Criswell Theological
Review 2.1 (1987) 85-97.
Copyright © 1987 by The
ARE CHRISTIANS SUPPOSED
TO
TITHE?
GEORGE B. DAVIS
Malachi
(ca. 430 B.C.), speaking prophetically for God,l charged
that the Israelites had actually defrauded God (Mal
3:8-9) with re-
spect to both
"tithes" (ma’aser)2
and "offerings" (teruma).3 The main
verb (qaba’), which
occurs only here (four times in 3:8-9) and in
Prov 22:23 (twice), means "to rob, to defraud,
to overreach."4 It
l
Out of a total of 55 verses, 47 are first-person addresses of the Lord to
J.
Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi (Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1972) 216.
2 Mosaic
legislation regarding the tithe is found primarily in three places. (1)
Ac-
cording to Lev 27:30-33, a tithe of the crops,
of the fruit of the trees, and of the herd or
flock had to be given. The tithe of the grain or
fruit could be redeemed, i.e., bought
back by the owner, at one fifth above the market value
(v 31). Regarding the flock or
herd, however, the tithe was determined by passing
the increase of the cattle under the
rod, with every tenth animal, whether perfect or
defective, being reckoned as the tithe.
(2)
Num 18:21-32 further specifies that the tithe of the produce of the ground and
of
the cattle be assigned to the Levites, who in turn
were to give a tenth of their receipts,
i.e.,
a tithe of the tithe, to Aaron, who, as the head of the priests, represented
the whole
priesthood (vv 26-28). (3) Deut 12:5-18 further
specifies that a tithe (possibly a
"second" tithe) was to be brought to an appointed
sanctuary (later
year for a festival celebration, a sacred meal to be
shared by the family, the household
servants, and the Levites. If the distance to the
sanctuary was too great, the tithe could
be exchanged for money, with the offerer using the money to purchase whatever was
needed for the festive meal upon arrival (Deut
14:22-27). Every third year this special
tithe was to be stored in one's respective hometown,
with the stranger, the fatherless,
and the widow, as well as the Levites, sharing in
the goods as needed (Deut 14:28-29).
After
bringing his tithes, the offerer was to go to the
sanctuary and make a declaration
of honesty and ask the Lord's blessings upon his
tithes (Deut 26:12-15).
3 The "heave offerings"
(teruma)
denoted the priestly portions of the sacrifices
enumerated in Lev 7:32-33 and Num 18:8-19.
4 W. C. Kaiser, Jr., Malachi: God's Unchanging Love (
1984) 89.
86 CRISWELL
THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
occurs more frequently in Talmudic literature and
carries the mean-
ing "to take
forcibly."5 Such a picture is almost incomprehensible--
insignificant man attempting to cheat
and swindle the Omnipotent
God!
The pronoun "me" in v 9 is emphatic, stressing the fact that God
Himself, not just the Levites or the
The Word of God has much to say
about money matters, because
money matters. The fundamental principle of the tithe
(one-tenth of
the increase of produce of the ground or livestock)
was the recogni-
tion on the part of the
Israelites that all their possessions ultimately
belonged to God. This acknowledgment of God's
ownership was
accomplished through the tithe, in
that the surrender of the tenth
symbolized the consecration of the whole. Since the
emphasis in Mal
3:10
is on the "whole" (kol) tithe, the Israelites apparently had been
offering only portions of the prescribed amounts.
Because Malachi's accusations are
found in the OT, they often
have been dismissed as either irrelevant or inapplicable
to the con-
temporary Christian. But, could believers today be
just as guilty as the
Israelites of Malachi's day? Could sincere
Christians, unknowingly
and unintentionally, be defrauding God at the
offering plate? To pose
the question more specifically and succinctly--are
Christians sup-
posed to tithe? In an effort to be both objective and
thorough, the
principle of the tithe will be examined from two
perspectives.
