Acceptable Stealing

As you may or may not know, during October and November we experienced three theft incidents on Sunday mornings.  In all but one, the individuals were seen doing the act, addressed and the stolen items returned.  I was kind of getting fired up about this.  “What are we going to do about this?  I can’t believe people would do this in a place of worship...Man the gates…sound the alarms!” On and on I was ranting in my mind.  Then, Sunday afternoon, the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit asked me a convicting question.  “Chad, why are you upset about spiritually lost people coming to the church building and stealing, but not upset about Christians coming to worship and stealing from me?” 

I tried to push that thought to the back of my mind.  But then this week, God hit me again with this truth in my Scripture reading.  This year I have been using a Scripture reading plan through a Bible App.  Each day it chooses a Scripture reading for me as it leads me through a pattern of Old and New Testament readings.  Guess what “just so happened” to pop up on my screen this week?  Malachi 3.  When I saw it on my screen, I knew immediately that God was not letting me off the hook.  So, I read it knowing full well what it said:

“But you ask, “How do we rob you?” “In tithes [10 percent of one’s income] and offerings.  You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me.  Bring the whole tithe into my storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

After reading it, again the question came to mind: “Chad, why are you upset about spiritually lost people coming to the church building and stealing, but not upset about Christians coming to worship and stealing from me?”  But again, I put off sharing this with you because, frankly, I would rather just say something that gives you warm-fuzzies this time of year.

But then, an individual stopped by and knocked on my office door.  The person was talking about some of the exciting things that God is doing among us as we move through the refocus process.  And then, not knowing the question I had been wrestling with this week, the individual who has been round here for several years said, “You know, it is really sad but over the years, there have been and still are those in our church family who, when something happens they do not like, simply withhold their tithes and offerings to demonstrate their displeasure.”  Sadly, I was already aware of this as someone who had participated in this type of stealing had informed me of their actions.  As I was thinking on this reality again the Holy Spirit asked, “Chad, why are you upset about spiritually lost people coming to the church building and stealing, but not upset about Christians coming to worship and stealing from me?”

Now, I am sure you see why I did not want to share this.  This is simply not a fun question to ask: Why would we be upset about spiritually lost people coming to the church building and stealing, but not upset about Christians coming to worship and stealing from God?  Like it or not, this is a heart issue that must be addressed but not for the reason one might think. 

In Malachi 3, God points out this unacceptable stealing not to pronounce a curse, but to free his people of a curse.  Tithes and offerings are not a burden God puts on us, but his way of freeing us from being controlled by money.  It is not about God wanting to take from us, but helping us to see that when we withhold from God what he asks us to trust him with then we are demanding that he withhold from us.  If we do not trust him with our money, he even invites us to test him on this.  He says, “Give it a try and see if I don’t open flood gates.”  Does this mean he is going to make you wealthy?  Yes, but it may not have anything to do with money.  He is not asking the hard question to hurt us, but to get us to see the promise of which we are depriving ourselves.

So, I ask you one more time the question that has been bugging me all week: Why would we be upset about spiritually lost people coming to the church building and stealing, but not upset about Christians coming to worship and stealing from God?