Christian Living

5 Reasons I Tithe

Writing this post made me feel a little bit uncomfortable. In our culture money is a private matter and not something that is readily discussed even amoung friends. On top of that, Jesus ridiculed the Pharisees for making a public show of their charitable giving (Matthew 6:1-4). With these two thoughts in the back of my mind I still felt the Lord moving me to write about the importance of tithing. So, here are five reasons why Heather and I give 10% of our income to the Lord.

I. It Belongs To Him – Lev. 27:30
As a follower of Jesus Christ I believe myself to be a steward. I don’t consider myself the owner but the manager of my life and possessions. The Lord is my King and I am merely His humble steward. Therefore, everything I have belongs to God. Not 10% but 100% is His (I Cor. 6:20). So that if the Lord were to ask for 20% of my income, I’d give 20%. Why not, He’s the owner? This New Testament principle is what led the early church to sell their possessions and give it to the church for the purpose of distribution (Acts. 2:45). There are many stingy Christians who attempt to steal from God by hiding behind the idea that the tithe is simply “an old testament principle” and therefore they give by grace. This usually means they flip in a few coins now and again to soothe their conscience and maintain the facade of spirituality. These “scholars” forget that tithing is an inter-dispensational idea that spans the history of the human race. Over 400 years before Moses penned Leviticus 27:30, his father Abraham was giving tithes to a Priestly King named Melchisedec (Gen. 14). First, I tithe because I don’t want to be the one stealing from God (Malachi 3:10).

II. I Love Jesus
I’ll never remember the first time I heard the gospel. The truth that Jesus Christ died upon the cross for my sins, was buried, and rose from the grave was part of my life before I was out of diapers. However, I will always remember the time I put my faith in Christ and became a Christian. I was only five years old. My father explained who Jesus was, what He did, and how He loved me enough to save me if I’d believe and receive His free gift of salvation. That night I began to fall in love with Jesus – I asked Him to save me, and He did. The more I’ve gotten to know Him the more amazing He becomes. In the past 28 years my love for Him has just grown exponentially. Why do I give and tithe? Because I love Jesus and I love what He loves. He loves the church. I love the church. He gave to the church. I will give to the church. In truth, the best way for me to give something to the Lord I so desperately love is to give to His church (Matthew 25:40).

III. I Want To Be Blessed
God has been so good to me! Seriously, I look at my life and I see blessing after blessing. I have prayed to the Lord and asked, “Why Me?” I know what His answer is for He has written it in His Word. Luke 6:38 says,
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
I know there are those who have missed this principle and attempted to “put God in a box” by giving a certain amount and expecting a certain amount in return within a certain amount of days. However, just because there are those who have abused this truth does not make the truth any less TRUE. God’s blessings are poured out upon those who give. Read Malachi 3:8-11! Often those who are stingy with God never fully realize the root of their financial troubles. Sadly, many of them never will. Me? I want to be blessed. I can’t afford not to give!

IV. I Don’t Want to be a Phony
In Acts chapter 5 we see the story of a phony couple. Ananias & Sapphira appeared to be the perfect Christian couple. They came to church, followed the apostles, supported each other yet they were absolutely FAKE. They attempted to give the impression to the early church that they were 100% behind the efforts of the church in Jerusalem. But in actuality, they were fakes. They had publicly declared that they were giving a large sum of money from the sale of land, which was common practice in the early church. The problem was that they lied about what the price was and kept back part of the money in order to appear more generous than they really were. God killed them. Really! Look it up. Acts 5:1-11. And that’s in the New Testament. Look, I just don’t want to tell people that I love the Lord and love the church and that I’m “fully behind” the work of the Lord and then secretly not tithe. I just don’t want to be a fake.

