To Tithe or Not to Tithe

By Eric Tangumonkem, Ph.D.

There is a need to reexamine the doctrine of tithing as it is being taught today (giving ten percent of your income to the church) because it has become a stumbling block to the very mission for which Jesus Christ sacrificed His life. This is not to blame those teaching about tithing, but I want to emphasize that in our zeal to avoid the curse of God, we have introduced unintended negative consequences. But it is vital to bear in mind that just because something is taught by popular preachers and practiced by many, it does not necessarily mean it is correct.
The book is not written to settle scores or to make anybody feel bad. I wrote it to point out some of the excesses that are going on and the misinterpretation of scripture by well-meaning teachers who want to help their flock to obey God and prosper. This is not an attempt to discourage people from giving but to encourage people to step up to the plate and be all God created them to be.
It is important to state upfront that this book is not against supporting the work of God or those who are in one ministry or another. We are all called to do ministry, as we will discuss later on.
The book will emphasize the critical role the death and resurrection of Jesus plays in our walk with God; a misunderstanding of what Christ accomplished on the cross contributes to the present confusion on whether or not to tithe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IEM Press
• Release date: Jan 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781636031255

Eric Tangumonkem, Ph.D.

I am excited about people, their stories, where they have been, where they are and where they are going. I love to inspire and motivate people to be ALL God created them to be. I know that with God all things are possible. For I was born in a Caldera on the Cameroon volcanic Line in a village with little resources and face a lot of challenges growing up.I have a Bachelor in Geology and Sociology from the University of Buea, a Masters in Earth Sciences from the University of Yaounde and a Doctorate in Geosciences from The University of Texas at Dallas. In addition to being a consultant geologist, I am a poet, an inspirational speaker and President of Equipping of the Saints International Ministries. I am married to Elizabeth and God has blessed us with four children; Afaamboma, Nstongmboma, Elotmboma and Abuetmboma.

Book preview

Introduction

This is a book that will likely draw much criticism because people become agitated when money is mentioned. Part of the reason is that they are afraid to displease God and walk in doctrinal error. The other reason is that their livelihood is threatened. The person receiving the money is worried that the funds will dry out, and the giver is afraid to be cursed and deprived of God’s blessings if they do not give.

My sincere hope is that you will see beyond your denominational traditions, personal preferences, and experiences to take a critical look at the subject of tithing, the priesthood, and the institutionalization of worship.

The stakes are incredibly high when it comes to tithing - many people will not dare touch this subject with a twenty-foot pole because it can cause great confusion. This will not be your ordinary book about offerings and tithes because I will not be attempting to put new wine in an old wineskin.

There is a need to reexamine the doctrine of tithing as it is being taught today (giving ten percent of your income to the church) because it has become a stumbling block to the very mission for which Jesus Christ sacrificed His life. This is not to blame those teaching about tithing, but I want to emphasize that in our zeal to avoid the curse of God, we have introduced unintended negative consequences. But it is vital to bear in mind that just because something is taught by popular preachers and practiced by many, it does not necessarily mean it is correct.

The book is not written to settle scores or to make anybody feel bad. I wrote it to point out some of the excesses that are going on and the misinterpretation of scripture by well-meaning teachers who want to help their flock to obey God and prosper. This is not an attempt to discourage people from giving but to encourage people to step up to the plate and be all God created them to be.

It is important to state upfront that this book is not against supporting the work of God or those who are in one ministry or another. We are all called to do ministry, as we will discuss later on.

The book will emphasize the critical role the death and resurrection of Jesus plays in our walk with God; a misunderstanding of what Christ accomplished on the cross contributes to the present confusion on whether or not to tithe.

Some people may not be aware that although Jesus Christ was predestined to die, what actually killed Him was the tithe and all the other privileges enjoyed by the chief priest and religious leaders of His day. When Jesus began to teach and act in ways that jeopardized their livelihoods, they were not going to allow this. They made sure He was eliminated by accusing Jesus Christ of blasphemy, among other things. Their sole purpose was to maintain the status quo and the flow of money received by them. Those people who killed the son of God believed that they were doing the work of God. Unfortunately, they were doing the work of the devil, whose sole purpose is to kill, cheat, and destroy.

This book will be touching on the sensitive issue of money, and many will not like it all. I have already had conversations with people who opposed the message in this book, but the message has been delivered to me by God, and I will share it as instructed.

My desire for you is that you read with an open mind and make sure that you consult all the quoted scriptures. Do not allow what your church tradition has taught you to take precedence over the word of God.

I will introduce ideas in this book that you may be hearing for the first time or that you have listened to before and discarded, but I am calling upon you to take a second look and think carefully about what the Holy Spirit is telling you.

I wrote this book not because tithing is evil or something we should discard, but to point out that the spirit behind most of what is being taught today is making the church weak and almost irrelevant. I have been a tither and gave up to twenty percent at one point, but the Holy Spirit began to show me a better way, and that is what I will be sharing here.

The command to give and to give generously has not changed, and I strongly encourage you to be a generous giver. The problem is that we have been conditioned to believe that if the money is not placed on an offering plate and prayed over, the blessings will not come.

There are two main reactions you get when you speak against paying tithes. The first is an accusation of being stingy and unwilling to give. Those who hold this opinion have a distorted view of grace; they say that if we’re required to pay ten percent under the law, then we have to pay more under grace. According to them, ten percent is the starting point. This position has to be rejected because Jesus did not come and die so that we should do more. We could not save ourselves, and we cannot add anything to our salvation—that is why we are encouraged to give as we purpose in our hearts and give generously.

