Tithing?

[CountedWise]

I would like to talk about tithing. I know it's a popular practice these days, but seriously, is it truly a Christian act? If you read what the Bible actually describes as tithing you will see that it doesn't necessarily describe what's going on in the Christian Church these days. Tithing was really an early form of taxation. Tribes gave 10% to the tribal leaders, and in return, the tribal leaders gave 10% to the synagogue. That's not really far off from what's going on in America today. The government doesn't give 10% to the Church, but it does give the Church tax exempt status.
My question is this; how does giving 10% directly to the Church equate to keeping Jewish law? I , for one, am not Jewish. Being a devout Christian does not require me to be. My Faith is not shaken by men, so I do not feel any remorse about questioning that which does not fit what the Bible teaches. Good works alone will not save you, popular or not. What we give in the form of money is not a measure of one's Faith. Jesus cautioned against this line of thinking.

 

[Macca]

I would like to talk about tithing. I know it's a popular practice these days, but seriously, is it truly a Christian act? If you read what the Bible actually describes as tithing you will see that it doesn't necessarily describe what's going on in the Christian Church these days. Tithing was really an early form of taxation. Tribes gave 10% to the tribal leaders, and in return, the tribal leaders gave 10% to the synagogue. That's not really far off from what's going on in America today. The government doesn't give 10% to the Church, but it does give the Church tax exempt status.
My question is this; how does giving 10% directly to the Church equate to keeping Jewish law? I , for one, am not Jewish. Being a devout Christian does not require me to be. My Faith is not shaken by men, so I do not feel any remorse about questioning that which does not fit what the Bible teaches. Good works alone will not save you, popular or not. What we give in the form of money is not a measure of one's Faith. Jesus cautioned against this line of thinking.

I believe in tithing, as a starting point of giving.
Also in giving to missions (above tithing).
I find that I can do more with 80% of my income than others can do with 100% of theirs.
If everybody gave according to their income, there would be no shortage in any Church; there would be an abundance to support missionaries, to evangelise the lost, to support the poor, etc.; the list goes on as to what could be done if EVERYONE in the Christian church gave according to their income.

 

[ticker]

Hello. Nice to meet you CountedWise.

Looks like you're new! Welcome to the forum!


You're absolutely right in the conclusion you've come to regarding tithing.

I, however, would argue that tithing is actually a "Chrsitian act".....but only in the sense that helping an elderly person cross the street might be a "Christian act."

If you don't feel you can or should tithe, then don't.

If you've never done it before, you could always just try it out to see what it's like!

Doing something like tithing, or giving to charity, or anything of that sort will happen when it's gonna happen...when you feel it in your heart to give....and that'll come by resting in Jesus, and simply reacting to His love.

So yeah.....there's no need to sweat it.


Great question!

Blessings!

 

[Strong in Him]

I would like to talk about tithing. I know it's a popular practice these days, but seriously, is it truly a Christian act? If you read what the Bible actually describes as tithing you will see that it doesn't necessarily describe what's going on in the Christian Church these days. Tithing was really an early form of taxation. Tribes gave 10% to the tribal leaders, and in return, the tribal leaders gave 10% to the synagogue. That's not really far off from what's going on in America today. The government doesn't give 10% to the Church, but it does give the Church tax exempt status.
My question is this; how does giving 10% directly to the Church equate to keeping Jewish law? I , for one, am not Jewish. Being a devout Christian does not require me to be. My Faith is not shaken by men, so I do not feel any remorse about questioning that which does not fit what the Bible teaches. Good works alone will not save you, popular or not. What we give in the form of money is not a measure of one's Faith. Jesus cautioned against this line of thinking.

Hi, and welcome to the Forums.

I think giving 10% is a good place to start, it is also an easy figure to deal with, rather than having to divide by 8, 17 or whatever.

