Church leaders have reacted to the positions of the Senior Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre Lagos, Pastor Sam Adeyemi, on the raging tithing debate.
Adeyemi last Sunday shocked many when he waded into the tithing debate sparked by radio On Air Personality Ifedayo Olarinde, popularly known as Daddy Freeze.
Daddy Freeze for close to a year has been condemning church leaders for promoting tithing, saying it was an avenue to enrich themselves at the expense of poor members.
He accused many church leaders of feeding fat on tithes, saying tithing is not as fundamental to the Christian faith as most preachers want members to believe.
The social media has been awash with many Christians for and against payment of tithes, an age-long tradition of the church that requires committed members to give a minimum of ten percent of their incomes for operational costs as well as welfare of the vulnerable.
Initially shocked by the mass discontents over administration of tithes, several church leaders waded into the controversy, largely dismissing Daddy Freeze as an anti-church agent bent on setting Christians against their heads.
Though many of them told their members to ignore the radio presenter, the debate has refused to die down with many Christians canvassing divergent views of the matter.
Adeyemi, a largely reserved and cautious Pentecostal preacher with large followership among urbane, upwardly mobile Christians, finally broke his silence on the controversy during the final lap of the church’s one-month teachings on giving.
He said: “I have been following the tithe debate. I discovered that it has been an age-long debate and it will be on for a long time. My first observation is that church people are behaving as if we own the word ‘tithe’.
“We don’t own the word. It is an English word. I want to say clearly that tithe as practiced under the laws of Moses has expired. The death and resurrection of Jesus has put paid to it. It has expired.
“All the requirements of the law were satisfied under Christ. It is a gamble to say Jesus never paid tithe. The fact that it was not written that Jesus paid tithe does not mean he did not do it.
“I can also claim that Jesus did not go to the toilet because it is not written. 18 years of his life were not recorded in the Bible. When he was born his parents satisfied the requirements of the law. John 21 verse 25 says there are many things he did that were not recorded. Jesus did not say it was wrong to pay tithe in his day.”
The host of Success Power radio talk went on: “No Christian should feel guilty for not paying tithe. There is nothing you can add to what Jesus did to be qualified before God. When Jesus said ‘it is finished’, it was finished.
“Galatians 3 verse 13 says Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. A Christian is not cursed because he or she did not pay tithe.
“A Christian should not give out of fear. A Christian should give out of love. We are free from guilt, from fear. We are in a dispensation of grace.”
Aside from stating that tithing has become expired as an essential, Adeyemi further stirred the hornet’s nest when he declared Christians are at liberty to determine whatever they want to give God, as against sticking to the ten percent-threshold.
He explained: “You are free to decide what to give. But if you sow sparingly you will reap sparingly. Tithing as practiced under the law has expired but tithing as a general principle cannot expire.
“A Christian is free to give any percentage of his money. But just bear in mind that 10 percent is still part of the number. If somebody chooses to give 10 percent he should not be condemned and if he gives less or more than that he has a right to decide on what to do.
“We should give to the poor because giving to the poor is giving to God. If we love God we should give to men.
“We should also be responsible citizens by paying our tax. We should give to our parents and be a blessing to them. We should give towards the work of God and we should give to servants of God and we should give to our immediate family and take care of them.”
The Senior Pastor of Living Waters Unlimited, Rev Ladi Thompson, said tithing is not and cannot be outdated. He said the subject matter is a scriptural dynamic that only regenerated minds can understand.
“Tithing is a scriptural dynamic not meant for the carnal minds. It is a scriptural principle that came before the law. Abraham was the first man to pay tithe to Melchizedek even when there were no laws.
“There is nothing we want to say to someone who has not activated the mind of Christ on tithing. So, for me, the first thing is for people to read Proverbs 26: 4-5 first. Then, we can explain tithing to them. It can only be taught to someone who has the mind of Christ.”
The Senior Pastor of Jesus Liberation Squad Lagos, Apostle Dele Johnson, agreed the Mosaic laws on tithing have expired but not its purpose.
“The bible is so clear about tithing. The New Testament is the confirmation of the Old Testament. In the New Testament, what we give is more than tithe and it is voluntary.
“The purpose of tithing is to worship God, which has not stopped. The purpose of tithing has not expired because it is voluntary as a form of worship.”
Johnson, who is the convener of Pastors Leaders Interceding Network (PLIN), also disagreed that a Christian can choose to pay more or less tithe as canvassed by Adeyemi.
He declared: “If it can be less or more than ten percent, what is that based on? What scripture backs that up? The scripture supports us to give more but not less. You cannot give less than the grace of God on your life.
“We shouldn’t give people opportunity to mess up but straighten up. Jesus never said or did anything that negated tithing. There is no curse attached to not paying tithe but there is a blessing attached to paying it.”
The Senior Pastor of Shepherdhill Baptist Church Obanikoro Lagos, Rev Israel Kristilere, disagreed that the law of tithing has expired. According to him, the laws of God are eternal with no timeline for compliance.
He said: “Does it mean the laws of do not kill or commit adultery have also expired? If those ones have not expired, what should only the law of tithing expire?”
He pointed out that Jesus never condemned the practice of tithing, saying “the only thing He said was when the Pharisees boasted of paying tithes without pursuing justice and fairness. Jesus said they should have paid tithes without also ignoring the other laws of God.”
Kristilere also frowned at the idea that Christians could pay less than ten percent. According to him: “The tithe is the minimum one can offer. God gave the minimum in the Old Testament but in the New Testament, it could be more. It cannot be less. If you are giving less than your minimum, you are a failure.”
The Senior Pastor of Livingspring Chapel, Pastor Femi Emmanuel, is also of the conviction that the law of tithing still subsists. “I don’t believe the law of tithing has expired although it is an Old Testament law.
“Jesus didn’t condemn tithing but said the Pharisees should have done it along with others. I believe anybody attacking tithe is attacking the church and the blessings of Christians practising it.”
The ten percent that Christians pay, he said, is only the smallest. “It is the smallest anybody can give God. God gave us all and there is nothing we give Him that is ever enough,” Femi-Emmanuel stated.
