out of curiosity i watched some of the interviews by freeze on his tithe debate and free the sheeple movement. i was both impressed and disappointed. impressed because freeze clearly demonstrates critical reasoning and bible knowledge. disappointed because none of the interviewers demonstrated anything close to freezes’ critical reasoning or bible knowledge. like one commenter observed there wasn’t even one intelligent push-back with clear evidence against freeze’s argument which he did well to back up with clear evidence.
i think the interviews are a clear mismatch of minds. which is why i think that freeze is a good thing for christian faithfuls. because even though we are in an age that is empowering a generation of skeptics with tools to attack the christian faith, we are also in an age that is raising believers who refuse to settle for clueless faith.
i think that freeze is a good thing to happen to the christian faith because a majority of the comments i have seen clearly demonstrate how many churches and pastors have failed to feed their congregation more than milk. and how many christians have failed to search out a matter concerning their faith.
i think that one person that could match freezes critically intelligent and valid argument against tithing is leke alder, who incidentally has done a well evidenced and critical argument in support of tithing. for the record, i agree with leke alder’s position of tithing as an elective worship expression.
let me paint a picture of tithing with the way i fuck my wife. sometimes its more regular than other times. sometimes its missionary and sometimes is exploratory. sometimes it’s spontaneous and sometimes it’s scheduled. you see, it’s a dynamic relationship, and it is not always about the frequency or absence/presence of the act. it’s about the intimacy behind the relationship. tithing (or any other monetary giving within a local assembly) is an intimate expression of spiritual affection that should be a result of two passions. this isn’t something that can be regulated. this is something that should grow out of a place of passion between 2 persons – man and god.
those who know me know i really don’t care for being politically or religiously correct. i only care about being led by the spirit, who resides in me. sometimes, i tithe, but not out of compulsion or regiment. sometimes i don’t, and i don’t have any fear of a curse or my pastor’s disapproval. you see, beyond the intellectual debate about matters of faith, what many folks are reluctant to accept is that there is a singularity to this common faith of ours.
by the way, this is a good example for my previous blog post about why the bible is not the word or voice of god. anyone can defend anything with the bible – even the devil used the bible to defend his actions against jesus. the only thing satan could not counter was when jesus argued with what was said to him personally. the bible is just a narrative of human experiences with divinity for the purpose of stimulating a hunger and thirst for righteousness aka jesus. so the word of god is jesus and the voice of god is the holy spirit. you can’t go wrong if you question these 2 folks.
there isn’t always a hard and fast rule to this christian faith – many times it is based on “as many as are led by the spirit.” as much as there are a few absolutes in the christian faith, there is also a lot of singularity. ultimately the aim of our faith is singular individual devotion.
questioning your faith is a good thing because faith is the presence of illumination. you cannot truly be a man of faith if you have not be informed.
Faith is Made of This 