Personally I do not think that it relates to either the OT or the NT practices. In the OT, the tithe was food or produce. It was always made in Jerusalem to the priests. The only time I remember the tithe being money, was if produce/livestock was too heavy to carry all the way to Jerusalem, it could then be exchanged for coins. In some cases, the Jews were instructed to eat their tithe, or part of it, in celebration, not forgetting to give some to the priests and set aside some for the poor.
Tithing is not mentioned as a practice in the NT, instead the early church shared all their possessions.

So I can't see any Biblical teaching, or command, stating that 10% of what we earn has to be given to the church.

 

[holyrokker]

Giving of your time and money are both "Christian" things to do.
"Tithing" isn't a Jewish thing. It's actually older than than the Old Testament law.
In Genesis we see that Abraham gave a "tithe" to Melchizadech. Neither of these men were "Jewish" (This was 500 years before anyone would be identified as such).
Abel also "tithed" and this was thousands of years before Abraham.
It's more of a general principle of life than a legal thing to do.

 

[Daniels]

Why we pay Tithe?

1. It belongs to God.
2. It is Holy.
3. Because we love Him.
4. We Obey God's commandments.
5. God appointed Jesus to receive Tithe.
6. There is no lacking in God's House
7.We may receive bountiful blessings.
8. There is no lacking in servant of God's life.

 

[Strong in Him]

Why we pay Tithe?

1. It belongs to God.
2. It is Holy.
3. Because we love Him.
4. We Obey God's commandments.
5. God appointed Jesus to receive Tithe.
6. There is no lacking in God's House
7.We may receive bountiful blessings.
8. There is no lacking in servant of God's life.

Maybe you could explain some of these, with Scriptural references? For example -

1. Doesn't everything we have and are belong to God?
4. Where is it commanded - in the NT, we are not bound by Jewish law - that we have to give 10% of our money to the church?
7. We don't give to receive, and Jesus said that whatever measure we use for others, that will be used for us too. By that reckoning, if we only give 10% we only receive 10%.
8.

 

[theVirginian]

Tithing isn't mentioned in the NT, but I believe that it, along with some other principles (not laws) from the OT, carried over. The following is a personal experience of mine in this area.

In 1974, I had been saved less than a year and worked for a small home builder. I had been thinking about tithing for a while, but didn't mainly because 10% of my gross was a sizable chunk of my take home pay (although I could afford it, just barely). One day, the foreman told me that I was getting a raise, but because times were tough for the home building business, the boss split a normal raise between me and another guy. This was odd enough that it stuck in my thinking. Later, I realized that the raise amounted to 5% of my gross pay. Then I realized that 5% was 1/2 of my tithe. Immediately after that epiphany, God said, "You pay half and I'll pay half." The raise was His half. Guess what? I piddled around and didn't get with the program. Within a month, I was caught in some office politics and was fired for a minor situation that didn't warrant that result.

Did God punish me for not tithing? No. My starting to tithe would have given Him the legal right to block what the devil was planning. When we give (not just money), there is extra ordinary blessing and protection in that area.

My disobedience had two results. The first one was that I was out of a job at a time when jobs were hard to come by. The second one was that God would have been able to bless the boss in his business, if only to bless me with better raises as business improved. My getting fired messed that up. He ended up going bankrupt. This still bugs me even after all these years when I think, "What if...?"

 

[Daniels]

Matthew

23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe
of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier
matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to
have done, and not to leave the other undone.​

 

[Strong in Him]

Matthew

23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe
of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier
matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to
have done, and not to leave the other undone.​

Meaning what? 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?

 

[Barrenlimb]

Giving in general will open the windows of heaven. Giving tells God that your hands are open and not closed...that money and things can flow through you to other people. Close your hands is a dangerous thing to do. I say people are to wrapped up in this 10% nonsense. The truth is to be willing when it is needed. To have an open heart to give. Not because of manipulation, but because you are attuned to God's heart. Whether that is 2% or 80%.