V. I Like What It Does
The last reason I give is because I like what it accomplishes. I look around and see the mess that the world is in and realize that the church of God is the only answer. It is what Jesus himself has set up for the purpose of reaching this world (Matthew 16:18-19). When I give my tithe it goes to help the church connect people to God through preaching and worship. When I give my tithe it helps people to grow in their faith through small groups, sunday services, children’s ministries, etc. When I give my tithe it goes to teaching people who to use their God given gifts and abilities to serve God and others. When I give my tithe it helps the church share the gospel around the world. The hungry are given the bread of life, the thirsty are given the water that will never run dry, the fatherless are introduced to a heavenly father and the widow is introduced to a husband that will never leave.

These are a few of the reasons Heather and I choose to tithe. I know there are those who would disagree with my conclusions. Let’s have that discussion here.

Am I wrong? What would you say the Biblical method of giving would be? Have you learned the principle of tithing? Have you seen the blessing of God upon your giving? Comment Below:

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  • Reply
    Kathy Parks
    September 4, 2013 at 4:21 pm

    Hey Pastor – I don’t feel that what I give even goes away from me. It isn’t an expenditure. I benefit more from what little I give than to miss 10% + offerings. There is nothing more valuable that our amazing church, loving friends, being a part of Gods word going around the world, a new building and on and on! Then there is the eternal value of treasure in Heaven and how blessed those who invest in Gods economy now will feel because they looked ahead.

    • Reply
      Joshua Teis
      September 4, 2013 at 4:41 pm

      Kathy – thanks for taking time to comment. I agree! When we grow in spiritual maturity we begin to realize that our sacrifices are not really sacrifices at all but an opportunity to invest in our spiritual wellbeing as well as the well being of others. Well stated!

  • Reply
    Charlotte Beltran
    September 4, 2013 at 6:12 pm

    Tithing ~ One of the important things my late father has taught me early on. A wonderful measure of someone’s faithfulness. It is a blessing and a good reminder that everything I have is really the Lord’s.

    • Reply
      Joshua Teis
      September 4, 2013 at 10:14 pm

      Great thought charlotte! It’s wonderful to have that Christian heritage.

  • Reply
    BFLAMMANG
    September 4, 2013 at 8:44 pm

    It should be easy to give. I do get tired of hearing sermons over and over that take giving out of context by using 2 Cor 8 to instruct people to give to the church when in fact the collection was to be given to the poor in Jerusalem. I’m not even sure at all that our modern church uses tithing at all in the way the Lord instructed. In a lot of modern, yes, our Baptist Circle of churches it is more about BIG BUSINESS than it is about the LORD’S BUSINESS … What would you say, Joshua, about youth pastors being on food stamps while other “senior” pastors hold the purse strings and hold reserves of upwards to $400,000.00 in the church savings accounts????? I know this as a fact about an independent fundamental Baptist church .. which I have quit attending. Now, will you post this?

    • Reply
      Joshua Teis
      September 4, 2013 at 10:12 pm

      Sure bflamming – it sounds like you’ve been hurt in some way. I’m sorry to hear about this. If you don’t mind we’d love to be able identify you by name. Are you willing to use your name for our discussion?

      • Reply
        Johnathan
        September 5, 2013 at 3:56 pm

        Per Twitter, I believe we were discussing Tithing.
        You stated that you were addressing Tithing not as law but as principle.
        I would have to retort What is a “principle”?
        If there is a “principle of Tithe” of 10%, isn’t there a greater principle in Acts 4:32, of 100%?
        How is a principle even pulled from scripture? If God gives physical strength to Samson, can I expect the same. If God makes a promise to Israelites if the contribute to Levites to maintain Spiritual rituals, can I assume the same promise, if I contribute to new, modern spiritual rituals?

    • Reply
      Joshua Teis
      September 5, 2013 at 12:25 pm

      Dear B,
      I’m assuming you haven’t received my first reply but I thought I would answer some of the concerns you bring up in your comment. It seems from your post that you have been personally hurt by some minister or church and that breaks my heart. I’ve come across many Christians who have been abused or misused and find that it is very difficult for an individual to overcome such a thing. I pray that I might be able to help. Also, I am thankful that you brought up these concerns for there are likely other readers who have similar concerns who are too timid to express them. So, for them I will provide some answers as well.

