Stewardship and Tithing

[calumw]

Hello all,

My Church has just set up a Stewardship committee to deal with Stewardship and Tithing.

In essence I am asking people to give more generously to our Church in the weekly plate rather than us doing specific fundraisers/coffee mornings etc.

My main concern is getting the correct message across to all and I am just looking for some friendly advice on how other stewardship committees go about talking about tithing?

My favourtie Bible quote on this topic would be “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7)

Do you think I should quote this in my talk?

Calum

 

[GaryArnold]

2 Cor 9:7 is the basis for giving in the New Testament. The New Testament teaches generous, sacrificial giving, from the heart, according to our means. For some, $1 might be a sacrifice, while for others, even giving 50% of their income might not induce a sacrifice. In the Old Testament, ONLY the farmers tithed, and it was equal percentage (a tenth). The New Testament teaches the principle of equal sacrifice instead of equal percentage. Equal sacrifice is much harder to achieve, if not impossible, than giving ten percent.

NO ONE, absolutely NO ONE pays the Biblical tithe today.

Leviticus 27:30-33, Numbers 18: The First Tithe - a tenth of crops and animals and commanded to take the tithe to the Levites.

Deuteronomy 14:22-27: The Second Tithe aka The Festival Tithe - a tenth of crops, plus add to that the firstborn animals, and take for the yearly feast.

Deuteronomy 14:28-29: The Third Tithe aka The Three-Year Tithe aka The Poor Tithe - a tenth of crops, kept at home, and invite the Levites, widows, orphans, stranger to eat.

Now, tell me. Which of the above three tithes commanded by God does anyone follow today?

The ONLY people in the Old Testament that were commanded to tithe were those who INHERITED THE PROMISED LAND WITH EVERYTHING ON IT. They got the land, house, animals, crops, etc. ALL FREE AND CLEAR. No mortgage payment or rent to pay. And THEY were commanded to tithe on the crops and animals and take it to the Levites who INHERITED the tithe INSTEAD OF the promised land with everything on it. No one else tithed. Wage earners did not tithe. Jesus didn’t tithe. Paul didn’t tithe. Peter didn’t tithe.

There is no law or command to tithe in the New Testament.

 

[citizenthom]

One good thing to incorporate is to tear down the idea that 10% tithing is a Biblical commandment. That idea comes from Jacob's tithe; but the actual OT tithe added up to around 23% of income in Israel. In the NT instead we see a "standard" rather than a figure set: giving must be voluntary (of the heart), sacrificial (giving up other luxuries to do it), and consistent. Tell people that it's an attitude and not a number. The attitude tends to result in more than 10% tithing; and consistency is much more important for everyday church governance than lump sums.

 

[GaryArnold]

One good thing to incorporate is to tear down the idea that 10% tithing is a Biblical commandment. That idea comes from Jacob's tithe; but the actual OT tithe added up to around 23% of income in Israel. In the NT instead we see a "standard" rather than a figure set: giving must be voluntary (of the heart), sacrificial (giving up other luxuries to do it), and consistent. Tell people that it's an attitude and not a number. The attitude tends to result in more than 10% tithing; and consistency is much more important for everyday church governance than lump sums.

Don't know how the idea comes from Jacob as there is absolutely no scripture showing us that Jacob ever tithed. There is only scripture to show he made a vow.

The actual OT tithe added up to an average of 20% every seven years, and was never on income. The OT tithe was limited, by God, to God's miraculous increase of FOOD from crops and animals raised on the Holy land. Nothing else qualified as a Holy tithe.

The New Testament teaches generous, sacrificial giving, from the heart, according to our means. For some, $1 might be a sacrifice, while for others, even giving 50% of their income might not induce a sacrifice. In the Old Testament, ONLY the farmers tithed, and it was equal percentage (a tenth). The New Testament teaches the principle of equal sacrifice instead of equal percentage. Equal sacrifice is much harder to achieve, if not impossible, than giving ten percent.