Clothesline AUG 2007

Greetings to all on 3 AUG 2007

Word for the Day
Constantinian church - Emperor Constantine formalized legal status to the church in 325 C.E. at the Council of Nicea. Nowadays, the phrase is used to refer to the modern church entrenched in formality, hierarchy and tradition.

Quote for the Day
In addition to tax support, colonial churches used pew rents, subscription lists, lotteries, and special offerings to underwrite their ministries. Throughout American history, lotteries, bazaars, church suppers, rummage sales, auctions ... have been some of the ways the church has let money talk in its midst. Our present system, based on the combination of faith and pledge budgets supplemented by free-will offerings ... didn’t take root until after the First World War. [1]
Hmm... there are some ideas for us. My favorite is Rent-a-Pew.

Website for the Day
www.5twenty8.com
Good site for information, teachings from Jewish perspective.

Thought for the Day
Like many of you, I was raised to believe that the Law of Tithing did not apply directly to Christians. After all, it was from the “Old Law” and was not repeated in the B’rit Hadashah (NT). Now don’t get me wrong, we were encouraged to give as we had been prospered, but no percentage was ever suggested. V. P. Black said the reason we had so many difficult people in the church was because they had “finally found a religion that didn’t cost them anything.” [2] There was one other reason that we did not teach tithing - the Baptists did! At least we were able to poke fun at ourselves. One of my favorite old quips was that “since the Baptists come in through the doors, we should probably come in through the windows!”

Around 1976 an ol’ time preacher named V. P. Black came to Panama City and held a five day meeting on stewardship. He forcefully made the case for adherence to the Law of Tithing by presenting it as a law forever, predating the Mosaical Law. And that’s how I became an avid articulator and supporter of tithing for about 25 years.

But, a funny thing happened on the way toward spiritual maturity. As I began to reevaluate almost every tenant of the faith, stewardship came under the microscope. The modern Constantinian church necessitates a budget and other financial concerns in order to sustain its buildings, programs and staff. My study of the ecclesia in the first century reveals no such structure or hierarchy. We have been set free from the law system. Jesus said, “I came not to abolish the Torah, but to fulfill it.”[MAT 5.17]

Leonard Sweet remarked that Christianity was the first non-temple based religion. But he goes on to say, “If you claim to not be temple based, show me your budget.” [3] Although we have been set free from temple based worship, we tend to, like the early Hebrews, want to return to the way it used to be. We no longer need a percentage to guide us; instead, we are to give as needs arise. The Jewish system of tithing was needed to support the Priestly class much like we pay taxes to support the Government. Now I see why the Law of Tithing was not repeated in the B’rit Hadashah! My masterfully prepared lesson on tithing now rests in the four drawer legal file, never to be used again.

Paul instructed the Corinthians to store up funds for the Jerusalem church so that there would be no need of a collection upon his arrival. [1COR 16.1-4] Here we have an example of how money was collected for a specific need. No longer do I believe that this is a binding example for all Christians for all time. We have no record of a church treasury and no reason to believe that the Corinthians continued an ongoing treasury after releasing the funds to Jerusalem. Instead, I see the Christians gathering, mostly in house churches, and giving to meet the needs of the day, which would vary from week to week.

Now, let’s post-modernize this scenario. Imagine Christians who are able to immediately help those in need. No need to refer them to the Benevolence deacon or say come back tomorrow when the church office is open. Imagine being able to support mission work without being weighed down with debt. Imagine being able to pull the cash out of your pocket and help the single mom fill up her tank with $50 of gasoline or leave a $10 tip for the waitress that you know struggles to make ends meet. Sunday could become a time for sharing stories of what happened in our life the past week, thereby encouraging each of us to be like Jesus.

What if we had money to spend for getting the Word out in our community? We could buy advertising space in the local newspaper or radio spots. What if we could bring in performance groups on the weekend to reach out through the avenue of music? We could sponsor events for the community and present ourselves as kind and humble rather than self-righteous and haughty.

The ecclesia is not immune to the lure of “new and improved.” We delude ourselves by saying, “we could offer more programs” or “we could better reach out to the community” if we had a new facility. The post-modern world is looking for relationships, not real estate.

Just as individuals can be burdened with debt, so can the ecclesia. “The borrower is slave to the lender” rings true for both. [PRO 22.7]

May God Bless
Mike Toole
Lori Moores, ed.

1. Leonard Sweet, Freely You Have Received, Freely Give, found at: www.leonardsweet.com/includes/ShowSweetenedArticles.asp?articleID=91Read the entire article for a brief, but scholarly history of tithing.

2. V. P. Black, Message delivered at Parker Church of Christ, Panama City FL, c.1976

3. Leonard Sweet, Message given at ZoeGroup regional conference at Monterey church of Christ, Lubbock TX, March 2, 2007