Somewhere out in cyberspace there are people on the prowl for tithers.
Mention tithing on the internet and it gets red-flagged on their computer. Instantly, they go on the alert and rush to tell you how misguided you are, that tithing is strictly Old Testament, and that believers are not under the Law. Furthermore, you who teach tithing are corrupting God’s people, misleading them about the Scriptures, and probably an idiot to boot.
The funny thing to me is that these vigilantes are half-right and could do a lot of good if they would do so in the spirit of Christ.
It is most definitely true that tithing is not explicitly taught in the New Testament. Nowhere is it written between Matthew and Revelation that “thou shalt bring a tithe.” Those (of us) who get tithing out of the New Testament more or less infer it from several things. (I’m going to list some of them, and then turn around and undo everything I’m saying here. Stay tuned.)
–Tithing was not of the law since it began a long time before the Law was given to Moses. (Genesis 14:20)
–In rebuking the Pharisees for getting tithing all wrong and putting the emphasis backwards, Jesus said, “These things you should have done and not to have omitted the other.” (Matthew 23:23)
–We infer that Jesus was a tither, otherwise His critics would have quickly pointed it out when they were searching for anything to charge against Him.
That sort of thing.
And then we come to II Corinthians chapter 9:6-7, a jam-packed and fascinating teaching on giving.
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
The Apostle Paul sure blew it, didn’t he? This would have been the ideal place to insert a great line about tithing. Instead, he says, “Give as you purpose in your heart.” In other words, “Make up your own mind a to what you will give.”
Uh oh. He’s moving stewardship into a new realm for all us sheriff-wannabes. (A sheriff is an enforcer of the law.)
It’s your choice, Paul says. Make up your mind and do accordingly.
Wow. Does God want us to give this way or was Paul seriously out of line here? (In answering, remember that Paul is a trained rabbi, thoroughly acquainted with all the Old Testament regulations requiring every aspect of the tithe. For him to not mention tithing at all in this passage dealing with contributing to the Lord’s work is no simple oversight.)
Paul’s comment–that each one should make up his own mind and give accordingly–reminds us of what Peter told Ananias in Acts 5. This man and his wife Sapphira concocted a little scheme in which they sold a piece of property and gave a portion of the proceeds to the church while claiming they were contributing the entire amount. This seems a minor matter to us, but in that electric post-Pentecostal climate when the Spirit of God was blazing new trails, it was critical that the disciples acted with integrity.
In rebuking Ananias, the Apostle Peter asks, “Look, before you sold the land, wasn’t it yours? And after you sold it, wasn’t the money yours?”
It’s your choice, Peter told the man. You didn’t have to claim one thing and do another. God has freed you to make up your own mind in this matter.
My question for God’s people today is this: How much would you give if no one told you to tithe?
If God’s Word did not say you and I had to give one-tenth of our income to the Lord’s work and that we could give as we purposed in our hearts, how much would you give?
Clearly, this is what Paul has in mind when he urges the people of the Lord o give “not begrudgingly or under compulsion” (or of necessity). We are not to give legalistically, not to resent giving to the Lord’s work, and not even to give only because there is a great need.
How then should we give?
Here are four questions we should ask ourselves in answering that:
What does the Lord mean to you?
The gift that we give to the Lord is a visible, tangible expression of what He means to us.
That’s a strong statement. Need proof? Check out the first chapter of Malachi.
God tells His people they are defiling His character and despising His name. They react quickly. “How? In what way have we done such a thing?” Answer: By offering sorry offerings–spoiled food, blind animals, and sick lambs.
God was insulted. “Try that on your governor,” He said, “and let me know if he accepts such an offering.”
Our offering should indicate what our Lord Jesus Christ means to us.
What does this offering mean to you?
The offering in your hand will mean the same thing to God when it arrives in Heaven as it means to you right now. You and I are the ones who determine the value of our offering.
God does not look at the numbers on the currency or a check to see what we have offered Him today. He looks deeper than that and checks our hearts. We infuse the offering with meaning.
Ruth Bell Graham used to tell of an old skinflint who always dropped a quarter into the offering-box as he exited the worship service. One day, he absentmindedly pulled out a silver dollar and dropped it in. Realizing what he had done, he picked up the box and tried to find a way of retrieving it. An usher said, “Friend, you can put in all you like, but cannot take any out.”
“Oh well,” the old man said, “at least God will give me credit for a dollar instead of a quarter.” To which the usher replied, “Friend, if you meant it as a quarter, God credited you with a quarter.”
