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Did Jesus Fulfill or Destroy Tithing?

As we continue our ‘Tithing on Trial’ series, we will evaluate the most common tithing arguments used to defend its practice.

When many inquire how authoritative the Mosaic laws are at governing the Church, a portion of Matthew 5:17 is invoked, which states that Jesus fulfilled the Law for us. This seems to end the Law’s jurisdiction over the Church. Although, when it comes to the authority of tithing over the Church, many invoke a more complete version of Matthew 5:17, which states, that Jesus did not come to destroy but to fulfill the Law. Now a very simple interpretation becomes convoluted. So, let’s inquire about what it means for tithing when Jesus said he did not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

Jesus did not come to destroy the Law – there’s no argument there. So let’s focus on what he did when he fulfilled the law. We have an article dedicated to defining what fulfill means.

I don’t want to rehash everything that’s written in the article, but to use that illustration imagine you have two buckets that are both supposed to be filled with water. If one bucket was filled to the brim and the other bucket was empty, which bucket would you say had fulfilled its purpose? Which bucket would you say cannot be used anymore to gather more water? Would either bucket need to be destroyed for any reason? The answer is obvious.

All that Jesus was saying is that the old bucket is used up and can no longer be used to gather more water. The new bucket can be used and has replaced the old bucket. Jesus did not destroy anything.

The Old Testament is still relevant to us. It offers glimpses of God’s promises and his truth. There are thousands of other reasons why Jesus did not destroy the Law. Fulfilling the Law can be like paying a doctor’s bill. You can pay a bill and fulfill the obligation for it, but that doesn’t mean the bill didn’t exist or the evidence of your medical treatment didn’t exist. The bill isn’t destroyed just because you paid it. Fulfilling the obligation doesn’t mean the obligation is continuously ongoing.

The same is true for us. Fulfilling the law has nothing to do with confirming its practice in the church. If Jesus came to continue the law for us, we are going to be in trouble because we would be bringing back a lot more than tithing.

The answer is yes, Jesus fulfilled tithing, but it doesn’t mean to continue. He completed its purpose for us, so we should not continue to fulfill tithing for ourselves. Let’s not cherry-pick verses in the bible to encourage the usage of certain Laws that we want to fit into the church.

You Be The Judge

Now it’s time for the jury to weigh in:

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Tithing and the Church by Gary North

08/22/22 by Jared Brian Leave a Comment

I read a book called, Tithing and the Church by Gary North, Institute for Christian Economics, 1994 . You can read a PDF version here. Gary North just recently passed away in February 2022.

introduction

Gary North is the author/co-author of many books on Christian economics, history, and theology. You can read more about his profile on wikipedia. “Tithing and the Church” is a pro-tithing piece of literature. Here are the chapters listed below.

1. Sovereignty and the Tithe
2. Authority and the Tithe
3. Church Membership and the Tithe
4. When Royal Priests Beg
5. Tithes, Taxes, and the Kingdom
6. Primary Sovereignty: Church or Family?
7. Rushdoony’s Ecclesiology
8. The Legal Basis of the Tithe
9. Sacraments or Social Gospel?
10. The Chronology of Rushdoony’s Ecclesiology

By far this is the most detailed pro-tithing book I have ever read. Although this is the case, this is not necessarily an apology of tithing, but more or less how a dissection tithing positively affects the infrastructure of the Church. Gary North doesn’t go into much detail proving the tithe through a rational discussion on doctrine. More or less it’s a philosophical standpoint of the affect of tithing on the infrastructure of the Church.

Is 10% a Good Place to Start Giving?

02/18/20 by Jared Brian 3 Comments

I’ve established that tithing is not required and that giving 10% of our income is a benchmark that should not be enforced under the New Covenant Church. If you’re not sure about that yet yourself, then please read these pages first:

Now that we’ve gotten past the point of being freed from the mechanical law of rituals, there is still the question about whether or not 10% is a good place to start giving. I’ve heard so many pastors, authors, and theologians admit that tithing is not required, but can still be a good place to start.

