This might be a sensitive topic for some.........
I saw a report on a female preacher cussing out her Church members for not contributing towards her Birthday celebrations and I am wondering if giving is a must and what the Bible tells us concerning giving Pastors....
The tithes given in Church is for Pastors to spend on themselves right? Is there anywhere in the Bible that talks about the Congregation providing for the Pastors need or celebrating them with money?
In some churches, some members of the congregation who give offerings do not even have enough to go by, they take Public transport to Church and the Pastor arrives in the latest SUV..
Do members of the congregation owe their pastor any financial Obligations?
No pastor is owed any dime. They are not in paid employment and the congregation is not their employer.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone gives willingly, fine and good. But no one should be coaxed and coerced into parting with their money.
For me, I pay my tithes and give my offerings, but I may decide not to pay it in my church. God is one and he is not restricted to a particular church nor pastor
I do not condemn giving to your pastor because the Bible says in Matt 10:41-42, He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.
Delete42, And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
That said, I like giving not only to pastors but people around me who are needy.
What I do not like is a preacher forcing people to give, like trying to squeeze money out of you, why na? Some go to the extent of saying that God says that you should give so, so, so, and so amount! If God did not say that, then it is fraudulent. You as a preacher is not better than a yahoo, yahoo guy, if you say that when God did not say. I am a faithful tithe payer and I am not against tithe, offering, sowing seeds and I also encourage people to pay, because I have been blessed immensely through tithing. But preachers should stop calling people out for money all the time, and after a good fellowship you tell them to give good gift so that God will bring it to what you are asking him to pass. What? We now bribe God? Preachers please, instead of trying every semantics and syntax in church to squeeze out money from people, if you need money, go on your knees, talk to God, he will touch somebody to raise the money, or he will give it to you in whatever way he wishes. If God is asking me to give money in the church, he should tell me directly, not telling you the pastor to announce in the church that God says I should give 10 million naira! They have turned Christianity to commercial venture. Christianity is now for sale, allow people to give out of how they are led by God, not forcing them, calling them out and telling them that God said. Some pastors will even use the money you give them buy stuff and still be showing off. While you are struggling to even make ends meet. Every day in fellowship is give, give, give, wow! Is it what it is all about?
Financial obligation to a pastor?!
ReplyDeleteI am not obligated to give pastor any money.
All I owe the church is my offertory and giving helping hands to the needy among us. If I decide to give to a pastor, I am doing it out of my own free will.
I can never be compelled or ordered to give to a pastor.
ReplyDelete"...The tithes given in Church is for Pastors to spend on themselves right?"
Noooooooo. The tithes are meant to be spent in propagating the gospel not for personal use.
There are committees assigned to dispense the monies judiciously. If not bills won't be paid and the church will fold.
For this,I pay tithe to move the ministry forward.
"...Do members of the congregation owe their pastor any financial Obligations?"
Not exactly but I give As The Holy Spirit Leads.
A stuffed brown envelope leaves a lingering smile on any face. Go on give,don't succumb to pressure, that's all.
And again, what I refuse to adapt is laying my monthly earnings at the feet of any Pastor. Mba nu.
Me too na "woman of God", my calling strong pass many of them.
Madam, l dey feel you, me too l be woman of God
DeleteI don't owe any pastor anything! I can decide to give on my goodwill but I can't be compelled to! As far as I'm paying my tithes,offerings, kingdom advancement offerings and helping the less privileged,I'm good
ReplyDeleteThis is happening only in Nigeria o,we worship pastors more than we worship God.nigeian pastors have no shame,they beg codeddly and feel like a demigod
ReplyDeleteYou owe no pastor or priest anything.
ReplyDeleteIf however, you decide to be charitable unto them then do so reasonably and without complaint or compromise.
Your obligations are to God via various corporal works mercies to your fellow human beings since we are made in God's own image and likeness and lucky enough, we have been blessed with freewill so we should know when to draw the line
In churches now, you hardly see cheerful givers but those coerce to give under complusion. I am not obligated to give pastor my money but it wont be a bad idea to bless pastor once in a while but should not be out of complusion.
ReplyDeleteNobody owes you nothing. Check all the bible characters no one forced to give but look at how they were immensely blessed e.g Abraham, Jacob, Solomon and David etc
Wo, spend your money as God has blessed you but be wise.
