False Teaching About Tithing (Part One)
One question that has entered my mind very often is why are so many Christians falling for false doctrine in today’s church? Many times I have sat in churches listening to distorted messages coming from the pulpit and have never returned. However, what I found more disturbing was watching Christians blindly following false doctrines and being easily deceived by people claiming to be servants of God.
Everywhere you look, the Word of God is being continually distorted and false teachings have infiltrated our churches so much that it has divided the body of Christ. Many Christians that have fallen for the lies and were misled are leaving the church confused, discouraged, and betrayed not knowing who or what to believe anymore.
Why are people falling for these false teachings? Because they are not reading or understanding their Bibles! When it comes to knowing our Bible, not many know what is in the Bible or have a clear understanding of what it is saying. One reason may be because there are too many interpretations and arguments about what the Word of God says. Another reason may be that we put too much trust on who is delivering the message without reading it for ourselves.
READ:
OAP Freeze Responds to Pastor Oyedepo's Message on Tithing
I do not mean reading it here and there and when you do not understand a passage, you move on instead of meditating on the Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to be your teacher. I mean reading the Bible from cover to cover and understand what it says.
We rely on our pastors and spiritual leaders to “feed” us the Word, and trust them blindly to do so but in reality, many have a different agenda and God is not in it, so people are being deceived. That is why it is important to read and study the Holy Scriptures, to understand the Word of God and keep it stored in your heart so that you would not be deceived. You will then be able to discern if what is coming out their mouths is in alignment with God’s Word, if it is not, then it is false teaching. Do not just rely on what your spiritual leaders or anyone (including myself) is telling you, read it for yourselves.
In talking to people here and there, I realize that many people are in the same position; they have not read their Bibles cover to cover. Some have been born again Christians for many years yet they have not read their Bibles entirely. If you do not read the Word of God you will not know God. You will also lack the knowledge of the Word and become vulnerable to the lies being preached today. But most importantly you will lack the close relationship with Him that He so greatly desires.
I do not mean reading it here and there and when you do not understand a passage, you move on instead of meditating on the Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to be your teacher. I mean reading the Bible from cover to cover and understand what it says.
We rely on our pastors and spiritual leaders to “feed” us the Word, and trust them blindly to do so but in reality, many have a different agenda and God is not in it, so people are being deceived. That is why it is important to read and study the Holy Scriptures, to understand the Word of God and keep it stored in your heart so that you would not be deceived. You will then be able to discern if what is coming out their mouths is in alignment with God’s Word, if it is not, then it is false teaching. Do not just rely on what your spiritual leaders or anyone (including myself) is telling you, read it for yourselves.
In talking to people here and there, I realize that many people are in the same position; they have not read their Bibles cover to cover. Some have been born again Christians for many years yet they have not read their Bibles entirely. If you do not read the Word of God you will not know God. You will also lack the knowledge of the Word and become vulnerable to the lies being preached today. But most importantly you will lack the close relationship with Him that He so greatly desires.
READ:
You Wont Make Heaven If You Don't Pay Tithe on The N200M You Received -
Prophet To Davido
How do you develop a close relationship with God? You develop a close relationship with God as you would with your husband, wife, child, mother, father, brother, sister or any loved one. You develop a bond with them, talk to them every day, confide in them, trust in them, are loyal to them, take comfort in them, and learn their nature. In the same way you bond with God and you will know His nature and will for mankind.
I remember being in that same position a while back. I did not read the Bible in context; I read the Bible in verses and was lead by the mood I was in. If I felt rejected and lonely, I would search the Psalms. If I felt that I needed wisdom or guidance, I would read Proverbs and so forth. You can say that I’ve read the Bible by verse like many people. I would pick a few favorite verses to help me through whatever I was going through and memorized them, and then would recite them whenever I felt I needed them. If you’d ask me specific questions about the Bible, sometimes I could not quite answer them because I had not read the Bible in its entirety.
