Part 4: “Pastor, I’m giving you my 2 weeks notice”

I needed to speak to another brother in Christ to validate my findings on tithing. I needed to find someone who wouldn’t just spout the "party" line about tithing. You know

"Abraham tithed so that proves it was outside of the OT Law."
"The local church is the local storehouse of Malachi 3:10."
"Preachers are the spiritual successors to the Levites/Priests."
"Tithing is a spiritual principal taught throughout the bible."
(So is a blood sacrifice but Christians don’t need to do that.)

There was one brother who I was friends with that actually used his God given mind to think things through. He was one of the few that didn’t fall for the whole "Y2K Tribulation Panic" that took hold of a lot of believers in 1999. I’ll call him Bro. D to protect his identity.

I invited Bro. D and his wife over for dinner with the intent of sitting down afterwards and going through my print out and all the scriptures. I wanted him to counter me every step of the way and expose my fallacy or heresy, as some would call it. So after dinner Bro. D and I sat down and we started. I warned him that my intent was not to change his mind but for him to change my mind. When we came to the end of the print out I looked up at him and asked him what he thought. He paused and looked up at me and said, "You’re right."

Ok, I needed to regroup. Here was a brother who just validated my conclusions about tithing. I had thoughts of excommunication and inquisition all at the hands of my IFB in-laws. But here I was at a crossroads, facing the Red Pill offered by Morpheus, (No, Morpheus isn’t some sort of demonic character, he’s one of the main characters in The Matrix. A movie about . . . you know what, if you’re a hardcore IFB you’ll never watch it so never mind). So I took the Red Pill. And If I was wrong and the IFB preachers were right, I would meet up with the "devourer". (Hey, read it for yourself in Mal 3.11.) The devourer would cause havoc on my finances, cause my car engine to blow up, my washing machine to go on the fritz and my microwave oven to scorch my popcorn. Well that’s what the IFB preachers told me. So be it. I prayed and talked to God and decided on 5% of my income, and waited, . . .waited for the devourer to knock on my door.

As I waited for "devourer" (sounds like a WWF wrestling character), I continued to teach the Adult Sunday school class and lead songs in church. Then it suddenly occurred to me that I was in violation of the Church by Laws and Constitution that stated that all church members in leadership positions must tithe. Having a good conscience toward God and man, or at least trying to, it didn’t sit well with me that I was sneaking around the Pastor’s back and not tithing while holding a leadership position. Even though I didn’t believe in tithing anymore I still had agreed to these by laws when I became a member. So it continued to bug me. On the one hand I could confess and resign and be a church outcast, or I can continue to sneak behind the pastors back, or I can give an additional 5% and hold on to my teaching position. The latter option basically amounted to me "paying" if you will, to teach. I wasn’t ready to tell the Pastor what my belief was on tithing. I already had enough trouble from my in-laws. So I met with the Pastor and told him I was tired. I said that my senior year in college was tough and I wasn’t able to spend as much time as I would like preparing for the Sunday school lesson therefore I was cheating the body of Christ by not giving my 100%. All of this was true. I was burnt out and simply wanted a break. I told him I was stepping down and that I would give him 2 weeks to find a replacement for the Adult Sunday school. I would continue to lead songs if he wanted me to. He received the news kind of coldly and replied with a simple casual "Ok".

A couple of things happened after that day that hastened my departure from church. On an unrelated issue my wife sought counsel from our pastor and during the counseling session he informed her that my college education is not of God. He stated firmly that since college was responsible for taking me away from teaching Sunday School then it was not of God. So if it was not of God then what other possible source could it come from? Satan? You mean the devil is sending me to college? Paying the tuition and books? During my 4-year college career only 2 IFB brothers in the whole church actually encouraged me and told me to keep going that it will be worth it upon graduation. And neither of those 2 were the pastor. Another thing I noticed was when I stopped teaching I stopped growing. I would attend church and get preached at but I wasn’t getting taught. I felt spiritually malnourished. Every time the preacher was about to hit on something that I thought would be edifying he would default to "hell, fire and brimstone" or "serve" or "give" or "forsake not the assembling of ourselves." Instead of getting built up, I was constantly told I was found wanting. Oh, incidentally, the "devourer" never came, my car engine kept running fine, and my washing machine kept going, however, my microwave did scorch my popcorn but that was my bad.

