Posted on 04/09/2006 9:39:42 PM PDT by ScubieNuc
Should Christians tithe?
Recently, I was asked about tithing. Being like most Americans, I don’t tithe regularly. It’s not that I think I shouldn’t, it has more to do with my current debt. I’ve always felt that tithing would be a great thing to be able to do, but sadly, I have never been able to do it on a consistent basis. So, I decided to do a more thorough Biblical study on tithing, so that I could give an answer consistent with what God wants. What I discovered surprised me, so I decided to post what I found to see what Freeper’s had to say.
The first thing I did was look at all the verses with the word “tithe” in them. It occurs 14 times in 13 verses. The word “tithing” occurs 2 times in one verse. The thing that jumped out to me was that the word “tithe” occurs only twice in the New Testament ( Matt. 23:23 & Luke 11:42).
When you look at those events, in Matthew and Luke, Jesus is scolding the Pharisees, who have apparently mastered tithing, but have overlooked more important things such as judgment, mercy, faith, and the love of God. Now, Jesus does imply that tithing is good, but that it should not be done at the expense of more “weighty matters of the law.”
Now, when I looked at the Old Testament verses dealing with tithing, I also saw a familiar theme. Tithing was tied into the ceremonies and rituals given to the Nation of Israel after the Exodus out of slavery.
Tithing was used to build the tabernacle and the Temple. Tithing was used to set aside food. Tithing was to be used by those who would be serving in the Tabernacle or Temple. Tithing was as much a ritual as was the rituals surrounding the Sabbath. So then, how do we Christians today, who are under the New Covenant of Jesus, deal with the rituals given by God under the Mosaic Covenant?
I looked at the rituals of the Sabbath for an example. First, the Sabbath was a sign for the Nation of Israel and not for all people (Exodus 31:12, 13, 16, 17). Sabbath was a ceremonial law for the Jewish Nation. Sabbath was more then just the 7th day of the week, but also dealt with the 7th month (Lev. 23:24) and the 7th year (Lev. 25:4). In the entire New Testament there is not a single command to Christians to keep the Sabbaths. Why?
In short, the ceremonial laws were “nailed to the cross” because they were a “shadow” of Jesus.
Col 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
Col 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with [him] through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Col 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Col 2:15 [And] having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]:
Col 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.
Next, I looked for examples of what the early Christians did. They didn’t give 10%, they gave it ALL!
Act 4:32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any [of them] that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
And
Act 2:44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
Act 2:45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all [men], as every man had need.
I noticed a few points from their example. One, the church took care of its own house first. Two, it was unanimous. They voluntarily sold all their goods, pooled the monies, and distributed where it was needed among the Church. Once they had their own church finances taken care of, they could then focus on others who were outside of the church. This is not an example of reinstituting the rituals of the Old Testament.
The New Testament Church does give guidelines for leaders in the church, who are “stewards for God.” (Titus1:5-7) The KJV mentions “not given to filthy lucre.” This is translated from the Greek word aischrokerdes. This word means eager for base gain or greedy for money. It is clear that to be a steward of God, finances is part of the picture. However, there is no mention of tithing.
The New Testament church was an example of the following verses…
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
2Cr 8:5 And [this they did], not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.
These verses point out that stewardship involves giving all of yourself.
Finally, I looked at what the Bible has to say about borrowing and debt. Borrowing is always involved whenever there is lending. Since lending is sometimes permissible, so is borrowing. Still, normally it is the righteous who are lenders rather than borrowers.
"The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty . . . to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none." (Deuteronomy 28:12)
"The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously. . . . They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed." (Psalm 37:21, 26)
"Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice." (Psalm 112:5)
There is danger in debt.
"The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender." Proverbs 22:7
"You were bought at a price. Do not become servants of men." 1 Corinthians 7:23
"No one can serve two masters. . . You cannot serve both God and Money." Matthew 6:24
The New Testament warns against debt.
Rom 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
There is a penalty for debt.
"All these blessings will come upon you if you obey the LORD your God:
". . . The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to . . . bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The LORD will make you the head, not the tail.
"However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
". . . The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail. Deuteronomy 28:2,12-13; 15; 43-44
Debt causes desperation.
Some were saying, "We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain."
Others were saying, "We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine."
Still others were saying, "We have had to borrow money to pay the king's tax on our fields and vineyards." Nehemiah 5:2-4
So, what is my conclusion? Tithing was part of the ceremonies and rituals given to the Nation of Israel after the exodus from slavery in Egypt. Tithing was not instituted by the early church examples given in the New Testament. Jesus never commands tithing. Tithing is not one of the “weighty matters of the law.” Tithing was a shadow that directed people toward Jesus.
So what is a Christian to do financially? One, is to recognize that all we have is to be used for God. That is not limited to money, but to our time, our talents, etc. Two, we need to take care of our brothers in Christ, even if it means greater sacrifice by some. Three, we need to take care of others outside of the body of Christ. Four, we need to get out of debt so that we can better provide for others.
