Please Separate Tithing From the Prosperity Gospel!
The prosperity gospel is one of the deadliest heresies today. One of the worst things a pastor can do to make a "quick buck" is to do the following scam. It's called the tithing scam. Now I don't condemn Christians who tithe from their net income. Tithing helps the local New Testament church support itself. It may be an Old Testament command but tithing certainly gives a value to expenses like electricity, water and food for the church to survive. The church needs money to move on and yes, a church is a business but it should not be monkey business.
How does the tithing scam work? Pastors are quick to open Malachi 3:10 and misquote it. In context, Malachi 3:10-11 happens in the Old Covenant. Nowhere in the new covenant are we commanded to tithe nor is it forbidden. I believe tithing brings spiritual blessings but if you give it to a corrupt pastor, you are dishonoring God. The problem is when this happens, the pastor uses the tithes to scam churchgoers into giving money and more money... and makes a lot of scam promises.
If you are familiar with Ponzi scheming, think about the following. A Ponzi scheme means you invest some money and they promise preposterous increase. Such corrupt pastors of Satan use the tithing scam for the same reason. They say, "Well give me your tithes and God will make you a millionaire or billionaire." They misquote the statement, "That there shall not be enough room to receive it."
Looking at Malachi 3:10 on a classical Christian commentary, I can share a more meaningful insight on the matter of "not enough room to receive it":
British Baptist minister John Gill writes the following:
That [there shall] not [be room] enough [to receive it]; and so Kimchi says his father interpreted this clause, that there would not be a sufficiency of vessels F11 and storehouses. Some render the words, as Junius, "so that ye shall not be sufficient"; either to gather in the increase, or to consume it. The Targum is,``until ye say it is enough;'' and so the Syriac version. The phrase, which is very concise in the original text, and may be literally rendered, "unto not enough" F12, denotes great abundance and fulness of good things, so that there should be enough and to spare; and yet, as Gussetius observes, not enough to answer and express the abundance of mercy and goodness in the heart of God.
John MacArthur also speaks of tithing:
Two kinds of giving are taught consistently throughout Scripture: giving to the government (always compulsory), and giving to God (always voluntary). The issue has been greatly confused, however, by some who misunderstand the nature of the Old Testament tithes. Tithes were not primarily gifts to God, but taxes for funding the national budget in Israel. Because Israel was a theocracy, the Levitical priests acted as the civil government. So the Levite's tithe (Leviticus 27:30-33) was a precursor to today's income tax, as was a second annual tithe required by God to fund a national festival (Deuteronomy 14:22-29). Smaller taxes were also imposed on the people by the law (Leviticus 19:9-10; Exodus 23:10-11). So the total giving required of the Israelites was not 10 percent, but well over 20 percent. All that money was used to operate the nation. All giving apart from that required to run the government was purely voluntary (cf. Exodus 25:2; 1 Chronicles 29:9). Each person gave whatever was in his heart to give; no percentage or amount was specified. New Testament believers are never commanded to tithe. Matthew 22:15-22 and Romans 13:1-7 tell us about the only required giving in the church age, which is the paying of taxes to the government. Interestingly enough, we in America presently pay between 20 and 30 percent of our income to the government--a figure very similar to the requirement under the theocracy of Israel. The guideline for our giving to God and His work is found in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7: "Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.
The blessing that has not enough to receive it is meant to be shared. It is not the promise of financial prosperity or insurance from trials. The Bible warns that if you will live for Christ do not expect the world to accept you. You are going to face persecution. Giving a tithe does not mean you will be spared from financial burden and all your businesses will succeed. Rather, tithing is all about being a blessing for others and to finance the work of God. To teach that tithing makes you a billionaire and will make you super-rich is nothing more than crooked and super-duper bad theology.