Tithing? - Received from J****, September, 2005

Hello, I've been wondering something about tithing. I understand that we are to give 1/10 to God. If we attend a church and don't feel lead to give there, is it suitable to give your 1/10 somewhere else where you are feeling lead to give? You hear so many things I really don't know which way to go.
Thanks, J****

Reply:

Hi J*****, the tithe was something that God used in the Old Testament, and it actually pre-dated the Old Testament giving of the Law, Abraham gave tithes of all the spoils of war he collected, even long before God gave the Law at Mount Sinai.

In the New Testament, it is not 10%, it is everything! If we are the bride of Christ, what kind of a bride would we be if we only gave 10% of ourself to our husband? Not a very good one I think. God wants us to give all of ourselves to Him, and if all Christians did that, how much better off the testimony of Christians would be in this world.

In the Old Testament, God said in Malachi 3:10 "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

Because of this, some churches preach "storehouse tithing" saying that all you give has to go to your local church. That is taking the passage out of context. In that situation in Malachi, God's people were totally ignoring giving Him anything, or else if they gave anything, it was a sick animal, a flawed offering, etc. They had a very cynical, disrespectful attitude toward God.

For Christians, we ought to give the best we have to God. Our offering is a form of worship. We give Him an offering because He is worthy of everything we have, and since our money is really important to us, what we do with our money shows where our hearts are. If we are stingy, then that particular aspect of our worship will reveal it. We ought to give God the best praise, we ought to sing our praise songs, hymns and choruses with all our heart, what ever we do, we ought to give it our best shot.

But back to giving to a church other than your own church - There ought to be a balance, if you feel like your church is not where you want to give your offering to God, give it to where He leads. (However, if you consistently feel that your church is not where your offering belongs, then why are you staying at that church? Different topic...) There are a lot of good Christian ministries that can be supported. When my daughter was in the Coast Guard, and was on ship, she sent her offering money to Focus on the Family ministries. Sounded reasonable to me.

Some churches actually enforce the tithe, you are required to let them know how much money you make, and then they send you a bill for your 10% to send to the church. That is so unscriptural as to be asinine, ("Can't you just feel the joy?") but I guess some people accept it. Go figure...

If you ever get yourself into a situation where it hurts to give, then - two things: First, rethink your financial priorities. Unless you are out of work or there is illness or something similar, you ought to always be able to give God something. So make sure you are being financially responsible, and not being frivilous.

Second, worship of God ought to always be with joy. If you cannot worship God financially with joy, if it is putting you financially in a bind, if there is a constraint, or you feel legalistic or obligated about it, then don't be hypocritical and give God your money and pretend it is an acceptable offering. (Surely He doesn't need it!)

God wants you to give with a happy heart. 2nd Corinthians 9:7 says "Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver." The word "cheerful" is the Greek hilaros from which we get hilarious, so giving ought to make us joyful! If that is not the case, ask God what to do, and then do as He leads, and the results ought to brighten your day!

Deuteronomy 14:22-29 is a marvelous passage on how God wanted Israel to tithe, and gets more remarkable the more you read it and think about it. It points out that God is faithful, and when His people are obedient to Him, when they live according to His precepts, He will increase and prosper them. Then He tells them to tithe just from off what was increased, only from those areas in which the Lord gave a blessing, and then bring just that tithe to Jerusalem and use that money to rejoice before Him, celebrate His goodness, and also to share it with strangers and those with less, as a testimony that God is gracious. That's what it's all about. We bless God because He blesses us first. Christ has given us all things - what are we willing to give Him?

God Bless you, and thanks for asking -
richard