Money, God, and the Church: What Does the Bible Really Say?

By Andre Eksteen

There is a great deal of confusion today about finances and the church. In this article we look at what the Bible teaches us, not what people say or want to hear. When it comes to money, people become uneasy very quickly. Some preach that God wants everyone to be rich; others say it is sinful to have anything at all. Meanwhile the church empties out, and ministry dries up because people either do not give, or give for the wrong reasons. One extreme turns God into a bank; the other turns Him into a beggar. Both are wrong. It is time we stop treating God like an institution and begin honouring Him again as Lord.

Let us start where the Bible starts — with the tithe. This is not an idea invented by man, nor is it only part of the Law of Moses. It began long before the Law, when Abraham gave a tithe of everything he had to Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God. He was not forced to do it; he did it because he acknowledged that everything he had came from God. The tithe was an act of reverence — an acknowledgement of dependence. That is why God says in Malachi 3: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

These words are not a threat; they are an invitation. God says: test Me, see whether I am faithful. It is not that He needs money — He seeks obedience. When a person gives their tithe, they acknowledge that they are not their own source. They say to Him: “You are my provider, not my job or my salary.” The tithe is therefore not a tax, but a confession of faith expressed in action.

Every believer should give a tenth of their income to God — not to buy His favour, but to honour Him. The tithe is holy. It belongs to Him. When people withhold it, they take what belongs to God. That is why Malachi 3 also says: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me… in tithes and offerings.” It sounds harsh, but it is the truth. God calls it theft when we do not give Him what is due to Him. Not because He is poor, but because it reveals where our hearts truly are. Jesus Himself said: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

If every member of a congregation faithfully gave their tithe, there would never be a shortage. The church would be self-sustaining, without having to beg or resort to human methods of raising funds. There would be enough for ministry, for the poor, for maintenance, and for the expansion of the Kingdom. When everyone gives as they should, there is always abundance. When people withhold, the house of God grows weak. God’s blessing rests on obedience, not on clever schemes.

But what about people who truly have nothing to give? God does not look at the amount; He looks at the attitude. If you cannot give financially, then give your time. Give Him one tenth of your day, your labour, your skills. Use your hands for His work. Pray for others. Help where you can. The principle remains the same: give something of yourself to Him. It is not the size of the contribution that matters, but the sincerity behind it.

I myself give a tithe of my time through the teaching I bring with my books and articles. I use myself as an example here because I want to show others how great His blessing is when someone faithfully gives their tithe. I run an engineering consultancy and manage a farm, both of which demand a great deal from a person. Some days I work more than twelve hours straight, yet after that I still make time to write. With every book and every article my knowledge and understanding of His glory increase. God blesses me richly in this — not financially, but in the insight and wisdom He reveals to me, precisely in order to multiply what I give as an offering. Because I give this as my tithe, I do not sell my books or articles. I accept no payment. I make them freely available to anyone who wants to read them. I am also blessed in my business in that He provides me daily with the work I need to survive.

Now we must talk about offerings. Many people do not understand the difference between tithes and offerings. The offering basket comes past in church and you put money in — that is not your tithe! The tithe is a principle of honour; it belongs to God. An offering, on the other hand, comes from your own heart. It is something extra — something you give out of gratitude, faith, or obedience. The Bible makes this clear. In Exodus 25 the Lord says to Moses: “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take My offering.” An offering is therefore voluntary. It comes from love, not obligation. It is not part of the tithe — it is over and above it.

The tithe shows your obedience; the offering shows your heart. You give your tithe because it is right; you give an offering because you want to. The one is obligation, the other is freedom. Both are worship. An offering is something that costs you something. David said: “Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing.” That is the attitude with which God’s people must give — honestly, sincerely, with a thankful heart.

Now, with this foundation of giving in place, we must look at what is happening in many modern congregations. The church has abandoned the biblical principle of tithes and offerings and is now trying to survive using human ideas. Instead of people obeying God, churches try to make up the shortfall through fundraisers, sales, and markets. Suddenly the house of God is full of tables, soft drinks, pancakes, clothes, ice cream, and DVDs. And people say: “It’s for the Lord’s work.” But this is exactly the same thing that was happening in the temple when Jesus overturned the tables.

The people in Jerusalem also began with good intentions. They said: “It’s for the offerings; it’s for the pilgrims who come to worship; we are helping them buy a dove.” But eventually the temple became a marketplace. God’s house became a place of trade. The place intended for prayer and worship became a place of profit. That is when Jesus entered and overturned the tables of the money changers. He overturned the seats of those selling doves and said: “My house shall be called a house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”

And let us be clear: Jesus did not walk in and throw a temper tantrum, as many people imagine. Read carefully what is written (John 2:13–17). He went in, saw what was happening, and then left. He sat down and braided a whip of cords. That takes time — a lot of time. He did not act in haste; He acted in righteousness. He sat, braided the whip, prepared His anger in silence, and then deliberately walked back in. That was not impulsive — it was judgement.

When He returned, He overturned the tables and gave the money changers and sellers a beating they would not soon forget. He literally drove them out with that whip. And yes, the modern church does not like to preach that part, because many churches today deserve the same beating.