The only reason Jesus mentioned tithing, was first he was rebuking the people that practiced the law. He was pointing out that they lack in greater parts of the law. Jesus was born under law, was speaking to those that practiced the law(the jews). Jesus also told some he healed to go offer burnt offerings for their healing and show themselves to the priest. These are no longer practices today, so if we say Jesus said tithe, he also said offer burnt offerings...good luck with that.

 

[Barrenlimb]

Why we pay Tithe?

1. It belongs to God.
2. It is Holy.
3. Because we love Him.
4. We Obey God's commandments.
5. God appointed Jesus to receive Tithe.
6. There is no lacking in God's House
7.We may receive bountiful blessings.
8. There is no lacking in servant of God's life.

1. Everything belongs to God. The heart and your openess to meet needs of the "kingdom" are more important than the religious 10%
2. Money itself is not holy. It cannot be. A persons heart and a persons acts are holy or not holy.
3. If you say that those that tithe love God more than those that don't that is manipulation, so tread lightly.
4. Tithe is not God's commandment, giving is. Abraham(premoses) went and pillaged a whole area and gave a "tithe" on the spoils of war (go read it again) Next time I pillage a town, I will give a "tithe". It wasn't his income and it wasn't his possessions. Conjexture to think he tithed on his own income/goods. (sacrifice and tithe are two different things)
5.Never heard that before. Please prove this. Jesus became firstfruit to God and those that became born again, a firstfruit to creation. Though this has nothing to do with money.
6. What is God's house? The church is any person that has entered into the "Kingdom" They are the "church" The places man decided to meet to gather have become cumbersome, expensive, and frankly, I believe never what christ or the early church intended. The american dream. To have a big building, big steeple, debt, fancy flashy lights and a big stage for the "set man" that makes more money than God, yet neglects to feed the poor or meet the needs in the dying community around him. God's house is in shambles and it has nothing to do with tithing or not. If man wasn't manipulated to give 10% a church building/gathering would have to show that they are truelly moving in line with God's heart and many would fail immediately.
7. Oh good, God has a lottery too. Maybe I can buy more tickets so that I will have a higher chance of winning God's lottery. We give because it is out of the abundance that we receive we give. Not the give to get doctrine
8. We are all servants. If you are talking about the "set man" who refuses to work a job in the world system, so that he will be doing "God's work" while getting paid for it, while the rest of us tread through the gunk of the world feeling like we never accomplish God's work because of stress, hard work, ect to support our family... and have to give the man that has to sit around sipping on starbucks and reading the bible all day money so he can continue living in his 5 bedroom house and having his maid clean up after his mess. I might just go start a church...sounds like the way to go for easy street.

 

[ksen]

My wife and I have this conversation every now and then. She believes that tithing is a duty for Christians and I don't.

I'd like to see some real Scriptural support from the New Testament that tithing is a duty for Christians. To date I haven't seen any.

 

[Flames]

My wife and I have this conversation every now and then. She believes that tithing is a duty for Christians and I don't.

I'd like to see some real Scriptural support from the New Testament that tithing is a duty for Christians. To date I haven't seen any.

Good luck finding any. Study tithing out and see why it got implemented back into the catholic church. You will see it wasn't because of any biblical reasoning.

 

[phoenixgw]

Because our righteousness already exceeds that of the Scribes & Pharisees (Mt.5:20), we freely give to those who ask and turn away no one who comes to borrow (5:42). So carefree is our giving, in fact, that the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing (6:3). Christians lovingly store their treasures in Heaven because that is where our hearts are (6:20,21). Realizing that we cannot serve two masters, we have chosen to serve God and forsake money (6:24).