I. Why Some Christians Don't Tithe
The matter of tithing does constitute
a real problem for many
sincere Christians. They simply are not sure if
tithing is an appropriate
scriptural practice for believers today, or if they
should simply prac-
tice what is commonly called
"grace giving," i.e., an undesignated
amount. What arguments do contemporary Christians most
frequently
give for not tithing?
Tithing Is Legalistic
Non-tithing Christians quite often
seek to exonerate themselves
by saying that tithing is legalistic and that
Christians are no longer
"under the Law." What is often overlooked, however, is
the fact that
tithing came into the biblical picture long
before the Law was given
through Moses. Two passages merit attention.
Gen
14:18-20. The first mention of tithing in the Bible is found
in Genesis 14. When
5 E. Cashdan,
"Malachi," The Twelve Prophets
(London: Soncino, 1961) 351.
6 Kaiser, Malachi, 00.
armed his 318 "desert berets" and pursued
the captors. Upon his
victorious return, Abraham was met by that
mysterious king-priest
Melchizedek.7
Spontaneously Abraham gave tithes of all the spoils to
Melchizedek.
The fact that not one word of question was raised
concerning the patriarch's action obviously indicates
that tithing was
an accepted principle of worship in Abraham's day,
long before the
existence of any Mosaic commandment to do so. In
retrospect, Paul
viewed Abraham as the classic exemplar of
justification by faith;8
never once was he labeled a "legalist."
Gen
28:20-22. A second example of pre-Mosaic tithing is found
in Genesis 28. In response to God's anticipated watchcare and provi-
sion, Jacob vowed, " . .
. of all that thou shalt give me I will surely
give the tenth unto thee" (v 22). No details
are given as to why Jacob
specified a tenth rather than some other percent.
Neither is anything
said as to how the tithe would be given. Further,
nothing is specified
regarding to whom the tithe would be given, i.e.,
who would receive
it in God's stead.
The important thing to remember in
both patriarchal episodes
is the common denominator, namely--that tithing
was a recognized
and accepted practice of worship centuries before
Mosaic legislation
commanded it. Nevertheless, many well-meaning Christians
have so
welded the tithe to the Law that they have refused to
acknowledge
that the practice of the tithe predates the giving
of the Law by at least
600
years. Just as the patriarchs gave the tithe before the Law without
being branded as legalists, should not Christians be
able to do the
same after the Law without the taint of legalism? If
a believer is not
careful, he can easily fall into the trap of
categorizing obedience to
any of God's statutes as legalism.
Tithing is OT
This is the most prevalent reason
for not tithing. The church is
besieged today by those who say that the tithe,
even though it was
practiced before the Law and incorporated into the
Law, should not
be considered a valid requirement for the present.
"Grace giving" is
advocated as being far superior. Any attempt to
solve the dilemma
must address several issues.
Jesus and the Tithe. Opponents of tithing often make the
state-
ment that, as far as the
gospel records go, Jesus never commanded his
7 Melchizedek is best
identified as an OT type of Christ, though some competent
conservative scholars interpret this
event as a Christophany, an appearance of the pre-
incarnate Christ (cf. Ps 110:4; Heb 5:6,10; 6:20,
7:1,10-11,15,17,21).
8 Cf.
Romans 4; Galatians 3.
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CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
disciples to tithe. Consequently, believers today
should feel no com-
pulsion or obligation
whatsoever to give at least a tenth of their
income to the work of the Lord. To be sure, Jesus
never specifically
commanded his disciples to tithe. But if the
argument from silence is
deemed definitive, one could just as easily conclude
that Jesus whole-
heartedly endorsed the practice of the tithe
because nowhere did He
specifically command his disciples
"not to tithe."
Jesus' attitude toward the tithe is
contingent upon His overall
attitude toward the Law, which is summed up in
Matt 5:17-19:
Think not that I am come to destroy
the law, or the prophets; I am not
come to
destroy, but to fulfill.
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle
shall in no
wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Whosoever therefore shall break one
of these least commandments, and
shall teach
men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven:
but
whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in
the kingdom
of heaven.