“And He said unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.” (Luke 19:46)

Look carefully at what He says: “a house of prayer.” Not a market. Not a place of trade. It is not that He was against work or income — He Himself multiplied bread. He blessed fishermen with catches. But He did not allow people to use the holy place of worship for ordinary things. He clearly drew the line between the holy and the common.

God has never changed. His standards remain the same. The house of prayer may not become a place of trade. When worldly methods of making money enter the sanctuary, God withdraws. His Spirit does not share space with human profit. He is a jealous God. When reverence for Him gives way to practical convenience, the place becomes empty of His presence. People may laugh and buy, but the Spirit grieves.

I have often heard people say: “But it’s for the Lord! We are only selling pancakes to pay for the children’s camp.” Yes, the goal may be good, but the place is wrong. Jesus did not overturn the tables because they were selling pigs — He did it because they were doing it inside the holy place. If you need to raise funds, do it outside. Keep the house of worship holy. The problem is not trade; it is the mixing of trade with worship.

Nehemiah opposed the same thing in his time. He discovered that a man named Tobiah had placed his furniture in the temple chambers — in the place intended for offerings. He had everything thrown out and had the rooms cleansed. That is exactly what Jesus later did in the flesh. He cleansed His Father’s house of the world’s clutter. And today we are back in the same place — coffee shops in church halls, music shops in the foyer, ice cream sales in the courtyard — and everyone says it is for God’s work. But God has never blessed a market that He called a house of prayer.

The earliest church understood this. They did not sell concert tickets or host fairs. They simply gave. In Acts 2 we read: “And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.” They did not make money — they shared it. They did not sell — they gave. That is the difference between worldly trade and spiritual giving.

Paul was a man of honour. He never sold the gospel. He never used the Word for personal gain. In Acts 18 we read that he made tents with Aquila and Priscilla, because they were of the same trade. He worked to support himself so that no one could say he preached the gospel for profit. He later says in 2 Thessalonians 3: “Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you.” That was the spirit of integrity with which the early church operated. They would rather work than use God’s house for sales.

I have sat in many churches where a guest speaker comes to talk about his book or DVD series. The message itself may be good, but watch what happens after the service — often right there in front of the pulpit the church council sets up a table and invites everyone to come and buy the books or DVDs. Do you see the problem? It is exactly the same principle Jesus opposed. It is not wrong to have a book or to share knowledge, but the moment the house of worship becomes a place of trade, it becomes unclean. The service is followed by a market, and the holy atmosphere is replaced with bargaining and sales. God’s presence does not move with such things.

There is nothing wrong with a congregation selling something to raise funds — ice cream, pancakes, second-hand clothes, anything honest and upright. But it must not be done in the place of worship. Keep it outside the church. Do it on the church grounds, in the community, in a hall — but not inside the house of prayer. God’s presence is holy, and where the world enters, He withdraws. This is not a threat; it is a principle. When the place of worship becomes ordinary, it loses its power.

When the holy and the everyday mix, the congregation loses the flame of God’s presence. Reverence turns into routine, worship becomes entertainment, and giving becomes business. Then people start making plans to replace the Spirit — fundraisers, strategic marketing, shows, and music festivals — all under the banner of “church work”. But God does not work through marketing; He works through obedience.

The house of God is not a place for markets. It is a place where a person bows their knee, opens their heart, and lifts their hands in worship. It is the place where sin is confessed, not where prices are negotiated. It is the place where people bring their tithes and offerings as worship, not as transactions. And when the church learns again to honour that boundary, God will restore His presence.

Look around you — everywhere people treat the house of God with honour, you see life. Where honour disappears, you see drought. It has always been so. The Bible shows it again and again: when the people honour God with their possessions, He blesses them; when they despise Him, He leaves them to try to survive on their own. That is why there are so many churches that beg or fight over money — because they have disregarded God’s order.

The answer is simple: bring the tithe, give the offering, keep the house holy. Do not try to introduce the world’s systems into God’s house. He does not need a market to do His work — He only needs obedient people. The tithe brings blessing; the offering brings freedom; reverence brings His presence.

Jesus overturned the tables to protect His Father’s honour. He did not ask politely; He braided a whip and drove the traders out with a beating. That is the image of a God who does not stand by while His house is defiled. And it is the warning to us today: if He did not tolerate people using the temple for sales then, why do we think He will allow it now?

The church has allowed the world into her courtyard, and that is why she feels so empty. The solution is not more plans and projects — it is cleansing. It is a return to reverence, to holiness, to obedience. If every believer brings their tithe, gives their offering, and keeps the house of worship clean, God will open the windows of heaven again. He will pour out blessing — not because we manipulated Him, but because we honoured Him.

There is no easy way to replace obedience. Give your tithe — faithfully, honestly, without excuse. Give your offering — with joy, without pride. Work like Paul — with integrity. Keep the house of God holy — without trade, without marketing, without the world’s ways. And then watch how He Himself provides, because that is what He promised.

God’s order always works. Man’s plans last only until the next shortage. The church is not a business. It is a body, a house, a holy place. And when trade and the ordinary move into the place of worship, God moves out. But where reverence is restored, He returns — and with Him come life, provision, and power.