I don’t know why many of teachers say, “I don’t believe tithing is required, but i think it’s a good place to start”. Maybe they fear others’ reactions? Maybe they are concerned that others will blacklist them or will accuse them of greed. (Not speaking from experience or anything)

10% is not a good place to start. Although, I’ll say that is an understatement since I consider it a harmful place to start at for 99.9% of us. Here’s why:

You are Not Letting God Lead

I do think standards are imperative for our lives. I have many of them in my own life. I do have standards for my giving, but ultimately I decide to be “Spirit-led”. For this, I get labeled “kooky”, “radical”, etc;. Although strangely enough, believing in an invisible being that lives in me, created the entire universe with words, became human with a virgin birth, and wrote a creepy book that is the basis of all apocalyptic movies is kinda out there as well. I digress. Following God is not about throwing darts or “winging” it.

When I’ve come across those that do not believe in tithing but still feel anchored to the tithe (10% minimum), their reasoning is very stange. It’s as if they just discoverd they have the power to walk after believing they were paralyzed their whole lif…but strangely enough, have made the decision that being anchored to the wheelchair is a more logical decision than than trying to learn to walk.

I typically find out that there was no prayer about what they should give and there probably wasn’t even a look at the budget.

I get that 10% is easy. I also get that we have to start somewhere. So, I understand why some would rather give 10% than let laziness get in the way and not give at all. Solving laziness with mindlessness does not make what you are doing right. 10% is a place that you can start at since giving something is better than giving nothing, but don’t mistake better for right.

I wouldn’t consider giving my wife a vacuum cleaner for our 20th wedding anniversary a good start. It may just be quite the opposite of good. It may be bad and set me back negative yards putting me in the dog house for weeks or months. The reason I gave her a vacuum cleaner as opposed to a bed and breakfast, or romantic evening is because I was not communicating, asking questions, or listening to her about her wants and desires.

The same goes for my relationship with God. Every week you can show up with the same old vacuum cleaner that shows God you know he’s there, but you really don’t care to uncover the complexity of the desires of his heart. After you’ve given the vacuum cleaner, try using the lazy excuse with your wife – “But it’s a start”. You’ll find out whether your giving was right or wrong pretty fast.

Remember when you were first in love with your boyfriend/girlfriend? Remember all those questions you used to ask? Curiosity about the other person shows a lot about how much in love you are with them. So the question is, are you curious about God or do you treat him as if he is there to listen to you? Your monotonous and mindless giving demonstrates that your relationship with God is all head and no heart. Although i find that to be ironic.

Israel Gave Much Less than 10% to the Temple

Only 10% of 10% (1% total) actually made it to the temple storehouse. 1% of Israel’s entire increase that was given to the house of God. You may not be aware of this either, but it was 1% of the increase from agriculture and herding that only went to the storehouse. It did not include tithes from other occupations such as carpenters, blacksmiths, bankers, tax collectors, doctors, etc. Imagine the Church being supported by only the farmers in your church today? Yikes!

The Israelite farmers gave 10% of their increase in total while there were also additional offerings given by all the Israelites, but overall the entire nation was not required to give up to 10% of their income.

So, if 10% wasn’t a starting place for the majority of Israelites under the strict, written ordinance of the law, how would it be considered a good starting place for those who have a direct connection with God dwelling within them?

You are Giving Too Much or Too Little

Some of us are in debt, have a hard time paying bills, are single parents, on government assistance, or have some other hardship. If you are in (unsecured) debt or on government assistance, I’d encourage you to consider either finding some way to earn more income or keep the offering money in your pocket to take care of other important matters.

I defer to the story about the poor widow giving her last two mites in the box. There is no indication as to whether she was living on other’s assistance or welfare. We don’t know if she was filled or about to starve. My personal opinion and philosophy are that if you are giving away what you’ve earned and yet ask others to assist in your basic needs, then you are probably giving too much. I do not wish to put God in a box though. God could be calling you to give what you have, just as he did the widow, and yet have already set in motion a way to provide for you.

