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Podcast
Tithing And Giving
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Hi, I'm Dave DeWitt, and today I want to talk about a subject I've been asked about
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many times over the years, tithing and giving. Why do most clerics say we should give our
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first 10% to our local church? Is tithing a biblical form of giving? How should we view
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giving today? Well, first let's talk about the origin of tithing. Tithing means tenthing.
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Tithe is another word for tenth. The first example of it in the Bible is with Abraham.
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With no command from God to do so, Abraham gave 10% of the goods he obtained from the
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battle where he rescued Lot to Melchizedek, a priest of God most high, recorded in Genesis
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14. This may have been a Semitic custom which preceded Abraham, or it may have been invented
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by Abraham. Either way, this is the first biblical example of it.
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Now let's talk about tithing in the Mosaic law. The Old Testament law, which God established
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through Moses for the nation Israel, commanded three separate tithes. Tithe number one was
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10% given annually to the Levites. This apparently was the tithe which was later kept in the
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temple storehouse, listed in Malachi 3.10, and to be distributed by the priest. Of course,
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today we're the temple and we're the priests. But tithe number two, of the remaining 90%,
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10% was to be consumed at an annual feast in the presence of the Lord your God at the
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place where he shall choose to establish his name, that according to Deuteronomy 14. This
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was in a place where the Ark of the Covenant was located. It was in Shiloh for 400 years,
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and then it was in Jerusalem thereafter. And then there's tithe number three. Every third year,
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10% was to be deposited in the towns for the poor, the Levites, the aliens, the widows,
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and the orphans. If the third tithe was meant to replace the Levite tithe every third year,
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then the total tithe money was a little less than 20%. If the third tithe year was in addition to
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the Levite tithes, then the total was a little more than 20%. At any rate, the tithe was a tax,
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and it was due at least twice a year. What about tithing in the New Testament?
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The word tithe occurs 10 times in the New Testament. None of them command believers
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to tithe. In Matthew 23, 23, Jesus said, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,
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for you tithe mint and dill and cumin and neglect the weightier provisions of the law,
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justice and mercy and faithfulness. But these are the things you should have done without
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neglecting the others. Here and in Luke 11, 42, it's the bad guys who tithe. Of course,
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they were supposed to tithe because they were still under the Mosaic law. Jesus said,
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these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. But their tithing was
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hypocrisy because they used it to neglect justice, mercy, and faithfulness. The problem with tithing
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is it tempts us to think the other 90% is ours. But God said everything belongs to him,
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and we're just stewards of what he has placed in our charge. In Luke 18, verse 12, the Pharisees
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in Jesus' story said, I fast twice a week. I pay tithes of all I get. In Christ's parable,
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the bad guys used tithing as a form of giving. The problem here was pride versus humility.
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The religious man became proud of his tithing. So the bottom line is in the New Testament,
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there's no command for us to tithe. But that's because we live under a government to whom
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we already pay taxes. We might apply it today by saying a government should charge a flat 10%
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tax rate plus another 10% for welfare purposes. But it has nothing to do with giving.
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Tithing was part of the Mosaic law. If you tithe because the Israelites were commanded to do it,
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then I wonder if you believe if you should also consume 10% of the annual income
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at an annual yearly feast as was commanded in Deuteronomy 14.
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Or do you release all the debts every seventh year as in Deuteronomy 15? Do you return all
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the purchased property every seventh year as is commanded in Leviticus 25? All these commands
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are of the law, but the problem with tithing is even greater than that. Tithing was not even a
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form of giving under the Mosaic law. Tithing was a form of taxing. So this is not just a matter of
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applying the law in the age of grace. Tithing was not given under the law either as a form of giving.
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When it came to giving, we read, then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, tell the sons of Israel
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to rise a contribution for me from every man whose heart moves him and shall raise my contribution.
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Notice that giving was described as a contribution and freewill offering, whereas tithing is taxing.
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Now let's think about tithing versus giving in the New Testament.
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Is it okay, let's ask the question, is it okay to tithe as a form of giving? Well, sure it is,
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but tithing as a contribution is a categorical mistake. You might as well ask, can I give
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as a contribution the same percent I give to the government in taxes?
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Remember, number one, the New Testament is full of teaching about giving today,
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and it never teaches tithing. And number two, if you tithe for giving,
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does that mean the other 90% is yours? Well, that's the problem, is when we tithe,
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the tendency is to think that the 90% is ours. Now, a few words about giving in the New Testament.
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Giving in the New Testament, Paul gives us this very concise formula for giving.
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Now this I say to you, who sow sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and those who sow bountifully
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shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he is purposed in his heart,
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not grudgingly, not under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
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That's in 2 Corinthians 9, 6, and 7. The basic biblical concept is that everything you have
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belongs to God. You're simply a steward of it, who will be judged for what you do with it.
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How to give in the New Testament. On the first day of the week, let each of you put aside and say,
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as he may prosper, that no collection be made when I come. Now, that's Paul writing in 1 Corinthians
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16, 2. This suggests a personal, private sugar bowl, mattress, or bank account into which a
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person puts some money onto a regular basis to be distributed as opportunities for giving arise.
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But the money is given when it's placed into the account. It's now not available for personal or
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family use. Taking it out of the account, or the sugar bowl, or whatever, is only for distribution.
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A couple other questions and answers. Should we first tithe or give to our local church?
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Many claim the above passage, that is 1 Corinthians 16, 2, refers to giving to your
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local church. The evangelical party line is, first give 10% to your local church,
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and then after that, if you want, you can give more to others. Local churches are a
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major part of Christianity all over the world. Believers gather in local churches that need
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support. But there's no basis in the Bible for supporting your own local church and considering
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it giving. Actually, almost the contrary is true. We should, of course, pay our teachers,
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but there's not a single command, example, or suggestion that anyone ever gave to their own
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local church. Notice the verse following the quote earlier, quote, and when I arrive,
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whomever you may approve, I shall send them to carry your gift to Jerusalem. That's in 1 Corinthians
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16, 3. Even if you assume that the collecting was done by the Corinthian church, the money all went
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to the Jerusalem church, that is the poor believers in Jerusalem. Believers were to give
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to widows and orphans. They were to pay their teachers, which, by the way, is paying and not
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giving. But there's no instance or command for giving to one's own local church organization.
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I'm not suggesting we should not support the needs of our local churches. Of course we should. I'm
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just pointing out that the New Testament never gives it as an example of giving.
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Question, is tithing a biblical form of giving? Well, there's certainly nothing wrong with it,
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and unless we become proud or hypocritical or think that the other 90% is ours,
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to think of tithing as a form of formula for contributing is a categorical mistake because
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tithing is not a formula for making contributions for either Israel or the church.
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How should we view giving today? Giving is distributing God's wealth to others. A hundred
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percent of what we have belongs to God, and we'll be held accountable for what we've done with what
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God's put in our charge as stewards. Well, thank you for listening. A longer paper on this subject
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with footnotes for the quotes and scriptures is available on our website relationalconcepts.org.