ReplyDeleteLet me just make this thing.
ReplyDeleteIn this life, you don't owe anybody anything. Every help you render should be because you want to, you must not be mandated to give anything to ANYBODY
If u attend a church like that, common sense should tell u the pastor is not a real pastor and u should just leave
ReplyDeletePeriod.
DeleteI saw the video and i couldn't hold back the laughter that followed.
ReplyDeleteShe complained that she gives them but they couldn't come together (for the ones who have) and buy her a gift for her birthday. Then the curse followed.
Shey she don give up some of her blood for them? She was sounded low key like an NURTW, Lagos agbero.
Even Jesus who gave all still prayed for instead of cursing even unto death.
Someone was asking me what was wrong with what the woman pastor said. He was even justifying her sense of entitlement.
Everyone can now pray to God.
Christ embassy year 2002. My branch raised one million naira as gift for Pastor Chris, the branch where my cousin worshipped raised 1.5 million. Two weeks after I saw the Pastor on Tv saying I can never be poor. I immediately changed the channel and my thoughts took over. If every branch of Christ Embassy gives this guy 1 million naira every year as birthday gift how on earth is he ever going to be poor. The following Sunday I went back to the Catholic Church. I spent 3 months in Christ Embassy. Till date, l don't know what I was looking for . MBA crashed after the owner gave one billion naira to Christ Embassy, because this people are depressed, suicidal, poverty has enveloped some of those who went into forex through MBA
ReplyDeleteSo many times the word “compel” has been used, how exactly are members being “compelled” to give?
ReplyDeleteThey obviously dont do it with a gun pointed at their members, but play psychological games, quoting and misquoting scriptures for the emotionally weak, gullible and vulnerable members.. behold judgement is not far from those charlatans..
DeleteLet me quote some Scriptures that your "pastors" will never want you to read or know;
ReplyDeleteDEUT. 14:28“At the end of every third year, bring the entire tithe of that year’s harvest and store it in the nearest town. 29Give it to the Levites, who will receive no allotment of land among you, as well as to the foreigners living among you, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all your work.
DEUT. 26:12 When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.
IT WAS PRACTICED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT; THE WIDOWS RECEIVED A DAILY DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD;
Acts 6:1 But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.
1 Timothy 5:9A widow who is put on the list for support must be a woman who is at least sixty years old and was faithful to her husband.c 10She must be well respected by everyone because of the good she has done. Has she brought up her children well? Has she been kind to strangers and served other believers humbly?d Has she helped those who are in trouble? Has she always been ready to do good?
DOES YOUR PASTOR/CHURCH HAVE A LIST OF WIDOWS THAT THEY SUPPORT OR IS HE EMBEZZLING THE TITHES?
James 1:27(NIV)
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
The tithes are meant for;
1. Those who work in the Lord's household who have no means of livelihood
2. Strangers e.g. stranded people, beggars, prisoners etc.
3. Widows in need
4. Orphans
Go and show your "pastors" these Scriptures 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
My sister, pastors of these days are selfish oh! It is only them, them and them. They do not remember the needy in their churches, in fact if you are needy, they will tell you to give the little you have so that God will bless you from that. Our today's pastors take even from the needy and widows, they don't have programs where people who have take care of the have-nots in the church. It is only give to your pastor, give to your pastor, give to your pastor, that's all! The pastors relate to you according to what you have, they assess your dressing, the car you came with, your position in the society and your job/business. My dear, heaven is far, I pray we all that are earnestly running this race make it at last!
DeleteOn "mega churches" and tithes and hypocrisy etc
ReplyDeleteI do like to enter the church in my city to pray during the day; especially on the days that I am off duty. Each time I entered the catholic church (I am not a catholic; I am without denomination), not only do I pray well without "harassment" but sometimes, I will be there for 2 hours and by the time I am about to leave, some of the people I met there are not in any way preparing to leave. I am usually challenged by these people. Several time, I had stopped by the "mega churches" (Redeemed for e.g.) to pray, they looked at me like I've come to steal, most of their parishes are under lock and key. is it only the orthodox churches that are "house of prayer"?