Part 5: "Now about this KJV-Only-ism . . ."

Part 3: "Lord, can you cash my $30 Best Buy rebate?"

No phone, no money, and the wrath of my IFB in-laws. Then the dumbest thing happened. As I was rumbling through the paperwork in my study (hey, all good IFB’s have a study) I found a $30 rebate certificate from Best Buy. A-Ha! The Lord doth provide. Then I saw the expiration date . . . and I hit the roof!

Yep, I lost it! The next 5 minutes were not pretty. I slammed stuff around, threw a couple of items across the room. I lost my testimony in front of my office furniture and killed some nick-nacks. I regained my composure and started to think. Did God let me down? Was there something wrong with me? (be nice) I did what the preachers said to do. Was my wife wrong for wearing pants? If I burnt my wife’s britches would God change the expiration date on my rebate coupon? Slowly, I started to realize that I had been in this situation before. Back when I was a Pentecostal and seeking the "Baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues" I felt this way. God wasn’t at fault back then, and I wasn’t at fault back then. The teaching was. (Doh!)

Tithing? I always took it for granted. The preachers preached it. The preachers were IFB preachers, not liberal evangelicals. Could they possible be wrong? Had I relaxed my Biblical vigil and been duped again? "Okay Lord, I’m going to hit the reset button like I do on my (then) 486DX2/66mhz computer when it locks up!" So I ran Quickverse (yes, KJV) and printed out every verse on tithing. I was going to examine each verse in its historical context, cultural context, scriptural context and spiritual context. So I started, from Genesis to Revelation. Every mention of the word "tithe", "tithes", and "tithing". From the tithe of Moses to Melchizedek in Gen. 14 to the mention of tithing by our Lord Jesus. I wanted to see for myself if it was Biblical to dogmatically mandate that a New Testament Christian has to tithe, specifically 10% of their gross income. While I would love to replicate my entire study here (not the subject of this blog) I’ll just hit the high points. (I strongly encourage the reader to duplicate this study in like manner and verify my conclusions, just remember put aside any preconceived ideas, but if you’re truly pressed for time, Google it. See link how to interpret the Bible on side bar.)

1. -Abraham tithed to Melchizedek. (Gen 14:20)
   
2. -Jacob vowed to tithe to God (Gen 28:22)
   
3. -The tithe was standardized under the OT Law of Moses for the Jewish nation.
   There were several types of tithes in many forms. They were used to support the Levites/Priests, the widows, and during certain times the tithe giver ate the tithe. (Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Numbers)
   
4. -Malachi 3:10. God using an Israelite to speak to Israelites? True. God using an Israelite to speak to a New Testament Gentile Believer? Not True. An IFB misapplying this scripture to guilt trip a Christian into giving? Bingo.
   
5. -Jesus spoke of the tithe when addressing the non-Christian Jews. (Mat 23:23, Luk 11:42)
   

Now, I knew the defense to this. Using the "law of first mention" or the fact that tithing came before the OT Law was formed, thus it’s a canon. Or as one website put it so succinctly:

"Abraham Commenced it (Ge. 14:18-20). Jacob Continued it (Ge. 28:20-22). Moses Confirmed it (Le. 27:30). Malachi Commanded it (Mal. 3:10). Jesus Commended it (Mt. 23:23). God Commissioned it (1 Co. 9:14). Paul Conformed it (1 Co. 16:2). A study of these Scriptures shows that tithing is a scriptural principle. Abraham and Jacob tithed 500 years BEFORE the Law was instituted. Moses, Malachi, and Jesus spoke of tithing DURING the period of the Law. The Apostle Paul explained tithing AFTER the Law. Christians ought to tithe!"

Yep, spoken like a true IFB.

