Tithing?

Eleknar said:

I just think it's sad that so many Christians don't want to give back to their church.

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I think its sad when people don't search for truth and instead take what man says is true as truth.

Equally sad is the man that is enslaved to an institution that grows fatter, but not deeper.

Eleknar said:

I just think it's sad that so many Christians don't want to give back to their church.

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Who said they don't? We are discussing the question of tithing. It is not mentioned in the NT as being something that believers have to do. If you want to tithe according to the OT law - go ahead.

Bottom line is that it's up to each person to decide how, when and how much to give anyway. There is no law about it.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]God bless.[/FONT]

Eleknar, Same rhetoric, different day.

People need to realize also that Malachi was a rebuke to the priests who were "robbing" God and not the congregation. Do some back study on that.

Eleknar said:

"Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram.... Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything" (Genesis 14:18-20 NIV).

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]When the prophet Abram (later Abraham) was traveling home with the riches of battle after warring with a nearby king, he was met by a high priest in the order of God. This priest was Melchizedek, and it was at that time that the Priesthood of Melchizedek was established on the planet.[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As soon as Abraham saw Melchizedek, the wisdom of his heart knew he was seeing one who is with God. Abraham knew intuitively that he was to give back 10 percent of all that he had in the world to the representative of God, and so began the practice of tithing.[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]When Abraham was blessed and then gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything, a spiritual covenant was set up for our time, whereby humankind is to give a tenth of its increase (what a person receives that is his or hers) back to God.[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]God, of course, is always fulfilling his part anyway, so the question is, are we lining up, are we fulfilling the covenant?[/FONT]​

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We are not under the OT covenant; Jesus said "this is my blood of the new covenant." He did not teach tithing - he commended a widow because she gave everything.

But supposing I followed the example of Abraham and gave God a tenth of everything?

24 hours in a day; I am asleep for roughly 8 of them and meals etc could easily take up another two. Work may take up another 4 - I am part time. That means there are 10 hours, if I'm lucky, that are completely my own One tenth belong to God, that means I think about him/praise him/ pray/serve him for 1 hour a day. Or do I give him a tenth of the whole 24 hours - 2.4? What about my part time job as church lay worker and my preaching on Sundays, which take more than this amount of time?

Money - at the moment £8,500 a year + roughly another £3000 in Mobility allowance. Do I give to him before or after tax? If before, that's roughly £1,050 per year. Is that enough? What about when my job finishes in a few weeks? Will God then only be worth £300 a year?

Possessions - don't know how to give 1 tenth of all my craft things, (which I use to make greetings cards, either to bless those who are ill, or give to charities to sell and raise funds); or puppets (which I use in worship and with Sunday school) - all of which I have paid for myself. How do I give a tenth of my clarinet? If I tajke it to church and we have 5 hymns, does this mean I can only play half of one?

I'm not trying to be flippant or awkward here. I'm saying that a) it's not quite as easy for us to divide everything up and give a tenth as it may have been for Abraham, with his animals and crops, and b) some of us try to give God a lot more than 10% of some things - eg our time, because we believe we are always in his presence.

Paul says the the Lord loves a cheerful giver. He also says that people should give what they have decided in their heart to give. If, for you, that means giving 10% of your cash to the church - go ahead. But it's ok too if someone doesn't want to do that.

Hello Cribstyl.


I think it's great that you tithe to the church...but I'm just trying to understand your precise reasons behind it.

Cribstyl said:

Tithing is an act of faith for each believer, it says.

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Well.....that's true...if you mean tithing is an act you do do, as opposed to an act you should do, in light of your faith.

Faith (I presume you mean in Jesus) produces fruit.

So an "act" of faith.....is one that produces fruit.

But the thing is, I'm not the harvester of the fruit...Jesus is. I simply produce it.

So how do I do the "act" of tithing? Through Jesus.

Basically...you tithe (produce fruit) because you feel it in your heart to tithe...and in your heart resides (the harvester) Jesus. You don't tithe because you feel you should......'cause where's Jesus in that process?

Cribstyl said:

Christians should glorify God in whatever situation, we're in.

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We should glorify God in whatever situation?

Not quite sure what you mean here.

Are you saying I essentially need to size up whatever situation I'm in and start thinking about how I can glorify God in that situation?