      #1 – The context of II Corinthians 8 is speaking about the great contribution that the churches in Macedonia made to the persecuted church in Jerusalem (Rom. 15:25-31). Part of Paul’s ministry was to collect from the church certain funds that would go to assist fellow believers who were under terrible persecution. The Macedonians, though extremely poor, gave liberally and helped secure the gospel in this foundational city. Paul was encouraging the church at Corinth to give as well with equal generosity. Certainly there were those who disagreed with Paul’s exhortation to give financially. Though i do not use the passage myself in the original post I do not see the error in using this passage as an illustration of the importance of financial generosity from the people of God. Whether that be teaching on tithing, mission’s giving, benevolent fund giving, etc.

      #2 – You mention that you are not sure that the “modern church” is using the tithe in the way the Lord instructed. However, I’m not sure what you mean by this. I agree that there have been certain churches and ministries who have misappropriated funds and have not use their finances to accomplish the great commission. However, I do believe it to be a bit extreme to associate all “modern churches” with those who are doing wrong. It’s like saying all people in Las Vegas are great poker players. It’s not true, really. Stereotyping can be humorous but is seldom correct. We at Southern Hills have a very detailed and open system of checks and balances to make sure nothing inappropriate will ever occur within our finances. We have an “open books” policy for every member of our church to look through every transaction that has ever occurred. We have a deacon board that is highly involved in the budget planning and passing each year under the leadership of pastor Fred Murray. We also have an annual outside audit of our entire finances from a reputable, local firm. We take this VERY seriously.

      #3 – I too am worried about the idea of BIG BUSINESS instead of the LORD’S BUSINESS. This is why, as our church grows, we have established policies to ensure that everything we put into the budget is directly related to the Lord’s business. We believe the Lord’s business is directly related to the Great Commandment of Matthew 22 and the Great Commission of Matthew 28. In Matthew 22 Jesus instructed His followers to Love God and Love others. In Matthew 28 Jesus instructed his followers to Go, Win, Baptizes & Teach. Therefore, we at SHBC will not allow something into the budget that doesn’t push one of our main purposes as a church. Connecting people to God (Worship), Connecting people to Each other (Fellowship), Growing people in their Faith (Discipleship), empowering people to Serve (Ministry), and teaching people to Share the Gospel (Evangelism). This has allowed our church to be focused on the Lord’s business.

      #4 – You mention a specific situation were a church was improperly treating a staff member who works in student ministry. I’m sorry to say that I have heard of such things and I think it is very sad. I believe that if a ministry is going to hire someone they should pay them a livable wage. Since I am not familiar with the specifics of the situation I cannot comment further about the large amount of money they had laid up in store.

      #5 – Lastly, you mention that this was an Independent, Fundamental, Baptist Church. I personally don’t like to classify myself with such terms. I am a Christian, a follower of Christ who is attempting to lead others to my savior.

      Thank you so much for bringing up these issues. I know this discussion will be a help to many people. If I can be a help to you further in any personal way (I’m not sure if you live in Las Vegas) please let me know. You can contact me at 702.388.7422. I am waiting to serve.

