I was a former member of the Philadelphia Church of God for 10 years, but last May I was disfellowshipped because I wasn’t tithing. After being blind for so long my great God opened my eyes.
The late Herbert Armstrong always taught that we had to give 10% of our gross income to “the church”; another 10% to go to the feast, and a 3rd 10% [every two years out of a seven-year cycle] to the widows and fatherless. PCG teaches that tithing shows “submission to God’s government” and that it “builds character.” But when you look in the Bible, what do we see? We can see that Jesus never talked about getting our money. Giving to God should be willingly, as Paul told us in 2 Corinthians 9:7.
All those splinter groups that ask for tithes are in it for the money, not for the people. And in Hebrews 7 we can clearly see that the Levitical priesthood [which administered the letter of the Law] was changed, so tithes are not mandatory today in order for these groups to get rich off the poor people.
I also do know that Paul had told us in 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 that a minister could live off the gospel, but some take advantage of this. They should follow Paul in verse 15 of the same chapter who worked for his money like all of us.
I hope this story can help some people that are caught as I was, in all those money-grabbing organizations that become rich by twisting the Word of the living God.
May God richly bless you for your help to all the blind people out there caught as I was, in a sect.
By Leon
September 9, 2002
Related Material:
Tithing and Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing