Title: Tithing/Numbers 18:21-24
Contents Tithe (Numbers 18:21-24)
1998. 8. 2 Sunday morning worship
Bible: Numbers 18:21-24
Title: Tithing (Lecture 36)
Facing the IMF era and living in an era of economic hardship, what we desperately feel on our skin is that we have become servants of money without us knowing. Money has become the standard of all values. So there is a saying. The phrase “money speaks people” is truly meaningful. When judging people or talking about something, we talk in terms of money. Se-ri Pak doesn't say anything else either. It's not because he's good at golf that we're envious of Pak now. It's because they make a lot of money. Preaching on tithing in these difficult times is not sane. In an age when all values are judged by money, the religious system of the Old Testament called tithing can be misused in various ways. One of them is, of course, well known from the old days, but this logic that tithing brings blessings dominates the church. Why? It shows that the church is also governed by money.
Money is so essential to any human organization. This is because the financial power determines whether the organization is maintained or not. And because the people want blessings, this claim is the way to satisfy both the church and the people the most. Then don't you speak too harshly? would say Then I'll give you an example. It is said that a bodhisattva was brought in to pray that anchovy could not be caught in the fishing grounds. So, what is the difference between saying that we are blessed if we tithe? Also, one of our thoughts on tithing is that it is easy to think that paying tithing is just like paying some kind of tax. It gives the feeling that you have to tithe to run the church, but it seems a little healthy. But even this thought is an act of ignorance of the true meaning of tithing. The problem is that whenever we think of this issue of tithing, we are thinking of money first. Tithing was not originally a matter of money. You should make this clear.
It doesn't matter how much tithe you pay, it's who gets the tithe. Who gets tithing? The Levites. Why do you tithe the Levites? Verse 20 says that these Levites had no portion on the land. Asking these Levites to pay tithes is not just a means of livelihood, but a tool to teach them who blessings come from. For a quick example, where does the first tithe come from? Abraham. To whom does Abraham tithe? Give it to Melchizedek. But what do you say? Melchizedek blesses Abraham, and Abraham pays tithes, acknowledging that his victory came from God. After all, tithing is a confession that admits that they were able to have all this income because of the sacrifice of God who saved them from Egypt. In other words, paying tithing means that I am bound by God. Without God's grace, I would not exist. It is meant in that sense.
Tithing is a life that is not tied to money. This age is tied to money. It is an era in which everyone is understood as if money kills and saves people. So we try to understand the tithing issue only from a money perspective. You must understand that tithing is not a matter of money, it is a matter of life, and it is a matter of who your master is. Knowing that it is a tool to testify to the wonderful fact that the Lord died on the cross to pay for my sins. I hope that you will become those kinds of believers who look to Jesus Christ and experience the cross through this tithe.