Tithing or Exploitation? A Raw Biblical Rebuke of Modern Church Greed

Tithing Or Exploitation

Tithing in today’s church has become more of a routine than a revelation. It is repeated every Sunday like a law carved in stone. Ten percent of your income is demanded as a tax. But ask anyone why they tithe, and many cannot even explain. It is no longer a personal conviction but a religious instruction designed to create compliance without reflection. The moment you question it, you are labeled rebellious or stingy or accused of robbing God. But how can we rob a God who owns everything when it is His people being robbed through systems that no longer serve them?

In the Old Testament, tithing was the law. It was specific. It was agricultural. It was communal. It was commanded in Leviticus 27:30, in which God said that a tithe of everything from the land belongs to the Lord. But that tithe was never meant to serve only the priest. In Deuteronomy 14:28-29, God commands that every third year, the tithe be stored up for the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow so that they may eat and be satisfied. The purpose was clear. Not just to maintain a temple but to feed the voiceless. To sustain the helpless. To ensure that no one among the people of God would go hungry.

Now look at today’s churches. Look at what tithing has become. Luxury jets. Bulletproof convoys. High-rise towers. Private schools with fees that could crush a small business. Gated parishes. Air-conditioned offices for pastors while members sit under leaking roofs. What happened to the widow, the orphan, the foreigner? What happened to the people who helped raise these churches with their sacrifices? It was not the rich who built most of these altars. It was the market women. The taxi drivers. The food sellers. The students. The retirees. The widows who gave their last coin while crying in prayer. These are the ones who laid the foundation of faith with empty stomachs and full hearts.

But now they are invisible. Schools built with their tithes cannot accept their children. Hospitals, starting with their offerings, are priced beyond their reach. Seats of honor in church are now sold to the highest donors. Recognition is no longer for the faithful but for the wealthy. Are we still in the house of God or a political convention? In James 2:2-4, the Bible rebukes favoritism. It says if a rich man enters wearing fine clothes and you offer him a good seat, but say to the poor man Stand there or sit at my feet then you have become judges with evil thoughts. That is not an opinion. That is Scripture.

Then someone says, But the rich are just showing appreciation to the man of God. So it is appreciated that a billion naira car is given to one person, while the same congregation is filled with people who have never owned a motorcycle. It is an appreciation to provide a private jet to a pastor who can barely speak to his members without layers of protocol, when that same money could have empowered hundreds of youth. Jesus rode a donkey. John the Baptist wore camel skin. The apostles were fishermen and tentmakers. Paul made his income as seen in Acts 18:3. When did this gospel become a business? When did modesty become a curse? When did spiritual covering become a license for excessive wealth?

The excuse they give is that one man cannot help the whole church. Fine. But are they even trying? Has anyone sat down to say this harvest could sponsor five needy families? Has anyone redirected the cost of one trip abroad to set up a community scholarship? Has anyone taken responsibility for the abandoned elderly members whose names are unknown but whose tithes helped paint the church walls? In Matthew 25:35-40, Jesus said I was hungry and you fed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. Then the righteous will ask When did we do this and He will say As you did it to the least of these, my brethren, we did it to you. The Bible did not say that you should give your tithe. It is noted that you loved and served.

Others say, How will the pastor survive without the people’s support? That is fair. But when support becomes exploitation, it is no longer biblical. The Levites received the tithe because they had no inheritance, as seen in Numbers 18:21. But pastors today collect tithes while owning estates, businesses, and private assets. If you want to obey the Leviticus model, follow the rest. Have no personal inheritance. Live among the people. Eat what they eat. Walk where they walk. Please do not take the people’s tithe and remove yourself from their suffering. That is not spiritual. That is selfishness baptized in theology.

And let us stop acting like tithing is only about money. The Bible included crops, animals, and produce. It was a portion of what God gave. But now, ATM transfers digital receipts and account numbers are flashed on screens. Some churches now measure loyalty by your giving records. They profile you by your seed. They track your generosity like a transaction log. The same Jesus who rebuked the moneychangers in the temple would flip some offering baskets today if He walked in. Read John 2:3 downwards. He saw them selling and exchanging money in God’s house and drove them out with a whip. He said Do not turn my Father’s house into a den of thieves.

If anyone thinks giving alms is less spiritual than tithing, please read Matthew 6:1-4 when you give to the poor. Jesus said when you give to people experiencing poverty do not announce it like the hypocrites do to be honored. Instead give in secret and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. In Luke 11:41, He told the Pharisees to give what is within to the poor. When you give to people experiencing poverty, everything will be clean for them. Almsgiving is not inferior. It is the very heartbeat of Christ. In Acts 10:4, the angel told Cornelius that his prayers and alms had come up as a memorial before God. Not his tithes. His alms.

Let no one confuse you. Let no one make you feel guilty for asking why your tithe funds luxury while your neighbor starves. Let no one shut your mouth with Malachi 3:10 when they ignore the entire context of that book. That verse was written to a corrupt priesthood, not a New Testament church. If you are giving in fear of being cursed, you have not understood grace. Galatians 3:13 says Christ redeemed us from the law's curse by becoming a curse for us. So you cannot be blessed by grace and then cursed by a tithe default. That is spiritual confusion.

I am Catholic. I have grown up in a system where tithing is not pushed as aggressively as in some other denominations. But I have begun to see the creep. Finance committees are gaining power. Fundraising is taking center stage. Rich members are starting to get louder. Church spaces are slowly being reshaped by influence. If we do not speak now, we will wake up one day and find out the gospel has been traded for profit. The Body of Christ must return to its knees. Return to its heart. Return to its mandate.

Give. Yes. Support your church. Yes. Bless your leaders. Yes. But do not become blind. Do not become a slave to routine. And do not hand your seed to a system that does not reflect the God you worship. Jesus said in Matthew 7:16 that by their fruit you shall know them. If the fruit of your giving is buildings without compassion, wealth without humility, and power without accountability, your seed has fallen on thorns.

Let every believer wake up. Let every priest and pastor re-examine. Let every church leader ask themselves one tricky question. Am I building a kingdom for God or an empire for myself? Because on the final day, you will not be judged by your building projects or tithing quotas. You will be judged by how you treated the least among us. And that judgment will not be based on your Sunday message. It will be based on your actions on Monday.

You can quote this post, or you can ignore it. But every verse written here is from the Bible. And if you dare to read it with an open heart, the Spirit of God Himself will confirm it. This is not rebellion. This is repentance. Let the Church return. Let giving return to compassion. Let leadership return to service. Let tithing return to truth. Let Christ be seen again. Not just in pulpits but in the lives of the people we forgot.

Because that is the Gospel, and we must get back to it.