Sunday: A Matter of Simple Honesty
One thing most of us have in common is that we do not like dishonesty. We especially do not like it when we see it manifested in others. It’s not easy, though, to see it in ourselves, and when we do, we tend to rationalize our actions, to justify them, to downplay their significance: Oh, it’s not that bad; it’s only a small thing, not really important. We might fool ourselves even, most of the time; but we never fool God.
Image © Sally Weimer Goodsalt.com
“Dishonesty is practiced all through our ranks, and this is the cause of lukewarmness on the part of many who profess to believe the truth. They are not connected with Christ and are deceiving their own souls.” – Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 310.
Read Luke 16:10. What important principle does Jesus express here that should help us see how important it is to be honest, even in the “little things” (NLT)?
God, though, knows just how easily we can be dishonest, especially when it comes to the things that we possess. Hence, He has given us a powerful antidote to dishonesty and selfishness, at least when it comes to material possessions.
Read Leviticus 27:30 and Malachi 3:8. What do these texts teach and how can what they talk about help keep us honest?
“No appeal is made to gratitude or to generosity. This is a matter of simple honesty. The tithe is the Lord’s; and He bids us return to Him that which is His own. . . . If honesty is an essential principle of business life, must we not recognize our obligation to God – the obligation that underlies every other?” – Ellen G. White, Education, pp. 138, 139.
| How can paying tithe help you remember who, ultimately, owns all that you have? Why is it important never to forget who owns all our possessions anyway? |
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My fiance and I have been attending Tucson Sharon Seventh-day Adventist Church. We are seeking copies of our Sabbath School lessons they have run out of the quarterly Sabbath School lesson books. Can you email daily lessons starting with tomorrow's lesson 2/12/2018? Thank you so much!
Your sister in Christ
Melody
Hi Melody,
On the home page of SSNET there are two links on the left side or the page that may be useful to you:
Weekly lesson: gives two versions for standard and a mobile devices of the weekly lesson. These are online versions but the will cache so that you can study them off line.
Posts by Email: This gives you a choice of several emailed versions of both the lesson and the discussion. You can subscribe and unsubscribe as it suits you.
I hope that helps.
Hey Melody Just follow the Sabbath School lesson at ssnet.org/discussion oa a daily basis Ron
Sister Melody. I sent 2 quarterly books to the Tucson Sharon SDA church pastor for you. Please ask your pastor about them this Sabbath. If they haven't arrived by then, let him know how to contact you once they arrive.
Be blessed.
Thank you for this kind and generous act. I have passed the message to Melody through a private message as well.
I think it's better return tithes and offerings it's already not ours.
That is true Florence, but God is more interested in us "returning" our hearts. When that happens, then the rest follows.
When we have the relationship ...
Returning our hearts... kindly explain on how we do that
The whole idea is that we are God's in our entirety. Returning our hearts means total surrender unto the Lord who owns us. Making God your ultimate focus and king of your life. Involving him in all your plans and activities and understanding that all your life is about him. When this happens, you will not only support the church where there is need, but you will also participate in all the activities which involve bringing the good news to those who have not been at the feet of Jesus and encouraging those who are of low morale in the church. In other words, you will take godliness as a personal virtue and endeavour to run God'd business as though it were your own. That is my view of returning our hearts
Karen, when we are in love with someone, how many of our actions are out of a sense of duty? If did the house duties and all the other mundane but necessary activities out of a sense of duty, then I doubt that my marriage would have lasted the nearly 50 years it has. When your heart is in it, you enjoy your marriage.
That is the sort of relationship that God wants with us ... Does that make sense?
I really need the study of tithing as I have a complicated financial situation. I wonder if someone can explain Leviticus 27:31 to me please?
