LET…. MY…. PEOPLE…. GO !!

 

Chapter twenty-seven

THE RIVER CHURCH in Tampa Florida is a megachurch with a staff of about 20-25 pastors. The building, housing a congregation of thousands, could be described as colossal, grandiose, luxurious, lavish. Less flattering adjectives could be extravagant, unnecessary, non- biblical.

Two questions:

1. Is The River Church building what Jesus would consider a “treasure on earth”?
2. How was the construction of the building financed?

Hopefully answering these two questions would be answering two more questions:

1. Are your church buildings “treasures on earth”?
2. How was the construction of your church buildings financed?

Regarding the first question, I think about my friend Richard’s vision of the “Judgment seat of Christ” ( chapter 33) whereby the Lord was saying to “a great multitude”, “I told you not to lay up treasures on earth.” Richard: “Jesus was emphasizing the I. It was like He was saying, ‘Yes, I know you heard many voices saying different things. But I, Me, the Eternal One, I told you not to do it!’ ”

If you consider church buildings “treasures on earth” instead of “treasures in heaven” you are challenging the totality of evangelicalism. Can you see that? How can an expensive stately house be considered an earthly treasure but not an expensive stately church building? If all the thousands of churches throughout evangelicalism can be defined as earthly treasures they must all be contrary to the supreme will of God.

Jesus taught us, “Every tree [including evangelicalism] is known by its own fruit.” “Treasures on earth” are not good fruit.

And now the second question. I think I know how the construction of The River building was financed. It was financed the same way your church building was financed (or the same way the rental of a building is covered). Before submitting my perception as to how The River was financially undergirded, I want to assure you I do not consider this assembly less fruitful and less spiritual than other evangelical assemblies. The opposite is true. Proportionately they bear more fruit than most assemblies.

So here we go….

In 1994 the senior pastor, Rodney, gave a message before taking a collection, based on the account of Elijah and the impoverished widow in 1st Kings, chapter 17. It was an evening service so his appeal was for offerings, not tithes. Tithes were collected in the morning, but ten percent of the donors’ income was not satisfactory. Rodney wanted more.

You know the story of the prophet and the widow. There was a famine in the land yet she shared her last meal with Elijah and then was prepared to die with her son. Because of her generosity God mightily blessed her. Our generosity, Rodney taught, will also release God’s provision on us (to which I reply, “Amen and amen!”)

Certainly God favors sacrificial giving. God is generous and expects His kids to be generous. We should all give more than we do. We have no right to live in luxury among so many people on their way to hell.

However Rodney was not being a faithful servant teaching his congregation the benefit of faith and generosity but rather prepping them for the collection. This is so unlike Paul.

Can anyone imagine Paul using the account of Elijah and the widow to collect money to meet his needs? Or to build an edifice? Paul never sanctioned a collection except on one occasion – for needy christians in Jerusalem. Paul: “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” Imitating Rodney (and imitating all evangelical pastors) is not imitating Paul and is not imitating Christ. Paul to the Corinthians (AMP): “I will not burden you [financially] because I do not want what is yours [not your money or your possessions], but you.”

Implication. There is such a thing as ‘power of implying’. When Rodney said (in a highly, well-timed elevated tone), “Many times in order to come into a place of provision it takes a step of obedience where you are willing to do your part and you’re willing to give your part.” Part of what? This brother never specified, but the heavy inference of “give your part” is donating money to be placed under his supervision (the details of spending never to be disclosed). It is implied that each in the audience has a God-ordained part (“your part”) in his ministry.

Is this really how the “head of the church” wants each of His saints to live out his/her life on earth? Should we keep step with Jesus or with each other? Are we to follow Christ or christians? Doesn’t Lord Jesus have a personal and unique plan for each of us? If so, shouldn’t the financing of that plan be our main priority?

Jesus: “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.” The Holy Spirit guides us “into all truth” individually. The Holy Spirit guided Jesus individually. (“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me.”) He guided Peter individually. (“The Spirit told me.”) Paul “was compelled by the Spirit”. “The Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away.” John: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” “The Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David.”

New covenant saints are to be lead by the Holy Spirit. As such we are to give what, where and when the Spirit so directs. In his determination to collect Old Testament “offerings” Rodney did not exhort his people to be guided by the Holy Spirit. Can you see that when a pastor doesn’t encourage his people to submit to the Spirit he is actually teaching them not to? Repeat: When a pastor fails to exhort his congregation to give only as the “Spirit of truth” so directs he is actually teaching them to ignore the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

During his fifteen minute talk leading to a very hefty collection – it was obvious from the enthusiasm engendered that the collection would be substantial – Rodney said, “Tradition is good as long as there’s life. If the tradition brings death throw it out.” That sounds good but it’s not good. Such a notion will seriously tarnish one’s allegiance to Scripture. Traditions that work, or seem to work, are not our standard. Our Bible teaches, “All Scripture [not man-created tradition] is given by inspiration of God and is profitable.” Traditions are Scripture-plus….

