Tithe or Die

For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why.

The following is a guest post from Tim at Faith and Finance, a Christian financial help blog that provides financial insights for individuals, businesses, and churches. Outside of finance, Tim enjoys spending time with his wife, playing the saxophone, reading economics books, and a good game of RISK or Catan.

There’s an ulgy story in the New Testament of the Bible that often gets brushed over.  It’s the account of how Ananias and Sappira die in Acts chapter 5 after bringing their offerings to be shared among the people. 

You see, after Christ’s resurrection from the dead, Peter and John led the spreading of the Gospel and were accompanied by a group of believers who also testified about Christ.  This group of believers were so closely knit that they sold all their possessions and shared everything to further the spreading of the Gospel. 

Acts 4:34 There were no needy persons among them.  For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. 

In reality, it was much more than a tithe.  People were willingly giving up all their possession to support the spreading of the Gospel.  The key here was that people were willingly giving up their possessions and weren’t being forced to sell everything. 

Now there was a couple named Ananias and Sapphira that sold everything, but decided to set money aside for themselves.  That wouldn’t have been a problem since they were free to use their money as they wanted, but they made it appear that they were giving everything away when they presented the sum of money to the apostles. 

As Ananias presented the money, Peter’s words must have gripped those in the room as he said, “You have not lied to men but to God.”  Ananias fell to the ground and died. 

Sapphira, Ananias’ wife, also was in on the secret and ran with the same story.  She too fell dead because she was dishonest. 

It wasn’t about the money; it was all about integrity.  While the rest of the group trusted God entirely with 100% of their possessions and relied on God to supply every need, Ananias and Sapphira decided that they needed to have a backup plan.  But to make matters worse, they made it appear as though they were being completely truthful in giving everything to God. 

The bottom line is that God saw right through it and he always does.  He doesn’t demand that we tithe or die – but he does make it clear that he hates dishonesty (Prov. 20:23, Ex. 20:15-16, II Cor. 8:21).

It’s a difficult story to read, but an important one nonetheless.  It reminds us to be honest with ourselves, with others, and most importantly to be honest with God. 

What are your thoughts on the story of Ananias and Sapphira?

Comments

[Nick]

Like the rest of the stories in the bible, I believe them to be fictitious. Like the story of "The Grasshopper and the Ant," or "The Fox and the Grapes," they are no more than stories told to teach morals. Although, in the case of the bible, the endings are often as gruesome as those found in the popular German children's book 'Der Struwwelpeter."

As an atheist, I'm not suffering because I haven't turned over my cash/belongings/etc to the church or to god. As a matter of fact, since being unburdened by the guilt of the church when I leave decades ago, I'm doing quite well, thank you.

Does this make me greedy? I raise money annually to buy school supplies for kids in my neighborhood, I contribute directly to battered women's shelters and to AIDS hospices, and I house a friend who would otherwise be homeless. I give money to friends, donate to a no-kill animal shelter and I'm buying another friend's home so he doesn't lose it in foreclosure.

I don't do these things because the bible tells me to do so. I do these things because they're the right things to do. I don't need an ancient tome or the threat of eternal damnation to have a moral code.

Be good for goodness' sake.

[Rory]

As an atheist, how do you define 'right' vs 'wrong'? How do you define your 'moral code'?

[Old Limey]

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I agree thoroughly with Nick and Rory. I was baptized in a Christian church, went to Sunday school, then Bible school every Sunday, took Bible school exams in which I passed with high marks, and later got married in a Christian church. Our three children were also baptized.

It was later on while I was working on my MS degree in engineering where I took courses in celestial mechanics and learned about the early great thinkers such as Galileo and Copernicus that I also, like Nick, realized that many of the stories in the bible were merely "fables" to teach good moral values. I then went on to question every single one of the common beliefs that directly contradict Science, such as the virgin birth, the miracles, and the resurrection to name just three.

Another experience that was a big turn off was when we moved to California my wife contacted our local episcopal church and invited the pastor to call on us as we were considering joining. The turnoff was that his visit was all about money and how much we were expected to give every month. This was very different from our prior experiences in England where when the plate is passed around and you contribute whatever you feel like without any feeling of coercion.

We were also very turned off when we visited the great cathedrals in South America and after stepping around the many women and children that were begging on each of the steps leading up to the entrance, went inside and were awed by the opulence of all of the gold and silver displayed. Likewise in St. Paul's Basilica in Rome, which I believe to be the greatest and most lavish and beautiful structure that exists anywhere on earth, I was apalled by the huge statues of each pope, where each one had tried to outdo his predecessor by having a larger statue. Finally we spent a long time viewing all of the great treasures in the Vatican Museum and the Sistine chapel, and started to really think about what it all meant. Lastly, I feel really turned off by the male chauvanism that exists in so many demoninations.

[Old Limey]

Typo - St. Paul's Basilica should of course be St. Peter's Basilica.

[Evan H.]

Old Limey, who created Science ;-)

[Wise Investor]

The Bible does have a lot to say about money. Gary North has written a great book about it. Honest money is very important to human civilization.