Now, having taught Adult Sunday school for several years I did learn some Bible in the process and I remembered the "1st Preachers Conference/What to do about these crazy Gentile Believers" of Acts 15. There it was decided that the O.T. Law was not to be placed on believers. Hmm, if God wanted to be crystal clear about tithing wouldn’t this be the perfect place to jot it down? (Relax, just a question).

Then the clincher: 2 Corinthians Chapter 8: 12, 13 speaks about giving, listen to this:

"For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: "

Scrreeech! How come I never "saw" this before? Yes, I’ve read it before, but I didn’t hear it. (Hey, sounds like a good sermon title.) Interestingly enough, as I write this I Googled the phrase "Christian Giving" and found a couple of sites that skip over this passage.

Ok, I was armed with my print out. But I was scared. Scared that I would go down the wrong path, that my financial problems were going to influence my decision. So I did what I thought was best. I grabbed a brother in Christ and pulled a Joan Rivers "Can we talk?"

Next, Part 4: "Pastor, I’m giving you my 2 weeks notice"

Part 2: Dear Bellsouth, I gave God my money. Please take it up with him.

I wrote my tithe check faithfully for several years. Never really hesitated, just wrote it out thanking God all the way. I was taught to give 10% of my Gross income, not Net. I was married had children and stuck with credit card bills as most Americans are. We lived paycheck to paycheck, and often times paycheck to Tax Refund (i.e. I often carried our checkbook in the red until we were "blessed" with our tax refund). There was a time when I was in the Army and didn’t have enough gas or money to report for Physical Training at 6:30 AM on post but I still gave my tithe, faith promise or any loose change I had in my pocket.

Obviously we struggled and it strained our marriage. I was making less than $20k/year and had 2 kids, living in a single-wide trailer. Later, when I was discharged from the Army I received some VA disability benefits and we were able to move to a bigger house. There I continued to perform as Song Leader, Sunday School Teacher, and fill in preacher while I worked 2 jobs, sometimes 3 and attended college full time. Yes, hard to believe but I did. I would leave around 7:00 AM and not return until 10:30 PM. VA had given me the opportunity to go back to school as part of their rehabilitation program, and they often pushed for a full-time course load so you can receive the maximum benefit per month and quickly graduate. Needless to say, I was tired, but mostly happy, or so I thought.

Then my phone was cut off. I was late paying the bill. Like a good Christian I gave my Tithe, plus my Faith Promise. Then I would subtract my bills. When I got down to the phone bill I went in the red. Not to worry I thought to myself, here I would get a chance to see the Lord at work and like the Pastor had preached many times, God would provide. Many a sermon I had heard about how the Lord would send $20, $50, or $100 to those that needed it especially when one was faithful in their tithe and offerings. I remembered tales of how Christians found money in the parking lot or simply received a gift from another brother or sister because the Lord led them.

Around the same time, my wife was growing as a person and was receiving considerable flak from her parents over wearing pants. Or as they put it "That which pertaineth to a man." I had made numerous attempts to come to her defense and simply explain that while the principal of the separation of the sexes is plain and eternal. I no longer agreed that pants are specifically made only for men and I don’t know of any IFB preachers that shop for pants in the women’s department at JC Penny. Unfortunately, they came short of disowning her and indirectly called her an abomination and whore. Great mother, doesn’t smoke or drink, her kids behave very well, they get A’s and B’s in school, faithful to her husband, but wait . . . she wears pants!? She’s abominable.

"Hello, yes this is he . . . no I can’t pay the phone bill [God has the money, I wanted to say]. Ok I’ll pay it as soon as I can."

No phone. I couldn't even call 911 if I needed to. What happened? Where was God? There I was living paycheck to paycheck. I gave my tithe, Faith Promise, and offerings. Where was my "good measure, pressed down, shaken?" My wife was in spiritual distress over something as silly as pants on women. I was working 2 to 3 jobs, teaching Sunday school, leading songs, singing solos, preaching and running the service. I was starting my senior year of college by now and the courses for my major were significantly harder. I kept hearing "burn out for Jesus", "serve", "give".