      • Reply
        BFLAMMANG
        September 10, 2013 at 8:38 pm

        Thank you, Josh, for your taking time … I can not use my name because it may possibly stir up more problems. I know there have been faithful men who have tried to set up external audits and tried to make the staff salary more equitable among all of the staff.. .whether church staff or Christian school staff. We are all in the business of furthering the Gospel, but this leader in particular is quite a respecter of persons when it comes to compensation of the “staff.” I believe the shrinking of the Christian school movement is in direct relation to the lack of fair compensation for the teachers. Perhaps this is not the case in your area. I am more from the Midwest. When I became a teacher straight out of college, I really wasn’t concerned about my salary because I knew God was leading me… and of COURSE, I didn’t have to worry! This is a PASTOR and of course he will take care of me! … Not true. I did not make enough money to pay for the bare necessities. I worked teaching two classrooms … he made me pay for all of my own social security and there was not enough money left to live on. Now, saying that, I remember asking a question during a teacher’s convention… Why Are Teachers paid so little compared to pastors? The answer was, “SUPPLY AN D DEMAND.” hmmmmm. I asked my pastor once, WHY DON”T you find out the cost of living and pay me that? Like you do for mission boards? Since you are on several mission boards, you should be able to do that…. no answer.
        I finally volunteer taught for many, many, many years. It was a wonderful time. However, the same descending attitude was there about the teachers… Last straw for me was when our church gave close to $10,000.00 to a revival speaker for one week at our church… and when one of our teachers retired (more like, was shown the door) afte 19 years of faithful, faithful work, he was given …$320 dollars at a after church fellowship… it became more as people bypassed the offering plate to give to him personally.

        I don’t know. I was told that we can;’t give bigger gifts because of precedent… I don’t buy that. We’ll all be dead.

        Pastors and other staff should be family and at least thought of as made out of the same cloth.

        • Reply
          Johnathan
          September 11, 2013 at 3:42 am

          BFLAMMANG,
          that is a horriable story. But this just illustrates my point of how assumption of modern “Tithe” facilitates the Mosiac “instutiotinal” approach over the Abrahamic “individual ministry” approach. My approach, give to where you are “fed or led”.

          (I don’t have much time this morning) One example for #2, you above comments, Misappropriation of Tithes. So the OT Tithes were meant to supplement the income and dinner table of the Levite Priests. But even if we tweak that to mean “facilitate modern pastors” (if we then are trying to follow the example of OT Tithing) then the Tithe SHOULD NOT be used to build any church buildings or building additions. When the Israelites wanted to rebuild the temple, they did not use the Tithe (remember – this was meant for the Priests), the took up a special offering.

  • Reply
    LaNeita Williams
    September 4, 2013 at 10:24 pm

    Josh,
    Everything you say is true. I have tithed my whole life. (Even as a child I put my pennies in the little church or whatever container they had for us). It becomes a way of life and when you look and see how richly you are blessed by doing so, you know that it is what God wants you to do. Don’t forget to mention tithes AND offerings. Offerings are above and beyond the 10 percent tithe. God richly blesses those who are not stingy and not afraid to give to the Lord and to others. Keep preaching the truth Josh.

    • Reply
      Joshua Teis
      September 5, 2013 at 6:32 am

      LaNeita,

      It’s true. Those who learn the principle of the tithe seem to never want to give it up. The blessings that come are much more than financial, though financial blessings are common. They are blessed by being part of God’s world-wide work. You mention giving above our tithes and giving offerings. You are right. There are opportunities to give to building funds (at our church we call this the Next Step Fund), Missions Fund (used to plant churches and care for the poor world-wide), etc. thank you for posting.

      • Reply
        LaNeita Williams
        September 5, 2013 at 11:11 am

        It’s true Josh, most of the blessings have nothing to do with financial (even though those are there too). So many times it has been an accident that should have happened and didn’t, or someone who comes into your life at exactly the right time to help with whatever needs doing. I also like that God always shows you who is in control and exactly how he helps us. I can’t imagine not tithing, and I mean truly tithing, not just throwing a few dollars in the collection plate or even a pretty good amount in the plate but not 10 percent. I also have to mention that the 10 percent is off the GROSS NOT THE NET. Another thing that we “tithe” too is our time to God. I know that he gives that back to us 10 fold too. Being a teacher, there is never enough time to do what needs to be done (especially grading all those papers and projects) but when we go to church and give our time to God first….somehow I have always been able to get it all done with a little time left for leisure too. God is so good to us if we just do what He wants us to do.