Scripture-plus is Christ-plus the plus of Christ-plus is disloyalty to Christ disloyalty to Christ is disloyalty to His (and our) Father.

It was tradition that gave Rodney (and each of you pastors, etcetera) permission to replace the leadership of the Holy Spirit to build a building…. to collect a salary…. to be titled. to be the chief spokesman to impose your vision on others.

We can say by saying and we can say by implying. In my opinion Rodney was saying through implication: “As your God-appointed pastor I say to you that God wants you to contribute to this ministry this evening. If you do so He will release great provisions on you and yours.

If you do not you will be robbing yourselves of God’s blessing. You may ask the Holy Spirit how much to give but you are not to seek His guidance as to where to give. Obviously you are to give to this church. Is this not your home church? Jesus knows you are less capable than I am of discerning His will in matters concerning your finances.”

If you are of the opinion that I have a paltry opinion of Rodney, you judge amiss. This brother has for years bravely withstood harsh, unreasonable criticism throughout evangelicalism for the many “signs and wonders” transpiring in his meetings. (Question: Isn’t the lack of “signs and wonders” non-biblical?) He was arrested because he refused to close down his church during covid. God has used this brother to draw multitudes of perishing people to His Son. My respect for Rodney is so high I actually believe he would not scoff at my perspectives should he ever come across them. However….

However, such manipulation of Scripture to extract money from his trusting congregation to finance the construction and maintenance of The River Church is simply wrong, wrong, wrong. Now let’s jump to 2018 to listen to Rodney’s “special guest” Jonathan….

Jonathan was called in to give a teaching on tithing at Rodney’s mega- church. Jonathan is not just good as a communicator, but very good.

Undoubtedly this talented brother would have been successful at any career he had chosen to pursue. And I am sure he is in demand from many churches to give the same teaching on tithes and offerings to bolster their financial base.

In my opinion his teaching on tithes and offering, though seemingly well accepted at The River, is a false teaching that bears horrible consequences to both the tither and the world Jesus died for.

Before beginning his twenty-five minute talk on tithes and offerings prior to the collection, Jonathan encouraged the huge audience to support Rodney who is “a gift to earth from heaven”. Regarding Rodney, he says “the Bible says, ‘I will bless those who bless thee.’ ” Who is “thee”? “Thee” was Abraham but today “thee” is Rodney. God will bless those who bless Rodney, God promises. So, Jonathan continues, “take what God has put in your hand and use it to see [Rodney] accomplish what God has given him to do.”

Jonathan is saying (without saying it), “Don’t be guided by the Holy Spirit in your giving. Use common sense to determine the most practical manner to invest in God’s kingdom.” But in reality every person is “a gift to earth from heaven” with enormous potential. In my opinion, everyone in Jonathan’s audience has both a relational ministry (ministering to acquaintances) and public ministry (ministering publicly to many). We are to bow to the lordship of Christ as to who to support at any given time, and not be guided by our inferior intellect. Christ guides only those who choose to be guided, this through the most Holy Spirit.

We must all decide who is the lord of our lives, who is our captain, our shepherd, our guide. Is it ‘me’ or is it Jesus? Is it christians or is it Christ? No man except “the Man Christ Jesus” should have a stronghold over our christianity. Jesus alone should have a strong-hold on our heart, our affection, our loyalty, our finances, our schedule, our ministry. Jesus (repeat Jesus!) is the “head of the church.” Jesus (repeat Jesus!) is “the Lord of the harvest”.

I am not capable of exaggerating the strong hold you professional religionists have on a congregation. You (perhaps well-intentioned) brothers assume your people are not capable of being governed by the Holy Spirit. They are not to rely on the Holy Spirit as to who to financially support but on your wisdom and experience. But I say, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man.”

Jonathan, like thousands of pastors worldwide, directs his audience to Hebrews Chapter 7. “Some people say tithing is Old Testament but”, he says, “Hebrews is in the New Testament and this is actually a ten-verse revelation on the tithe taught in the New Testament.” Wrong again!

Hebrews chapter 7, verses 1 to 10 is not a teaching on tithing, though it mentions the words tithe and tenth a combined eight times. He could have said, equally incorrectly, these verses are a revelation about Abraham because his name is also mentioned eight times. He could have said the same about Melchizedek; his name is mentioned ten times.

