Hello World,

I never thought I would see the day that World Changers Church International Pastor, Creflo Dollar, would have a different philosophy about tithing…See, World Changers is located in College Park, and College Park is where I spent most of my childhood. I remember when World Changers was not there. In fact, I remember when the church campus was simply a shopping center on Old Nat L, College Park residents’ beloved nickname for Old National Highway, a main thoroughfare in the city. So to have seen a simple shopping center become an internationally known megachurch was something to behold, and I imagine all of us CPK or Collipark (two more nicknames) residents were stunned by the spectacle. And I imagine we were all curious about the black man who built the empire. All I knew was that I went to high school with one of Pastor Dollar’s cousins, and her last name was Dollar too. So if you’re wondering if he changed his last name to Dollar, unless his cousins changed their last name too, that’s highly unlikely. But it was kind of funny to witness a man whose last name was Dollar build a megachurch that must have cost millions of dollars.

I imagine that out of curiosity that almost every College Park resident has visited World Changers at least once. I have. Years ago, I dated a member of the church, and I attended with him at least once. And then some years after that, I attended a Yolanda Adams concert there. But back to the lone service I attended, I remember there was a heavy emphasis on tithing, and it made me uncomfortable. I cannot lie about that. At my church where my father was the senior pastor for many years, while he preached on tithing and believes in it, it is not emphasized in every service. Tithing is encouraged; however, tithing is just one of many biblical principles that were preached about over the course of time. And while I have tithed since I was a teenager due to my father’s encouragement, I never felt pressure to do so. But during that one service, I got the feeling that compulsory tithing was a core tenet of World Changers.

That being said, as I was never a member, I wasn’t familiar with his other teachings. I would imagine that members of Pastor Dollar’s church have learned many principles from him that have nothing to do with money. Despite whatever else he taught, however, it seemed that nearly every story I’ve heard about him and World Changers over the years had to do with money. The jet story comes to mind. People have speculated that he has amassed wealth due to his teaching about compulsory tithing which I cannot confirm or deny. All of this to say, I wonder after all of these years, what was the impetus for his change of heart around tithing. In his recent sermon “The Great Misunderstanding,” Pastor Dollar begins his sermon saying, “I want to start off by saying to you that I’m still growing, and that the teachings that I have shared in times past on the subject of tithing were not correct. And today I stand in humility to correct some things that I’ve taught over the years and believed for years but could not understand fully because I was not yet confronted with the gospel of grace which has made the difference. I won’t apologize because if it was not for me going down that route,  I would have never ended up where I am right now. But I will say that I have no shame at all at saying, throw away every book, every tape and every video I ever did on the subject of tithing unless it lines up with this.” Whoa, right?!!! That’s a beyond bold statement to make all of these years in…Me being who I am, I would have been like before I throw away everything, can I get a refund? Even if I only got back a fraction of what I spent, something is better than nothing has been said…LOL…But I digress…

There were many interesting points throughout the sermon that was preached in two parts on two different Sundays starting on June 26. Firstly, he establishes that his former approach to tithing was based on the Old Testament (in which tithing was mandated) and not the New Testament (in which tithing or giving was encouraged but not mandated) and that it was based on fear and guilt.

• at 15:33, Pastor Dollars references 2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” He goes on to say that Malachi 3:10 caused him to feel fear and pressure regarding tithing. He recounts in the early days of his marriage, he was 26 cents short on his tithe and could not give it. Shortly afterward, a brick was thrown through his car window, and he wondered if the incident occurred because he was short on his tithe.
• at 23:54, he discusses the self-righteous Pharisee in Luke 18 who boasted about being a tither.
• at 23:09, he encourages his congregation to read 2 Corinthians 9 to learn about Paul’s approach to giving…

And there were many other interesting points that he made… If you’re interested in seeing the totality of “The Great Misunderstanding,” the videos are below…

I wonder if there was a Q&A session at any point after these sermons because I have so many questions now…Three of them are below…

1. The verses that he mentioned have been in the Bible the whole time he has been preaching, I wonder why he didn’t take them into account before now?
2. Is there any concern that the ministries of the church will not be supported in the same way if tithing is no longer compulsory?
3. Will there be some sort of refund in place? Before, when I referenced a refund, I was joking. However, even Uncle Sam gives refunds so why shouldn’t church members be given refunds when they have given based on incorrect teaching…I don’t know how that would be handled, but the idea is not incomprehensible…Even $25 a member would be a nice gesture going forward…

What say you?

Finally, I do applaud Pastor Dollar for being audacious in his admitting his mistake…

Any thoughts?