Finally, I recognize that I am an un-schooled layman. Plus, I do not have my own financial house in complete order (debts). Therefore, I recognize that my study/conclusions may be biased to support what I want, as apposed to what Jesus actually wants. I am not seeking to attack certain traditions, rather to “speak the truth in love.” (Eph. 4:11-15) I think that 1 Corinthians 4:2 summarizes it best…
“Moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”
Sincerely
Are Christians required to tithe?
No. It does help the local church keep the doors open, though. Please see the widows mite.
parsy, who got it straight from you-know-who up above.
By sowing seeds, I'm just using a metaphor for giving.
I sow seeds (in this case money) into the Kingdom og God
I also sow seeds of service, time, love etc.
I use the metaphor because in Genesis, we have the promise that as long as the earth remains, there will be seed time and harvest.
This means I can expect a harvest. And seed reproduces after its own kind. That's all.
If you're more comfortable, I could say that I still give financially to support the Kingdom of God. That's all I meant.
Will
Thank you I thought that might be what you were saying...
Cheers!
I always find it interesting that many churches that do not emphasize the literalness of scripture always feel it is literal when it comes to verses about giving money.
If robbing God is to your liking, then don't tithe. (Malachi)
2 Corintians 9:7
"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."
Most of those that were aborted come from the younger generations. By aborting 40 million children and then continuing to rack up debts, you have forced the survivoring younger generations to pay even more in taxes.
What the New Testament says about Christian giving.
While the Church and Christians are not under the Law regarding tithing (as you aptly defended), nevertheless, the New Testament has a great deal to say about the believer and New Testament giving. I believe this is important because some may read your article and wrongly conclude that because Christians don't have to tithe, they therefore do not have to give at all! A conclusion that is patently unbiblical and I am quite confident not what you had in mind.
Again, thank you for your sound hermeneutics and biblically based reasoning regarding the topic. I look forward (Lord willing) to reading the addendum regarding "The New Testament and Christian giving".
God loves a CHEERFUL giver. He doesn't love a GREEDY and HYPOCRITICAL giver. So, the givers need to clean up their act, and be CHEERFUL...
Good post. Jesus used the law, including sections on tithing, to convict sinners of their sin in order that they might understand their need for a savior. Once a sinner has come to faith, they are no longer under O.T. law.
My point was there were fewer here on earth to share the taxes!
And even though the American worker all pay their share of taxes, most of the burden comes from the left who divided away all of the revenue to non tax payers!
It was the will of the Nation not the individual!
Just like you are an individual and the left have doctored the numbers and the right (politicians) never seems to forced the issue on the table, and those who did are put through the libeeral wood chipper!
No, I paid the debtors and tithed at the same time. The miracle was that I always had money left over to pay my bills down.
Scubie -
Why are you so intent on separating the commands of the OT from the NT. Neither can be examined in isolation.
All things in Scripture are God-breathed. Should we just ignore parts of Scripture because it does not fit into our view of God or our life style?
God gave very detailed instructions as to how his chosen people should live. Many of the civil and ceremonial laws that were instituted provided safety, security, and harmony within the Jewish tribes when they were obeyed. We can learn from these instructions and they are yet a fantastic guide for our lives today.
Are we to still live under these same cultural and ceremonial laws today? Of course not. Will our lives be more harmonious and God-serving if we maintain the spirit of these laws? Obviously. As you have already discerned, if you had obeyed the commands about staying debt-free, your troubles would be fewer.
You are correct in saying our salvation is not earned by tithing nor is it sustained by our tithe. Tithing is merely a first step in obedience from which we learn to trust and depend on God for all things. Most people who learn to tithe, soon find that God's blessing allows them to give even more. Tithing is a step of faith - a fairly small step in the grand scheme of things. But if you poll all "Christians", you will find a very small part that fulfill even this small step of faith.
You need to ask yourself why the idea of tithing is abrasive to you. Do you think a tenth of your possession is too much to give to God? Too small? Not that I know you well, but my first instinct is that you are searching for a legal loophole that will justify your actions. Are you truly trusting God when you withhold your tithe until your debt is fully paid? It sounds like you are giving nothing to God until your debt is gone - can you support that behavior with Scripture?
I would certainly commend you to give your ALL to Christ. Since that is not yet the case (and will not be until your dying breath), I suggest a tenth is a great start...
My mother always said, "I take all my money and throw it in the air. He can keep what he wants....I'll keep what comes back to me."
Of course she said it tongue in cheek.
It appears you have managed to twist my quote to your own liking rather than the spirit in which it was delivered originally and with my passing on the words.
Forgive me if I have offended your theology.
LOL!
Thank you for sharing that. What a great example of faith. I have also enjoyed God's blessings each time I have chosen to give and to trust that he knows what is best for me. I sometimes struggle with putting my life completely in God's hands. I don't know why because each time I do, he always comes through for me. Your story helps me to remember this.
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