How much do I have to tithe?

July 08, 2009

 

Does the Bible require a Christian to tithe? My pastor says a Christian should give ten percent to the church, but I can’t find that in my Bible. - C.G.

 

Tithing in the church has often been a source of confusion and debate, so I will do my best to offer an overview of the issue as presented in scripture.

First, the word tithe means tenth, as you probably knew. The first use of the word occurs in Gen 14:20, when Abraham gave a tenth of his war spoils to the priest, Melchizedek. Later, God presented the principle of tithing within His Law, beginning in Leviticus 27.

In the Law, there were three distinct kinds of tithing required for Jews. First, Jews were required to tithe to support the Levite priests (Num 18:21-24). Since the priests were devoted entirely to serving the Lord in the temple, tithes were collected from the other tribes to support priests.

Secondly, the Jew gave a second, separate tithe in support of the three festivals of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles (Deut 12; Deut 14:22-26). These three key festivals were funded by the tithes of the Jewish community.

Finally, Jews were instructed to give a third tithe during every third year for the poor as required in Deut 14:28-29. Taken together, all three tithes totaled between twenty to thirty percent of a Jew's income, depending on the year.  

Where did a Jew give their tithe? In Malachi 3:8-10, a Jew was taught to tithe to the "storehouse," which meant the Temple coffers. The Jew brought his gifts to the Temple, and the Temple authorities distributed the funds according to God's Law and direction. Under the Law, the Jew was not free to decide for himself where to direct his tithing but had to give to the Temple.

You may be surprised to know there are no New Testament requirements for tithing. In fact, tithing is a concept limited exclusively to the Law and to the Jewish people. To put it simply, scripture only requires tithing for the Jew living under the Mosaic Law. Scripture never extends or repeats these requirements to a Christian living in the grace and freedom of New Testament faith. Remember, the Christian is not bound by the Law of Moses (Rom 6:14; 7:6; Gal 5:18), therefore we are not obligated to tithe as a Jew was.

Furthermore, there are no scriptures that instruct anyone other than a Jew living under the Law to tithe, because the reasons for tithing no longer exists either. Tithing was intended to support the Levitical priests, the operation of the temple and the observance of the Jewish festivals in Jerusalem. The Levite priesthood and the Temple no longer exist and the festivals are not a part of Christian observance, so the tithe instructions in the Law are irrelevant even for those still attempting to live under the Law. In short, the tithe requirements of the Old Testament do not carry over to a New Testament believer.

Am I saying that a Christian has no obligation to give money to the church or elsewhere? Not at all. The New Testament contains many scriptures encouraging Christians to give generously to the needs of the saints according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, especially in Paul's teaching in 2Corinthians 8. However, the New Testament never specifies how much a believer should give, because for the Christian all financial giving is voluntary and without specific obligation. The believer has liberty in the area of giving just as he does in many other areas of his life.

So does the New Testament given us any direction for how to give?  Yes it does, particularly in one passage found in 1Cor 16:

Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.- 1Cor 16:1-2

Paul begins by saying he gave this same direction (on giving) to the church in Galatia, therefore we can assume he intended this direction to be a model for all Christians. Though I don't believe Paul was trying to give hard and fast rules for how all giving must take place, I do believe we should strongly consider Paul's instructions and follow them unless we believe our circumstances require a different approach. Again, allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in this area.

Paul first directed that giving should be the habit of every individual. In fact, he says that giving is the responsibility of every individual Christian, not just of every Christian household. Even if a household shares a single income, it is still important for everyone in the house to share in the commitment and in the distribution of the family giving. Our pattern of giving should be a habit, in the sense that it should be regular and consistent.

Paul then directed the church in Corinth to give on the first day of every week. Paul wasn't necessarily establishing a rule for what day we should give (though we couldn't go wrong following Paul's suggestion). Rather, I believe Paul was reinforcing the importance of Christian giving to the saints on a regular, consistent basis (e.g., giving weekly).

Paul next specified that our giving be "to the saints." Paul taught that our giving was for the benefit of other Christians, whether for their personal needs or for official ministerial functions. This is similar to the purpose that tithing fulfilled under the Law, when giving was intended to support the Levite priests. Paul's instructions seem to limit Christian giving to Christian individuals or causes, though we can distribute our giving to any group we please for other purposes.

Finally, Paul adds the comment "so that no collections be made when I come." This curious addition suggests Paul was concerned that his arrival might be exploited for the purpose of taking a collection, which created at least two problems for Paul. First, giving based merely on specical circumstances (i.e., Paul's visit) rather than as a result of regular, disciplined sacrifice was unhealthy and unsustainable. Paul didn't want giving to become an exception rather than the rule.

Secondly, Paul was no doubt disturbed by the prospect that his visit would become an occasion for exploiting the people and adding to their financial burdens. Paul wanted his arrival to be refreshing rather than a reason for sacrifice. (Paul's teaching should be a sobering rebuke to any minister who requires an honorarium or other stipend as a prerequisite to teaching or ministering to a body of believers.)

Overall, Paul's instructions give the believer tremendous latitude for determining where to give their money, whether to the local church or missionaries or a Christian friend or neighbor in need or parachurch Christian organizations or all of the above. Paul gives no specific destination for our giving other than "to the saints."

Paul instructs that our giving should be in keeping with our prosperity (v.2, "as he may prosper"). The New Testament believer is to give according to the Spirit, but the specific amount of our giving should vary according to our means. Poor believers will naturally give less than rich believers. Again, Paul didn't specify the amount, but he did connect the Christian's degree of generosity to his prosperity, so we should expect to give more as we earn more.

Finally, our giving is to be done by "putting aside in savings." This is an important (and rarely followed) practice. The literal phrase in Greek in verse 2 means "to store up privately." Paul's expectation was that the believers in Corinth would consistently set aside some of their earnings reserved for the needs of the saints. The believer wouldn’t distribute these funds until a need presented itself, so until there was a need, their weekly giving would remained "stored up" privately.

Giving was conducted this way, in part, because the early church didn't own buildings, nor did it maintain church bank accounts. Therefore, the church wasn't in a position to collect and store tithes. Instead, the money remained in the hands of the individual believer until it was needed for some specific purpose within the Body, at which time each believer would be asked to withdraw some funds from their savings and give it in support of the need. This is why Paul wanted believers to save each week - so that they could be ready to give a donation when asked!

Storing up privately is a perfectly appropriate form of New Testament giving, provided the Christian is self-disciplined enough to store - and distribute - the funds as the Holy Spirit leads. Like all New Testament giving, it should be done freely, without obligation, according to the Holy Spirit and for the benefit of the saints.  

By the way, there is nothing wrong with following the traditional practice of sending ten percent of your income directly to your local church every month, just as many Christians have chosen to do. Any Christian who feels led by the Holy Spirit to contribute in this manner should do so. Just remember there is no Biblical requirement for all Christians to give in this manner. Every believer should guard against falling into any rigid practice of giving that isn't under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Christians are to be Spirit-led, not rule-driven.