"Money is the Root of All Evil"

“Money is the Root of All Evil”

We are in week 2 of our series, “The Bible Doesn’t Say That.”

Last week we talked about “God Helps Those That Help Themselves.”

Today we are going to talk about the statement, “Money is the Root of All Evil.”

This is a common example of people misinterpreting a scripture.

Because technically the bible does say, “money is a root of all kinds of evil.”

But there’s something else before that.

“But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

You see it’s not money itself that is a root of all evil.

It’s THE LOVE OF MONEY.

In other words, GREED.

And greed opens up the door to all kinds of things that God doesn’t want us associated with.

Things like jealousy and bitterness.

And we think that our security and peace will come from money.

So the bible doesn’t say that “money is the root of all evil” but it does have a lot to say about money and giving.

I know some of you may be thinking, “Oh, here we go! This is one of those churches that just wants my money and is going to tell me to give everything I have to them.”

No but my job is to preach the WHOLE gospel.

And the truth is that Jesus talked more about money than faith and prayer combined!

He talked about money more than love.

So if Jesus spoke that much about money, don’t you think we should pay attention to it?

When it comes to giving there are two basic words that we hear.

It’s TITHES and OFFERINGS

Tithing is giving 10% of your income

The actual hebrew word for tithe means tenth.

Offerings are what you give ABOVE the tithe.

So this morning I want to talk specifically about the tithe.

And the first thing I want to mention is that giving is not a salvation issue.

It’s not like if you don’t give you can’t be a Christian.

HOWEVER, to me it’s a matter of how much of God do you want?

Because I want EVERYTHING God has for me and giving is a tool that God uses to bless us and to be used by us.

So let’s talk about tithing.

Many people believe that tithing was an Old Testament command under the law and that it doesn’t apply to us today after Jesus died on the cross and now we don’t live under the law.

To that I would say tithing was actually pre-law.

In Abram gives 10% of his spoils to a priest named Melchizedek.

In Jacob has a dream at Bethel where the Lord tells him that He is going to give him this land and that all people will be blessed through him and his offspring.

And the chapter ends with him saying this in verse 22… “and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

Now some will say, “well how come tithing is only mentioned in the Old Testament? The new testament just talks about giving in general. Jesus never talked about tithing.”

Jesus actually did mention tithing in a subtle way.

“ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”

Jesus is saying that yes you should tithe, but you can’t neglect things that ARE more important like justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

So I believe that tithing is NOT just something they we had to do under the law but preceded the law and Jesus confirmed we should continue to do.

So the question is why does God call us to tithe?

To Show We Trust Him

God knows that people can try to get their security from money.

We think, “if I just had this amount of money I would be happy.”

And God is saying, I want you to trust me in EVERY area of your life. Including your finances.

So are you willing to give me a portion of what you earn FIRST, and TRUST ME with the rest?

This brings me to probably the most popular verse when it comes to tithing.

“10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

Before this God is telling them that they are robbing Him because they are withholding their tithe.

And He goes on to say, “TEST ME IN THIS!”

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse (the church) and watch me pour out a blessing in your life.

Now I do NOT believe that blessing means FINANCIAL blessing.

Some scholars believe that word “blessing” means peace.

Either way I believe God is saying that you will have my blessing in your life and I will take care of your needs.

That’s why when people ever talk to me about having financial struggles the first thing I ask is, “Are you tithing?”

Because I believe that if you are faithfully tithing you can have confidence that God will provide for you.

Now that might look different than what you think it will.

I think of when Kate and I first got married.

We were tight on money but somehow our bills got paid.

Then when we realized that we didn’t want to have to deal with this stress of our finances we moved in with her parents.

Some people might look at that as NOT a blessing but I looked at it as GOD’S PROVISION.

God knows that money can consume us if we aren’t careful.

And he wants to make sure that we are only consumed by HIM!

To Teach Us To Be Generous

God has called his people to be generous.

He WANTS US TO HAVE A GENEROUS HEART.

We should always be looking to help those in need.

And tithing helps get us in the mindset of being a giving people.

“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

When you give your tithes to the church you are giving so that we can do what God has called us to do and that is HELP PEOPLE.

Last week we were able to help some people fix their roof and some areas in their home.

We can do things like that and not charge them because of the CHURCH giving their tithe.

Because being a follower of Jesus means we are always taking the attention off of ourselves and onto other people.

And tithing teaches us to be generous and to give so that OTHERS can be blessed.

Relevant Magazine wrote an article in 2016 called, “What Would Happen if the Church Tithed?”

They went on to say in the article that if all Christians tithed 10% we would have an extra $165 billion.

So what could that money do?

$25 billion could relieve global hunger, starvation and deaths from preventable diseases in five years.

$12 billion could eliminate illiteracy in five years.

$15 billion could solve the world’s water and sanitation issues, specifically at places in the world where 1 billion people live on less than $1 per day.

$1 billion could fully fund all overseas mission work.

$100 – $110 billion would still be left over for additional ministry expansion.

Think of the people that could be helped if the church truly tithed.

I want this church be known as a giving church.

A church that is able to bless people more than they thought possible.

Example of Grand Rapids First paying off medical bills.

Grand Rapids First paid off almost 2,000 people’s medical debt worth over $2 million.

Through an organization called RIP Medical Debt

The highest single payout was $75,000

That’s the power of the church giving to God!

And ultimately God was the greatest example of a giver.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

He gave us something worth FAR MORE than anything money could offer.

He gave us His son.

God calls His people to be generous and tithing helps get us in that mindset.

To Show Us His Power

There are a lot of reasons why people don’t tithe and I think a big reason is that people think that they can’t afford it.

That they can’t survive if they do that.

Well there’s a story in the gospels that shows what Jesus is capable of doing with not a lot.

It’s the story of feeding the five thousand.

“35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

The disciples are saying, hey Jesus it’s late and there is NOTHING out here and these people need to eat so lets send them away.

37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

So Jesus tells them to feed these people and asks what they have.

And the disciples come back and say, “we stole a kids happy meal.”

39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.

Imagine being one of the disciples.

You need to feed around 15 - 20,000 people and Jesus tells YOU to do it.

So you bring him a happy meal.

He then prays for it and gives a portion back to you.

And then says go pass it out.

Think of this when it comes to giving.

How many of us come to God and say, “God, this is all I have.”

It’s not even enough to feed my family.

And you want me to give it to you?

To have you bless it and then only give me a portion back?

Not even the whole thing?

I’m only gonna get 90% and THEN you want me to start giving from that?

Because notice the multiplication of the food didn’t happen in Jesus’ hand.

It didn’t multiply until the disciples were obedient and started passing it out.

You see God wants to show His power and wants to do miracles in our life but He’s waiting on US to be obedient and to show that we TRUST HIM!

42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

Not only did everyone eat but they had 12 baskets full left over.

How many disciples were there?

So because of their obedience not only did they eat, but God blessed them with more than they started.

When we put God first and give our tithes and offerings to Him, it opens up the opportunity for God to do a miracle in your life.

God calls us to give, to tithe.

But it’s not because He NEEDS your money

It’s because He knows YOUR life will be better and blessed and that you will have a stronger impact on the Kingdom of God

Here are some interesting stats when it comes to tithing.

Only 10-25% of church goers tithe.

Again, think of the people that could be helped if the church was just willing to give back to the Lord what HE has blessed us with.

Altar Call

Prayer team