I know I want to glorify God in my life, and do so quite naturally. But I feel that if I'm too busy thinking about how I should glorify God, I'd often be distracting myself and missing out on what my desires are to want to glorify God.

Basically...obligation kills inspiration. You gotta wonder which kind of life we were meant to live...

Cribstyl said:

A son came back to his father's house for a visit, He had a wife a three kids with him..
A. He looked to be a helper in dad vineyard.
B He look to take all that was available to him.

Which quality of those two would make the son feel welcomed forever in His father house, and which quality would make dad wonder when he's leaving?

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I'd say neither quality. The only quality (and one which we all have) that would matter is Jesus.

Also...I'm guessing God knew quite well and was quite comfortable with what each of us could and would bring to His house before He chose to eternally invite us.

Cribstyl said:

The problem is not the father's supply but rather the principles that governs the life of a son who believes that he should inherit all what the father has.

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You mean the Kingdom?

I don't think I should inherit the Kingdom...I already have inherited it as far as I knew. It's actually a big reason why I do things like tithe...because I realise that I am in a way enriching and contributing to something that I am an heir to and eternally a part of...my larger church family.

Cribstyl said:

We should seek to be sons of God.

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Again...as far as I knew, I already was a son of God. Don't you think you're a son of God?

Cribstyl said:

Those who tithe to the Lord are a blessed people whether you agree or not.

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We're all blessed people my friend. God blesses all His children because He adores us to no end. He can't help but bless us every second of every day. We're in His love...and everything that happens to us in our lives is all God blessing us.

Am I supposed to think now that I have a motivation to tithe? So I can be blessed?

That's Christianity?

Cribstyl said:

God will deal with the theives. Besides He is the living God and able to see the into the hearts of men.

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Yep...and when He looks into our hearts He sees Jesus.

Cribstyl said:

So, be a good son and stop all that noise.

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But my brother...we already are "good sons"...don't you believe this?

All of us are!

Do you think what you do, determines what you are?

As for myself...the very reasons I act like a "good son" is because I know I'm a good son.

It's so very liberating to know that at our core we are Christ-like. What amazing gift!


Basically, if you're trying to be a "good son" my friend, then what's Jesus' job exactly?


Anyways...thanks for listening...and God bless!

Strong in Him said:

We are not under the OT covenant; Jesus said "this is my blood of the new covenant." He did not teach tithing - he commended a widow because she gave everything.

But supposing I followed the example of Abraham and gave God a tenth of everything?

24 hours in a day; I am asleep for roughly 8 of them and meals etc could easily take up another two. Work may take up another 4 - I am part time. That means there are 10 hours, if I'm lucky, that are completely my own One tenth belong to God, that means I think about him/praise him/ pray/serve him for 1 hour a day. Or do I give him a tenth of the whole 24 hours - 2.4? What about my part time job as church lay worker and my preaching on Sundays, which take more than this amount of time?

Money - at the moment £8,500 a year + roughly another £3000 in Mobility allowance. Do I give to him before or after tax? If before, that's roughly £1,050 per year. Is that enough? What about when my job finishes in a few weeks? Will God then only be worth £300 a year?

Possessions - don't know how to give 1 tenth of all my craft things, (which I use to make greetings cards, either to bless those who are ill, or give to charities to sell and raise funds); or puppets (which I use in worship and with Sunday school) - all of which I have paid for myself. How do I give a tenth of my clarinet? If I tajke it to church and we have 5 hymns, does this mean I can only play half of one?

I'm not trying to be flippant or awkward here. I'm saying that a) it's not quite as easy for us to divide everything up and give a tenth as it may have been for Abraham, with his animals and crops, and b) some of us try to give God a lot more than 10% of some things - eg our time, because we believe we are always in his presence.

Paul says the the Lord loves a cheerful giver. He also says that people should give what they have decided in their heart to give. If, for you, that means giving 10% of your cash to the church - go ahead. But it's ok too if someone doesn't want to do that.

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You're making it complicated. I just give ten percent of my income before taxes. For me that about $2500.00 a year. That's alot of many when you only make about $25000.00 a year. I'm not going to fight and argue about something like this. I feel in MY heart that I need to give back to my church. My church feeds too many starving children in the U.S. for me not to give. I just couldn't do it. That's just me though. But like I said, I don't need to sit here and keep on arguing about it. God bless.

