Is tithing mandatory?

[DamianWarS]

I have just joined a small community church in my neighborhood. I wouldn't have any problem putting money into the offering, because that church does a lot of work among the elderly in the community and I would know that the money goes to where it is needed, and not to line the pockets of some overpaid minister who doesn't even preach the gospel. The church I have just joined has a self-supporting minister and uses visiting lay-preachers.

But if I gave a homeless man ten dollars to buy his next meal, I think I would be giving to God just as much as if I put the same ten dollars into the offering plate at church.

Being a member of a church comes with a responsibility to give. This giving can be a part of a practice of worship to God but it is not there to cap our giving. Give what is responsible to the church but make sure you are generous outside of this and don't get trapped in this thinking that because you give to the church your role in giving is done. Be responsible with giving but also led by the spirit.

 

[zoidar]

Every area of our lives are to be surrendered to The Lord.

Yeshua watched the offering plate and noticed who gave and how much. Then He remarked "For they all put in from their abundance, but she from her need has put in everything she had - all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:44). Seems like Yeshua would have taken the opportunity to tell His disciples that soon tithes/offerings/giving wouldnt need be given if that was going to be the case. Or do we think He let the poor widow put in everything she had without blessing her as promised in Mal 3:10?

---
As one

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."

The poor widow is a good example of what gives God joy. "Let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." 1 John 3:18

 

[Strong in Him]

i really don't know

No.
The OT tithe was always food. People gave 10% of their crops, took them to the temple, then sat down to eat their tithe. The only time they took money to the temple was if the Lord had blessed them so greatly that 10% of their crops was too heavy for them to carry. Then, they sold it, took the money to the temple, bought more food and sat sown to eat - not forgetting the priests who did not have allotments, and the poor.

These days, that has been interpreted and applied as, "you have to give 10% of your income to the church".
That's not what Scripture says - and the early church shared everything, not just 10% of it.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Being a member of a church comes with a responsibility to give. This giving can be a part of a practice of worship to God but it is not there to cap our giving. Give what is responsible to the church but make sure you are generous outside of this and don't get trapped in this thinking that because you give to the church your role in giving is done. Be responsible with giving but also led by the spirit.

Make sure you read my other posts on this thread to get in full what I am saying.

 

[Stone-n-Steel]

but in jesus' times?

Just as Jesus was physically circumcised to keep the law he would also have kept the tithe. If you wish to keep the law for righteousness sake then you must keep the whole law. To fail in one point is to fail in all. Check out James 2:10 and Galatians 5:3.

 

[Strong in Him]

Just as Jesus was physically circumcised to keep the law he would also have kept the tithe.

I doubt he would have kept it as laid down in Deuteronomy 14:22-29 - he had no fields and did not grow food.

 

[Guojing]

i really don't know

From a broader point of view, here is how you can view tithing.

The term tithe means first fruits. What is the principle of the first fruits that God instilled in the world?

Exodus 13:2 Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”

Here, God plainly declares that the firstborn “is Mine.” It belongs to Him. In fact, you’ll find God declaring many times in Scripture that the firstborn is His! For example,

Exodus 13:12–13 says:
That you shall set apart to the Lord all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the Lord’s. But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.

Jesus was God's firstborn, and God himself practiced what he commanded. He sowed Jesus, Jesus was in a very real sense God's tithe to the world. Notice that God gave Him to us before we believed. Romans 5:8 says:

God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We give our firstfruits offering—our tithes—in much the same way. God is a giver and a tither, we are born of God and hence we have God's DNA.

This is independent of Law or Grace. We don't give because we are commanded to, we give because God is a giver, and we are created in his image.

 

[Yekcidmij]

i really don't know

Besides the tithe being taxation in the old testament, and so inapplicable in my mind, we can look at this from a realistic point of view. Your local church operates on the generous donations of it's members. The staff has to have provisions for themselves and their families, and if your church isn't paying them, then their time will necessarily be occupied doing another job that does pay them and so that's time not dedicated to your local church. People's time isn't free - that includes your church's staff. The building also has to keep the lights on, water running, conduct routine maintenance, and probably pay a lease or mortgage. So members should financially support their church as they're financially able to.

I don't see a 10% "tithing" requirement since the tithe was a tax, and taxation in the Old Testament doesn't seem to apply to our circumstances. I do see funding your local church, as/if you're financially able to, as a responsibility of being a member or regular attender. If you're a member or regular attender, then you're using the staff's time and the church's facilities, you ought to contribute (assuming you're financially able) or else you're free riding, and free riding is a little selfish.

