House of God or "Den of Robbers"?

And he taught, and said unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? but ye have made it a den of robbers.

The "church" building was arguably one of the greatest mistakes Christianity fell into. The typical "church" spends 96.5% of what comes in on overhead which includes a hired pastor, mortgage or rent, upkeep, advertising, carpet, electronics, and other furnishings.  It also makes sure the average Joe Christian gets a weekly "shakedown" to support the thing as the plate goes by. 

Since "churches' and their organizations are always in "need", fundraising and other means of what Paul called "extortion" are used to generate additional cash flow.  If you doubt this, send a dollar to several TV or radio ministries and see if you start getting regular requests for more money.   We heard pastors complain "only 25% of the members tithe' as they imagined the financial bliss the church would enjoy if all did so. 

We ourselves participated in countless fundraisers over the years such as chicken dinners, selling peanut brittle door to door, portrait sales, enchilada sales, valentine sales, bake auctions, raffles, multi-level marketing schemes, barbecues, church yard sales, tapes, cd's, car washes, halloween youth carnivals, and more that I cannot recall.  Ask the typical church tamale fundraiser sellor what the money is for and they will answer "it's for the church".  

These are the ministries that build their kingdoms on sand (Gods' people).

Most of the proceeds went to fund youth trips, church building repairs, the expense of visiting ministers, or on a rare occasion help someone with a medical need, but most was absorbed by the routine of running the church. (In our church, the pastor collected 100% of the tithes which was never accounted for, and they also administered the general fund). Records were kept of member giving but the pastors giving was never disclosed, neither was the amount of tithe he collected.

You would be "Hurricane-Iked" to realize and know how many "churches" are run by a pastor who administers both a tithe account and a separate General Fund account.  This is ESPECIALLY true in the Charismatic/Pentecostal/ Spirit-Filled/ and many Independent churches.  Many with boards are no better because they are dominated by a strong-man pastor who appoints favored people to the board.  Ours had the pastors own brother appointed to the church board.

What happens is the financial lines of distinction are blurred between the various church accounts. 

Pastor needs a home computer for "church business", so the General Fund pays.  Pastor eating dinner at a fine restaurant and meeting with a prominent family or a visiting minister out of town becomes a General Fund expense, never mind the Tithe Account is for his living expense.  So we have travel, meals, hotels, and many like expenses paid for from the General Fund.  Meanwhile, the supportive and loyal folks sell peanut brittle, raffle tickets, and/or sacrifice in their giving to the General Fund AFTER they already gave their "mandatory" "in covenant" tithe of 10%

Don't think we are disgruntled "murmerers, we saw this kind of stuff over the years but were blinded by love and loyalty to those who were also blinded to their plundering of the flock. Read what Paul told the "overseers" (bishops) of Ephesus: Pauls Leadership Conference.

 This man was disfellowshipped for questioning the tithe and how it was used in Northern Calif. Very interesting story and typical of the modern church. Hydesville

 One year my wife and I took over the General Fund management, only to find we were thousands in debt and behind on a large stack of bills.  We found we were hundreds and hundreds of dollars in debt to some of the local restaurants (pastoral meals, and for visiting ministers), the floral shop (flowers for funerals and gifts), grocery stores (where the "church" charged groceries (we never knew to whom), and other places.  We brought our corporate financial mess to the church body, and in a few months the Lord helped us to retire all the debt we had been saddled with.  

Later, as the church prospered, visiting preachers were entertained lavishly; air fares and travel expenses, golf, restaurant meals; $1,000 "honorarium"s were paid for a Sunday Sermon.  As we were staff, we also partook of some of those meals, golf games, and cushy perks. 

Another time we attended a James Robison fundraiser at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco.  Because we knew someone on Mr. Robison's staff, a suite at the Hyatt was offerred to us if we wanted to enjoy ourselves there. (We declined).  If I recall, that one evening at the Hyatt brought in over $50,000 to Life Outreach.
(James Robison receives an annual salary from Life Outreach International of $159,000 and Betty Robison receives $128,000, they also receive standard benefits. -Wikipedia)

Once a church reaches 100-200 members, it is typical for the ministerial lifestyle to also go to the "next level".  From what we observed in our own assembly and that of numerous visiting ministers, some of whom we became friends with, there is a very different lifestyle being lived than most people imagine. Being church insiders, we saw nothing wrong with the odd hours, frequent vacations, and regular meals at restaurants (3x a day in some cases) lived as a ministerial lifestyle.  It was all part of church life and we just attributed these things to be Gods' blessings and normal Christianity.

How wrong we were.

There is not a single verse in the New Testament instructing any minister to take tithes, nor a single verse instructing any church or Christian to tithe in the New Testament.

Furthermore, there is not a single verse authorizing any pastor to take a tithe from anyone, (nor a salary for that matter). 

 Tithing was never said to be "a starting place" for our giving, any Christian who puts a tithe in the Sunday plate has been deceived into doing so and is missing the blessing of allowing the Holy Spirit to tell them how much and to whom they should give.

All of the above stories, (and we saw them and many more for 24 years), are true and a witness to the corruption of the leadership in Christianity that have been deceived into believing that "gain is godliness", -(gain i.e., as a sign of blessing). 

Teaching the poor and needy brethren they must tithe is robbery and extortion. We were supposed to be helping them in their need, not funding the organization, but most Christians are trained to feed the offering plate, not the poor..
2Cor 9:9 As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.

The average church sees the poor as an annoyance. They are passed off as quickly as possible to the "Food Pantry" deacon, the "Benevloent Fund" minister, or to one of the local institutions serving the poor such as The Salvation Army or HomelessShelter.  But in New Testament scripture, giving went to meet the needs of the poor and needy brethren, not buildings, not affluent preachers, or their organizations. As church goers, we were taught, conditioned, and brainwashed into giving first to the weekly plate that was passed around. 

A corrupted clergy seeks to build their ministry and organization on a membership of middle class substance.  When a visiting well-to-do rancher or business owner was seen out in the sanctuary, the excitement level and hopeful anticipation of "winning" those people to our church was tangible to the leader.   

The poor and needy are fortunate to have their call returned by the busy pastor-administrator in stark contrast by the smiles and glad-handing shown to people of means.  The favor and attention given to the "quality* people" types does violence to what scripture says "have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect of persons". 
*quality people were defined as business people, corporate executive types, successful working people.

God have mercy on us.

In part 2, we will provide the scriptural witness for what giving should be for a Christian.