Mark 10:17-22 - And
when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to
him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal
life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but
one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do
not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy
father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I
observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him,
One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and
follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had
great possessions.
Now, imagine that you
had gone to Jesus, and he told you the same thing? Could you sale your house,
your car, everything you own? Could you empty out your retirement and give
everything to the poor? Now, imagine your church and your pastor being asked
the same thing. Would they sale their church building, land, buses, withdraw
all bank accounts, and give to the poor? Would they part with their pews? Would
the pastor and staff give up their houses and give them to the poor? I asked
first about yourself, before I asked about the church. Your heart needs to be
right before God before we start going after the churches.
This question Jesus
asked is loaded! Applying the question to your own life causes fear, anxiety,
and apprehension. Why? Because when you give up everything, your day-to-day
trust has to be upon God to provide even the simplest of needs. The Church is
no different. Being a body of believers, and not a building on land, it should
be willing to part with everything to follow Jesus. The pastor, staff, elders
(if the church has Biblical governance), should be willing to clean out the
church bank accounts in a second to further the Kingdom of God. Is the church
willing to forsake all and follow Jesus, or are they going away from him
grieved, because they have a big building, lots of land, many buses,
comfortable pews, and a large bank account?
If their heart is right
before God, and God allows the church to use its finances to further His
kingdom, then how does a church pay for things such as buildings, land,
utilities, salaries, missionaries, and so on. The answer is money collected
from church members. Tithing is the most common method churches today collect
money.
Tithing is one of the
stickiest subjects in evangelical churches. In looking at tithing, we will
stick to the Bible and call a “spade a spade”, calling things what they really
are.
Required or forced
tithing is when a church requires its membership to give 10% of income to the
local church, typically gross (before taxes). Optional tithing is when the
church encourages the giving of 10%, but will not tie it to Biblical commands
or make it a requirement for membership, deacons, elders, or staff. They often
allow their members to choice where the tithe goes, not making it a requirement
that it goes to the local church.
Required or forced
tithing is very common, though pastors will refuse to call it that because of
the negative connotations it brings. However, anytime a church claims the Bible
requires believers to tithe, it then becomes forced tithing. A church does not
have to “beat its members” to have forced tithing. Calling non-tithers sinners,
selfish, disobedient, and making them feel guilty is forced tithing. Denial of
church positions such as deacon or worship leader to non-tithers is forced
tithing. Passages such as Malachi 3 are preached on regularly (and
out of scriptural context), causing members to think they are robbing God by
not giving 10% gross to the local church (the storehouse).
The New Testament is
mostly silent on tithing as a church practice, with the focus on giving.
Therefore, those who require tithing often turn to the Old Testament and the
Law. Now there are three parts to the Law: Moral Law, Levitical Law, and
National Law. The law is a whole discussion on its own, but examples of Moral
Law would be the Ten Commandments, Levitical Law would be animal sacrifices,
and National Law would be laws to govern Israel, such as the requirements to
have cities of refuge.
Tithing is very commonly
mentioned in Levitical Law and National Law. Leviticus 27:31 requires double
tithes if money is used to tithe, while Deuteronomy 14:22-29 and Deuteronomy
26:12 orders the tithing yearly cycles that exceed the
10%. Basically, when you boil it down, under the Law, tithing was
used to support the Tribe of Levi (who had no land and where the priests and
teachers), as well as a means to provide for widows, orphans, and so on.
Interesting enough, most Biblical Scholars agree that Levitical and National
Tithing Laws exceeded 10%. Even the Southern Baptist recognize this
problem, so they attempt to tie it to moral law. “The incorporation of
the tithe into the Scriptures recognizes it as a part of the enduring moral law
of God, which applies to all those who would do the will of God in every
century of time. Therefore it is a part of the religious duty of all Christians
(Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists Volume 2, Page 1418). This avoids
James 2:10, for I have yet to see any church obey all the tithing laws
perfectly. However, tying tithing to moral law is a stretch, forcing people
like the Southern Baptist to turn to Abraham giving 10% of the loot (he got
from the defeat of the invading kings) to Melchizedek, king of Salem
(Genesis 14 and Hebrews 7). Giving 10% is a precedent set by Abraham we should
certainly acknowledge and respect. However, this does not make tithing moral
law. Hebrews 7 is a great study, but nearly every single writer I have ever read
state the theme is a better priesthood, Jesus, the best, last great High
Priest.
Biblically, required
tithing is wrong and should not be taught in any church. We are under the New
Covenant. We are under Grace. In the New Testament, giving willfully is what is
encouraged. Willful tithing is fine, for it gives a percent of income back to
God and does have a Biblical precedent, as we saw earlier with Abraham. It
should be noted, nowhere does the Bible state or imply that Abraham was
required to give 10% of the spoils and return the rest to the kings of Sodom
and Gomorrah. Abraham’s heart and why he did what he did is what is examined in
Hebrews 7, not the 10%.
What does the Bible tell
us about giving?
II Corinthians 9:7
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not
grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. Notice
“as he purposes”. Paul could have easily added 10% here, or mentioned a tithe,
but he did not. If it was moral law, there is no chance Paul would NOT have
mentioned it. Other verses on giving:
Matthew 6:3-4 –
"But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what
your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your
Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you." How many
churches track the givers? How many use their giving data to decide who will be
deacons?
Luke 3:11 He
answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him
that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Giving of
one coat if you have only two is 50%. Sharing food implies 50%. Would you cut
10% off your steak, 10% off your potato, and give that to your hungry neighbor?
Acts 20:35 –
"In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must
help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said,
'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" I have heard
churches state your 10% goes to the church before you help someone in desperate
need (that money comes from your pocket after the tithe). Wrong! If I was your
pastor, I would tell you to go help them first, and invite them to church. God
will provide the needs for the church somehow if we fall short because your
money went to help someone in need. I would rather turn off the AC and sweat in
the pew Sunday morning, than see a desperate neighbor in need turned away.
In summary, churches
forcing members to tithe 10% gross to the local storehouses as a requirement to
please God is wrong and not even close to being Biblical. Encouraging and
teaching generosity, even beyond a tithe, is what the church should be doing.
Encouraging members to give to neighbors in need, helping the poor, the widows,
and the orphans, is what a church should do. Supporting your local church is
good and needed, but it should be done willfully and generously.
- Author Joel Bouriaque
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