For years, prosperity preacher Creflo Dollar has preached the importance of tithing, giving 10% of your income to your church, now he says he misled the world.
During one of his recent Sunday sermons, titled “The Great Misunderstanding, The founder of Atlanta’s World Changers Church International megachurch said he was all wrong about tithing.
He apologized for misleading his 30,000-plus congregants about the biblical concept.
In a video of his June 26 sermon, he said, “Today, I stand in humility to correct some things I’ve taught for years and believed for years,” he said in the video.
He read the scripture Romans 6:14: “For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
He added that people following the Old Testament school of belief took the 10 percent mentioned in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 14:22 and applied it as the recommended minimum for Christians in their giving back to the church. But Dollar says the “manufactured” 10 percent figure is all wrong.
“He says I want you to take a portion and put it aside. Now, if you want to give 10, that’s fine, but, you know, he didn’t say that,” Dollar said. “You are under grace, not under law,” he said.
“You should never give in response to pressure…You decide in your heart what to give…and that’s the recommendation we give here. I am not suggesting we water down our giving, but tithing is an Old Testament theme.”
He continued on to explain what the New Testament “actually” said about tithing. He cited Matthew 23:23 from the New Testament, which says: “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.”
He then went on to explain how tithings should be done, by citing 1 Corinthians 16:1-4. He quoted, “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.”
So how much is enough for tithing, since 10 percent does not have to be the standard? Dollar went to 2 Corinthians 9:7 for the answer. It reads: “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
He instructed his congregants to throw away all of his previous teachings on tithing.
Previous Controversy
This newfound revelation comes years after the prosperity preacher asked his congregation to help him buy a $65 million Gulfstream G650 private jet so that he could travel and do ministry abroad. He asked them each to donate $300. He called this “Honor Giving,” which is like tithing, the Washington Post reports.
Dollar’s jet came with “two Rolls-Royce engines, high-speed Internet, and two multichannel satellites and allows for a four-and-a-half-hour commute from New York to Los Angeles,” CNN reports.
Dollar has an estimated net worth of $27 million, that not only comes form his ministries but from a quarterly magazine he publishes called Change as well as a bimonthly resource newsletter called The Max, and several books.
He owns a $2.5 million home in Manhattan, two Rolls-Royces, and a million-dollar home in Atlanta, according to MoneyInc.com.
Latest Preacher to Self-Correct
World-renowned preacher Benny Hinn has also made an about-face on his preaching on the prosperity gospel.
