By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
Pastor Reno Omokri has waded into the tithe controversy, arguing that it has no bearing on the Christian doctrine of salvation.
Omokri, a former aide on social media to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, said pastors who insist on tithe paying as criterion for salvation, have become the Pharises of Jesus’s time whom he rebuked for emphasizing tithe over over justice and mercy.
Tithe has split the church into two camps. Those who believe that it is a requirement for salvation, and those who don’t.
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, had once said that Christians who refuse to pay tithe would go to hell fire. Many church leaders are in this camp.
But other pastors including Bishop Mike Okonkwo who is the General Overseer of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), said anyone who refuses to pay tithe will not be under any form of curse nor be damned to hell.
Okonkwo is supported by another pastor, Sam Adeyemi of Day Star, who argued that tithe has expired along with other laws of the Old Testament, arguing that the new doctrine is 2 Corinthians 9:7 which says that: “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Omokri, in a video he shared on Youtube, paying tithe has no bearing on the Christian teaching of Salvation.
He said: “There is a particular issue. It is very big in the body of Christ. It has proven to be contentious. And that is the issue of tithing. It is detracting from the message of salvation.
“I’ve read the Bible from cover to cover. It is a subject I’m familiar with. I am an ordained pastor. On the issue of tithing, Jesus did not preach tithing. He mentioned it once when he was condemning the pharisees. In the life of Jesus, he focused on salvation. But in today’s church, the focus is on tithing and salvation is mentioned in passing.
“Some people have said because Abraham paid tithe, we also must tithe. Thank God for other ministers who have said that Abraham did not tithe for him to be blessed. Abraham was blessed then he tithed.
“I don’t want to go beyond that, but to all those pastors who say because Abraham tithed, you too you must tithe, now Abraham had concubines. Does it mean that I should have concubines too? Are you going to say that because Abraham had concubines, we too should have concubines?
“Abraham, Moses, all those prophets, they were pointing to Christ. When Christ came, he fulfil the law. Christ did not focus on tithing. Christ focused on salvation. He only talked about tithing in passing. He never preached about it. We follow Christ, we don’t follow Abraham.
“In the Book of Acts 15:19, Peter says: ‘We should not make it difficult to the Gentiles who are turning to God.’ Why did he say so? Don’t forget that Jesus mentioned tithing in passing to condemn the Pharisees. Now, what had happened, some Pharisees (who became Christians) had gone to some churches in Antioch and other places too preach that unless you obey the laws (of the Jews), you cannot be saved. And it was contrary to what Paul was telling them to do, which is believe in the Lord Jesus. And when you believe in the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit will live in you.
“Now, they had a quarrel. So, they went to the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem. At that time, they had a council. The council was led by Peter. Now, listen to the verdict which Peter gave. Peter said: ‘But that we write unto them to abstain from pollution of idols, from fornication, and from things strangled, and form blood.’
“Those were the only commandments that the Apostles gave to the gentiles who were turning to God. Now, what do we see today. We are seeing what the Pharisees were doing back then, we are seeing it happening in the church. Now we see pastors talk and talk about tithing and talk about salvation in passing. They make it look like if you don’t do tithing, you are not a child of God.
“Whether you tithe or you don’t tithe, it has no bearing on your salvation. If you do not believe in the Lord Jesus that he died for your sins, and if you do not sow to the spirit after that, and you sow to the flesh, even if you are tithing, you are not going to make it into God’s kingdom. Now, if you believe that Jesus is the Lord and Saviour and he came to die for your sin, and after that you begin to sow to the spirit not to the flesh, and you are not tithing, you will make it into God’s kingdom.
“The sad thing is that a lot of Christians don’t read the Bible. Read Acts 17:11 what it says about the Berean Christians. It says that the Berean Christians were more honourable than the Christians in Thessalonica in that they listen to what Paul had to say, and they search the scripture to confirm whether what Paul had told them was true,” he said.