Catholic Priest, Fr Kelvin may have indirectly backed the plea by the general overseer of the redeemed christian church of God, Pastor E.A Adeboye, announced to the general public over his past sermon that christian who failed to pay tithe will not make heaven.
The plea had got people talking, extolled the man of God's humility for yielding to the directive of the holy spirit askance to have ministered to him in hidden.
Priest, Fr Kelvin shared his side of view backing of with some verses in the book of life (Bible) stated; "Friends, let me try and be clear as much as I can. No beating around the bush.
The whole concept of a Christian paying Tithe and a Christian Minister collecting tithe, whether it was willingly given or he or she was cajoled to do so, is UNCHRISTIAN and WRONG.
Yes, it is your money, you can do whatever you want to do, but it doesn't stop us from telling you that what you are doing is WRONG.
If you really feel the need to give willingly in the church, you can decide to tag what you are giving with names like:
"My monthly freewill donation to my church", or "Monthly mission contribution from my salary", or "Donating my salary to my pastor or priest" . . Etc. . .
Nobody will have any issue with you. It is your money.
But the moment you say you are PAYING TITHE, and then you sit to calculate 10 percent of your salary or income as tithe, yet you are a Christian, and it is a Christian Minister that collects the tithe, and in a Christian Church, you are not ONLY wrong, you are ignorant and obviously confused.
This is because, even from the bible you are using as a basis, it is ONLY Levites that collect Tithe. For emphasis, underline ONLY LEVITES.
Interestingly, Levites collect tithes because, according to the law, they are not expected to farm or do any work except to be in the temple offering sacrifices. They are not expected to own anything including land. (Joshua 18:7). They were literally set apart because the Jews considered the service in the temple so holy that one who serves there must not involve himself in the everyday things others do. So, payment of tithe is the Jewish way of catering for the Levites and seeing to their needs. This is understandable. Read Number 18: 21-24 and Deuteronomy 18:1-8. All the tithes are for the tribe of Levi.
For those who don't know, Levites are from the tribe of Levi, one of the twelve tribes in Israel. Being a Levite is not by choice. Levitical status is passed through the male line. A boy is a Levite if his father is/was a Levite.
The theology of paying Tithe is opposed to the Christian theology in which everyone is now made a priest, prophet and king. There is nothing like a special people or tribe called the Levites, designated to be the only one that can go into the temple to worship or offer sacrifice.
The death of Jesus brought an end to that setting. This was why the temple's curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. (Matthew 27:51). What it signifies is that we are all free to go in and worship, unlike the former way in which it was only the Levites who were allowed to go in and worship while the people stayed outside.
This was why, St Paul did not collect tithe from anybody. St Peter did not. All the disciples did not. They never saw themselves as Levites. They have passed that era.
More importantly, in Christianity, everyone has an equal stake. That you are an Apostle does not stop you from earning your living. St Paul even said it in 2 These 3:10, "If you don't work, you should not eat." No free food. This was why St Paul was a tentmaker. He worked for his food.
Now, imagine someone coming to St Paul or St Peter and telling him to accept his tithes, that it is his money and that he can do anything he wants to do with it. . . St Paul will be like: are you taking us back to the era of the Levites? Do you truly understand what we meant by the death and resurrection of Jesus?
To be clear. . .
A pastor is not more Christian than others. The Pope is not more Christian than others. These are titles that are basically meant for service.
If you are still finding it hard to understand this. . . I will give you another example to make it even clearer.
As long as you did not steal it, you can decide to kill a goat or a ram any time and eat. You can decide that the goat must be 1 year old without blemish. You can decide to gather your family at night and roast the goat and eat. It is your ram, it is your money, it is your mouth, and nobody will argue with you.
But the moment you kill that same ram, use the blood to sprinkle on your door or the lintel of the house, gather your family at night to roast and eat the meat behind closed doors with bitter herbs, and claim it is the Passover meal following the stipulation in Exodus 12. Then you go on to believe that the blood on the door is so that the angels will take note of it and Passover you. But you are a Christian and you claim to profess Christ.
Just as I said to those claiming they can willingly pay tithe, I say the same to people like this. . you are not only wrong, you are ignorant and confused and with a touch of foolishness. You and your family, including the ram.
Yes, it is your ram. Yes, it is in the bible in Exodus 12, but the theology of what you are doing and believing is from a lack of understanding. It is contrary to the message of Christ. For it is to abolish that sort of ram killing that Jesus came to die. And because you don't know this, that is why you are either ignorant, confused, or foolish.
Yes, it is your money, and yes, paying tithe is in the bible, and it is even boldly written in Malachi, Joshua, Deuteronomy, etc, but the theology of paying tithe is obsolete and stands against the redemption Christ brought. For it is to make everyone have access to the Father that Jesus came. For the whole idea of tithe was to serve the Levites, a tribe set apart. . .but with Christ, there is no Levites...we are all set apart, we are all priests having equal access to the Father. Stop paying tithe, you mock the work of redemption each time you do that.
If at this point you still don't get it, I am sorry, I can't help you.”