"If you want to buy back the Lord's tenth of the grain or fruit, you must pay its value, plus 20%"
I read the entire chapter am not sure yet but am concerned too for the text above it that speaks to a devote tithe that cannot be redeemed anyways i am definitely intrigued will read more 🙂
I am no expert, but I will try and those who are more knowledgeable can correct my errors. Leviticus 27 is concerned with the redemption of things dedicated to God. If a person dedicated something to God such as a house, a field, some produce or livestock, (or even another person!) then later wanted to put that thing to other uses, God gave them the ability to redeem it or buy it back by giving in its place a certain amount of money. The amount of money was determined by the rules given in this chapter. The tithe, since it already belonged to God, was not to be dedicated, but it could be redeemed in this way. This made it possible for those who would suffer with the loss of, say, a sheep to replace that sheep with money if they so wished.
The special system of tithing was founded upon a principle which is as enduring as the law of God. This system of tithing was a blessing to the Jews, else God would not have given it them. So also will it be a blessing to those who carry it out to the end of time. Our heavenly Father did not originate the plan of systematic benevolence to enrich Himself, but to be a great blessing to man. He saw that this system of beneficence was just what man needed.(this is taken from Ellen G. White Testimonies of the Church, vol. 3, pp 401-406). You can continue to read the whole volume to educate yourself more.
Is there a correlation between
1. the number of giving units in our churches,
2. age of those giving units, and
3. our profession of having a relationship with Christ?
If so, what observations can be made?
When I used to teach minister trainees about information management, one of them put forward the idea that they could manage the sort of information that you have mentioned in your comment. I raised the issue about what would be the purpose of collecting this data. This led to an interesting discussion on the ethics of data collection. We eventually concluded that for some things, there is no good purpose served by collecting and analysing data. Giving is one of those things that, for it to be effective, must come from the heart and how do you quantify that? It would be about as useful as rating the success of a marriage on the number of times the husband cooked meals!
As a matter of fact, God does not need our tithes! Or any of our possessions! On the contrary, we need them! So why would God ask us to count our material gains (most easily to measure in the form of money) on any given period of time?
This was done for our own good!
Here are a few personal examples,
It makes me be financially organized! As I count my monthly gains I realize how God has blessed me, regardless if the entries are a lot or a little.
It makes me happy, specially because I practice detachment from money!
It makes me more dependent on God!
Through all the strugles at these difficult times we are living, I can only say that God has been my provider! He has a plan not only for my financial but for my entire life! If I could have seen ahead the obstacles and challenges that were coming, I would probably have fainted! But God has kept me and my family UP! Yes, there are sufferings, but my ultimate goal is not here!
If we are good stewards of our hearts we will not have a giving or returning issue. I have not always been a faithful follower but I believe in the faithfulness of God
As a small business owner, do we tithe on the net income or on the gross? Does one tithes before the the expenses to run the weekly business or after the expenses are subtracted ? Needing some clarity please.
The tithe is on the increase, not the turn over. For example if your business brings in $1 million but your expenses are $900,000, then your increase is $100,000.
Can someone kindly help me with evidence of payment of a "fixed tithe" in the early christian church? Some people believe that tithe payment was unto Levites who were tasked with exclusively working at the tent of meeting (holy sanctuary) and that since there is no more tent of meeting, no more priests then no more paying of a tithe which is prescribed as the priests' payment. They go further to state that the new testament church gave "collections according to what they had and according to prevailing needs" which could be more or less than a prescribed tenth. Discuss this aspect in the light of 1 corinthians 16:1-4 and 2 Corinthians 8:1-12. Shalom....
Tithing is not specifically mentioned in the early church. Neither is Sabbath keeping. That doesn't prove that that early church members did not dedicate a tenth of their increase to the Lord, as they did previously, nor does it prove that the early church did not keep the seventh-day Sabbath instituted in Eden.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church struggled for some time to encourage the practice of systematic benevolence until they re-discovered the biblical principle of tithing. Those of us who have made a practice of returning tithe in recognition that all we possess is the Lord's can testify that His blessing attends this practice. Our freewill offerings begin after we have returned the Lord's tithe, and we are blessed as we give.
But as long as we regard tithe as a "payment," I fear we will altogether miss the blessing. We do not tithe in order to be blessed or as an obligation (as a payment) but because we are blessed and are grateful for the blessings God so freely bestows on us - beginning with the infinite gift of salvation.
