Check out last week's post for some background on this series of articles entitled "Why I Tithe." There will be eight total and last week and this week were covered in a message I shared at our church, City Life, during the October 11th service.
I have been in vocational ministry since 1999, and in all those years, I have found that many people are uncomfortable with the idea of Christianity being consequential. A national figure a few years ago was accused of apostasy for his book that bordered on the line of teaching a heretical belief known as universalism. Why? Because this author like many people eschew the possibility of God legislating consequences that are either temporal or eternal. Too many people mistake the sacred concept of grace for permissiveness.
Grace does not mean there are no expectations...it means there is forgiveness...and forgiveness does not mean there are never consequences! Let's just take the Pauline epistles for example. I don't understand how anyone could read Paul's letters and not come to the conclusion that God expects MUCH of us! And yes, when we fall short, which we will inevitably do, we can trust there is a loving, forgiving Father waiting for us. But He doesn't change those expectations. He expect us to do better next time...and oftentimes part of us learning that lesson and finding the motivation we need to grow spiritually is walking through the consequence of our foolish disobedience.
Malachi 3:7-10 should inspire us all! Some brief history. Malachi's ministry marks the beginning of 400 years of prophetic silence that is not broken until the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist. God likes a good dramatic pause! We understand that this was God's plan for amplifying the message of John the Baptist. When there hasn't been a prophet for four centuries, the prophet that breaks that silence is going to have the attention of the people. But I believe God was also amplifying the ministry of Malachi. If someone told you that you couldn't speak again for 40 years, two statements would matter...your final statement before silence and your first statement breaking silence. Malachi is God's final statement before 400 years of prophetic silence. Malachi is a book that we should read with a deafening effect...and one of Malachi's most pronounced themes is: there are consequences for our foolish disobedience.
God suspends His prohibition against testing him in this text. And what is the context of this test? The tithe. And this test is consequential. If we are obedient, we are promised blessings that are the equivalent of an open heaven over our lives. If we are disobedient, God says we will be under a curse. A word of caution. Do not picture God as some Harry Potter in the sky with an incantation He speaks over everyone disobedient to Him. When I fully embrace all of God's decrees, all His expectations of me, I am living within the boundaries of life with God. In that place, I am positioned under His "open heaven." When I choose to be disobedient, stepping outside those boundaries, I am choosing to forego His blessings...I am stepping outside of His favor...that is the perfect picture of being "under a curse." A blessed life is a life lived under God's authority. A cursed life is a life lived under nothing, and in that place I lack His favor and am also spiritually vulnerable to Satan.
Two other great verses that speak to this idea of blessing and cursing are Proverbs 3:33 and 2 Corinthians 9:6-11. Remember, stepping outside of God's boundaries occurs when we do what we should not but also when we fail to do what we should...sins of commission (I shouldn't have stolen that money) and sins of omission (I should have read my Bible).
When I don't tithe...there is a consequence...I am under a curse. Not only am I forfeiting His favor but I am willfully choosing to live in a spiritually vulnerable place.
This is the second reason why our family has faithfully practiced tithing our entire Christian lives...the consequence!
Pastor Fred
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