Funny thing when you burn out for Jesus. No one likes you any more.

Next Installment . . ."Pastor, can I still teach Sunday School even if I don’t tithe?"

Part 1: The IFB way . . .

If the above quotes have peaked your curiosity then please read on. I hope you have the courage and honesty to read this and judge the following material for yourself and not apply the judgements and convictions of your church, your Pastor or your particular brand of Christianity. If you are an Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) then I welcome you and hope this gives you some knowledge, understanding and wisdom of how not to conduct yourself as a Christian. If you are an IFB pastor, preacher, evangelist, Sunday school teacher, missionary, deacon or any form of church leader then let this be a warning that none of us, especially you, are above the judgement of our Lord Jesus Christ and the blessed Holy Spirit.

First let me begin with who I was. I was an up and coming IFB Christian that later became an adult Sunday school teacher, song leader, and deacon. I was often called to fill in for the pastor of the churches I attended whenever the pastor was out of town. I had a great zeal for the Lord and His work. I was there whenever the church doors were open. Thursday evening visitation, Saturday morning visitation and Saturday night prayer meetings you name it I was there. I sang solos in front my church, often known as "specials" or "special music". I taught myself guitar and played and sang hymns and soul-stirring southern gospel songs in front of my congregation. Yes, I was careful of my selections of southern gospel for I feared that many songs were not appropriate for the worship service.

By far the ministry that was most dear to me was teaching. Several members of the church, including my pastors and visiting ministers often told me that I had the "gift of teaching." I enjoyed breaking down the word of God and extracting the principals for living. When I prepared for my Sunday School lessons I looked for the leading of the Holy Spirit. I never followed a published teaching program like Baptist Press. I earnestly sought the leading of God and spent many hours on Saturday, and early Sunday morning preparing and praying. I loved it, I didn’t do it for the spot-light or vain glory. I did it because I loved to share what I found in the precious Word of God. The Word of God (KJV only) was exciting, alive and real. I wanted to share its goodness with my church. When I was medically discharged from the Army I came very close to surrendering full-time to becoming an Evangelist and went as far as "surveying" my future Christian college, Ambassador Baptist College in Shelby, North Carolina, founded by Evangelist Ron Comfort.

I married into a family of preachers. My wife was a missionary’s daughter whom I met while being stationed overseas. Her oldest brother was a pastor of an IFB church, her other brother was an IFB Evangelist, and her older sister was smack in the will of God by being an IFB missionary’s wife. Under her father (my then future father-in-law), I was taught in the doctrines of the IFB. At this time let me point out that I met Jesus and was saved before I became an IFB. My affiliation and subsequent transformation into an IFB occurred at this time. Having been saved in a Pentecostal church that taught little Bible I finally found a church that fed me. My future wife was being trained to be a preacher’s wife. When I later surrendered to preach, I qualified.

That’s who I was. Who am I now? Rest assured, I’m still a Christian. I’m saved, and to answer the question that I often used on visitation. "If I were to die tonight, where would I go?" The answer is Heaven. I’m still a Blood-Bought believer. Of more important to readers is the question: "What am I doing now?" The answer is not pretty to an IFB. Indeed, I would venture to say that I will lose some of you in disgust. You will claim that I am back-slidden and in need of God’s judgement. That I departed the church because I was never a part of the "church." So, if you have the courage then read on.

I don’t go to church, I don’t take my family to church. My wife refuses to set foot in any church. I don’t believe in tithing any more (don’t be scared, keep reading). I believe to fully understand the scriptures one must study several different translations (gasp! --I've lost about 90% of you IFB's). I encourage birth control (you would too, if you knew the Christians I do). I go to the movies. I enjoy secular music. I send my kids to public school (sorry Jack Chick, I must meet all those liberal God-Hating teachers you know firsthand). I’ve sampled some wine at Olive Garden (what can I say, I'm horrible). Needless to say my wife and I are considered the "Black Sheep".
Next installment…."I can't pay my phone bill . . . I gave the money to God!"