Jesus'
problem was not with the Law per se. Jesus' problem was with
the scribes and Pharisees' wooden interpretation of
the Law. Jesus'
advocacy of a freedom from legalism is not to be
understood as a
freedom from the Law.9 A necessary
distinction must always be made
between Jesus' attitude toward the Law and His
attitude toward a
legalistic and Pharisaical interpretation of it.
Matt 5:17-19 demon-
strates Jesus' uncompromising
acceptance of the authority of the OT,
even to the minute details.10 Jesus vehemently disavowed the charges
of the legalists that He had charted a course
which would result in the
obliteration of the Law.
Additionally, Jesus' vituperative
upbraiding of the scribes and
Pharisees
for their meticulous approach to tithing is often cited as
evidence that Jesus was opposed to tithing:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for ye pay tithes of
mint and anise
and cumin, 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 (Matt 23:23).11
9 A similar analogy can
be observed in Paul's warning to the Antinomians (cf.
Rom
6:1-2). Paul's advocacy of liberty was not to be construed as license.
10 Cf. Matt 5:18.
"Jot" is a reference to the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet,
the yod. "Tittle" refers to
the small extension on a Hebrew letter which differentiates
one letter from another.
11 Also cf. the parallel
in Luke 11:42.
Once
again, the distinction between Jesus' attitude toward
the tithe
and His attitude toward the Pharisees' legalistic
interpretation of it
must be made. Furthermore, the very fact that Jesus
said "not to leave
the other undone" actually puts Jesus in the
position of confirming
and commending the tithe.
Paul and the Tithe. Non-tithing
Christians are also quick to
point out that Paul did not mention tithing a single
time in any of his
epistles. On the surface this might appear to be
strong evidence. But
arguments from silence are always precarious. To
conclude that Paul
was against tithing simply because the word dekate does not
occur in
his epistles is an erroneous and misleading
assumption. To be consis-
tent, one might as well aver that Paul did not
believe in eternal
punishment because the word "hell" (hades, geenna, or tartaros) does
not occur in any of his letters.12 That
Paul both encouraged and
commended sacrificial giving on the part of God's
people needs little
documentation.
The Writer of Hebrews and the Tithe.
Of further significance is
the fact that the writer of Hebrews appealed to the
priesthood of
Melchizedek
as being a type of the eternal priesthood of Christ13 and
then proceeded to discuss the principle of the
tithe:
Now consider how great this man was
unto whom even the patriarch
Abraham gave the tenth of the
spoils.
And verily they that are of the sons
of Levi, who receive the office of the
priesthood,
have a commandment to take tithes of the people according
to the law,
that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of
Abraham:
But he whose descent is not counted
from them received tithes of
Abraham, and blessed him that had
the promises.
And without all contradiction the
less is blessed of the better (Heb
7:4- 7).
12 Paul's lone use of hades in 1 Cor 15:55 denotes the earthly grave, not the place
of eternal punishment.
13 The priesthood of
Melchizedek serves as a type of the priesthood of Christ in at
least three aspects: (1) in the person of Melchizedek
the offices of king and priest were
combined (cf. Gen 14:18), (2) Melchizedek
represents a man ordained by God as a
priest irrespective of genealogical credentials (Heb
7:3); the priesthood of Christ is
similar in that He was of the tribe of
(3)
the priesthood of Melchizedek both began and ended in
himself, i.e., there is no
evidence of any priestly lineage in Melchizedek's
family either prior to or subsequent to
that of Melchizedek.
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The
important deduction to be made is that Abraham paid tithes to
One
who is described by the author of Hebrews as being greater than
Abraham (v 7). When Melchizedek
received the tithes, he obviously
was acting in the place of God, even if the
position is adopted that he
was not the pre-incarnate Christ. The point is
simply this--just as
Abraham
paid homage to Melchizedek with his tithes, believers today
are encouraged to pay homage to their Eternal High
Priest and King,
Jesus
Christ. The tithe, then, becomes a continual expression of love
and devotion to Christ until He returns.
