THE RESPECTABLE SIN by H. C. Hartwell

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Apr 27, 1915

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 42, No. 17.

THE RESPECTABLE SIN

By H. C. Hartwell

It Is Found Alike with Poor and Rich—Is Responsible for Difficulties in Gospel Finance

By H. C. Hartwell

It would hardly be supposed that there could be such a thing as a respectable sin, and of course from God’s standpoint there is not. But we mortals are all naturally inclined to have a sliding scale of morals, which leads us to look with horror on what we call the grosser sins, and to exclude from church fellowship the poor unfortunate who may be found guilty of them, while pride and hypocrisy go almost unrebuked among us. The principal reason for this is probably that we are all more or less guilty of these sins. Yet these are faults that are especially objectionable in the sight of God.

The Universal Sin

But if you were asked to name the greatest sin that exists in the church, I wonder what you would answer. Its common name, its aristocratic name, its historical name, and its Scriptural name, is covetousness.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “For this ye know of a surety, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” Eph. 5: 5, A. R. V. To the Colossians he said on this point, “Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Col. 3: 5.

This text places the covetous man in fully as embarrassing surroundings as the other. Paul wrote to the Romans, “Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; . . . hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents.” Rom. 1: 29.

Given to Covetousness

In the Old Testament, we find the prophet Jeremiah rehearsing the wicked and abominable practices of backsliding Israel and Judah, and in chapter 8: 10, 11 he reaches the climax with this statement: “From the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness ; from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. And they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.”

Covetousness is really almost universal, though we are inclined to think generally that the rich are the only ones guilty of this sin to any extent. Such a conclusion is a mistake, for we frequently see men and women of few possessions and a very limited income who are the embodiment of avarice and covetousness.

Nowhere within the lids of the Bible do we find any sin denounced in stronger language than is applied to this very sin of covetousness. Yet many in the church who are most guilty on this point pass as highly respectable members in good and regular standing.

Made Lucifer Become Satan

Covetousness is the sin that caused Lucifer to become Satan, the adversary and arch-enemy of God; it led Achan to become a thief; it caused Gehazi to contract leprosy; it brought to Ananias the reputation of being the most infamous liar in Bible history; and it was covetousness that led Judas to betray his Lord.

A well-known writer makes these statements, which are to the point: “Man’s judgment is partial, imperfect; but God estimates all things as they really are. The drunkard is despised, and is told that his sin will exclude him from heaven; while pride, selfishness, and covetousness too often go unrebuked. But these are sins that are especially offensive to God. . . . The greatest sin which now exists in the church is covetousness.”

Unchristian Ways of Securing Funds

This condition in the church leads the great popular Christian world to adopt all sorts of questionable methods to secure funds with which to pay the salaries of ministers and to meet other expenses in connection with the work of God. “If funds are wanted to repair or fresco a church, build a chapel, buy an organ, or even to build a fence around a graveyard, nobody must be called on to give. O, no! Have a fair, tableau, mock trial, antiquarian supper, or something to eat,—anything to amuse the people and to give them an equivalent for their money.”

If the Saviour were here to-day He would enter many a modern temple dedicated to His worship, and say as He did anciently when His house was desecrated by the sordid greed of commercialism, “Take these things hence; make not My Father’s house an house of merchandise.”

It may be of interest to note that in this so-called Christian America, we spend annually for chewing gum $32,000,000, and just half as much, or $16,000,000, for missions.

Church Finance on a Wrong Basis

Evidently there is something radically wrong about the whole financial system of modern Christianity. Certainly it is not based upon the principles laid down in the word of God. It is also evident that the professed followers of Christ do not appreciate what God has done and is constantly doing for them, or they would be more grateful and unselfish. “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath He given to the children of men.” Ps. 115: 16. “God that made the world . . . giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” Acts 17: 24, 25. “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Rom. 8: 32.

How Repay Him

In the thankfulness of his heart, David exclaimed, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” And to this question which should be raised in all our hearts, the apostle Paul gives the very fitting answer, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

A great price has been paid for us. We are not our own. Jesus has bought us with His own precious blood. We belong to Him, with all that we have; yet He does not demand anything from us, nor take anything by force, but He graciously says to every one, “My son, give Me thine heart.”

The spirit of giving originated with God. He did not give something inferior, or that He did not need; He gave the very best gift that heaven afforded, even His only-begotten Son. He did not give grudgingly, or because He felt compelled to do so, but because of His great love for His children. He “so loved . . . that He gave.”

It is this spirit of unselfish love prompting us to give that He longs to see in us. This is illustrated by the following: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 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.” The heart is used to represent the affections. The Scripture says, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”; and to reverse this and say, “Where your heart is, there will your treasure be also,” is equally true. No gift or service for God is acceptable to Him unless prompted by love.

As a constant reminder to man in his sinless state that everything he possessed, both

time and property, was a gift from God, he was required to devote one seventh of his time, the Sabbath, as a day of worship to his Creator. The tree of knowledge of good and evil, he was told, also belonged to God, and he was forbidden to eat of it or even to touch it. This restriction was given to test his loyalty, and to see whether he really appreciated the goodness of God in giving him his beautiful Eden home.

