Is tithing mandatory?

[Hank77]

I suspect much happened from "Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." until He went in to the ministry at the age of 30. He would have most likely followed in Josephs steps and became a carpenter. This profession would have given him reason to tithe.

What would Jesus a carpenter have tithed?

 

[Strong in Him]

He would have most likely followed in Josephs steps and became a carpenter. This profession would have given him reason to tithe.

Tithe what - chair legs?
According to Deuteronomy, the tithe laid down by God was 10% of your crops. I'm not saying that Jesus might never have given money to the temple - we don't know. But neither do we know that he grew crops and could therefore tithe according to the law.

 

[Stone-n-Steel]

What would Jesus a carpenter have tithed?

I stand corrected on the profession requiring a tithe.

 

[Stone-n-Steel]

Tithe what - chair legs?
According to Deuteronomy, the tithe laid down by God was 10% of your crops. I'm not saying that Jesus might never have given money to the temple - we don't know. But neither do we know that he grew crops and could therefore tithe according to the law.

You are correct. Only crops would have been part of the tithe.

 

[Bobber]

So, you agree, that churches that demand a money tithe of 10% under the thread of robbing God, is actually extortion and robbing the people instead!

You were asking this of another but as for me I don't believe in a 10 % mandate that one has to do that. But to say ones which teach tithing are intentionally extorting their people is perhaps a little bit of a too strong of a statement to make. Are they really robbing God's people? Again another very strong charge to make as it gives one a thought of a person of a no good character compelling another with conniving methods that they know are unjust. I don't think it's justified to degrade every church leaders character who do teach tithing.....but I do believe they're sincere but sincerely mistaken but still most of them good people.

 

[bnichols]

Tithing is not required- however, giving is...
I look at it this way- If your Pastor' only job Is preaching the Gospel, and running the church-
I give so that he may pay the bills of the church and also so that he may pay his bills- and eat... that church has to pay electric, heat, air conditioning, water, food for gatherings, ect. ect. ect., the pastor also has to pay for his home bills, family, and food. so- each to their own prayerful giving- But cheerfully- for the Father loves a cheerful giver!

 

[bnichols]

Tithing is not required- however, giving is...
I look at it this way- If your Pastor' only job Is preaching the Gospel, and running the church-
I give so that he may pay the bills of the church and also so that he may pay his bills- and eat... that church has to pay electric, heat, air conditioning, water, food for gatherings, ect. ect. ect., the pastor also has to pay for his home bills, family, and food. so- each to their own prayerful giving- But cheerfully- for the Father loves a cheerful giver!

 

[munondowashe]

In Deuteronomy 6:1, we see Moses giving the law to the Israelites, verse 1 and 2 states that the commandments Moses gave them were for the promised land.

Deuteronomy 4:4-5, further confirm that the law was to apply in the land Israelites were going to possess.

(Deu 4:4) But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.

(Deu 4:5) Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.

The law was to apply only in the land of Canaan. So, the tithe was to come from the land of Canaan.

That’s why Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness without tithing. They begin tithing in the land of Canaan and after they had harvested.

There is no commandment of tithing for believers in the New Testament.

You remember, brother Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1 said

Imitate me as I imitate Christ. (1Co 11:1)(GW)

Paul was following Christ.

The question is:

Did Paul pay tithe or collected tithe from anyone?

I think we can both agree that Apostle Paul never paid nor collected the tithe from anyone. Similar to all the Apostles.

What about Jesus?

Christ the builder and owner of the church never at any time paid or collected tithes from anyone.

Those who are collecting tithe in the New Testament who are they following?

 

[SwordmanJr]

i really don't know

No. Tithing is not mandatory.

If you go into the OT where the Tithe is defined, one will search in vain to find one place in that definition as including monetary wages of wage earners. Religion for centuries has taught that monetary wages are a defined part of the Bible's definition for the tithe, and there is not one peep anywhere showing any such thing. Malachi was addressing that very definition for tithing, and yet many a false teacher has beaten people over the head with the tithe stick of Malachi, claiming that one's wages are a biblically defined element for a tithe requirement.

Others have thought to use what Abraham handed over to Melchizedek, under the guise of a "principle." Again, that is a teaching emanating from a crowd habitually immersed in false teaching and gross misrepresentation of the scriptures.