Hebrews 7:1 to 10 is a teaching on Jesus our High Priest! Repeat: Jesus, not tithing, is the subject of Hebrews chapter 7 (as previously stated in chapter fifteen). It’s a wondrous story….

To usher in the new covenant a new priesthood had to be established. This High Priest (of the new priesthood) could not “be called according to the order of Aaron” as was the Levite priesthood. Our High Priest, the Lord Jesus, had become our “High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek”.

The writer of Hebrews (was it Paul?) tells of the greatness of Melchizedek. Why? Because he wants to demonstrate the greatness of Jesus our High Priest who was of “the order of Melchizedek”.

Melchizedek, as great as this man was, is only a side issue. The real subject is Jesus Christ!

To underscore the greatness of Melchizedek the writer tells us to “consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils [plunder from his defeated foe].” The writer is not giving a lesson in tithing! He is simply accentuating the greatness of Melchizedek.

Nobody reading this chapter would conclude that because on one occasion Abraham gave a tenth of his plunder to Melchizedek we are to regularly give a tenth of our income to the local church. God gave no person the authority to make such a claim. However evangelicalism has become so mighty it does not require God’s permission to add “commandments of men” to His plain instructions.

Professional fund-raisers distort Scripture to make it say what it doesn’t say. They turn a beautiful story of our beautiful High Priest into something sordid. The end – to procure lots of money to do (their version of) kingdom work – justifies the means. Why didn’t Jonathan (and all of you) simply quote a verse that plainly stated that the “head of the church” requires christians to tithe their income? The answer is simple: There is no such verse!

Jonathan reads to The River congregation Hebrews 7:1 to 8 from the New Living Translation. I print these verses because I want you to scrutinize them to determine if there is any justification for using them to extract billions of dollars weekly from Christ’s saints….

1. This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him.
2. Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace”.
3. There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors–no beginning or ending of his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.
4. Consider how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle.
5. Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel, who are also descendants of Abraham.
6. But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing on Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God.
7. And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.For some reason Jonathan misquotes verse 8. First I will record verse 8 from the NLT and then record Jonathan’s misquotation….
8. The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on.

Jonathan’s misquotation: “Verse 8: The priests who collect tithes HERE are men who die, but Melchizedek COLLECTS IT IN HEAVEN WHERE IT IS told he lives on.”

This is a serious breach of both Scripture and the people’s trust. Of all 62 translations of Hebrews 7:8 in Bible Gateway not one uses the word heaven or the expression “collects it in heaven”.

Jonathan goes on to explain the meaning, not of 7:8, but his misquotation of 7:8: “In other words men receive tithes here where they die. But it is received in heaven by Christ where it is witnessed He lives forever. So giving a tithe and offering is not a lateral transaction. It’s not you making a donation to a ministry. The Bible says this kind of giving is different than any kind of giving. Because though men receive it here that die it is received in heaven where it is witnessed He lives forever. So Christ actually receives the tithe and the offering.”

When working as an electrician in a huge pig barn, the smell was atrocious, more so than a cow or horse barn. Jonathan’s line of reason, used to extract millions from The River adherents, stimulates that awful memory.

Hebrews does not teach that “men receive tithes”. It teaches that men (Levite priests) received (past tense) tithes. “Here where they die” is not referencing today’s pastors. “The priests who collect tithes are men who died” is referencing priests who died thousands of years ago, not pastors who die today. The Amplified makes this clear: “Here [in the Levitical priesthood] tithes are received by men who are subject to death.” (Several other translations confer.) Also….

To say that Jesus receives tithes in heaven is a wild supposition. Jonathan, in his own misquotation of 7:8, said that “Melchizedek receives [the tithe] in heaven”. Does he think both Melchizedek and Jesus receive the tithe in heaven? There is no reason whatsoever – not the slightest hint, not one Bible verse – that suggests either Melchizedek or Jesus receive tithes in heaven.

The Amplified makes this clear: “But in that case [concerning Melchizedek] they are received by one of whom it is testified that he lives on [perpetually].” “That case” refers to the one time, thousands of years ago, Abraham gave a tenth of the plunder to Melchizedek.

The River is not the only megachurch that imposes the awful evangelical tithe on its congregations; seemingly they all do. What motivates so many pastors – all having been thoroughly schooled in Scripture – to come to the same unreasonable consensus. The answer, I conclude, is found in the words of Jesus, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”

Jesus confronted the Pharisees “who were lovers of money”….

“Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and ‘He who curses father and mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”–then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.”

Christ’s words directed to priestly leadership demonstrate the awful power of love-of-money. Love-of-money did not disappear with the Levite priesthood. It’s still here. It runs rampant throughout evangelicalism, most certainly including evangelical leadership; surely the weekly collection of money – that has no Bible precedent – sufficiently evidences that.

