In 2014 I had the opportunity to tour Germany and walk in the steps of Martin Luther, the great reformer. Or, as Catholics may call him, the rebel. On October 31, 1517, Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg, also titled Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences.
Indulgences was the practice of exchanging money for the forgiveness of sins, a profitable endeavor for the church at the time, but also pretty messed up. Among the theses Luther delivered, he explained that paying money in exchange for forgiveness de-incentivized people from giving to the poor and doing ministry outside the church walls.
Luther also saw that Christians were not being truly repentant in their heart because forgiveness simply became a monetary transaction. There was no actual change of behavior or belief; people would simply go on sinning throughout the week and literally pay for those sins on Sunday.
The teaching of indulgences has largely fallen out of style since the Reformation in 1517, but there is a strange similarity today. Any reasonable evangelical church will teach salvation by accepting Christ’s forgiveness and turning away from sin, but there’s typically an interesting follow-up to justification:
Give, Serve, Join a Life Group
These three things aren’t necessarily tied to salvation but are very quickly spoken as an addendum to the salvation prayer. Many churches no longer have an official membership process, they say, “to become a member, give and serve. That’s it!”
All these are good things, but the tithing part gets a little sketchy.
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