REFUTING CREFLO DOLLAR
HIS FALSE TEACHINGS ON TITHING
By: Victor T. Stephens
"People often claim to hunger for truth, but seldom like the taste when it's served up."
~ George R.R. Martin
THE SECOND BOOK OF CORINTHIANS 9:7
"So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Cor. 9:7)
During his sermon, Creflo Dollar makes the following statement regarding 2 Corinthians 9:7:
"If the reason you pay a tithe is because you don’t want to be under the curse, then you are paying out of necessity. And it isn’t a cheerful giving."
Notice how Dollar incongruously associates tithing with this verse. As aforementioned, tithing was never taught to new covenant believers, not as a law or an eternal principle. Paul was an expert in old covenant law and new covenant grace, but he never gave instructions to the church to pay monetary tithes.
While Dollar is oddly connecting 2 Corinthian 9:7 with tithing, factually, this verse diametrically opposes any proposition that giving under grace should commence with tithing. It indicates that each believer is to decide in his or her own heart how much to give. God is more concerned about the condition of our hearts than the amount given. The Lord would prefer Christians to be good stewards of their finances and to give cheerfully and willingly according to their means. Any person who mandates or recommends that one should give a tithe of his income sins by debasing 2 Corinthians 9:7, stifling one's ability to decide in his own heart how much to give.
SHOULD WE GIVE A TITHE BECAUSE JESUS WENT TO HELL FOR US?
Creflo Dollar says we should be thankful for what Jesus has done for us… including going to Hell in our place. Therefore, our giving, which ought to be at least ten percent of our monetary income, should be a reflection of our appreciation for what Christ did 2000 years ago.
Mr. Dollar is correct in that we should be appreciative of what Jesus has done for the church. But, in his emotional appeal argument, here are the problems with Dollar’s rationalizations:
To begin with, Jesus did not go to Hell to suffer in our place. The atonement of Christ is another doctrine that Creflo Dollar has iniquitously tailored. According to Word-Faith theology, the sacrificial work on the cross by Jesus was inadequate to atone for the sins of mankind. Mr. Dollar and other Word-Faith proponents have used several passages of Scripture out of context to devise a variant doctrine that includes the inefficiency of Christ's blood alone to atone for the sins of mankind. Rather than the finished work of Christ being completed on the cross, salvation was allegedly concluded in the torments of Hell.
Creflo Dollar's close friend, Fred Price, echoes Dollar's sentiments:
"Do you think that the punishment for our sin was to die on a cross? If that were the case, the two thieves could have paid your price. No, the punishment was to go into hell itself and to serve time in hell separated from God." (Fred Price, "Ever Increasing Faith Messenger", June 1980)
Dollar's "spiritual father," Kenneth Copeland had this to say:
"The Word of the living God went down into that pit of destruction and charged the spirit of Jesus with resurrection power! Suddenly His twisted, death-wracked spirit began to fill out and come back to life. He began to look like something the devil had never seen before. He was literally being reborn before the devil's eyes. He began to flex His spiritual muscles.... Jesus was born again-the first-born from the dead." (Kenneth Copeland, "The Price of it All," Believer's Voice of Victory, September 1991)
So, if Jesus did not go to Hell in our place, where did He go? Jesus went to a place called "paradise." Paradise was the region where the righteous dead remained until after the death of Christ. It was a place of astonishing blessedness and was regarded as "Abraham's Bosom" (Luke 16:22). Remember in Luke 23:43 that Jesus said to the thief on the cross, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." At Christ's ascension, He transported the righteous saints (including the thief) along with the region of paradise from the "lower parts of the earth" to Heaven, its present location. (2 Cor. 12:2-4; Rev. 2:7)
Now… moving to my next point:
God does not want a tithe of our money as evidence of our appreciation for Him. God wants one hundred percent of us. Thus, it is the body of the believer ---our total self---that belongs to God. Consider the following passages:
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." (Rom. 12:1)
"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."
(1 Cor. 6:19-20)
"And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God." (2 Cor. 8:5)
Under the new covenant, the believer's chief instruction is to "offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God...." In other words, we should dedicate ourselves to God and make every endeavor to honor Him in all things while passionately utilizing the spiritual gifts the Lord has given to us. We should also give thanks to God, who has given us His Son's sacrifice so that we may have eternal life (Heb. 13:15-16). And lastly, we should share with others the great privilege of God's grace through His Son, Jesus Christ.
UNWISE NOT TO TITHE
Is it unwise to not tithe? Creflo Dollar seems to think so. In part two of the series, "Being Free to Tithe," Dollar states:
"God is not mad at you for not tithing. Now, I think it is unwise not to tithe. You might have a little problem with provision. Stuff might not show up. But, He ain’t mad at you. God will still love you if you don’t tithe. Now you know ain’t no preacher in his right mind gonna sit up here and say what I’m saying. Why? Because he’s scared that by saying it, folks won’t give no more. I got to get you free. I got to make sure you’ll free. And when you’re free to give…. You can’t be lied to no more. I will not allow it. I will not allow you to be lied to no more. I don’t know what you do. What you do is gonna be between you and God. But I got to tell you the truth."
No, it is not unwise for believers to not tithe. However, it is unwise for any man to say, "I got to tell you the truth," and then blatantly lie about God and His Word. Very ambitiously and deceitfully, Mr. Dollar persists in integrating lies with truth while teaching a doctrine that is not supported by Scripture.
Creflo Dollar comes clean with the fact that Christians will not be cursed for not tithing. But, on the other hand, he alleges that there will be repercussions for failing to tithe. Not desiring to appear contradictory by invoking Malachi along with the accompanying curses, Dollar exercises doublespeak euphemisms to manipulate his congregants. His forked tongue implication is: "You might have a problem with provision. Stuff might not show up."
Mr. Dollar's magnificent display of hypocrisy is dazzling. He accuses other preachers of instilling fear, lying, withholding the truth, and teaching false aspects of tithing; however, Dollar is also guilty of false teaching, albeit with a different spin and twist.
Next: Was Tithing Written for Our Learning?
