Misappropriation of Terminology

In spite of their bad and destructive policies, one of the things the left is good at is slowing changing the narrative and the vocabulary and the goal posts.

This technique began in the garden of Eden with the serpent, when the serpent caused Eve to question. The questioning led to disobedience, to the Fall, and to expulsion from the garden of Eden and the blessings therein.

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

 

Genesis 3:14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

A subtle repackaging of explanation has occurred regarding the law of the tithe.  Tithing is not really discussed as a mainstream idea.  Other terms are used.

“From each according to his ability to each according to his needs.”  “Although Marx is popularly thought of as the originator of the phrase, the slogan was common within the socialist movement.”  Source

The Biblical model is to work.

II Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

7 For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;

8 Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:

9 Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.

10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

11 For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.

12 Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.

 

Exodus 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

 

Revelation 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

 

Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

When the vocabulary is changed, those with less may feel that they have nothing to give or no responsibility to give or they may feel entitled to simply “take”.

Those who have more may feel they are imposed upon to carry the burden for the poor.

When the tithe is honored (and a tithe is 1/10), then a child who has ten pennies and gives one penny is on equal footing  percentage-wise with a person who earns $1000 and gives $100 or a person who earns $100,000 and gives $10,000.

Luke 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

Since godly blessings come from the Lord, it is important to do things in the way that is important to God and not for honor from man.    God knows which is which.

Luke 21:1 And he [Jesus] looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.

2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.

3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:

4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

Having a standard of tithing breaks the entitlement complex. Everyone has a responsibility to contribute to the preaching of the gospel.  The poor are not absolved from the responsibility.

There are expenses associated with the preaching of the gospel.  The church is not funded by the government.

No one would think of going to a restaurant, movie theater, or bowling alley and expect services without paying.    And, any store or business has to charge for its services or it would not be long in operation.

The message of the gospel is free but the delivery pipelines to deliver the gospel:  Bibles, videos, medical missions, disaster support, Bible schools, teachers, church buildings, fellowship halls, auditoriums, buses for children’s church, detox drug centers, rehabilitation centers, etc., require resources to run.

And generally, Christian organizations or Christians deliver more of the actual help to the people intended instead of, for example, FEMA  not delivering the expected support to the hurricane victims or something like the war in Ukraine that is used for laundering the billions of dollars sent to it.

And if you think one Christian organization is not worthy of your support, there are others to pick from …one bad apple in a basket does not mean the whole basket is bad.

When tithing is not preached, then gimmicks are used to try to get people to give. And that turns people off.

If tithing is preached as the biblical, “this is God’s system for funding the gospel”, then that cuts out gimmicks and entitlement and socialistic attempts to fund the gospel.

In the garden, the temptation to Eve was to improve on what God had given them. The lie was “ye shall be as gods”.

Every attempt to change God’s way of accomplishing objectives is an attempt to attain good that God gives, only God’s way of obtaining it is a specific way that gives the Lord the pre-eminence, not man.

Good is attainable, but it must be done God’s way.

God’s way is laid out in the Bible. It covers all topics pertainable to mankind.

To fund the gospel in 2025, why not get back to the simple system of tithes and offerings and leave behind the socialistic vocabulary that has infiltrated the church due to the influence of the world and the leftists’ ability to get others to adopt their socialistic tactics?

The whole book of Malachi is a short book of four chapters. It is right before the New Testament in most Bibles. Tithing is talked about in chapter 3. Other important topics are covered as well in the rest of the book.

Malachi 3:6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.