Eleknar said:

You're making it complicated. I just give ten percent of my income before taxes. For me that about $2500.00 a year. That's alot of many when you only make about $25000.00 a year. I'm not going to fight and argue about something like this. I feel in MY heart that I need to give back to my church. My church feeds too many starving children in the U.S. for me not to give. I just couldn't do it. That's just me though. But like I said, I don't need to sit here and keep on arguing about it. God bless.

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Fine, that's what I've said all along. You give 10% because you feel it's right to do so. That's not a problem - in fact it's great that you want to give that money to the kingdom. The whole point is that it's not a law or command that we have to.

My example of dividing literally everything we have up to give 10% was only in response to the Scripture you quoted about Abraham, and to show that actually it is pretty impossible to do it like this.

The Bible doesn't say that Abraham tithed ANY of his own possessions. Sorry, it just isn't there. One can't just make something up that doesn't exist.

StevenL said:

The Bible doesn't say that Abraham tithed ANY of his own possessions. Sorry, it just isn't there. One can't just make something up that doesn't exist.

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QFT (quoted for truth)

Jesus said tithe 10 % but said thats not all we need to do. It si definitely part though
Luke 11 : 42

Carey said:

Jesus said tithe 10 % but said thats not all we need to do. It si definitely part though
Luke 11 : 42

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Do you realize that the Jewish tithe was more in the nieghborhood of 30%?

theVirginian said:

A question for the nontithers who go to a brick and mortar church with paid spiritual leaders: where does the money come from that supports your church? Pennies from Heaven? Tithing isn't a matter of legalism, it's simple economics.

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Then don't pass it off as some Divine command from above.

Did Jesus really want someone living at or near the poverty level to give up needed cash in order to help keep the pastoral staff making $40,000-$60,000 a year?

It never ceases to amaze me how backwards we get the scriptures at times.

ksen said:

Do you realize that the Jewish tithe was more in the nieghborhood of 30%?

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No I did not know that .
I only know Luke 11 : 42 and Hebrews 7 say 10 %

Eleknar said:

I just think it's sad that so many Christians don't want to give back to their church.

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Who's argued that?

Carey said:

No I did not know that .
I only know Luke 11 : 42 and Hebrews 7 say 10 %

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I can honestly say that being saved since 1992 and a member of Baptist churches until just recently that I have never heard Hebrews 7 used to support tithing.

ksen said:

Then don't pass it off as some Divine command from above.

Did Jesus really want someone living at or near the poverty level to give up needed cash in order to help keep the pastoral staff making $40,000-$60,000 a year?

It never ceases to amaze me how backwards we get the scriptures at times.

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Read Malchi 3 : 8 thru 12 if you want to know what God almighty says about it.
Read Luke 21 : 1 thru 4
Jesus commended the poor widow for giving ALL she had ( 2 copper coins ) because it was a lrger % of her income than the 10% the rich were giving.

Carey said:

Read Malchi 3 : 8 thru 12 if you want to know what God almighty says about it.

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I know what Malachi says. I also know that Galatians and Hebrews teach that we are under a new, better covenant.

Read Luke 21 : 1 thru 4
Jesus commended the poor widow for giving ALL she had ( 2 copper coins ) because it was a lrger % of her income than the 10% the rich were giving.

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I've read it many times.

Have you started giving 100% yet like the widow Christ commended?

ksen said:

I can honestly say that being saved since 1992 and a member of Baptist churches until just recently that I have never heard Hebrews 7 used to support tithing.

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It is a short read Check it out..
I think maybe the reason they avoid using it it is talking about who collected the tithe back in the day. It could maybe bring up questions the modern Pastors don't want to have to answer.

Carey said:

Jesus said tithe 10 % but said thats not all we need to do. It si definitely part though
Luke 11 : 42

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No he didn't. Luke 11:42 is the same as Matthew 23:23, and this was already raised back on page 1.

Strong in Him said:

Jesus was talking to the Jewish Scribes and Pharisees who were under Jewish law. By the terms of that law, they had to tithe. Jesus is saying that they paid attention to this law, obeying it in even the minutest detail, while ignoring the more important matters like mercy and faith. If they were going to keep the law, they needed to observe these as well as tithing.

As I am not a Jew, nor under Jewish law, my question still stands; where is Jesus' command that believers have to tithe?

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This verse is not a statement from Jesus to his disciples that tithing is part of the New Covenant and is therefore compulsory.