  • Reply
    Johnathan
    September 5, 2013 at 3:58 pm

    Per Twitter, I believe we were discussing Tithing.
    You stated that you were addressing Tithing not as law but as principle.
    I would have to retort What is a “principle”?
    If there is a “principle of Tithe” of 10%, isn’t there a greater principle in Acts 4:32, of 100%?
    How is a principle even pulled from scripture? If God gives physical strength to Samson, can I expect the same. If God makes a promise to Israelites if the contribute to Levites to maintain Spiritual rituals, can I assume the same promise, if I contribute to new, modern spiritual rituals?

    • Reply
      Joshua Teis
      September 5, 2013 at 5:33 pm

      Jonathan – I absolutely agree! Acts 4:32 is a wonderful passage that teaches 100%. In fact under my first point I address the idea of 100% of what we have belongs to God and I reference I Corinthians 6:20 when in fact your passage would have fit much better. The problem that I have come across is that many use the idea of grace giving and “100% belongs to God anyway” ideas as excuses for their own stingy hearts. I don’t believe that is what you are doing. I’m just saying it’s prevalent. I think its great if someone were to say they didn’t believe in tithing but in grace giving and that actually led to them giving extravagantly. However, those who give most are more than not, those who believe in the principle of the tithe.

      As to your question about the “the principle.” – I hate to be coy but I just today finished writing a post about “principlism” and the Old Testament Law. The jist of it is this 5 step process:
      • Identify what the specific law meant to the initial audience
      • Identify the differences between the initial audience and the modern audience
      • Identify the universal principle
      • Filter the principle through New Testament teaching
      • Apply the principle to modern life
      After doing this I have determined that the New Testament Christian is not “under the law” of tithing but can pick this principle out of the law and apply it to their life as a good place to begin giving. I will be coming the topic of tithing in more detail this sunday in our services and if you do not live in Las Vegas and are unable to attend you can catch the sermon online by Monday night at – http://www.shbaptist.com/video-sermons.html

      • Reply
        Johnathan
        September 6, 2013 at 3:29 am

        So on the face it seems like just a difference in verbiage (“tithe” as giving vrs Tithe in literal sense), but I’m not sure that is the case.
        Moreover, why use the term Tithe to describe giving, when the conventional definition, by far, is a mandate for Gentiles to contribute to church institution.

        I absolutlly agree with your retort, but you suppositions in you article do not.
        Please allow me to expound:

        • Reply
          Johnathan
          September 6, 2013 at 3:30 am

          Section 1. IT BELONGS TO HIM
          “First, I tithe because I don’t want to be the one stealing from God (Malachi 3:10).”

          The insinuation here is that if you do not “Tithe”, you are stealing from God. According to your retort this is an incorrect assumption for the believer. “..the NT Christian is not “under the law” of Tithing”.
          Furthermore if your rational is that God is due 100%, so this is why I Tithe, then you are stealing from God b/c you are 90% short.
          It seems that the driver here is to motivate, rather than convince ppl of merits of a specific action [Tithing]. It might better be themed Reasons My Giving is not Hampered, not Reasons I Tithe [follow a legalistic practice].

          Section 2. I LOVE JESUS
          “I Tithe b/c Jesus loves the Church, so I give to the church.”

          I do not think that you are confusing verbiage here (“state sanctioned orginization of church” vrs Body of Christ). This sounds to me to be an issue of economics. Is it better to take a socialized approach of a entitlement process (individuals to contribute to entity which then distributes to needs) rather than decentralized approach [free-market] (of having believers get their hands dirty with the distribution of their giving to God).
          Obviously, as a conservative guy who works in Corp Banking (from Tweet bio), I prefer the latter.
          I think if we really love Jesus, we’d be more focused on feeding His lambs – than building bigger institutions and entitlements.

          • Johnathan
            September 6, 2013 at 3:32 am

            Section 3. I WANT TO BE BLESSED
            This goes back to my comment about Samson. There is no merit for the assumption of physical promises to Israelites – especially if we are not following the letter of the law about Tithing.
            We were not given the Mosaic promises, but we were given the Abrahamic ones (Gal. 3:16,29;4:1). So Mal. 3:8-10 really doesn’t apply here, and 2 Cor. 9:6-7 is not about temporal ROI. When ever I hear giving it is only monetary. If expectation is eternal, Jesus expresses a different mentality in Matt 6:3. Just don’t care about money – don’t focus one’s time to it.

