First Fruit! Tithe! Prophet Offering! Sacrificial Offering!
The matter of money and giving in Christianity is both a very critical and controversial one; especially because of the diverse views and arguments around the subject...
However, my focus in this piece will be primarily on the first fruit, being that we are at that time of the year again when there is much talk around the topic... Though I will also be considering the matter of giving in general, as it applies in Christianity...
The
first fruit principle originated from the Old Testament, being one of
the many laws that God gave to Moses for the Children of Israel, which made it a religious rite and a compulsory requirement for them to bring to the Temple the best part of the first set of
harvests from their farmlands, and also the firstborns of their herds and livestock, basically as a means to show their appreciation, honour, and reverence for God
Who gave the blessings to them, and also to secure more blessings from Him... See Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, Deuteronomy 26:1-4, Nehemiah 10:35-36, Proverbs 3:9...
Putting that in our present-day context, since most people no longer
farm, many believe it is expected as a Christian to give to God (a church or a pastor) your whole salary/profit for the first month of every year (that is January); Or your first pay/profit from a new job/business... And this is backed up with Biblical references...
So, let me begin on a blunt note: There is nothing wrong if a Christian gives the first fruit offering, there is truly a blessing when it is given with the right heart; And it is not a sin if a Christian does not give the first fruit; there is no curse upon those who do not give it!
I will elaborate...
The revelation with regards to
giving in the New Testament is not one of giving by law but giving by faith... And what that
means is that we do not give any offering of any kind because we are trying to impress God with our goodness (what can impress Him better than the sacrifice of Christ?); Or because we are afraid not to break His law (Well if God is to list out all the other laws we should be keeping, we will surely give up trying and know that the primary basis upon which we approach God is what Jesus has done for us); Or worse still giving because we are being forced
or compelled to give, or even because we want God to give back to us...
The basis for giving in the New Testament is not law, but love; love first for God which translates to giving to express our honour and reverence for Him as the One Who gave us all the blessings we have; And then love for others, which translates to our generosity, liberality, hospitality, and good works, all borne out of the inner work of the indwelling Spirit of God upon our hearts because of our faith in Christ... The real spirit behind the giving in the Old Testament is still the same, but the motivation for us today is different; because they did not have the Spirit of God living inside of them they needed to be taught (or do we say 'forced') to give...
However, God indeed blesses those who give with the right heart, and there will surely be
a reward, which can come in different forms, not necessarily money... So, the believer gives basically because he believes, not ultimately because he is expecting a return; because God is not a money-doubler and giving to God is different from investing in the natural...
If giving your first fruit for instance means (in your heart)` you plan to live by begging or borrowing for the rest of the month, or you plan to start complaining and whining if the reward doesn't seem forthcoming, then it is rather better not to
give. But if you will give it with peace in your heart, cheerfully and joyfully with contentment, by faith trusting God to supply your needs daily, then that's the way to go. It is all about
the heart condition and not the religious obligation...
We also need to understand that with God,
financial prosperity does not answer simply to giving "God's money" to God,
because there are also other necessities which determine if God will prosper a man, such as self-discipline, prudence, faithfulness, contentment, generosity, and humility...
So, giving my first fruit alone is not a guarantee that the rest salaries/profits of the year will be multiplied by God, or that I
will get any supernatural favours or harvest... Not when I am not doing my job skillfully and faithfully... Not when I do not humble myself to learn and utilize good opportunities... Not when I spend my money on things that do not bring glory to God...
Personally, I
do encourage Christians to give as the Holy Spirit leads them and as much as their faith can carry, especially in the first fruit matter and other sacrificial kinds such as emptying one's account... And for the tithe, I believe at least that 10% is definitely not too much for any believer... We go higher as we grow in our faith and in our personal relationship with God; we may have heard of some Christians who do give above 10%... And really we are all meant to grow to a point where we stop calculating and just give, and give big... Where rather than looking for excuses not to give, we even look out for opportunities and look forward to giving, with joy and excitement... And at the end of it all, the reward comes from our response to God by faith...
But again, personally, I believe that a true Christian who professes the name of Christ and believes in His Gospel does not need to be forced to give towards the furtherance and expansion of God's kingdom, or to honour true spiritual fathers and other ministers of God who labour to feed believers with the truths of God's Word; not when the person truly has the
Spirit of God in him... A true believer should give consistently, not intermittently, and should give as the occasion demands according to the level of blessing He has received from God...
Indeed! God does NOT curse a Christian for not giving... How will God deliver us from the curse of the Law as Jesus was made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13), and then turn around to curse us for not giving Him money?... And Yes! I know Malachi 3:8-10; First, it was written to people who were bound by the Laws of Moses, people whom Jesus had not died for, and who did not have the Spirit of God living inside of them... God surely needed to go hard on them to convince them to give, and God's issue is not the grains or goats that they were not bringing for the Temple and Priests, but the fact that they were dishonouring Him by not acknowledging or reverencing Him as their Provider with their offerings...
And guess what! Even with the curse attached to it, some of those Israelites still will not pay their tithes, just as some today will still not give no matter what the preacher says... Secondly, a curse is not a light matter, Jesus or at least one of the Early Apostles would have spoken directly about it, and it would've been explicitly written in the New Testament that non-givers (or should I say non-payers) in Christ will be cursed by God... How does it even sound to say we are paying God? As in the price Jesus paid is not enough?... BUT... The truth remains that God's blessings of abundant financial and material prosperity will be far from a Christian who is not a giver; because God blesses channels, not containers...
And someone may ask, what about unbelievers who don't know God and of course don't give to God's kingdom, but yet they are prosperous?... Well, it is not only God that can give prosperity, Satan also does, but in exchange for the soul... If Satan offered Jesus the world during his temptation, it means the Devil can give something too, it is where the person's soul will end that counts... That aside, the curse upon Adam was not that he would be poor, but that He would sweat to eat, so if an unbeliever works hard enough, he can prosper too, but the believer has the grace advantage... And also the law of generosity is universal, truly a giver never lacks, believer or not!... Another issue with that of a Believer is that God Himself at times can even stop a believer's prosperity if He foresees that the prosperity can destroy him or destroy his faith, and that is still a show of God's love...
That said! Every true Christian is and should be a generous and cheerful giver, law or no law!
And I close with the famous Bible verse below:
"Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others." 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (NLT)
I
hope this has helped your understanding. Thank you for reading!
#JesusChristIsLORD #GODisStillinCharge