Take the story of the widow at Zarephath who was making her last dying meal for her and her son while Elijah asked her to make a loaf of bread for him first. What an amazing example of faith and a good example of giving even though it is beyond our means.

These are amazing stories of widows during a snapshot of their life, but these are not representations of their life week after week. Widows giving every week to the church while going to the government to support her needs is not wise and gives a negative reflection of God’s power.

I’ve addressed tithing and debt in greater detail, but generally speaking we can’t cover up debt that may or may not be the fault of greed or stupidity by painting a coat of white paint over mud. “Unsecured” debt can be used as a tool by the enemy to reflect poorly on Christ. So, Stop Tithing and get out of debt.

Now that I’ve covered those that are giving too much, I don’t think I really need to spend too much time talking about those who are not giving enough. If you are giving 10% and could be giving more, then it is just shameful. Enough said.

Moral of the Story

The problem is that we are human and will always be in a battle with the tangible vs. intangible. We wish to see things in black and white so that way God’s calling is clear-cut and without ambiguity. It’s not wrong to create standards in your life. The wrong is when our own standards overshadow God’s principles. God’s principles are found in the lessons, not the exercises.

Let me explain what I mean by looking at an example. The principle of cleanliness is a good thing and is a natural spiritual principle. God didn’t create an orderly universe and expect mankind to strive for disorder and filth. So, If I were to say that making your bed every day is a great exercise to help you honor the principle of cleanliness, I would say there’s not a soul that would disagree with me. If I could read your minds, there’s probably an utterance of some ‘Amens’.

Could there be anything wrong with doing that chore every day? I’m sure you said, no. What if I were to tell you that I have made my bed every day for the last 10 years, but haven’t washed my sheets during that time? I’ve made my bed 3,650 days in a row like a good little Christian should, so I should get credit right? At that point, who cares about my perfect streak of making my bed for 10 years. This resonates with the story in Matthew 25 when Jesus seemed to be indifferent about the Pharisee’s meticulous attention to tithing but neglecting weightier matters.

The same goes for all standards – not just giving. If we fail to look at the bigger picture and instead become so task-focused we forget about the goal (ie: cleanliness), then even the safest standards become disgusting. If you could choose to either have clean sheets for the next 10 years or a bed that was made, we would all choose to have clean sheets…at least for those of us with a sound mind.

Some have been tithing for 10+ years. How do you think God views your generosity after 3650 days of the same mindless chore? Do you think it has a bad smell yet? Sometimes you could have given more, and sometimes you should have given less. Either way, by now, it stinks because God doesn’t want your mindless actions that ignore obvious signs of smelly stewardship, God wants a spirit-filled life that exemplifies a faithful steward that is intentional in seeking out opportunities to shine his light in a smelly world.

Well…I guess I should start making my bed. Nah. Too much work to just mess up every night. LOL.

What do you say? Say it below.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Tithing

09/28/18 by Jared Brian 13 Comments

Even though I disagree with the tithing (10%) command, I’ll be the first to admit that there are ways tithing may seem to be beneficial. Although, I’ll also admit that a ‘good’ thing doesn’t make it the ‘right’ thing. I will attempt to be as unbiased as I can with the comparison of the pros and cons of tithing

The Advantages of Tithing

No questions about what to give – There is no need to wonder each week what we should give.
Helps churches budget – It would be a bit overwhelming if a church had to form its budget based on the feelings of people
Motivates some people to give more than they would normally – If we weren’t commanded to give 10%, most of us would give much less
Equality – No one gives more or less than 10%. Everyone gives the same proportion no matter their income level
Exercise discipline – Doing it week-in and week-out takes a lot of financial discipline and dedication
Consistency – This makes everything easier when giving isn’t so sporadic

The Disadvantages of Tithing

Deters discourse with God – Why communicate with God about what and how you should give; it’s already spelled out for you.
Deters discourse with others – Why should we try to understand and interact with others about their struggles and their needs? Give your 10% to the Church and they will figure it out for you.
Encourages false preachers – All you have to do to take 10% from anyone’s bank account is tell them that you’re called to preach. Automatic support for your false calling.
Can mask your true heart – Pharisees. Anyone? need I say more about how well they tithed?
Can accrue debt – The poor in the OT received tithes. And if you’re a poor steward, then staying in debt to give to God doesn’t make a wrong a right.
More burden on the poor than rich – I said equality was a helping attribute, but what’s 100,000 if you’re living off 900,000? but $3,000 when you’re living off $30,000 may mean shutting off the electricity to the house.