We should not think on what the early church did or didn't do. We can use them as example, but we are a Bible-base church (Christian)and we must follow what the Bible said. In the beginning,(Genesis) the Sabbath was observed and the Bible states how we should tithe. We must read the Word and pray for the Holy Spirit to interpret and guide us through it.
That is not quite true Jennifer. The Bible does record the experience of the early church and a careful study of it can provide some valuable insights into what we should be doing today. It should not be construed that it is a complete catechism of how we should act or what we should believe, but their experience (and indeed mistakes) are quite relevant to a study on stewardship.
Mum Inge, What about Malachi 3: 8-11? how would you explain it a to person who takes it in the entirety of what it says (test me and see if......., do not bring the tithe in the store house and you are under a curse)?
Just asking, I want to know what is the purpose of tithe and to whom or what they will be paid?
Tau, the Bible instructs us that the purpose of tithe is to provide for those in full time ministry. Like the Levi priests had no other job and were provided for solely by tithe so are today's ministers. The Adventist church has a plan where all the tithe goes to the conference instead of the local church. That way pastors are paid fairly around the world, and you don't have a pastor starving in a third world country while another Pastor in Beverly Hills is driving a Porsche. What they get paid is also based on experience and education. Here is a study that may help you further. https://williamdearnhardt.com/2013/06/20/stewardship-in-light-of-the-cross-with-new-living-translation/
The positive side of paying tithe is that God promises to "Open for us the windows of Heaven and pour to us blessings galore," Malachi 3:10 and even rebuke any devouring elements that might seek to take away those blessings, Malachi 3:11
Maurice is the only one in this group that talked about "returning our hearts". That is the most important part of participating in a church group. It was also mentioned that the tithe goes to pay the minister's salaries. That is true. However, how do you square the fact that the conference leaders fly first class on airlines, stay in 5 star hotels and ride around in pope mobiles? I think it is ok to give your 10 percent to the local church where you know where your money is going.
Hi Larry, I think that most of us agree that "returning our hearts" is the big issue; it's just that we often get bogged down in the detail. We sometimes need to step back and sk ourselves, "What is the big picture here?"
On the issue of conference leaders, I would like to make three points:
1) We do not want the lesson study to become a church criticism session. The lessons are for personal study and spiritual enrichment. There are other places where we can quite legitimately take up our concerns about church management and accountability.
2) As I have mentioned from time to time I have been a church employee for over 40 years. During that time I have heard similar stories of indulgent spending, mainly based on hearsay. I am not saying that it does not happen. Conference leaders are human and I personally know of situations where leaders have quite unethically (and in some cases unfortunately, criminally). However, I have also heard many rumours based on insufficient or incomplete knowledge of the situation. As a concerned member of your church it is appropriate to ask questions about these issues in your conference business sessions.
3) The distribution of tithe monies within the church hierarchy has not been as transparent as it should have been. I think the situation is much better now-a-days, and if you ask your local conference you should be able to get information about how the tithe is distributed. I know that here in Australia, there has been a change to ensure that local churches get back some of the tithe to support local programs. Maybe your conference has something similar.
I would like to summarize that while the giving of tithe is something between you and God, as a church member you have every right to hold the church accountable for its use of that tithe money. It is only be church members showing an interest that Conference leaders can be held accountable.
Please understand that this is not an invitation to list the issues you have with your local conference. They are in the province of the church business meetings. Here on the Sabbath School Net discussion we are probably best serve by discussing our personal responsibility.
ok
If a man fails in his duty to God, that makes him a sinner. Sinners are held in God"s hand. God is their judge. I should follow God, no matter what a sinner does.
Even if nobody else tithes, i will, for i trust him.
it pays to be honest and serve the Lord. happy sabbath
Hello am a teacher in Kenya.I took a loan..is the loan part of the tithe or what remains...my monthly net salary or gross salary before deduction of the loan
Hi Amos,
If you have taken a loan to purchase something, then you are probably paying off that loan with tithed income. The loan is a liability not income.