While needing to collect the offerings and tithes is a logical reason for gathering the saints from a business point of view, it also brings us painfully close to the same thinking that confronted Luther. Offering religious services for the sake of financial benefit is never a good idea. Jesus had these harsh words for religious leaders: Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me.