LEFT UNDONE.

LEFT UNDONE.
(By Latunde Akin)
Matthew 23:23
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Most destructive to men is when men who are supposed to teach and raise people the right way are not doing so. Jesus pronounced WOE unto them. This is because they are channelling their attention and people's mind to the minors while they neglect the weightier matters.
Tithing is in the bible, giving is in the bible, and sowing seed is in the bible. But are they weightier matters?
Church administrators are now targeting people's money at the expense of properly leading them to the Lord and teaching them consecration.
If you must make God's people rich by teaching them to give money.Then that is both a wrong concept and a minor matter of the scripture.
The major is to make men disciples of Jesus and not to derail them by pushing them to sow seed so God can bless them.
It is better to teach dignity of labour and show them how to physically or mentally work with their hands instead of only calling them to donate to be blessed in return. Even this is still secondary to our mandate as believers. Creating such entitlement mentality in people towards God is wrong. A scam it is.
If we say we are of Christ as leaders, we must avoid operating like a capitalist government. A capitalist government milk dries the poor for the rich. In church, the rich must avoid every tendency to make the poor feel so bad or cheated.
The widow who brought her mite coins was recognised by Jesus not because she was a giver but because Jesus wanted to do justice to her. She didn't have much, yet she gave it all. Then, for justice sake,Jesus sighted her to actually bless her.
If people who give their all still remain the same in our congregation, then it means we have neglected justice, mercy,and faith.
We do not say that we should be open to every Tom Dick and Harry. No,but we should be open enough to consider people who are genuinely poor or needing among believers and provide for them from the proceed of offerings given by everyone.
Charity must always begin from home. Not from the outside. If it's from the outside, then it turns to propaganda.
Discipleship and fellowship should be key and paramount than any church project.
God is not bothered about how many people gathered in a church service. He is bothered about how they are being discipled,treated, and their quality of life. You can have 100,000 members gathering while God only knows a few people. You can have 10 people who are genuinely known by heaven because they will be more useful to God than a congregation of numerous churchy people.
As much as I am not against tithing and offering. I still mention that they are never weightier matters of the kingdom. Weightier matters are :
The church's judgment or justice system.The administrators must be just to understand that poor brethren must be recognised like Jesus did to that widow. Every system in the church that relegated the poor or less previledged because of lack is a lost church in God's sight.
Faith is a belief in God, not for material things but for salvation of hearts in the church. Jesus wasn't talking about faith for material needs. As long as the salvation message is lost in the church, faith in its real sense is lost. Collecting money from people at the expense of silencing salvation messages is evil.
- Mercy is an act of pardoning people and giving them what they need. Jesus pardoned us, and he didn't stop there. He gave us salvation. We must also show mercy to other believers in the church. Have provision to help the needy among believers first, before any unbeliever.
Mercy has criteria, and that is why God said, "unto whom I will..." We must understand that we are not to show mercy to someone who will waste it.
A lazy man's mercy is to deliver him from laziness by giving work and not money.
A beggar's mercy is to show him how not to beg again and not necessarily aiding his begging capability.
An entitlement mentality person doesn't deserve any mercy at all. We must teach such people responsibility.
A believer who is not defaulting but sincerely found himself or herself in such a condition must be shown mercy.
An unbeliever who is genuinely in need must be shown mercy. This may win such to the Lord. We must be winsome, but we must not allow deception to thrive.
WOE unto every church administrator who collects money from people and neglects JUSTICE, MERCY, AND FAITH.
It then means the law of giving does not supercede the law of justice, mercy, and faith.
Jesus proclaimed WOE unto church leaders who esteem the message of giving money than the message or dealings of justice among brethren, mercy on the needy and faith , and the saving faith.
Of what use to the Lord is a church where there is no genuine love?
Charity(love) is the reason for fellowship and never capitalism.
Of what use to the Lord is a church where poor believers remain poor just because the system of such such operates a capitalistic system?
It is WOE unto such leaders of such bad church system, for they esteem giving by people more than the weightier matters of the scripture. Their woes may even be waiting for them at the judgment sit of Christ if they won't repent early enough.
Giving is good, offering is good, but justice, mercy, and faith are better.
God bless.