Furthermore, the writer of Hebrews
carried the analogy one step
further:
And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in
Abraham.
For he was yet in the loins of his
father, when Melchizedek met him
(Heb 7:9-10).
The
superiority of the Melchizedekian priesthood over
that of Aaron
is demonstrated by the fact that Levi was in the
loins of his great-
grandfather Abraham when Abraham brought tithes to
Melchizedek.
That
the sons of Levi, who later constituted the Levitical
priesthood,
paid tithes unto Melchizedek 600 years before the
Law strongly sug-
gests that the tithe is to be viewed as an eternal
principle and not a
dispensational one.
A similar principle is observed
regarding the Sabbath day. Long
before the Law stated, "Remember the Sabbath day,
to keep it holy"
(Exod 20:8), God
Himself had hallowed and consecrated it (Gen 2:3).
Thus,
the principle that one day in seven is to be set apart as a day of
rest and worship is an eternal principle. What
predated the Law was
incorporated into the Law and also
practiced after the Law. The same
should be true of the tithe.
Debts Come First
Quite often a Christian will say,
"I can't afford to tithe; I am too
far in debt." Some have gone so far as to say
that they considered it a
sin to tithe until they were out of debt.
Realistically, many Christians
are in debt--either short-term or long-term,
probably both. To say
that it is dishonest to tithe until all debts are
paid is simply a futile
exercise in procrastination.
A person often gets into financial
bondage by violating scriptural
principles; it is not likely that he will extricate
himself by continuing
to do so. The fact still remains that, regardless
of how many bills a be-
liever may have, the firstfruits of his income still belong to the Lord.
Cannot Afford to Tithe
Satan has convinced no small number
of the Body of Christ that
they cannot afford to tithe. For example, a
struggling student or a
young couple just married might easily rationalize
that God does not
expect someone to tithe if he has a meager income.
Some believers
excuse their negligence on the grounds that when all
the bills for the
month are paid, nothing is left. Others have gone so
far as to say that
tithing even puts a hardship on the poor, and
thus they should be
exempt.
Tithing is one of the most equitable
arrangements in the world.
R.
T. Kendall, in addressing this very objection, stated:
The poor man has to pay as much for
food as the rich man. The poor
man has to
pay the same for a gallon of gas as does the rich. But if the
poor man
has a smaller income, he has a smaller tithe. . . .
Tithing therefore gives dignity to
every man. It breaks the socio-
economic
barrier. It cuts across any class system. . . . My 10% might be
considerably
less than someone else's, but that other person will not be
more
favored than I in the sight of God. Tithing is a demonstration that
God is no respecter of persons.14
Perhaps the ultimate question to ask
is not "Can I afford to tithe?"
but rather, "Can I afford to rob God?"
The widow's offering of two
mites (Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4) serves as a
stinging reminder that
no one is too poor to tithe. The coin alluded to
in this case was the
Jewish lepton,
a small coin worth less than a penny. Jesus' commen-
tary on the widow's giving
is most instructive:
. . . Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than
all they
which have cast into the treasury; For all they did cast in of their
abundance;
but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her
living
(Mark 12:43:44).
It is highly unlikely that God will
trust His child with more
money if He cannot trust him with what he has now.
Jesus concluded
the parable of the dishonest steward with a solemn
exhortation:
He that is faithful in that which is
least is faithful also in much.
If therefore ye have not been
faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who
will commit
to your trust the true riches (Luke 16:10-11).
14 R. T. Kendall, Tithing: A Can to Serious, Biblical Giving
(
Zondervan, 1982) 94.
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CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
Dissatisfaction With Expenditures
Perchance someone has been overheard
to say, "I don't like what
the church does with my money," or "I
quit tithing because the
church wastes so much money," or "I don't
see why we spend so
much money on the young people." What should a
member do when
he feels that his church is irresponsible
regarding the expenditure of
its monies. Two matters must necessarily be kept in
juxtaposition.