As I looked over the two comparisons something stood out to me. Besides “exercising discipline”, there is almost nothing in the benefits of tithing that improves your spiritual growth. All the reasons mentioned on how it helps are either external, physical, or carnal effects of tithing. Please believe me when I say this but this was not my intention when writing the article to inject my biases here.

I’ve heard so many arguments to encourage tithing, that I thought to myself, I would actually write an article that was completely unbiased and shared the pros and cons of tithing. Looking at all the benefits to tithing I’ve heard over the years, there’s not a single benefit that improves your spiritual walk with God or your relationship with others – it actually deters it.

Tithing is For Liberals

07/14/16 by Jared Brian 13 Comments

I love politics and philosophical debates about it, so right off the bat, i am NOT apologizing – this will offend many of you (Republicans & Democrats, Liberals & Conservatives). If you are a pansy and can’t take logic and reason, then go suck on a pacifier.

Laws Are For Thee But Not For Me

Liberals want to put the people under a set of laws while they themselves would be under a different set. Take the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) for example. They rammed that junk down our throats and made a bunch of promises they couldn’t keep. Heck, they didn’t even keep the most appealing and obvious promises to us. our healthcare costs went up and we lost our doctors.

They also put on restrictions for small businesses and threatened them with fines and fees. Of course, they exempted themselves and their staff from particular laws because they couldn’t afford the costs of it. Such a lovely thing to do!

Let’s transition to tithing. Particularly, those who preach about tithing. They stand behind a pulpit and quote bible verses calling out pestilence and destruction if they don’t give exactly 10.00% on the dot. I always gave 10.50% because I was worried I may have missed something and the tithing boogie man was going to come out of the closet and tear up my valuable baseball card collection.

Anywhoooo. So um. yeah back to tithing preachers . . . Here they are preaching about your requirement to tithing and how you need to support the pastor and the Church because it’s an obligation. While on the other hand, they have not once been under an obligation to serve God as a requirement. They are completely free to start a ministry and preach by the grace and freewill Spirit of God. No one pointed a gun at their head and told them that they must minister to these people otherwise the boogeyman will come and get them.

The church ministry itself is under the leading and calling of the Holy Spirit. If the church wanted to minister downtown, it can. If it wanted to minister to the homeless, it was free to do so. If the Church wanted to minister to rich people, then by all accounts and measure it was up to the leaders and the Holy Spirit to guide in that direction.

No one threatened the Church to minister here nor there. There was no obligation to do such and such. We also know that because, in all honesty, the Church is doing jack squat anyway. I put myself in that category as well. I am hardly doing anything to impact those around me.

Tithing Enables Jacka_ _ _ _

Tithing could be why there is so much Christian fraud out there. We are gullible sheep going into the slaughterhouse. Our motivation is fear, not joy. Obligation, not grace. Duty, not love.

There are televangelists who get on TV and demand your penance. They promise things that they have no authority nor power to promise. They fly in jets have huge mansions and pretend that your sacrifice is bringing glory to God and not making their wallet any fatter. They are not the only examples. Only the obvious ones.

All they have to do is declare themselves worthy of the office they tell you they were called to, and in return, you have no choice but to support God’s anointed.

Liberals Love Taxes

Tithing is a tax and we all know that liberals love taxes. If you study tithing in the Old Testament, you will know that it was a tax for Israel. Tithing was used to pay for the bureaucratic side of things as much as it was to pay for the religious.

The way I see it, there are three categories of people when it comes to taxes and tithing.