As we purpose in our hearts.
What does giving this offering mean to you?
When I was a young pastor, a medical doctor with a high income approached me, his pastor, to work out an arrangement by which his bank would transfer his tithe to the church each week. He said, “When I get behind, it makes it hard to take that much out in a lump sum.” So, we worked out a bank draft plan.
Some months later, he canceled the arrangement. “I’m missing the experience of worshiping with my offering,” he said.
“God loves a cheerful giver,” Paul says. He does indeed.
What kind of harvest do you want?
One of the basic laws every farm boy learns early on is that we reap what we sow, the same thing we sow, more of what we sow, and much later than we sow. Likewise, when we want to reap sparingly, we sow that way. When we want a rich harvest, we plant in profusion.
The law of sowing and reaping ought to play a big part in our decision on how much to give to the Lord’s work. As the offering plate passes down the pew and you begin writing the check, you ask yourself, “What do I want to accomplish with this money?” If the answer is “not much,” then a small check will do. If the answer, however, is “a great deal,” then you’ll want to be generous.
What does that mean, to be generous? The answer is between you and the Lord Jesus. For Bill Gates, generosity may require that he give in the millions. For me, it might be in the hundreds. For someone else, even pennies and nickles might be a generous offering.
Yesterday, after church I ran by a grocery store. As I exited the car and made my way across the parking lot, a middle-aged, rather sad-looking woman approached, asking for financial help. She and her husband had been stranded here for some reason or other, and they need $17 for a bus ticket home. Was it legit or not? There was no way to tell. She had no identification on her.
I gave her a 20 dollar bill and said, “God bless you, ma’am.” And went on into the store.
I’m a grown man and I know that panhandlers abound. But I gave her the money to help a family in need. I “purposed in my heart” to help them out of a bad situation. From all I know of Scripture, the Lord takes this kind of thing personally.
“He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord” (Proverbs 19:17).
It’s not a matter of legalism. It’s all about grace.
Now you’ve done it again. I am in trouble. We are in the midst of a stewardship emphasis. I am planning on preaching on tithing this coming Sunday. Now I have to decide how much of this article I am going to use in my sermon and how much will come from my own hard work in study. Then will come the temptation of whether I will give you credit. If you had not written this I wouldn’t be tempted. You know you are the cause of this :>)
Joe,
Thoughtful post as usual. Great info. It’s all about the heart attitude… imagine that!
Jim
You’re going to have to slow down on your blogging to give us commenters a chance to catch up!
RE: tithing- just one thought- there’s a difference between throwing and sowing.
The New Testament teaches generous, sacrificial giving, from the heart, according to our means. For some, $1 might be a sacrifice, while for others, even giving 50% of their income might not induce a sacrifice. In the Old Testament, ONLY the farmers tithed, and it was equal percentage (a tenth). The New Testament teaches the principle of equal sacrifice instead of equal percentage. Equal sacrifice is much harder to achieve than giving ten percent.
Tithing is unfair to the poor while at the same time, giving the well-to-do and the wealthy an almost free ride.
A few weeks ago I watched a dvd from a partner church in India. I heard a goat, and later saw it, and asked my pastor friend why the goat was in the service. He explained that some of the villagers gave the goat as an offering. I think that’ worth way more than a quarter 🙂
For me the tithe was a good place to start then offerings came after that. I was taught that as a child and funny enough did not depart from it. It has been amazing to see how God always met our every need. He owns it all and is so generous to share. It was actually easier to tithe in times when I knew we had very little money because I knew everything was riding on God. I have to remind myself of that more now that money is more plentiful.
As in all things it comes down to Trust in God.
Reading through your post, it struck me that you are no different from the “tithe vigilantes” you spoke about. Why do you think it is your responsibility to endeavor that people give to God? Can God not speak? And you truly believe that if the so called tithe is not mandated people would not give? Think again.
What people do with their money is between them and God because it is God that will do the rewarding at the end of the day and not you. But let’s face it, the tithes that are mandated from the pulpit is it really given to God? No it ain’t! Preachers only advocate it out of fear and you have expressed this same fear in your statement
How much would you give if no one told you to tithe?
Fear that church bills would not be paid if we do not enforce some form of giving, fear that the building would not be maintained, staff would not be paid etc. If we cannot trust God to speak to the hearts of the people to give and instead rely on our own wit by inventing some unscriptural doctrine, something is amiss.