First,
every believer must recognize "that the tithe is the Lord's money
and not his own, and that each individual is
personally responsible
and accountable unto God for his giving. Likewise,
every church is
accountable unto God for the expenditure of the
tithes and offerings
which are given in good faith by God's people.
Regarding the former,
one should not refuse to tithe because of personal
disagreement in the
allocation of funds, as long as the expenditure in
question is not a vio-
lation of scriptural teaching
and the funds have been duly authorized
by the church. Doubtless the poor widow of Mark 12
could have
refused to give and rationalized her negligence
by saying, "I don't
want those scribes and Pharisees getting any of my
money"! Scripture
views the tithe as being the Lord's money, and
failure in monetary
stewardship is tantamount to defrauding God. On the
other hand,
scriptural principles also mandate that every
church be accountable
unto God for the disbursement of its monies. How a
church handles
its finances is important; money is always sacred
trust. When Paul was
collecting the love offering for the "poor
saints in
reminded the Corinthian church of this truth:
Avoiding this, that no man would
blame us in this abundance which is
administered
by us;
Providing for honest things, not
only in the sight of the Lord, but also in
the sight
of men (2 Cor 8:20-21).
Thus, if a member finds himself in
disagreement with a certain
item in the church budget, his immediate response
should not be to
stop giving; rather, he should go to the budget
committee (or who-
ever is responsible) and seek a clarification and
resolution of the
matter. Doubtless in some cases priorities do need to
be reconsidered
and monies redirected. Nevertheless, faithful
biblical stewardship
must always rise above the personal and the petty.
II. Why All Christians Should Tithe
Sooner or later every serious follower
of Christ must reckon with
the matter of his monetary stewardship. As money is
the coinage of
life, any misuse of money becomes tantamount to a
misuse of life.
Why
should a believer resolve in his heart, not only to tithe, but to go
as far beyond the tithe as his resources will
allow? The Scriptures give
at least six reasons.
To Glorify God
One of the ways in which Christians
honor and glorify God is
through faithful stewardship. The wisdom of Solomon still stands-
"Honor
the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all
thine increase" (Prov 3:9). Faithful stewardship honors the Lord,
whereas negligence dishonors Him.
What is more disgraceful than a
church which has to resort to
bingo games, raffles, lotteries and the like to
carryon the Lord's
work? Such schemes bring shame to the cause of
Christ and certainly
can never be pleasing to the Lord. Jesus basically
narrowed life's
choices to two-God and mammon:
No man can serve two masters; for
either he will hate the one, and love
the other;
or else, he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye
cannot
serve God and mammon (Matt 6:24).
In
the final analysis, a person either loves God and uses money, or else
he loves money and uses God.
To Express Love for
Jesus
One's checkbook is somewhat like a
"spiritual cardiogram." It
records the movements of the heart; it gives a
printout on what the
heart is doing. A person can certainly give without
loving, but he
cannot love without giving. One's giving is simply a
tangible way of
expressing one's love for Jesus. The Apostle Paul
reminded the Corin-
thian church that their
generous participation in the offering for the
Jerusalem
Christians would be "proof" of their love (2 Cor
8:8,24).
To Receive the Blessings
Which God Desires to Give
Strange as it may seem, some people
tithe in order to get more
out of God. One might call this the "slot
machine" syndrome. You put
something in to get more out. The person who
tithes in order to
obligate God should realize that motives are just
as important to God
as actions. But when motives are noble, faithful
stewardship puts the
child of God in a position to receive the blessings
which God has
promised:
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 (Mal 3:10).
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Tithing
is not God's way of raising money; it is God's way of raising
children.
Paul exhorted the Ephesian elders to remember the words of the
Lord
Jesus, how He said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive"
(Acts 20:35). "Blessed"
denotes "happiness," and happiness is predi-
cated upon giving. It is
through giving that the child of God becomes
the recipient of the blessings which the Father
desires to give.