God has instituted a system among men which gives them an opportunity to choose whether they will recognize His divine ownership, or whether they will follow in the sin of our first parents, and appropriate to themselves that which He has set apart for Himself.

“Will a Man Rob God?”

“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation.” Mal. 3: 8, 9. In Lev. 27: 30 we are told, “The tithe . . . is the Lord’s.” And He does not leave us in uncertainty as to what He desires to have done with it. He says, “Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.” Num. 18: 21.

The plan of tithe paying was in vogue long before the Levitical priesthood. In fact, we find it first mentioned in connection with the Melchizedek priesthood: “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.” Gen. 14: 18-20.

“And as I may so say, Levi also, who received tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him.” “For this Melchizedek king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, . . . made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.” Heb. 7: 9, 10, 1-3.

Converted and Paid Tithe

It will be of interest to note that Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, at the time of his conversion, adopted the practice of tithe paying. “And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s-house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: . . . and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.” Gen. 28: 20-22.

We have seen that Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. But Christ was made a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. We should bear in mind in this connection that “if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” Gal. 3: 29, 7. “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” John 8: 39.

There is no hint, in the New Testament, that Jesus ever repealed the law of tithe paying. Instead, He tells us that every one —and it would seem, judging of the class to whom He was talking, even hypocrites—ought to pay tithes. “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.” Matt. 23: 23.

Anciently God used the people of Israel as an object lesson. When the land of Canaan was to be divided up by lot, “the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them. . . . But the tithes of the children of Israel . . . I have given to the Levites to inherit.” Num. 18: 20, 24. This arrangement was made to provide for the temporal needs of the priesthood, who were to give themselves exclusively to spiritual matters and the work of God.

Can it be that down here in the full blaze of the light of the gospel, God has forgotten to provide for the temporal needs of those whom He has called to be leaders in spiritual things and to minister His sacred word to men? Listen: “Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.” 1 Cor. 9: 13, 14.

Gospel Prosperity and Tithing

Great evils resulted anciently when the people of God neglected to pay their tithes, and there is probably nothing that will stop the progress of the work of God or destroy spirituality more quickly than to fail to return to the Lord His own. “And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were fled every one to his field. Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place. Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries.” Neh. 13: 10-12.

If all Christians would faithfully observe the plan set forth in the word of God for the support of His work, there would be an abundance in His treasury, and there would be no need to resort to the unscriptural methods so often employed in the church for raising money. “And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the first fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps. In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord, and His people Israel. Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed His people; and that which is left is this great store.” 2 Chron. 31: 5-10.

Where to Pay Tithe

There is a diversity of opinion among professed Christians as to how and where the tithe is to be used. Often it is laid aside to be given to the poor or used for other philanthropic purposes, or to be placed in the offering box at church as a donation. Now these are all worthy objects, but the Lord has never authorized us to use the tithe in these ways.

He tells us: “The tithe . . . is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord.” In fact, He is so desirous that we shall recognize its sacred character, that He asks a high rate of interest if it is used even temporarily for any other than the object for which it is intended. “And if a man will at all redeem aught of his tithes [that is, pay back what he has borrowed], he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.” Lev. 27: 31.

Nine Tenths for Us

Nine tenths of our income we may use for our own temporal needs, or to help the poor, or to present as an offering to the Lord. But the other tenth is not ours, and we do not give it as an offering; we pay it as a sacred obligation that we owe to God. It is no more proper to talk of giving our tithe than to say that we give our house rent or our grocery bill; and those who receive money from us for these items, accept it not as a gift, but as a payment of that which belongs to them.

“Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house.” Mal. 3: 10. God would have the same principle observed to-day that was carried out anciently. There was a central treasury into which the people paid their tithes, and from this the priests were paid for their services in the sanctuary. “But the tithes of the children of Israel . . . I have given to the Levites.” Num. 18: 24.

A Whole Denomination Pays Tithe

For about fifty years, Seventh-day Adventists have practiced the Bible plan of paying tithes into a general treasury; and during

1913, over one and three fourths million dollars of tithe was paid by the denomination. This was used for the support of about three thousand ministers and licensed missionaries, not one of whom was paid by any local church, all receiving their salary from central treasuries. This has proved to be a splendid system for financing the work of God, as His plans always are.

Not only was there nearly two million dollars of tithe paid in 1913, but also more than a million dollars of offerings, making the average amount paid in tithes and offerings by each member of the denomination for the year about $23.42. This is not stated with any thought of self-praise, but merely to illustrate the truth of God, and to demonstrate that it is impossible to improve on this method for the carrying on of His work.

Will Pour You Out a Blessing

The most glorious promise is given to those who overcome their natural inclination to covetousness, and who are liberal with God in paying their tithes and offerings. We frequently hear even professed Christians say that they cannot afford to pay tithe, and that they are too poor to give much to the Lord. But the fact is that no one can afford not to be faithful in these matters; for God has said: “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. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.” Mal. 3: 10, 11.