If you're not financially able to contribute, then perhaps your time and effort can be a contribution instead - I dunno, that's between you and your church.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Did ALL the members in the assembly in Jerusalem neglect tithing when they ALL "considered nothing their own" and quickly met anyone's need who was present ?

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

he would also have kept the tithe.

Please show any income recorded in Scripture, any crops grown, by Jesus, on which He could have tithed.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

QUOTE="Strong in Him, post: 74680160, member: 103116"]No.
The OT tithe was always food. People gave 10% of their crops, took them to the temple, then sat down to eat their tithe. The only time they took money to the temple was if the Lord had blessed them so greatly that 10% of their crops was too heavy for them to carry. Then, they sold it, took the money to the temple, bought more food and sat sown to eat - not forgetting the priests who did not have allotments, and the poor.

These days, that has been interpreted and applied as, "you have to give 10% of your income to the church".
That's not what Scripture says - and the early church shared everything, not just 10% of it.[/QUOTE
Hey, just read this now.... COOL!

 

[lambofgod43985889]

tithe is biblical mathew 23:23

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

tithe is biblical mathew 23:23

Print out what you mean or quote it.
It does not render on the screen/ nor on many cell phones.
Thanks.

 

[crossnote]

A cheerful giver is someone that gives "much". Some people use this verse to say, if they don't feel like giving they don't have to. That's not Pauls meaning.

And usually those are the 'grudgeful' non-givers. lol

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

And usually those are the 'grudgeful' non-givers. lol

hmmmm..... in the first few chapters of ACTS, in those who were truly saved,

were there ANY non-givers at all ?

 

[lambofgod43985889]

Print out what you mean or quote it.
It does not render on the screen/ nor on many cell phones.
Thanks.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For B)" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23938B" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; vertical-align: top; top: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">you tithe mint and dill and C)" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23938C" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; vertical-align: top; top: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: D)" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23938D" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; vertical-align: top; top: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">justice and mercy and faithfulness. E)" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23938E" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; vertical-align: top; top: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Thank you - even though it came out somewhat difficult to read.

Do you think, or did you see, anyone contradict this particular Scripture recently ?

 

[lambofgod43985889]

Thank you - even though it came out somewhat difficult to read.

Do you think, or did you see, anyone contradict this particular Scripture recently ?

tithe as a reality must be continued for the purpose of church sustain, also is voluntary, according to the conscience of everyone

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

tithe as a reality must be continued for the purpose of church sustain, also is voluntary, according to the conscience of everyone

Really ???
Did the first assembly in Jerusalem tithe? They were the best anyone has ever heard of as far as I know ....
They might have tithed , yes.... AND totally voluntary GAVE EVERYTHING DAILY, whatever was needed BY ANYONE in the assembly.... even sold their extra properties to MEET SOMEONE ELSE'S NEED....

 

[Gregorikos]

Many church people give money to churches that are not even preaching the gospel! So the money is given to prop up a religious organisation that doesn't bear any fruit for God at all. I don't see that as giving to God at all, but to a church. And if it is a church that is liberal, doesn't believe the Bible is God's word, or the virgin birth, or the resurrection of Christ, or that Jesus was not a historical person, then people are not giving to God at all but to a synagogue of Satan!

They should find a legitimate church and give their money there. My post was about giving to God, not giving to the devil. I don't know where you got that from what I said.

My daughter's fiance, who is not a Christian, was out of work for around 4 months. I gave him financial support to keep his car on the road, continue payment on his loans, power and internet account. He needed a battery charger for his motor bike, and so I ordered one for him and paid for it. Because he is unsaved, and I want to show the spirit of Christ toward him, then I am giving to God more than to a church that wouldn't even care about him let alone give him any support. He will read me before he reads the Bible, and more souls have been saved by acts of kindness than all the great theological sermons on Sunday mornings in churches.

Good for you. Giving alms like that is a very Godly thing to do. That isn't giving to God though, IMO.

So, let me get this straight. If you had a widow in your church, on a welfare benefit, and if she was required to put money in the offering plate rather than be able to feed and clothe her children, would you enforce the requirement even though she and her children would have to starve until the next welfare benefit payment? And the money was used just to buy a few more chairs for the church lounge, would you think that is consistent with the spirit of Christ?

I don't enforce any giving requirements on other believers. I can tell them what the Bible says. The rest is up to them.