To Grow In Faith
Tithing evidences one's faith. Quite
often a Christian will say, "I
can't afford to tithe; I'm too far in debt; but as
soon as I get out of
debt, the Lord can count on me." Paul had to
remind the Corinthian
Christians
that faithful stewardship is predicated on faith:
He which soweth
sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which
soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully (2 Cor 9:6).
Now he that ministereth
seed to the sower both minister bread for your
food, and
multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your
righteousness
(2 Cor 9:10).
Just
as the farmer plants his seed in the soil, trusting God for the
sunshine and the rain and the eventual harvest,
the child of God is to
demonstrate a like faith regarding his material
possessions. The law of
the harvest is threefold--you reap what you sow,
more than you sow,
but not until you sow.
Many Christians have difficulty in
finding God's will for their lives
in the area of finances. What pastor has not heard
a new convert say,
"I
know I ought to tithe, but I just can't seem to get started." A young
Christian
can be encouraged to grow in the grace of giving by making
a faith promise to God:
In recognition of God's ownership of
my time, abilities, money, material
possessions,
and family, and in response to my love for Christ, and with
the Lord's
help, I will do my best to give a minimum of one-tenth of my
total
income to the Lord through my local church.
To Support the
Ministries of the
In the OT the tithes were brought to
the tabernacle (Num 18:21-
24)
or appointed sanctuary (Deut 12:5-18), and later to
the temple (2
Chron 31:11-12). Following the Babylonian exile, the
second temple
had special storehouses for the tithes:
For the children of
of the
corn, of the new wine, and the oil, unto the chambers, where
are the
vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the
porters,
and the singers: and we will not forsake the house of our God
(Neh
10:39).
That the “storehouse principle” was
carried over into the NT
church is evidenced from several passages:
Neither was there any among them
that lacked: for as many as were
possessors
of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the
things that
were sold.
And laid them down at the apostles'
feet: and distribution was made
unto every
man according as he has need (Acts 4:34-35).
Now concerning the collection for
the saints, as I have given order to the
churches of
Upon the first day of the week let
every one of you lay by him in store,
as God hath
prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come
(1 Cor 16:1-2).
The
obvious deduction from such passages is twofold: (1) the offer-
ings were brought to the
local church, and (2) the monies were
administered and controlled by the
local church. If God has ordained
that “they which preach the gospel should live of
the gospel” (1 Cor.
9:14),
the most logical conclusion is that the ministry of a local church
should be financed by the tithes and offerings of its
members.
Does this mean that Christians
should not support biblically-
based ministries other than the local church? No.
Although the ques-
tion is not addressed per se
in the NT, the most reasonable and
acceptable answer would be that such ministries
should be supported
with monies above and beyond the tithe. In regard to
this matter, two
factors should be kept in mind: (1) no ministry
is ever mentioned in
the NT that was not directly related to a local
church, and (2) if local
churches flounder, even worthy para-church organizations will even-
tually fail.
To Emulate the NT
Pattern of Giving
Though specific and explicit requirements
regarding the tithe are
lacking in the NT, the principles of stewardship
advocated therein are
both revealing and instructive. In the NT no less
than five distinct
characteristics are set forth regarding
Christian giving. Acceptable
stewardship should be: (1) generous, (2)
sacrificial, (3) voluntary,
(4)
cheerful, and (5) systematic.
Generous. Many well-meaning
Christians are of the opinion that
they cannot afford to be generous. In contrast,
however, believers
must be willing to claim the promises of God's Word:
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Give, and it shall be given unto
you; good measure, pressed down, and
shaken
together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For
with the
same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you
again (Luke
6:38).
Generosity is not determined by
one's ability to give. Often Christians
mistakenly assume that they would give more if they
had more, but
wealth does not necessarily make one generous.
