embrace in my life and in my daily counseling sessions, and I call it "blessed money or cursed money." God takes tithing very seriously. In fact, we get to choose whether or not our money is blessed or cursed--and I hope after reading this article, you take the steps you need to have your finances blessed by God." -- Dr. Doug Weiss
Weiss opens with a teaching point made popular by snake oil salesman Robert Morris of Gateway Church in Texas. Morris has even written an entire book on this subject. That God will curse all of your money if you do not give Him the first ten percent and by Him, Morris of course means Robert Morris. The notion that God is some celestial mob boss looking for His tribute first is not supported anywhere in Scripture and only could have been birthed in the wickedly deceitful hearts of sinful man. Beloved, God does not take tithing serious anymore because it was abolished with the New Covenant. To establish this let us travel to the Church at Galatia where early on the Judaizers were infiltrating the church teaching that you still had to adhere to circumcision as well as faith in Christ for salvation. Yes the traditions of man die very hard.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. -- Galatians 5: 1-6 (ESV)
Beloved, simply insert "tithing" where you see "circumcision" in these verses. The point Paul is making is not about circumcision but rather it was about returning to the law for justification. You actually sever yourself from Christ when you do so! What teachers like Doug Weiss do is actually yoking believers back to the law. The Bible says tithing was nailed to the cross! There is no tithing principle. Tithing was part of the agricultural system and Civil Law of Israel. It was never monetary. One other point here. There was no tithing before the law. NONE. Yes it is true that Abram once gave ten percent to a local king after war and since the word tithe means 10 percent, people try to leverage this one instance as a universal principle. The fact is that Abram gave none of his own money but only the spoils of war and actually ended up giving the other 90% as well so that the king could not claim he made Abram rich. So if you want to lift Abram up as a founding universal principle then you must tithe one time, of other people's money and give 100%. Good luck preaching that.
"Malachi 3:6-12 is a good passage to study to determine if someone is blessed or cursed financially. Keep in mind, this was written to the people of God." -- Dr. Doug Weiss