Jr

 

[JacksBratt]

No. Tithing is not mandatory.

If you go into the OT where the Tithe is defined, one will search in vain to find one place in that definition as including monetary wages of wage earners. Religion for centuries has taught that monetary wages are a defined part of the Bible's definition for the tithe, and there is not one peep anywhere showing any such thing. Malachi was addressing that very definition for tithing, and yet many a false teacher has beaten people over the head with the tithe stick of Malachi, claiming that one's wages are a biblically defined element for a tithe requirement.

Others have thought to use what Abraham handed over to Melchizedek, under the guise of a "principle." Again, that is a teaching emanating from a crowd habitually immersed in false teaching and gross misrepresentation of the scriptures.

Jr

Yes, tithing is not mandatory.. If you don't want to give it... or think it's a duty... God doesn't want it.

He wants only a cheerful giver.

 

[SwordmanJr]

Yes, tithing is not mandatory.. If you don't want to give it... or think it's a duty... God doesn't want it.

He wants only a cheerful giver.

The problem is all the false teaching about tithing. The tithe teachers who point at Malachi and other of the OT scriptures concerning the tithe are nothing but false teachers. They love wrapping their teachings up in emotional reasonings. Never do they disclose the truth to a congregation of people who rarely if ever crack open their Bibles to read.

Additionally, the idea of handing over the primary, largest portion of one's "giving" to something from which they reap direct benefit, that's not giving at all. It's paying one's dues to a club. It does little to nothing to meet genuine needs as happened in the early Church.

Living a lie, and experiencing warm fuzzies over it, that's a problem.

Jr

 

[JacksBratt]

The problem is all the false teaching about tithing. The tithe teachers who point at Malachi and other of the OT scriptures concerning the tithe are nothing but false teachers. They love wrapping their teachings up in emotional reasonings. Never do they disclose the truth to a congregation of people who rarely if ever crack open their Bibles to read.

Additionally, the idea of handing over the primary, largest portion of one's "giving" to something from which they reap direct benefit, that's not giving at all. It's paying one's dues to a club. It does little to nothing to meet genuine needs as happened in the early Church.

Living a lie, and experiencing warm fuzzies over it, that's a problem.

Jr

Do as you see righteous.

As for me.. I tithe and then some... Never had a worry. Like my father said "I cannot afford not to tithe"....

God gave me everything that I have. I started tithing when I was first working... never stopped...

I don't do it because I think it's demanded... I do it because missionaries need money, the church needs heat in the winter, cleaners, a pastor, building upkeep, electricity, computers, projectors, guest speakers.... and the youth need to go on spirituality building camps...

Where do you think that money is going to come from... a car wash?

 

[marineimaging]

i really don't know

Yes, yes, and yes. Tithing is the manner in which we recognize God as owning everything, we return 10 percent of what we PROFIT. The church does not print money.

In Mark 12 Jesus pointed out - "And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he (Jesus) called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."

Jesus could have said to her to take her money, tithing is no longer a requirement. He was, at that time, preaching to Jew and Gentile alike and could have said to the crowd, or the disciples, or to the air even, Stop It! He didn't.

 

[Mountainmanbob]

Feels good to tith.
Support our church -- God's Church.
Sponsor a few children in other lands.
A few other offerings as the needs are seen.

Thanking God for abundance.

M

 

[Strong in Him]

Yes, yes, and yes. Tithing is the manner in which we recognize God as owning everything, we return 10 percent of what we PROFIT.

If someone wants to teach that, they can - it's not the Scriptural teaching on tithing.
Tithing in the OT was always crops.

In Mark 12 Jesus pointed out - "And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he (Jesus) called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."

Jesus could have said to her to take her money, tithing is no longer a requirement.

She didn't tithe; she gave everything.
This is how the early church gave, Acts of the Apostles 2:45, Acts of the Apostles 4:34-35.

Tithing was never money, and is not taught in the NT.

 

[Archivist]

No, you are not required to tith. I give away 10% of my income but I don’t give 10% to my church. I do give the church a good bit, but I also sponsor children in other countries, I support our local food bank, I give to children’s hospitals and colleges, I give to the local feral cat organization and various wildlife and conservation organizations.