Sacrificial. Needless to say,
some giving which might be con-
sidered generous in the eyes of
man would not be deemed sacrificial
in the sight of God. The widow's offering of the
two mites (Mark
12:41-44;
Luke 21:1-4) serves as a constant reminder that
Christian
giving should be sacrificial. Sacrificial giving is
measured, not by what
is given, but by what remains. Further, the
apostle Paul commended
the Macedonians for their magnanimous giving, even
when they didn't
have it to spare:
How that in a great trial of affliction
the abundance of their joy and their
deep
poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
For to their power, I bear record,
yea, and beyond their power they
were
willing of themselves (2 Cor 8:2-3).
Voluntary. Voluntary and
spontaneous giving is illustrated count-
less times in the NT. When Jesus sat in the house of
Simon the leper at
ointment upon his head (Matt 26:7). Likewise, the
early church was
noted for its voluntary and spontaneous giving as
needs arose (cf.
Acts 2:45; 4:34-37). Paul reminded the
church at
tian giving was not to be
done of necessity (2 Cor 9:7). Giving
motivated only by necessity obviously is not
pleasing to God.
Cheerful. All voluntary giving is
not necessarily cheerful giving.
Though
fear is not wrong in and of itself, some people are afraid that
if they don't give God precisely ten percent, God
will get "His due"
through some other means-doctor bills,
automobile repairs, posses-
sions stolen, and the like.
Such reasoning hardly comes from the Holy
Spirit
and is certainly less than desirable. Scriptural giving is “. . . . not
grudgingly, nor of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver" .(2 Cor
9:7).
The word translated "cheerful" (hilaron) is the
word from which
the English word "hilarious" is derived.
It carries the idea of "joy,"
"excitement," "thrill." God Himself is this
kind of giver, and He takes
delight in seeing His children mimic their
Father. A cheerful giver is
one who can truthfully sing, "Take my silver
and my gold, not a mite
would I withhold"!
Systematic. The Christian should
also be systematic in his giving.
Paul
exhorted the Corinthian church—“Upon the first day of the week
let every one of you lay by him in store. . ."
(1 Cor 16:2). There are
two very practical reasons for such an injunction;
(1) it is easier for
the average person to give small sums weekly than
to give large sums
monthly, quarterly, or annually, and (2) the
financial obligations of
the church, to a large degree, occur on a weekly if
not monthly basis.
In
the light of these NT principles, what believer would want to
give less than ten percent of his income to the
Lord. What Christian
redeemed by the blood of the Lamb would want to
lower the stan-
dard to five percent or two
percent or to whatever he feels ..led" to
give?
III.
Conclusion
Are Christians supposed to tithe? In
my view--the answer is yes.
Though
some might conclude that tithing is not an explicit teaching of
the NT, the preponderance of accumulative evidence
suggests that
tithing is a deduced teaching of the NT. But
even when one deter-
mines that tithing is a valid scriptural practice for
believers today,
several admonitions are in order:
1.
Tithing must never be seen as a means of obtaining righteousness
or gaining right
standing before God. Paul warned that “by the
works of the law
shall no flesh be justified.” (Gal 2;16)
2.
Tithing must never become a “legalistic standard.” Tithing should
always serve as
the starting point, not the finish line. Many be-
lievers,
while beginning with the tithe as a bench mark, have
experienced the
joy and blessing of going well beyond the tithe in
their monetary
stewardship.
3.
Biblical stewardship must always be viewed with wide-angle
lenses.
Stewardship involves money, but it goes far beyond dimes
and dollars.
Christian stewardship involves the totality of the be-
liever's
life-his time, his money, his talents, his energy, his family,
his business, his
home, etc. When a believer begins to take total
stewardship
seriously, tithing is seen as only one facet of the
Christian's accountability
unto God. Negligence in tithing is not
simply a money
problem; it is a people problem--people profess-
ing
Jesus Christ as Lord, but not recognizing the Lordship of Christ
in their lives.
This material is cited with gracious
permission from:
The
www.criswell.edu
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