The Enforcer: Responsible for setting the rules and enforcing them upon others. This would be a congressman or your pastor
The Receiver: Those who are privileged enough to receive the benefits of the tax or tithe. This could be the enforcer or it could be the receiver and would resemble the poor and lower class.
The Payer: These guys foot the bill. They aren’t in charge of setting the rules and neither do they benefit from them. This would be the middle class or it would those sitting in the pews.

The ultra-rich have no problem paying their taxes. They have the resources and capabilities to hedge against losses. They either have large tax write-offs or can protect their assets in other ways. In the same way, the ultra-rich love tithing. Only 10%? This would be a tax write-off anyway and they get to look so benevolent and great for donating hundreds of thousands or millions. Must be nice to donate a small percentage of your salary and get the most credit.

In 2008 a study on Giving Statistics was done on church spending to show that 85% of the money went to internal operations. Want to know something very ironic about a current liberal friend? The Clinton Foundation (a non-profit) raised 500 million dollars between 2009-2012 and consumed 85% of its donations on internal operations (source)? How do you like that my conservative, evangelical friends who abhor anything Clinton? The Church is using its donations no more wisely than the Clinton Foundation is. Just think about your own Church budget next time you criticize the Clinton Foundation.

Taxes are a mandatory burden and so is tithing. No matter how many different ways I hear it spun in sermons. IT IS STILL A TAX! Pastors will try to put some new age, progressive-sounding spin on it saying that we tithe under grace instead of under the law, or that the New Testament always raises standards, or that we get to tithing but we don’t have to. All of these statements are just placing the sheep’s wool over the wolf to trick you into believing that a rule that looks like the Law, smells like the Law, and acts like the Law, somehow is not the Old Testament Law.

Tithing = Anarchy

Any individual has the ability to stand up and say, “God is calling me to start a ministry”. At that moment, believers then would be required to tithe. Why? Because of the simple fact of their existence. Doesn’t this seem absurd? If you have not seen John Oliver’s example on Comedy Central, the absurdity of what I’m saying is not far off

Levites were required to serve due to their bloodline and in turn, the Israelites were required to give to them because of their own bloodline. Each were bound by the same authority, the same set of laws, and the same stringent legal system. The Levites were bound by the law to serve while being supported by a structure that also bound the givers.

Let’s take an example – The Constitution. The constitution gives authority and direction to Congress, while in turn, the constitution is also the authority that tells supporters how to pay and elect them. Congressmen can’t be free from the constitution to run the country however they please and yet use the constitution (that they themselves aren’t bound to) to enforce others to pay for their ideas. This dysfunctional model would reap major corruption and scandal. The same goes for the gospel. God’s Spirit gives authority and direction to ministers, while in turn, the Holy Spirit is also the authority that tells supporters how to pay and who to elect. Ministers cannot use the law (that they themselves aren’t bound to) to enforce payment for ideas that came from God’s Spirit.

The Bible says that the apostles lived from the Gospel because they preached from the gospel. What does this mean? Does it mean that they lived off the tithe? Did they invoke the Priesthood and Levitical covenant and then expected that they receive the same compensation that they preached upon? Maybe it just means they ate the paper from their scrolls? Or could it mean that they lived off the gospel in the same way in which they were called by the Gospel? A Levite was commissioned by the Law and received their living from the Law. A pastor was commissioned by the Holy Spirit and should receive their living from the Holy Spirit.

Allowing the Spirit to call ministers and allowing the Spirit to call supporters will promote accountability and deter corruption and scandal.

Conclusion

I apologize to all my liberal friends. I congratulate you if you’ve gotten through this post without having an anxiety attack. Go hug a tree and see a social worker for counseling services. You should feel better sometime tonight after you’ve eaten your soy dinner. For my conservative tithing friends. I congratulate you as well. You are now considered the thing you abhorred the most – a Liberal! You’ll feel better after watching a few episodes of Hannity tonight. Keep applying the rules to everyone but yourself, allow the jackasses to rule the media, and keep promoting anarchy since tithing is for liberals.