Now I know what is in the Bible, mind you I still have to go back and re-look for certain answers only because the human mind can only store so much information. But now that I know what is in the Bible and understand it, I know for certain when something I’m hearing is not from God. Even if my memory fails, my spirit knows.
How do you develop a close relationship with God? You develop a close relationship with God as you would with your husband, wife, child, mother, father, brother, sister or any loved one. You develop a bond with them, talk to them every day, confide in them, trust in them, are loyal to them, take comfort in them, and learn their nature. In the same way you bond with God and you will know His nature and will for mankind.
I remember being in that same position a while back. I did not read the Bible in context; I read the Bible in verses and was lead by the mood I was in. If I felt rejected and lonely, I would search the Psalms. If I felt that I needed wisdom or guidance, I would read Proverbs and so forth. You can say that I’ve read the Bible by verse like many people. I would pick a few favorite verses to help me through whatever I was going through and memorized them, and then would recite them whenever I felt I needed them. If you’d ask me specific questions about the Bible, sometimes I could not quite answer them because I had not read the Bible in its entirety.
Now I know what is in the Bible, mind you I still have to go back and re-look for certain answers only because the human mind can only store so much information. But now that I know what is in the Bible and understand it, I know for certain when something I’m hearing is not from God. Even if my memory fails, my spirit knows.
READ:
EFCC Arrests Prison Accountant, Who Pays N60M Tithe To Redeemed Church
So what happens when you do not know the Word of God? As I said earlier, you become easily deceived. Since the majority of Christians trust and love their spiritual leaders many become “indoctrinated” and follow blindly without questioning the validity of their teachings. We must be like the Bereans who searched the scriptures daily for the truth (Acts 17:11).
Many Christians assume because their spiritual leaders went to Bible College, have a theology degree, and are ordained they are delivering the truth when in fact many are not. Christians are lacking discernment and do not test the spirits as the Word of God tells us to do (1 John 4:1-3) because a false teacher will never teach them to search for the truth for themselves.
Earlier in my walk with Christ, I also fell for many of the lies being taught today. However, as I began to question what I was hearing from my spiritual leaders and poured myself into the scriptures, I became painfully aware that I was being deceived. I remember asking myself, “Why would so many people fall for the false teachings of some of these spiritual leaders (me included), and why are there so many of these false teachers in our churches today going undetected?”
So what happens when you do not know the Word of God? As I said earlier, you become easily deceived. Since the majority of Christians trust and love their spiritual leaders many become “indoctrinated” and follow blindly without questioning the validity of their teachings. We must be like the Bereans who searched the scriptures daily for the truth (Acts 17:11).
Many Christians assume because their spiritual leaders went to Bible College, have a theology degree, and are ordained they are delivering the truth when in fact many are not. Christians are lacking discernment and do not test the spirits as the Word of God tells us to do (1 John 4:1-3) because a false teacher will never teach them to search for the truth for themselves.
Earlier in my walk with Christ, I also fell for many of the lies being taught today. However, as I began to question what I was hearing from my spiritual leaders and poured myself into the scriptures, I became painfully aware that I was being deceived. I remember asking myself, “Why would so many people fall for the false teachings of some of these spiritual leaders (me included), and why are there so many of these false teachers in our churches today going undetected?”
In search for this answer, I came across a very interesting article where the writer describes the similarity between poison, lies and false teachers. The writer, which I cannot recall the name or the website, used the following analogy. He describes that in the movies, in order to poison someone, the killer would not give the victim poison straight out, that would be too obvious and easily detected by the investigating authorities. Instead, the killer would introduce a bit of the poison with a good tasting drink like juice, that way it went undetected by the victim and was un-traceable.
In the same way, lies are introduced into the church. To introduce false teachings straight out into the message would be too obvious. The false teacher would instead mix a bit of the lies together with the truth of God’s words to make it un-detectable. They already have your love and trust, the rest is easy.
I thought back trying to remember when I first began to realize I was being deceived and it began when I felt it in my spirit that something was very wrong… it is called discernment, as I mentioned earlier. If we...
No comments