Those who don’t tithe aren’t unthankful, greedy, or cheap—they’re Christians!!! Well, some of them are anyway. It’s not for you or I to judge - 7:1

 

[Daniels]

TITHE, TITHING
The words come from Old English for “tenth”; a tithe is a charge on farm produce or labor that is used to maintain and support religious activities. The custom was very ancient (Abraham paid a tithe of the spoils of war to Melchizedek; see Genesis 14:20) and widely practiced, being known in Athens, Arabia, Rome, Carthage, Egypt, Syria, Babylon, and China.
According to Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 12:2-7, 17-19; 14:22-29), when the Israelites’ worship was centralized in one place, the tithe was taken annually at the sanctuary and shared by priests and Levites. In addition to offerings and sacrifices, corn, wine, oil, and flocks were tithed. Every third year, the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows were given the whole tithe in charity (Deuteronomy 26:12). According to Numbers 18:21-32, every tithe in Israel was given to the Levites in return for their priestly service.
The prophet Malachi (Malachi 3:8-10), who boldly declared not paying tithes was “robbing God,” promised full barns and vats, opened windows of heaven, outpoured blessing, and deliverance from locusts, in return for faithful tithing. In the early tithe feasts, thanksgiving for God’s gifts was appropriate (compare Genesis 28:22), though not emphasized. Providing for the temple and the priests in the service of God remained the chief purpose of tithing, along with a wide charity.
Apart from recalling Melchizedek’s tithe (Hebrews 7), tithing is mentioned in the New Testament critically. According to Matthew 23:23 and Luke 11:42, Jesus spoke of those who meticulously paid tithes on three small garden herbs while neglecting three “weightier matters of the law,” namely, justice, mercy, and faith. For him, this was an example of the lack of a right sense of priorities that marked the Pharisees. It is so much easier to feel self-satisfied by following explicit rules than it is to live with moral sensitivity in our relationships with God and others. According to Luke 18:12, the Pharisee, congratulating himself in prayer for his superior virtues, mentions his tithing of all income among his claims to divine favor. Christ sternly denounced this man’s prideful performance, valuing instead the humble, repentant person.

 

[JolieHeart]

lily00 has posted some amazing stuff about tithing in the Non-Denominational section.

http://www.christianforums.com/t5581414-searching-for-a-church.html

 

[Macca]

It is always amazing how people, who say they love and serve God, duck and weave when it comes to tithing.
O.K. so there is no direct reference to tithing in the N.T. Are the 10 Commandment no longer in force? Was Jesus only talking to Jews when He rebuked the Pharisees for their doings apart from tithing? 23
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
The New King James Version. . Mt 23:23-28
If indeed He is warning us about ourselves, then He must also be telling us we need to tithe.
The benefits of tithing are not the reason to tithe, but they can be expected; because God has promised the benefits.
"give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
New Revised Standard Version. Lk 6:38
Oh yes I know there will be those who say that is only to do with forgiveness.
Is salvation relating only to our spirit? I think not, it is to do with our whole being. So giving is related to all our giving and forgiving.
But if you don't want the benefits of tithing and giving, that's your choice, but don't prevent anyone else from receiving the blessings that come from it.

 

[Strong in Him]

It is always amazing how people, who say they love and serve God, duck and weave when it comes to tithing.

Who's ducking and weaving? We're saying that there is no NT command to tithe, and that the tithe that the Jews were required to give under their law does not apply to us in the same way today.

As Daniels has said, tithing means a tenth. Some people give 10%, others give less, some give more. The early church shared all their possessions so that they could give to those in need and the poor widow was also commended by Jesus for giving all that she had. Paul says that each of us must give what we have decided before God it is right to give, and that the Lord loves a cheerful giver.

But if you don't want the benefits of tithing and giving, that's your choice, but don't prevent anyone else from receiving the blessings that come from it.

Again, who's preventing anyone from receiving anything?
If Scripture does not give a command about tithing - who here can say that we should or shouldn't do it? We are having a discussion about it, that's all, as requested by the OP. Do carry on tithing - I'm delighted that you have decided that this is right for you and are being blessed by God. But by the same token, don't criticise those who have decided it is not right and therefore do not do it.

 

[theVirginian]

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.