Do I need to pay tithe?

AvilaSurfer said:

Yeah I’ve heard this argument. “Tithing is OT, there’s no tithing in the NT.”
Bull. If you want to stick with NT, what did Jesus say? “Sell it all, give to the poor, follow me.”
So I think I’ll tithe.

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If the Scripture that you quoted was a universal commandment of Jesus, then your only paying a tithe would fall far short of the command.

Jesus_is_Saint said:

Do I need to pay tithe?
A pastor said "not paying tithe is robbing God".
Did Paul say we (gentile Christians) must pay tithe in New Testament?

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Tithing was Theocratic Federal Income tax for Israel. It was required of both believer and unbeliever alike. So? Anything an unbeliever can do is not the spiritual life. Sad to say.. Some pastors are lazy and want not to study much, yet demand an income.. So, they try to emotionally blackmail their congregation into guaranteeing their income. Its a bad practice, but too common for our own good.

Tithing is not commanded for the Church. The following is what is given:


Note! .."not reluctantly or under compulsion." Demanding a certain percentage of your income is placing someone under compulsion!!!

And, the statement.... "for God loves a cheerful giver."

Note: That was not written to the one who did the giving!

But, it was a warning to those taking the collection!

In other words? Pastors, do a good job teaching and refreshing your congregation with good and sound teaching! Make sure they are happy! Do not coerce them when presenting the collection! For God loves a cheerful giver!

Instead?.. Lazy pastors distort that passage, by demanding a phony act from their congregation. Telling them that those giving should act like they are cheerful while they are giving. That is being both coercive and manipulative! And, its... sad to say... dumbing down the flock.

Jesus_is_Saint said:

Do I need to pay tithe?
A pastor said "not paying tithe is robbing God".
Did Paul say we (gentile Christians) must pay tithe in New Testament?

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This is quite a debate.

Here's some questions:
How do your church staff get paid?
How does your church pay for heat and electricity?
How does your church pay for repairs?
How does your church pay for insurance, phone, internet?
How does your church help and support missions? Youth groups?

Ask yourself those... then:

Who do you pray to you to keep your family safe, fed, blessed?
Who made it possible for your job, wife, husband?

Now....I'll tell you something my dad told me and I found to be true...

He said "Someone asked me how I can afford to give 10% of my gross earnings to God's work... I told them that I cannot afford not to"....

So, my wife and I just decided to write a check, each week, for 10% of any income, before taxes.....We aren't rich.... but we have all we need.

Jesus_is_Saint said:

Do I need to pay tithe?
A pastor said "not paying tithe is robbing God".
Did Paul say we (gentile Christians) must pay tithe in New Testament?

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What you ask is a very interesting question?

ONLY Old Testament Mosaic(Law of Moses) Law calls for giving 1/10 of YOUR INCREASE.

If the Law of Moses was nailed to The Cross, then it would appear that a "tithe"(hebrew for 1/10) would not be applicable to "Christians".



And it would appear, FROM THE TESTIMONY of SCRIPTURE;
- that IF ONE RETURNS to THE LAW that Christ FULFILLED, it is SPIRITUAL POISON to humans.


In fact, according to Paul(not Lee) in Galatians 5;

3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised(BECAUSE THE LAW CALLS FOR IT), that he is a debtor to do the whole law.

4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Galatians 2
10 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.


Which begs the question;

If paying a tithe(that is only required in a law the Christ fulfilled) would cause a human to FALL FROM GRACE;

And cause YOU to be removed from grace and be moved to under THE WHOLE LAW, and BE JUDGED UNDER THE :LAW;


Don't the "churches know" this SPIRITUAL life or death information?

Just curious,
Lee

Jesus_is_Saint said:

Do I need to pay tithe?
A pastor said "not paying tithe is robbing God".
Did Paul say we (gentile Christians) must pay tithe in New Testament?

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I agree with the other posters that said it isn't like a absolute rule that must be followed.... however it is something that will be blessed by the Lord, and should likely be done.