Love of money (and the power it purchases) created the awful evangelical tithe. Love-of-money produced megachurches and every evangelical church building. Love-of-money sentences (not millions but) billions to hell.

I believe I have answered the question, “How was the construction of [The River Church] building financed?” And, more important, I also answered the question, “How was the construction of your church financed?” Rodney and you did so by enforcing the awful evangelical tithe – that has “made the commandment[s] of God no effect” – by coercing your people to direct the bulk of their generosity to your non- biblical religion.

Still not convinced that the evangelical tithe (a tithe created and propagated by evangelicals) is one of many “commandments of men” and “doctrines of demons”, a destructive ploy against blood-washed brothers- and sisters-in-Christ, a betrayal to the “captain of [our] salvation”? For you I have a few questions….

Why was the tithe statute, directed to the Israelites through Moses, the only edict dragged from the old covenant to the new? Doesn’t that make you even mildly suspicious? Or are you blinded by love-of-money? (Jesus: “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”)

Why do you agree that christians 1) are not obligated to honor saturday as God’s sabbath even though the word sabbath is mentioned 59 times in the New Testament compared to the word tithe and tenth mentioned a combined 12 times 2) are not obligated to obey the many decrees regarding the seven feasts. 3) are not obligated to sacrifice animals of various kinds 4) and many etceteras, and yet you insist that God nonetheless wants His people to tithe?

Who gave you the right to change the tithing of farm produce – a statute directed to old covenant believers – to the tithing of income? Again, who gave who such permission?

Isn’t coaching the congregation to tithe prior to the collection – the tithe being the main source of your salary – self-serving?

Aren’t you obligated to tell the congregation, precisely, the details regarding your salary (i.e., the amount)? Isn’t transparency, especially regarding money matters, pleasing to One you call Lord?

Are you sufficiently aware of the upcoming judgment seat of Christ whereby “each of us shall give account of himself to God”? Are you prepared to explain to Judge Jesus why you coerced your people to give a tenth of their income to be placed under your supervision?

Is coercing your people to tithe feeding Christ’s sheep (Jesus to Peter: “Feed My sheep”), caring for Christ’s sheep (Jesus to Peter: “Tend My sheep”), or fleecing Christ’s sheep?

Doesn’t fair play require both sides of the tithe debate be presented to your congregation?

I say to you again, my brothers-in-Christ: The judgment seat is coming! The judgment seat is coming! The judgment seat is coming!

*****************************

I was about twenty-five and Cal was in his forties. Cal goddamned various people and things throughout the day, and loved telling dirty jokes. His left hand had a thumb but no fingers, having lost those four fingers when a youngster while chopping wood with his brother. This impairment didn’t seem to interfere with his livelihood as a mechanic.

Cal and I were hired – $2.00 per hour – to level a lengthy pile of trees that had been bulldozed to make way for a roadway. The pine-needled trees lay crisscrossed over each other. We each had a heavy chainsaw. It was treacherous work climbing over pine-needled trees carrying that noisy saw. Cal lightly touched his four remaining fingers over the chain of his saw causing a bit of bleeding on the base of each finger. He came so very close to making his right hand the same as his left.

I realized the madness of what we were doing. If I seriously injured myself that would be the end of my electrician apprenticeship. How could I look after my young family? So I quit and so did Cal.

About five years past and I was now a born-again convert of our Lord Jesus. I changed but Cal didn’t. I felt the Lord tell me to drive from my city to Cal’s city, an hour-plus drive, to share the gospel that revolutionized my life. It seemed like an urgent matter. Perhaps I had heard a bad medical report regarding Cal – I just don’t remember.

I made the drive and parked at the A&W across from Cal’s house, trying to work up courage to share my faith in Jesus to a man who wasn’t open to the gospel, not the least. I saw him on his driveway, and had I waved He would have noticed me. Fear of man that plagued me caused me to just drive away. I was so ashamed of my cowardice.

On my way home to Kelowna I stopped at a roadside park along the Okanagan Lake. Perhaps I needed to use the washroom – I can’t remember. There was Cal! Right in front of me! Face to face!

This was beyond coincidental. This was God! No other explanation. Cal was with his wife and another couple, but soon the two of us were alone, chatting. But I just couldn’t do it. I was fully aware Cal was on the road to hell, but that reality didn’t give me the boldness to share Christ with him. I continued my trip home, so ashamed – so very, very ashamed.

Cal died a year or so later.

That dismal failure is one of several reasons I dare not pass judgment on others in my calling to bring wayward brothers and sister back to “first love”. I hate religion but have nothing but empathy for religionists.