Really I have learnt to do house fellowships to learn the scriptures with other like minded Christians and have not gone or needed any of these churches in the last 5 years. I grow very well in the Lord and we do go online (social media)/prisons for evangelism. If you are a Christian who do not pray and fast and study your bible, very soon, every wind of doctrine will ferry you!
Again, why is every girl (especially fair ones) that go to these "mega churches" put on "deliverance for 21 days"? Did Christ or his disciples do that. One of the teenage girls on my street after being put through such "deliverance' was also "put in the family way". The worst is that she does not know the father of her child because multiple "deliverance ministers" had her. Thank God she got saved during her pregnancy and delivered a healthy baby boy. Or should I talk about the "Rev. Fathers" that browse the girls in their congregations.
For those of you who would "rattle" about tithing; I pay it very well to strangers (prisoners and street kids rehabilitation), widows, orphans, and some missionaries (who of course have no other means of livelihood); if you care to, you can read the scriptures; Deut. 14:28, 26:12, practiced in the NT; Acts 6:1-6, 1 Tim. 5:9, James 1:27. A lot of you will be surprised that I did not start my quotation from Malachi 3. the point is that "God's house has become as spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5-9). By God's grace, I've taken many kids off the street, enabled widows begin small scale businesses, helped missionaries out of poverty etc. and I am not lacking in the blessings" from the Lord. I feel more fulfilled.
Remember, the Scriptures talk about a portion of the tithe going to widows, orphans and strangers. The work of the Church is ALSO in need of sustenance. They also have a share in tithes; and not all Churches or Minsters of God are questionable, nevertheless. So using ur 'tithe' for charity is that u want to do charitable work. Paying tithe is another thing altogether. Note that the instruction is to the Church to set aside a portion of the tithe; meaning that the tithe is to go to the Church first. It is not up to u to decide otherwise. If they misappropriate it, that is between them and God. U have done ur own bit.
Delete@16:59
DeleteQuote one Scripture
Are you giving with the intention of giving to the pastor or contributing for the spread of gospel??
ReplyDeleteGiving is not by force and is from heart.
Why God chose the widow mite among the rest.
Are we sure she's a real woman of God? I'm not in any obligations to give to my pastor, I can only do that if I want 'willingly '
ReplyDeleteThere's this peace that comes with genuine giving, when you are forced to give you can't experience it.
Maxwell Odum of 171 billion fraud: Scammed 70,000 investors using MBA Trading & Capital investments. The company which promised 15% ROI for deposits starting from N350k . He is the highest donor in his Church, Christ Embassy, last year, donating N1B naira. Does he know God? Copied
ReplyDeleteIs the receiver of illicit funds that led to death of investor not as evil as the giver
I watched the video and the female pastor was very wrong to have cursed her members, irrespective of whether they gave for her birthday or not.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for pastors living off the resources or contributions (tithes and offerings) of members, it is biblical. 1 Corinthians 9:14 says 'Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel'.
But again, giving is freewill and not coerced. 2 Corinthians Chapter 9 talks extensively on giving. In verse 7 of that same chapter, it says 'Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver'.
It is good to give especially for full time ministers
ReplyDeleteHowever give because you want to please GOD and you know your scriptures
I am a pastor, and I love Stella and every BV, infact I got inspiration here to write my current book. Now on this issue, it is not by compulsion to give to men of God, but willingly and out of love. Sorry am not judging, but some preachers don't read the Bible in-depth, while some are shallow in Theology. That preacher got it all wrong. Many have brought contempt to this revered holy order making people to call us bad names. Depending on denominations, in othodox churches, pastors and priests don't collect or own tithes, the wardens who are signatories with the priest deposits the whole offering and tithes in the bank on Mondays, then withdrawals for the running of the Church are made from banks. Priests don't pay themselves rather committees and church wardens does that. I know in most new generational churches, please note that is the correct name, not 'Pentecostal churches', it is another Theological teaching anyway, their pastors have direct assess to tithe and offerings. Christians should endeavor to read their Bible's with the help of holy spirit, so that scammers will not receive them.
ReplyDeleteThese days, pastors believe they own the church and as such treat it as their own business establishment. So they control the finances and do whatever they like with the money. God owns the church, even if he used you to establish it, you are just his messenger, allow God to pay you, not you paying yourself.
DeleteBe led by the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit
ReplyDelete