            Section 4. I DON’T WANT TO BE A PHONY
            You are correct that Ananias & Sapphira’s error was in cognitive dissonance (actions not lining up with expectations of self/their words) – “phony”. But it could very much be assumed that they were functioning from a Tithe mentality. Meaning they could have assumed, “Everyone else gave some percentage, we also need to give the same percentage.”
            Now we will never know what God said to their heart, but we can know that social conformity was a factor.

          • Johnathan
            September 6, 2013 at 3:33 am

            Section 5. I LIKE WANT IT DOES
            My comments here would be a continuation of section 2.
            Just like discussion on entitlements, it is not an issue of Does it [modern Tithing] provide a value add? It is a question of opportunity costs – Are there better options?

            1. If we followed Paul’s merits for giving stated in 1 Cor 9 (giving to: where you are being fed; spiritual mentors; ppl who converted you; where you are being equipped for works of service), then we would stop propping up and supplementing unhealthy churches and leadership. Furthermore we would tie our money management to a better metric of success (discipleship rather than “membership”).

            2. If the mandate was flipped (as how I think it really is supposed to be today) and the believer had an onus for the distribution for his giving, we would have a different world. This also seems to fit better into Eph 4:12 (leadership equipping the laity rather than laity equipping the leadership).
            Believers would have to be engaged with God and with ppl (Matt 22:37-40).

          • Joshua Teis
            September 6, 2013 at 9:57 am

            Thank you for the dialogue Jonathan. You seem to be a passionate person and I appreciate that. The above comments make me think that you have an issue with organized church structure. Do you believe the local church to be an unusable entity in its modern context? I agree that we as individuals ought give to individual causes and people but the church in its many local settings have been the largest contributors to spiritual and physical well being of the world. Ask our local rescue mission who has helped their ministry to homeless more than any other. Ask the Women’s Resource Centers of Nevada who has helped them reach the poor single mothers of our community with the message of the cross as well as financial help. They will all tell you the willing local churches who combine their effort and sacrificially give to help these dear people. The Lord seems to use His church because the church is to be His Body on earth. (Rom. 12, I Cor 12)

            I’m sure there are churches that care neither for the poor of their city nor around the world but such churches do not reflect the majority. They do not reflect Southern Hills.

          • Johnathan
            September 6, 2013 at 1:06 pm

            Joshua: The above comments make me think that you have an issue with organized church structure. Do you believe the local church to be an unusable entity in its modern context?

            No I don’t have a problem with the “local church”, but I do not worship it. The structure of the local church is merely a tool. A tool which is more effective at one thing over another. In my mind, this is like asking if I have a problem with a hammer.
            Like I said before there is value add from such structures, but it is a question effectiveness. There is a fine line between the assigning of intrinsic worth to a thing (some method, rule, curriculum, my motorcycle, whatever) and idolatry.
            I don’t have a problem with “local church”, just like I don’t have a problem with orphanages. I have a problem with ppl wanting to have “heights of emotional indulgence” but not bearing or adopting children.

          • Johnathan
            September 6, 2013 at 1:10 pm

            Additionally though the nature of any organizational dynamic eventually becomes in contrast with the needs of the individual. Doesn’t mean “throw baby out with bath water”, but we have to acknowledge that it is there.

            Nice talking with you and nice forum BTW. I probably need to figure this blog stuff out.

  • Reply
    Marie
    September 5, 2013 at 9:24 pm

    Tithe is not mention in the New Testament. Some friend believe this and therefore will not tithe. According to 2 Corinthians proportional giving is directed. I believe the tithe is the starting point. Your thoughts on supporting this position!

    • Reply
      Anonymous
      September 5, 2013 at 10:15 pm

      I agree completely. Proportional giving is clearly taught though the word tithe is not mentioned. Having a ten percent mark seems to be a good starting point since there is indication of this in the Old Testament law as well as prior to the law with Abraham and melchisidec. Great reasoning!

