Over the past several years as a Christian I have heard many sermons. I have started to notice a trend, teachers often cite the “fact” that the Bible talks more about “money” than hell (or whatever else). I am sure you have heard the same or similar statements, if not, you probably will in the future. Usually there is a number associated with this bit of trivia – somewhere around 2,000 times. The point the teacher is usually trying to make is that God thinks money is a very important issue and it is usually tied to a sermon about tithing.

Anyways, on my way into the office this morning I got to thinking about this and thought to myself – I have read the Bible, it’s not that big of a book and I do not remember it being filled with over 2,000 discussions on money (or finances, etc.). I wonder where they got this number and what the number actually represents.

I was hoping to be able to type in a few keywords into Google and find a site that listed all of 2,000 verse that discuss money – I was shocked to find none. Instead, I found more sermon related notes with the same similar quotes. I did, however, find this site, which claims there are “roughly 2,350 verses concerning money.” It goes on to say that this number is “twice as many as faith and prayer combined” and that “fifteen percent of everything Jesus said related to money and possessions.” Bingo – “He spoke about money and possessions more than heaven and hell combined.”

Of course this still does not help me – as I said earlier, I have read the Bible and even in just the New Testament I did not find Jesus speaking more about money than any other topic. To be perfectly honest I do not really recall Jesus speaking more about any topic – well perhaps the Kingdom of Heaven or Him being the Messiah (in round about ways).

As I read the previous website I noticed the bottom, they have provided us with a list of topics concerning money and then verses that support those topics. I quickly realized that this number of 2,350 is exaggerated and over-inflated. They actually have a topic called “Funding the Great Commission” and list two of the parables concerning the Kingdom of Heaven (the Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Parable of the Leaven). They also have a topic called “Tithing” which lists the Parable of New Wine in Old Wineskins.

Well, I am pretty sure that the neither the Bible nor Jesus talked about money half as much as some teachers claim they do. I also found this site which pretty much puts this topic to rest. What do you all think?

Next time your teacher tells you this, ask them for the evidence – if they have any, send it my way.

God Bless,
Lew A

P.S. Jesus never said “Go therefore and fund the making of disciples of all the nations…” – check out this blog for more things Jesus never said.

At graduation rehearsal we heard a small message about the importance of tithing. During the message the speaker told us that the pastor should be giving a tithe to the local church no matter what. The speaker testified that he and his wife ALWAYS gave to their local church, no matter what. They relied on God to provide for them when they did not have enough money after giving their tithe.

Now this blog is not about the theology of tithing. Which by the way, I do not think Christian are required to do (for many biblically practical reasons). This blog is about the paradox created by having a pastor tithe – which is probably the first reason that I started thinking about whether or not it is taught for every Christian to do.

Situation: The church pays a yearly salary to a vocational pastor of 50,000$. This pastor believes tithing is required for all Christians and puts a tithe in the “offering plate” on a weekly basis.

Problem: Part of the pastor’s tithe goes back to the pastor – so in reality he is not giving a real tithe.

If you are not sure what I am talking about, here are the numbers:
The church brings in 200,000$ per year from tithes.
The church pays a vocation pastor 50,000$ a year (from the tithes).
So then, 25% of the church income goes to the pastor’s salary.

Ok, the pastor gives a tithe from his salary, so, 5,000$ from his 50,000$ a year from the pastor.
Since 25% of the yearly church tithes are given to the pastor’s salary, 1,250$ of the pastors yearly 5,000$ in tithes goes back into his pocket.
In reality the pastor is only giving three-quarters of a tithe every year.

Solution: The pastor must be required to give a specific amount more than a tithe each year. In the case I have laid out the pastor would need to give a little more than 13% to have actually given a tithe. This percentage changes depending on what percentage of the total tithe goes to the pastor’s salary.

So go tell your pastors, if they aren’t giving more than a tithe, they aren’t given a tithe at all and are therefore robbing God.

Enjoy.