The second objection is the complaint that it will hinder the work of God. We talk as if God, who created the entire cosmos and owns everything in it, will run out of resources to do His work. No wonder the children of this world are wiser than those of the kingdom when it comes to handling money!

God’s work will be accomplished without tithing when the church begins to operate in the laws of money. What is wrong with learning how to provide solutions and get paid, then using that money to further the Gospel? It is said that many tithe-paying Christians end up working for non-tithing unbelievers—does this picture not trouble you? We are told that money is not important, but the church turns around and collects money weekly.

Collecting money and spending it is not proper stewardship. This is a small part of how money works. If we want to talk about money, we do not need to go far to look for examples of how this works because Jesus has some excellent examples of how money is created. We will look at these in the next chapter.

Those teaching tithings hang the carrot of special divine blessings in front of people and promise to eradicate all curses and misfortunes. If you just give ten percent, God will take away all the bad from your life, and you will do well financially. Well, this makes a lot of sense to the person who is collecting the money because when you do the math, you see that the more people you gather into your church, the more money you can collect each week. This also explains why instead of focusing on making disciples, we are more concerned with numerical growth, and to ensure that we keep the numbers, we have to make the Gospel palatable. The Gospel must be seeker-friendly because if we expect it to transform people’s lives, we may scare them away and with them their money.

If we want to talk about money and how to get a financial increase, the complete truth should be taught, not just the small part of giving. Unfortunately, so many people have been duped into buying this lie that the secret to financial freedom is giving ten percent of their salaries to somebody to pray over it.

Well, I am here to say that this does not work. There is another alternative, and we will discuss it in the last chapter of this book. It is time for the church of Jesus Christ to rise up and begin to walk in the freedom and authority that has been given to them by the Father. The body of Christ must learn how money works and obey the laws of money if they want to prosper.

Unfortunately, the masquerading prosperity preachers are selling a lie to the people. These poor people are so desperate for a solution to their predicament that they fall for distortions of the word of God. Many have already been preconditioned not to question. Touch not My anointed ones, / and do My prophets no harm (Psalm 105:15 NKJV) is often quoted to silence anybody who dares to ask why millions are spent on fancy buildings that are all underutilized year in and year out. If you dare to question why those collecting the money are living large, you will be reminded that their counterparts in the world are also living large and that we have to ensure our leaders have the fancy things that money can buy.

Please do not get me wrong—I am all for you buying whatever you want, but fleecing the people of God to pay for your extravagant lifestyle is wrong. You should not be living in a multi-million-dollar home and also be on TV asking people to send money for you to do the work of God. Most of the people being asked are poor and broke, and you dare to show off your designer suits, cars, planes, and mansions as a sign that your prosperity Gospel is working? Why not tell people the truth about where your money is coming from? That you are collecting money regularly and that you have investments and royalties from your videos and books? In other words, you have products that you are selling to meet needs, and that is how you are being rewarded. Why not show these people how to put their products on the marketplace so they can be rewarded too?

There is nothing wrong with learning how money works and earning great wealth legitimately. But for people to be taught that money can just come their way without a strategy for how to earn it is wrong. Faith without works is dead, and this applies to making money too. You need a plan and must work the plan if you want a true increase.

Before you drop this book, I strongly urge you to get inside it and let us explore how the teaching on tithing unintentionally hinders the very message of the mission of God. Many are wondering why the body of Christ is weak and anemic. If you want to trace the root cause, it will center around the present predominate structure of the church in which the clergy-laity divide is prevalent. While this divide makes sense to us, it hinders the mission of God and the charge to preach the Gospel and make disciples of all nations.

The bottom line is that this clergy-laity division is a tradition that cannot be backed Biblically. This book explores this issue and proposes some practical solutions. Those who insist on collecting the tithe see themselves as a continuation of the Levitical priesthood, but is this the case? Can we, in good faith, say that the church today is the same as the temple in Jerusalem, and those collecting the tithe the same as the Levites for whom the tithe was meant? We will address these and many other troubling and challenging questions in this book.

Finally, I will end with practical steps to wealth creation. If you apply them, your financial situation will change dramatically, and you will give joyfully and not under compulsion. God owns everything, and you are just taking care of it. When you learn to let God be God in your giving, you will give above and beyond what is humanly possible.

I am excited that you are reading this book and that you will claim your rightful place as a priest of God and begin to live as one. God bless you as you embark on this journey.

Chapter 1

Tithing and the Priesthood Before the Law

This chapter will introduce an idea that requires you to pay close attention because it lays the foundation upon which the entire book is based. Therefore, it is crucial to define a few things upfront for clarity.

I am introducing the term priesthood here, but not in the strict sense; I will use the term to mean anyone offering sacrifices to God. Since priests were the only people sanctioned by God to offer sacrifices after the law was given to Moses, this implies that anybody offering sacrifices to God must be some sort of priest. Cain, Abel, Noah, and all the patriarchs offered sacrifices directly to God without any need for an intermediary. Therefore, they must have been functioning in some capacity as priests. The Bible does not refer to them as priests directly, but their actions imply this.

It is crucial to grasp the relationship between the priesthood and the tithe because the very first time the tithe is mentioned in the Bible, a priest is mentioned as well. Therefore, without a priest, it is impossible to give the tithe that rightfully belongs to God. We will explore the intricacies between the priesthood, tithes, the temple, and how things have changed over time.

Let us get started with something that triggered my writing of this book. I must say that I have been thinking about the content of this book for more than two decades, but it seemed the time was not yet ripe. Now, it is.

Last week, there was teaching on tithing at church, and the following scripture was read to justify that tithing is an eternal principle that must and should be practiced by all. Before I make further comment on this, let us look at the scripture:

Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, I have acquired a man from the Lord. Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And