    • Reply
      Joshua Teis
      September 5, 2013 at 10:15 pm

      The above was written by Joshua Teis

  • Reply
    Joshua Teis
    September 11, 2013 at 2:31 pm

    For more information on this subject – please check out last sunday’s sermon at Southern Hills!

    🙂
    http://vimeo.com/74160538

  • Reply
    Joshua Teis
    September 17, 2013 at 8:42 pm

    For those who are interested in studying more about our relationship to the Old Testament Law:
    http://www.joshuateis.com/2013/09/17/old-testament-law-me/

  • Reply
    Paul V
    October 29, 2013 at 8:47 am

    Thanks for writing this article; I think it provides good biblical references for why giving is important. I dont really feel like splitting hairs over the appropriate term of “giving” vs “tithing” is too important but rather the destination of the gift that is given, and the motivation of the heart that has given it.

    The first of these, the destination or intended recipient of the gift, is the reason that I have decided to limit the amount of money that my family gives to our local church. The reason being that after having looked at the budget for the church, the majority of the tithes that were being received were not going to the poor or the widows or people who need the Gospel, but rather to the pastor and church building. After doing some research it seems to me that neither of these should be the major (or even minor) expense for a church because they are not even supported by scripture. In the book of Acts it is very difficult to find a place where the current budget of many churches (paying for a pastors subsistence and the church mortgage) is at all represented.

    The above is only a brief explaination of why I have decided to give the majority of our monthly gifts to missionaries that we know personally, but we are also discussing the idea of directly contributing to local soup kitchens, orphanages etc. because it seems from the NT as though this is the more scriptural method of tithing.

    This may not seem like a question, but rather where I am at now, and I was wondering what your thoughts were.

    Thanks in advance.

  • Reply
    Ronald Robey aka Bold Proclaimer
    March 17, 2015 at 10:47 am

    Hmmm…

    I could give many reasons why I do not tithe, the #1 reason being that because God revealed to me that He never commanded me to. Instead, He told me to give as I purpose in my heart to give.

    Matter of fact, He never commanded any New Testament Believer in Christ Jesus to tithe to a Church. Pastors have taken several verses in the Old & New Testaments and misapplied them to a people God never intended them to be applied to.

    Leviticus 27:30-34 clearly tells us that the tithe command was for the children of Israel. (It also reveals to us that the tithe command was for an agricultural tithe, not a monetary tithe)

    Psalm 147:19-20 reveal to the reader that God didn’t give the commandments to any other nation than to Israel.

    In Acts 15:5,10,24,28-29 & Acts 21:23-25, we learn that neither the Apostles, nor the Holy Ghost imposed tithing upon the Gentiles who were saved.

    Remarkably absent from the New Testament epistles from Paul’s letter to the Romans to his letter to Philemon, is the instruction to tithe. Paul simply did not teach it to the Churches he wrote to.

    In the last chapter that tithing is commanded, Hebrews 7, it is not commanded for the Church, but for the “sons of Levi”… “according to the Law.” According to the Law; i.e., agricultural, not monetary. The only time money was used in conjunction with the tithe commands was if a tither wanted to buy back his crop tithe, (Leviticus 27:31) and when a tither could not carry his crop tithe to the place for the Feast of Tabernacles. (Deuteronomy 14:24-26) In the former account, the money was not tithes, but was an assessed value of the tithe plus 20% interest. In the latter, the tithe was to be bought back by the tither once he arrived at the place of festivities… and there the tither was to eat the tithe with his household members.

    In the Bible, monetary tithes were never commanded for the New Testament Church, never carried to the New Testament Church, never collected in the New Testament Church, and never controlled by the New Testament Church. So that begs the question…

    Since God never commanded this monetary tithe in His Word, why do pastors tell their congregations that God does? And why imply that those who don’t tithe their money are just “stingy”? That reeks of Pharisaism.

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