LIE # 4 - TITHING
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
-by Andrew Strom.
The word "tithe" literally means 'a tenth'. Today it is used
as a Law in many churches to force Christians to give
one tenth of their income to the church. Many are told
that they are "robbing God" if they do not give at least
this much to the institution they attend each Sunday.
How ironic that most preachers today preach almost
nothing but "grace, grace, grace" except when they
preach on Giving - when suddenly they feel free to load
people with condemnation and guilt. For some reason
this seems to be the one subject where they "lay down
the law". I wonder why? The fact is, in many places the
church machinery relies on this law to force people to
give and keep the whole 'machine' churning along.
But is Tithing a New Testament practice at all? Is it
really for Christians, or is it part of the Old Covenant?
Is there really a law in force stating that all Christians
must give ten percent? Or are we supposed to be
"cheerful givers" - simply giving whatever God has
placed on our hearts?
You may be surprised to learn how little the word 'Tithing'
is even mentioned in the New Testament. In fact, there is
no actual Scripture telling CHRISTIANS to tithe at all.
There is one NT Scripture telling PHARISEES to tithe.
But in all the letters of the apostles to the church, they
never say that this was for Christians. And in the entire
book of Acts (-a history of the first 30 years of the Early
Church) there is NOT EVEN ONE mention of tithing. There
are plenty of examples of people giving money "from the
heart", but NO MENTION of tithing. Isn't that interesting?
Yet people will often quote the words of Jesus to the
Pharisees as though this tells CHRISTIANS to keep
tithing. But it doesn't. Here is what Jesus said: "Woe to
you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
You give a tenth of your spices - mint, dill and cummin.
But you have neglected the more important matters of
the law - justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should
have practiced the latter without neglecting the former."
(Matt 23:23, NIV).
Notice that Jesus refers to these things as "matters of
the law". That is what they are. They are matters of the
Old Testament Law - not part of the New Covenant for
Christians. Jesus Himself referred to them that way.
And notice who he was talking to in the above passage.
He was talking to LAW-KEEPING JEWS who were still
under the OLD COVENANT. (-The New Covenant would
not begin until Jesus died and rose again). So what Jesus
was saying was right - FOR THEM. But not for us - and
not for now.
Yet the Tithing proponents seize on the phrase: "You
should have practiced the latter without neglecting the
former." The reason they seize on this is because it
is the ONLY Scripture they have in the whole New
Testament that even vaguely pushes Tithing! And yet
it is talking to Pharisees!
Let me be clear here. This is their BEST New Testament
Scripture on the subject. They have almost nothing else.
And it is talking to PHARISEES. And it clearly states
that Tithing is a "matter of the law". How dare these
people apply this Scripture to today's Christians? We are
not under Law. The Bible tells us that. What a gall these
people have - making people feel guilty about an Old
Testament Law, just so they can get more money out of
us. How disgraceful.
"You are not under law, but under grace" (Rom 6:14).
"But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under law."
(Gal 5:18).
In fact, the only other passage that really focuses on
Tithing in the New Testament underlines this very point.
At the start of Hebrews 7 there is a passage referring to
tithing in the Old Testament. It clearly states that tithing
is part of the Old Law (v 5). And then it goes on to say:
"The former regulation is set aside because it is weak
and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a
better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to
God." (Heb 7:18-19).
The point that is being made here is that the Old
Covenant was a covenant of "regulations" (like HAVING
to give one tenth) but the New Covenant is a covenant
of the HEART. And we are to give out of a heart
overflowing with the love of God. -NOT because we are
"forced" to give one tenth! The Old Law is gone. We live
under a New Covenant today.
Now another major argument that the Tithing people use is
that "Tithing came before the Law". They use the example
of Abraham and Melchizedek (Gen 14:18-20). Therefore,
they say, it still applies to us today.
Well, I have one simple question for these people: Isn't
it true that CIRCUMCISION came before the Law also?
(See Gen 17). And everyone knows that Circumcision is
treated as part of the Old Law that has been done away
with. It is the same with Tithing. No difference at all.
As we have seen, in every New Testament Scripture
tithing is clearly spoken of as being part of the "OLD LAW".
It is not part of the New Covenant at all. How shameful
that it is being used today to manipulate Christians
into giving ten percent to church institutions. How sad
and totally unscriptural.
As former pastor Bruce Lengeman states in his article
'The Raping of the Tithe': "The title sounds harsh, but I
believe it is fairly accurate due to the damage done by the
erroneous teaching of the doctrine of tithing... Plain and
simple, the doctrine of tithing as it is commonly taught in
the contemporary evangelical, or Bible-believing church is
twisted exegesis!"
So How Then SHOULD WE GIVE?
Today when it comes to 'Giving' we are often preached-to
out of Malachi 3 in the Old Testament, which tells the
Jewish people to "bring the full tithes into the storehouse"
and says that they were "robbing God" and they were
"cursed" if they did not do so. (Mal 3:8-10).
Modern preachers love to equate the 'storehouse' with their
own church(!!), so that they can apply this Scripture to
themselves. But the reality is very different. As Bruce
Lengeman states: "The 'storehouse' of Malachi has no
likeness to the church structure of today. The storehouse
was neither a place of assembly, nor a place of worship. It
was merely a storehouse for tithed goods to be distributed
to Levites, who had no inheritance, and also to widows,
strangers, and orphans."
How very different to the guilt-trip that we are hearing today!
And when we get to the Book of Acts we find that indeed
MOST OF THE MONEY that came in actually went to
feed and clothe the poor and the widows. In fact, it was
a common practice for the Christians to sell any spare
possessions and lay the money at the apostles' feet, for
distribution to the poor. (See Acts 4:32-37). What love
these people demonstrated! And this was true giving
"from the HEART", not from some "LAW" that told them
how much to give.
There is also plenty of support in the New Testament for
giving to those who minister the gospel. (See 1 Cor 9:13-14,
1 Tim 5:17, etc.) But there is a far greater emphasis on
giving to the widows and orphans.
What I believe God would have us do today is be led by
the Holy Spirit in our giving. Find ways to give to the poor
and the widows in an effective way. (-For instance, some
Christian charities like 'Open Doors' support persecuted
Christian widows in Islamic countries, etc). Also find
effective Christian ministries to give to.
In many ways the 'local church storehouse' concept is a
deceptive fallacy. The fact is, there was no such thing
as "church buildings" in the New Testament anyway, so
how could that be the 'storehouse'? We need to give
where God leads us - with a truly cheerful heart.
As one of my readers wrote to me recently:
"You sent an email about 2 months ago that convicted me
that giving was to be based on the New Testament model -
giving cheerfully as we purpose - instead of being under the
law. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. I have
found that since I give cheerfully whenever Father shows
me to give that I have had my socks blessed off. I was
always giving 10% to my local church and never seeing any
great results. I became convicted that my worship leader
needed the money so out of a strong conviction to give it to
him I did so. I found that suddenly at work my sales went
through the roof. Before I was doing so poorly I was close
to losing my job. I know the only difference is following the
Holy Spirit and doing what He tells me with my money
based on the New Testament example."
AMEN!!
If you want to reply to this article or join this discussion
then please send emails to- prophetic@revivalschool.com
May God bless you in your giving, my friends!
Kindest regards in Christ,
Andrew Strom.