 

[Guojing]

Tithing is not a requirement.

Jesus's teaching about the love of money being an alternative god is valid for all of us though, a point also repeated by Paul.

 

[SwordmanJr]

Do as you see righteous.

As for me.. I tithe and then some... Never had a worry. Like my father said "I cannot afford not to tithe"....

God gave me everything that I have. I started tithing when I was first working... never stopped...

I don't do it because I think it's demanded... I do it because missionaries need money, the church needs heat in the winter, cleaners, a pastor, building upkeep, electricity, computers, projectors, guest speakers.... and the youth need to go on spirituality building camps...

Where do you think that money is going to come from... a car wash?

Generally speaking:

When one hands over money to support heating, air conditioning, facility upkeep, programs and materials, et al, that's not giving t God. That's lavishing one's giving back upon himself. A group has every right to possess and support communal property with all its luxuries, but when they start calling that giving to God, as compared to meeting genuine needs of people above all else, as they did in the early Church, that's when all the other corrupt and evil doctrines begin to creep in and fill the grouping with the leaven.

So, all those warm fuzzies and the assumed proofs that God is pleased with His priorities in our giving being turned up-side down, warm fuzzies can still lead one to freeze from lack of real heat. But, hey, go for it. Satan prospers people too, for a season, to deceive them into thinking it's from God. Beliefs in falsehoods and lies is one of many earmarks of Satan's involvement.

So, again, generally speaking, those who give the largest and first fruits of their giving to meet genuine needs, they are the ones who are indeed storing up treasures in Heaven, for it is written.

Jr

 

[SwordmanJr]

Yes, yes, and yes. Tithing is the manner in which we recognize God as owning everything, we return 10 percent of what we PROFIT. The church does not print money.

I could understand that statement if one were giving everything to show God owns it all, but only 10%? How do you oversee how it's used? I ask this recalling how the early Church utilized all their giving for the meeting of needs rather than to lavish a portion of it back upon themselves by way of the luxuries of communal facilities, chandeliers, carpeting, sound systems, buildings and their upkeep and all the other myriads of total, absolute luxuries so many enjoy today.

In Mark 12 Jesus pointed out - "And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he (Jesus) called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."

Yes, and that giving was collected by a priesthood in support of a temple built with stone as a house of prayer and the dwelling place of the Lord, but the veil was rent down the middle, thus rendering that temple of no effect nor value to the Lord.

Today, so many love talking about how they "give" to their "church", with some of it going to missions and some outreaches, as if THAT is the model we see lived out in the early Church. How tragic....

Jesus could have said to her to take her money, tithing is no longer a requirement.

No, sir! That collection had nothing whatsoever to do with the tithe. Please go back and back and read your Bible, and learn the truth about what constituted the tithe. The tithe had nothing to do with silver, gold or money, except for when the appointed place was too far away to carry one's tithe. No wage earners were required to hand over one speck of dust over to the Levites of their earned wages. The Bible nowhere defined the increase as involving monetary wages. If someone thinks that's in there, please shot it to us.

He was, at that time, preaching to Jew and Gentile alike and could have said to the crowd, or the disciples, or to the air even, Stop It! He didn't.

He was preaching to the Jews almost exclusively. Who is your preacher? Did you get this stuff from him....or her? How much reading of your Bible do you do?

Jr

 

[SwordmanJr]

If someone wants to teach that, they can - it's not the Scriptural teaching on tithing.
Tithing in the OT was always crops.

She didn't tithe; she gave everything.
This is how the early church gave, Acts of the Apostles 2:45, Acts of the Apostles 4:34-35.

Tithing was never money, and is not taught in the NT.

One will point to the truth in vain when dealing with an emotional thinker. You can quote it right out of the same dusty stack of Bibles they have piled up on shelves or stashed inside the coffee table of their living room, and they will not believe anything that is contrary to the false teachers they listen to behind the pulpits they support, on TV, on radio, in books and magazines. They are scholars of emotion, not truth and intellect, for truth is entirely relative when based upon emotion. It has no absolute basis to them until the Lord reaches into them and rips the falsehoods out of them.

Jr