Does giving to the local church relieve the believer from their duty to spread the gospel?

We are faced with a dilemma in the modern church. Leaders continue to preach lies concerning tithes and offerings and continue to blackmail believers spiritually for money. Who are we serving? God or mammon? Sometimes you wonder what exactly is being beamed via satellite to every corner of the globe. The gospel of Christ or some other gospel?

Giving is the very foundation of our belief- “For God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. So God gave Himself that we may be redeemed from slavery to sin. But His Giving was not without consequences. The gift of God, while purchasing our freedom- was NOT free. He suffered humiliation, rejection, He was beaten and forsaken and He suffered the death of a criminal- yet without sin.

The point I am making is this- God gave Himself for us but the gospel today has been reduced to giving of money. While there are a few of us “called” into ministry- to be in the spotlight and to run the church, the rest of us are confined to the bench where we are “ministered” unto. We are given the ‘Word” and according to one preacher should not walk out of the church and belch without giving an offering…. Really? Our gatherings have been reduced to how many offerings we can give. In fact, people try to outdo others in giving as if it is a competition.

We have believed a lie. A lie so corrupt while it harbors a few half-truths, it is a deceptive lie meant to strangle the church into a culture of drunkenness and spiritual fog. We have now come to the belief that if we can give to some project, some church or some preacher, that the act of giving somehow relieves us from the duty of winning the lost and from spreading the actual gospel that Jesus can save a sinner from his sins.

So we go to church, become involved in all kinds of activities and give our tithes and offerings to the local church and then sit back and expect God to go out into the community and win the lost. Have we lost our minds? Have we lost our understanding and perception of the word?

We have been lied to. We have been lulled into a slumber that somehow the lost will get saved. We pray for their salvation but continue our lives without a blink. We do not give a tract, we hesitate when a sidewalk preacher actually speaks- (some of the sidewalk preachers though take this same false teaching out on the streets and even have an offering hat to collect funds….unbelievable), we hide our faith, we hide the light of the true gospel!!!

The gospel has been polluted and watered down to be palatable- meanwhile feeding words of encouragement without emphasizing the importance of making a commitment to God and winning the lost. The meaning of sacrifice has been reduced to sacrificial giving of money.

I pray that clarity comes to us and the web of lies fed through the false gospel of prosperity, fame, and fortune will be broken. We need a revival but revival will not come until there is repentance and deliverance from the traditions of men that we hold on to.

We need to shake ourselves free – like Samson- and ask God , even though we have been spiritually blinded in many ways and through many things, to restore our faith and to see clearly. We need fresh understanding, revelation, based on the word of God. And like Samson, we need to kill the things that have separated us from God. Most importantly- dying to selfish ambitions and pursuits and grapple unto the horns of the altar of God and allow the blood of the Son of God cleanse us from our evil ways.

As always “Create in me a clean heart, O Lord and renew a right spirit within me”. Amen