Recently, I wrote this message to the church in my city of Goiânia, Brazil, and made it into a YouTube video. My city has many large churches and is probably one of the most evangelized cities in Brazil. It’s known for revival. I thank the Holy Spirit for what he has done here. Yet I also feel that many Christians in my city think they are rich when they are really spiritually impoverished.

As many of you know, I’m strongly opposed to the teaching of tithing, giving under compulsion, and giving to be seen by men. Did you know that about a hundred years ago, when tithe teachings were much less widespread, over a 10th of offerings went to missions? Now it’s more like 2%, and giving overall has dropped as well! Human commands and doctrines don’t produce generosity as led by the Holy Spirit!

Religiosity gets caught up on external things, percentages, and appearance, but God wants our hearts! Jesus taught us to give in secret, but when religiosity reigns in the church, people are afraid that they won’t have favor with church leadership if they give in secret! Here in Brazil, I’ve often seen carelessness regarding the poor combined with fanaticism over the tithe. The same people who become angry and accusatory if you question tithing make explicit statements about caring for the poor such as “that’s the government’s job” or “let the Spiritists worry about that.” I’m convinced that tithe teaching is one of the primary issues hindering the Brazilian church from caring for the poor. Many Christians believe they must tithe before they can give to the poor. Due to this, large amounts of money go to unnecessary things rather than to people’s urgent needs.

I believe many people want to care for the poor but human commands and the demands of religiosity hinder them. I was once in that boat! It’s so good to be free from religiosity to be able to express God’s love in freewill giving, motivated by love and not guilt or necessity! The following is my message to the church in Brazil. It includes the Biblical basis of how strongly God feels about caring for the poor. This is often ignored while tithing, “first fruits” and other made-up doctrines are taught constantly!

You can also listen to the YouTube video in English!

Undefiled Religion or Religiosity?

James 1:27 says religion that is pure and undefiled before God cares for the orphan and widow. Jesus taught about the difference between the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. The sheep cared for the needy, and Jesus said, “Whatever you did for them, you did for me.” The religious goats failed to help the needy, like the religious Pharisees who walked by a beaten-up man by the road in the story of the good Samaritan. Jesus said, “Whatever you did not do for them, you did not do for me.” Ezekiel 16:49 says Sodom’s sin was that they were arrogant, overfed, unconcerned, and neglected the needy. 1^st John 3:17 asks, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother in need but has no pity on them, how can God’s love be in that person?”

Jeremiah 22:16 says that taking up the cause of the poor and needy is what it means to know God! The implication is that those who neglect the poor don’t know God. Any unnecessary thing that the church puts before caring for people is religiosity, not true religion.

Are you full of religiosity, or do you have true religion that is undefiled before God? How you care for the poor in your city reveals the truth. One rescue mission in my city, Metamorfose, has been here for 28 years. They care for almost 100 people, including bedridden elderly people and those with disabilities. Metamorfose is facing a financial crisis and needs food, toilet paper, soap, and diapers to continue caring for people, many who can’t help themselves. There are hundreds of churches in my city, with millions in their budgets, but there isn’t a single Christian church that supports Metamorfose monthly. Other institutions are in a similar situation.

Many churches give more money in one night to a visiting preacher than in a year to help the poor. In my time in Goiania, I’ve seen people raise hundreds of reais to buy flowers for the pastor, thousands for a special program, and millions to beautify a church building that was already more than sufficient. I wish they would raise money to buy diapers for the elderly people at Metamorfose. There are far more Christians than spiritists in Goiania, but the spiritists are doing what the church is neglecting to do.

Some Christians in my city do feed the homeless and visit institutions that help the poor. However, most see caring for people as a nice thing to do, but they see their buildings, budgets, and programs as essential. They feel that they would like to do more, but they have to pay their tithes! That is religiosity! Is religiosity hindering you from following Jesus? Jesus’ #1 financial priority is caring for people!

For you who believe in tithes, study the Old Testament instructions for tithing in passages like Deuteronomy 12 and 14 and you will find that one of the primary uses of the tithe was to care for the needy. Less than 1% of the tithe went to the priests, and none of it was used for maintaining a building. These facts are verified by Bible study and by scholars on Judaism. Yet today tithing has become an excuse for the church to fail to care for the poor. That is religiosity!

Look at the food we bring to Casa da Paz every month. Is any church in Goiania doing this? Fewer than 15 people help me bring them this food every month, and they also help to bring soap, geriatric diapers, and other supplies to Metamorfose every few months. We wish we could do more, and we wish we could find a church that does more than we do.

