A Matter of Heart

By Pastor Steve

This will be a quick blog. Jesus made it clear that we cannot serve God and money. We cannot have two masters. It is either one or the other. Which do you serve? There is a reason I bring this question up. I remember when Pastor Chris finished up 1 Corinthians, the issue of tithing came up. When it was finished, some people from the congregation (or maybe visitors -- I'm not sure) told him that his presentation of the subject was the first time it was done to where they were not offended. I never gave this statement another thought until a couple of days ago.

Think about the implications of the statement. "You covered the subject of Biblical giving in a way that did not offend me." Why would talking about something as silly as money offend any Christian in the first place? In other words, a pastor can tell you not to have sex outside of marriage, steal from work, gossip, lie, get drunk, or any other matter as it relates to holiness and purity and you wont get offended, but if he brings up Biblical giving he needs to walk on egg shells or you'll get offended. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Holiness and purity is far more important than money. Why is a pastor getting into the business of our lives acceptable, but for some reason we think it is unacceptable for him to tell us what the Bible tells us to do with our money? I'm sorry if you are detecting my anger over this, but it just dawned on me how stupid this is.

Here is the conclusion. If you get offended because a pastor talks about tithes and offerings, but you do not get offended when he talks about sexual purity and tells you how to live, then I dare say you serve money more than God. Paper in your bank account should not be more guarded by your heart than personal holiness. Put God first. Realize that if you are really a Christian, then at the moment of salvation 100% of you belonged to God (not 10%). If so, then don't you dare get mad when somebody points out what God tells you to do with the money He blessed you with in the first place. If you are not willing to part with money when the Lord commands, do not fool yourself into thinking you will part with your life for the Lord. People always rush to say that if the gun were put to their head, they would not deny the Lord. Yet, when the Bible is put to their head and it tells them to tithe, they find it difficult to do. I can promise you that when the bullet is inches from the skull, your life will become 1000 times more precious to you than your wallet. If you struggle with giving from the wallet now, then why do you think you would give your life later?

If this was offensive to any reader, rather than asking me questions, I exhort you to ask yourself why you are offended. I then exhort you to go and find something in Scripture that tells me I am wrong in what I said here and tells you why you are right to be offended. When you are done, I am convinced you'll be on my side of the issue. The Word of God is quite clear. Thanks for taking the time to read this. God bless.