“Grace” Is Not
The Synonym
For Mindless Enthusiasm
I began a series of posts on Tithing in July 2009 that immediately attracted a lot of negative attention.
Every comment came from people who reject tithing, believe it was eliminated at the cross and feel quite free to abuse anyone who thinks otherwise.
- They refer to those who teach tithing variously as false prophets, liars and thieves.
- Those who practice tithing, they say, are duped.
- Anyone who doesn’t see their point immediately or questions them with rational arguments are accused of being gripped with a cultic mindset.
In other words, anyone who disagrees is either a false prophet, a dupe or psychologically damaged. That makes it easy for them. Tithers need help not answers.
Well, ever the curious antagonist, I engaged the discussion looking for two specific bits of information.
Firstly, I wanted to know if these detractors could actually prove that tithing can be understood differently to the historical traditional sense. Was it really never what we thought it was? Did Abraham and Jacob really not tithe in the traditionally understood manner? Was their tithing not the same as that incorporated in the law? Did Jesus’ sparsity of comments on tithing mean it was mysteriously and without notice eliminated?
I dedicated several posts to these very questions. The responses could be described as misdirecting, smoke screening and/or dismissive. You can peruse the comments on the various posts to see what I mean.