Most of these people contributing to make these purchases for Casa da Paz and Metamorfose are not tithers. Maybe none of them are. Most of them live outside of Brazil, but this is the responsibility of the Christians in Goiania. Goiania is a big, rich city with many Christians who give millions of reais every month, but very little to help the needy. Caring for the poor is seen as optional and the buildings, programs, and infrastructure are viewed as essential, but the Biblical view is the opposite. Caring for the poor IS essential. Big buildings and spectator event programs are not. The early church did not have the buildings, budgets, and programs that we have, but they cared for the poor. Much of the persecuted church today, and many of the fastest-growing church-planting movements in the world, do not have the buildings, budgets, and programs we have, but they care for the poor.

Did you know that the early Christians were accused of being atheists and persecuted by the pagans because they didn’t have temples, priests, or altars? Yet Brazilian Christians call a building their “temple,” something that not even American Christians do! I saw a message about sowing to “improve an altar,” saying it has been an instrument of salvation, healing, restoration, and deliverance. Imagining that “an altar” is an instrument of healing or salvation is simply paganism. It has nothing to do with salvation, healing, or deliverance. These attitudes in the Brazilian church are religiosity, not pure and undefiled religion before God. I can’t think of a time I saw a church in my city raise as much money to care for hungry people or buy diapers for the bedridden elderly as they spend on projects like “improving an altar.”

I’ve probably seen a few thousand healing miracles in the last five years in this city. Most of these miracles happened outside of a church church building. The church building is a hindrance when it promotes spectator events. Miracles don’t happen because of a building. They happen because we are God’s temple, and God’s Spirit lives in us.

Are You Living in Paneled Houses While God’s Temple Lies in Ruins?

You’ll have what you value. If you value programs, you will prioritize programs and you’ll have programs. If you value miracles, you’ll have miracles, and you’ll have miracles as much as you value them. If you think God lives in buildings, you will prioritize buildings. But the New Testament says twice that God doesn’t live in buildings made by hands, but people are his temple. If you believe people are God’s temple, you will prioritize caring for people. In Haggai chapter 1, God rebuked the Israelites and said, “Is it time for you to live in paneled houses, while my temple lies in ruins?” The way I see it, your church buildings are paneled houses, but the poor in Goiania are God’s temple which lies in ruins and which God’s people have neglected.

How have I seen so many miracles? How am I bringing this help to Casa da Paz and Metamorphose with mostly exclusively non-tithers contributing? It’s because I value people and the Holy Spirit’s work in miracles, not buildings and programs. If I had a greater value for programs or for buildings, it would hinder me from seeing miracles and from helping the needy. I don’t have a big budget, and I get bored in church services. I don’t even have my own car, because it’s too expensive. I take an Uber on missions, or get a ride. Yet if you know any church in Goiania that is bringing 2,000 reais monthly help to a recovery house like Casa da Paz that this small group of non-tithers gives, please tell me.

After seeing all the things Christians take up offerings for and spend money on when Jesus’ servants at Metamorfose often don’t have powdered soap to wash elderly people’s bedsheets, I can confidently say that I see much more religiosity than true and undefiled religion in my city. People give in an offering to a celebrity preacher who sometimes takes home over 20,000 reais for a night of preaching, and I wish they would buy a used car for Metamorfose. Many Christians in Goiania imagine that the church in their city is strong and revived, but the church’s neglect of people’s real needs shows a church in a situation of spiritual poverty.

The demands of religiosity are keeping many Christians from pure and undefiled religion. Like I said, I won’t tell you what to do, but I will remind you of what the Bible says is essential and ask you to listen to the Holy Spirit. I don’t know how long I’ll be in Goiania, and I want to see the local church fulfill its responsibility to care for the needy in their own city when I leave. I think that if even 1% of the budget of all the churches in Goiania would go directly towards caring for people’s basic needs, the situation would be quite different.

Many of the people receiving this message may have contributed to institutions that help the needy. But my question to you is not if you have contributed anything, but has what you contributed reflected Jesus’ priorities? Or have you ended up contributing much more to things that really aren’t so important to Jesus? Is the church in your city fulfilling its responsibility by meeting these needs?

Have you wanted to do more to care for people, but instead you’ve ended up giving in a manipulative offering? Have you heard that you have to pay your tithe first, but you’re not responsible for how it is spent? Don’t let the demands of religiosity hinder you from being led by the Holy Spirit. Find out what Jesus’ priorities are, and take responsibility for where and how you give. After reading the Bible many times, I’m convinced that the #1 priority of giving in scripture is caring for the poor, and the #2 is reaching those who have never heard the gospel. Brazil still has many people who have never heard the gospel. Please consider how much money the church in Brazil spends, and what percentage of that goes to caring for the poor in your own country and reaching those who have never heard the gospel in places like Marajo Island. Do you think your giving and the spending of the church in Brazil reflect Jesus’ priorities? If not, what needs to change?