Most of what we say in today’s church regarding money falls foul of scripture. Tithes and offerings in the Old Testament all served some form of redemptive purpose which all ended at the cross. In the New dispensation, giving of so called tithes and offerings to God is no longer required – the sacrifice of Jesus ended it all. Instead, giving to God in the NT takes the form of giving to those who are in need. Remember Jesus’ commendation of the sheep – “when I was hungry you fed me, naked you clothed me…anything you do to the least of my brethren, the same you do unto me. Hence you cannot find one single verse of scripture in the NT that says the early church gave offerings or collected tithes instead we see that they made contributions to help those in need and everybody was encouraged to give what they could afford!
I really do not know where we get the idea that our giving quantifies our love for God. God alone knows the heart of every man and knows those who truly love him. Remember this verse of scripture “the Lord knows those who are is”.
The bottom line is, those that advocate the tithe are simply not doing it to the glory of God, they are doing it for themselves period. If that was not the case, why do many churches impose restrictions on those who do not tithe? Some even excommunicate non-tithers. That is ridiculous. It is now so bad that a renown pentecostal preacher sorely wished he could stone non-tithers to death! Would that be out of zeal for God or out of personal interest?
Ah well! I think I will stop here and I apologize if my rant offends you but the state of today’s church is quite sickening!
(Reading through your post, it struck me that you are no different from the “tithe vigilantes” you spoke about. Why do you think it is your responsibility to endeavor that people give to God? Can God not speak? And you truly believe that if the so called tithe is not mandated people would not give? Think again.
What people do with their money is between them and God because it is God that will do the rewarding at the end of the day and not you. But let’s face it, the tithes that are mandated from the pulpit is it really given to God? No it ain’t! Preachers only advocate it out of fear and you have expressed this same fear in your statement
How much would you give if no one told you to tithe?
Fear that church bills would not be paid if we do not enforce some form of giving, fear that the building would not be maintained, staff would not be paid etc. If we cannot trust God to speak to the hearts of the people to give and instead rely on our own wit by inventing some unscriptural doctrine, something is amiss.
Most of what we say in today’s church regarding money falls foul of scripture. Tithes and offerings in the Old Testament all served some form of redemptive purpose which all ended at the cross. In the New dispensation, giving of so called tithes and offerings to God is no longer required – the sacrifice of Jesus ended it all. Instead, giving to God in the NT takes the form of giving to those who are in need. Remember Jesus’ commendation of the sheep – “when I was hungry you fed me, naked you clothed me…anything you do to the least of my brethren, the same you do unto me. Hence you cannot find one single verse of scripture in the NT that says the early church gave offerings or collected tithes instead we see that they made contributions to help those in need and everybody was encouraged to give what they could afford!
I really do not know where we get the idea that our giving quantifies our love for God. God alone knows the heart of every man and knows those who truly love him. Remember this verse of scripture “the Lord knows those who are is”.
The bottom lone is, those that advocate the tithe are simply not doing it to the glory of God, they are doing it for themselves period. If that was not the case, why do many churches impose restrictions on those who do not tithe? Some even excommunicate non-tithers. That is ridiculous. It is now so bad that a renown pentecostal preacher sorely wished he could stone non-tithers to death! Would that be out of zeal for God or out of personal interest?
Ah well! i think I will stop here and I apologize if my rant offends you but the state of today’s church is quite sickening!)
Thank you for being bold enough to put the truth out there even though you will be accused of being one of those “tithe vigilantes” by someone who probably wouldn’t even give God the equivalent of the “widow’s mite” though they possessed the Pharisee
Pastor Dennis,
Am I surprised you found the teaching balanced? You have said it with your own lips, you are a pastor. You preach tithing because you want your congregation to be blessed? Pleeease! Let me ask you this? Do you monitor people’s prayer lives? Do you monitor the way they study their bibles? Are you this passionate about winning souls?
And if I refuse to give the equivalent of the “widow’s mite” out of my “Pharisee’s wealth” what is it to you? Do I have to seek your approval or your praise before I do what I want with my money?
Com’on this doctrine is false and you know it and it is the catholic’s sale of indulgence in another guise. And rather unfortunately, you are putting the cart before the horse. Rather than single out
I tried responding to Tony Isaac’s comments but it was kicked back. Apparently the email address he used was wrong.
Your blog would not accept a dot co dot uk email. I spelt out the dot instead. My email address is tony_isaac@yahoodotcodotuk