On a personal level, speaking more just myself....
Malachi 3:8


Have you ever been robbed? I have. I came home to my house ransacked. Stuff was missing. Stuff was damaged. The whole place was torn apart.

I *HATE* thieves. I hate them. And the idea that I would even be remotely like a thief, makes me want to vomit.

I give the tithe. I always give the tithe. It's not up for debate or question. I give it.

You can do what you want, but that's my advice.

I used to make good money, and I used to give more than 10%. I really felt led to give back then. Now I make about 1/3 of what I used to and cannot afford my own home. The idea and act of giving started to make me bitter so I quit. It really bugs me now; my church has what it needs and my pastor lives in a nice two story house but my wife and I can’t afford our own place. If I had back all of the money I have given over the last decade or so we would at least have our own house.

Yes (1 Corinthians 16:1-2, Malachi 3:8-18). Everything belongs to God but He's seeking only 10%. I don't have a home church, so I spread my tithe between here (CF is my home church now) and general giving to Christians and others (Galatians 6:10). Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is His (Matthew 22:21 - NT). We Christians are required to both tithe and pay taxes. Peace in Christ.

Jesus_is_Saint said:

God will judge me based on faith, not tithe.

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The Parable of the Unjust steward might change your perspective there. If one is faithful in “little” (i.e., “unrighteous” wealth), then one will be faithful in much.

Jesus_is_Saint said:

Do I need to pay tithe?
A pastor said "not paying tithe is robbing God".
Did Paul say we (gentile Christians) must pay tithe in New Testament?

Click to expand...

From what I see there is no stipulation that Gentiles are required to pay tithes. We're highly encouraged however to give according to our means but God lets us decide what that is. Paul even stated that yes some would even give beyond their means 2 Cor 8: 3 but it was never declared they had to or should.

I will add this one thing though and it really had nothing to do with tithes and that is when Ananias and Sapphira, (Acts 5) sold a piece of land and stated they had given ALL the money to the church. They lied and were judged. Peter even told them they could have done with the money what they had wanted and I suspect even if they had openly confessed from the start it was only a percentage that would have been fine. But they lied. Some have even misapplied this verse to make it a tithing text but a quick look at the passage sets aside without question such a consideration.

I believe Christian churches and organizations should practice good stewardship. Some provide a weekly report which discloses the amount collected and its application to the yearly budget. Others send statements to the members on a quarterly or yearly basis.

I am not affiliated with a church and my monies are distributed elsewhere. I won’t financially support any entity that’s reckless or unwilling to account for their spending. But that’s my conviction.

Sabertooth said:

I don't know, but in our experience, God still blesses the tithe.

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Because you were blessed does that mean God did so because you gave an exact 10%? Or did God bless you for you were a gracious, liberal giver? Both things can be entirely different.

AvilaSurfer said:

Yeah I’ve heard this argument. “Tithing is OT, there’s no tithing in the NT.”
Bull. If you want to stick with NT, what did Jesus say? “Sell it all, give to the poor, follow me.”
So I think I’ll tithe.

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Did Jesus say that to every person he came across? If that was a universal decree for all than why is it that some or a few very godly men were prosperous. (Job/Abraham etc) Or did Jesus give this instruction to this one man because he saw his heart was divided between God and money which I think is really the case.

You also fail to appreciate one can actually give even more than a tithe and still not believe in a tithing mandate in scripture.

OldWiseGuy said:

From a mature point of view tithing assures a relatively stable church income, necessary to meet the costs of maintaining ministry, buildings, and other costs. It is a contribution based on commitment to one's church and is necessary so that all things can be done 'decently and in order'. In the parlance of charities these are termed 'sustaining members' and are necessary if a church is to maintain it's ministry and programs.

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If you said GIVING assures a stable church income etc, I'd agree with you. But why do you feel the need to insist it has to be a tithe? Perhaps some will give actually more than 10% and some less based on their means so what would be wrong with that?