Two scenarios:

Scenario A:  A man enters your place of business and says harm will befall your family if you do not give him a percentage of your weekly profits.

Scenario B:  A man stands behind a pulpit in Church and says harm will befall your family if you do not give the Church ten percent of your every paycheck.

The fact is, if the members of the Church would take the time to open their Bibles at home, and study every Scripture, every verse, that has anything to do with tithing, one would find that God’s commanded tithe

a) is agricultural (Lev. 27:30-33)

b) is required of children of Israel who have not come to faith in Christ yet (Lev.27:34)

c) is not to be observed in any geographical location other than the land of Canaan (Deut. 6:1-3; 12:1,10-11)

d) is to be given to Levites, widows, fatherless, and strangers in Canaan (Num. 18:24-26; Deut. 14:22-29)

e) is not commanded of Gentile nations (Psa. 147:19-20)

f) is not to be imposed upon Gentile nations (Acts 15:5,10,19-20)

g) is still agricultural in the last place it is seen as a command in the Bible (Heb. 7:5-8)

h) still belongs to the sons of Levi in the last place it is seen as a command in the Bible. (Heb. 7:5-8)

With this concrete Scriptural evidence that monetary tithing was never commanded, nor authorized for the Ekklesia, the called out assembly of Believers in Christ Jesus, there can be no doubt that both men in scenarios “A” and “B” above are guilty of the same crime,… extortion!

Extortion: The obtaining of property from another, with his consent, induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, or under color of official right.

Two questions to reflect on:

1) Why would you consider the man in scenario “A” to be an extortioner, but not consider the man lying in the pulpit in scenario “B” to be an extortioner?

2) Why would you consider calling the police to prevent the man in scenario “A” from robbing you each week by means of extortion, yet allow the man lying in the pulpit in scenario “B” to extort money from you on a weekly basis?