If you’re bored and want to read the other “Tithing Is For” Series. Here are the links

Hypocritical: Pro-Tithing & Anti-Welfare Tax

04/18/16 by Jared Brian 8 Comments

I’m going to delve a little into an area that I usually don’t because this is not a political website; it’s a religious/philosophical one. In all honesty, my two passions are religion and politics. I LOVE both topics. I could discuss them all day. So, it’s actually quite difficult to steer away from politics on this website at times.

Before I get into the meat, a little background on my political philosophy. If I were to classify myself as a particular type of voter, I would consider myself a libertarian. I believe there should only be four main roles of government, and outside of these realms, you risk corruption and demagoguery.

Government’s purpose is:

Defend my life & my possessions
Defend inalienable rights
Maintain order
Operate justice

You could combine some, add some, or subcategorize it, but in my mind, this is what I’ve come up with. I also believe that this philosophy is most beneficial for the Church and the expansion of God’s kingdom. Now that that’s out of the way…

I was reading an article on tithing, and a comment struck me in a way that I don’t think the author intended it to be translated.

The irony is that the Religious Right so often teach tithing but oppose social welfare, while the tithe, along with gleaning laws, Sabbath year and Jubilee were all part of God social welfare system for the nation of Israel, to care for the poor and immigrants.

The author comes across as trying to push public enforcement of social welfare, which I would not agree with (more on that later), but still makes a very great point. How can a group of individuals enforce a minimum tax for religious welfare; and yet oppose a tax for public welfare programs? What’s the difference between the Church’s welfare tax and the government’s welfare tax enforcement?

Most of the religious right would state that our individual liberty is the driving force in opposition to public welfare. But how can we raise the flag of liberty in opposition to public welfare tax, and yet tear down the flag when it comes to the religious welfare tax we call tithing?

The religious right would say that we are robbing God of tithes, and in the next sentence say the government is robbing us of our taxes? How can this paradox be?

I believe that one of the reasons that this country became so great is because Christian principles were embedded into the spirit of US laws. One of the tenants and foundations of New Testament, Christian values is the opportunity for liberty and freedom. There are dozens of verses in the New Testament referencing liberty and/or freedom.

The founders of this country didn’t emphasize liberty because they thought it was either a good corporate model, was going to bring an economic surplus, or because it was some sort of generational experiment. The founders emphasized liberty because they realized that liberty was a privilege that was endowed by God himself upon his followers. The more you suppress liberty, the more you suppress God’s kingdom. Look at China, South Korea, & Turkey. The countries with the least amount of liberty are typically the darkest.

You may also find it true that the denominations with the least amount of liberty are the ones that are the darkest as well. Maybe. Maybe not.

Liberty = Light.
Dependence = Darkness.

For the sake of social welfare, being pro-tithing and yet anti-tax is hypocritical. They are both a tax intended for the care of those in need, are both are ordained by God, and are both a law with unfavorable consequences.

Now, why am I against a publicly mandated welfare program? Because it means that the Church is either not doing their job or not being pressured enough into doing their job. Also, I don’t believe that taking care of the poor is more important than the enforcement of liberty. I know what you are thinking, but can you disagree with the logic of my upcoming explanation. Notice, I also didn’t say that liberty was more important either. Liberty and welfare are both equally important.

This brings me to say that the only way you can maintain the core foundation of Christian liberty and also enforce the care of the poor is to require free-will giving. In further reasoning, if welfare was more important than liberty then God would have quenched the use of liberty with the enforcement of a religious Church tax. Since I don’t believe tithing should be enforced, then we all know that there is no enforcement of a Church tax.

As I conclude, I do want to emphasize that it is the Church’s duty and responsibility to provide for the welfare of God’s creation. The fact that we have to rely on the government to provide for those in need and the fact that those in need run to the little ‘g’ first for help is a testament to how we have failed the big ‘G’. God left specific and direct instructions to take care of the poor around us.

I know it costs money to make disciples and to take care of our ministers, so I’m not trying to diminish that value, but somewhere along the way we’ve become complacent with the little ‘g’ doing our job. So, either fulfill your social responsibilities as the Church, speak up about the Church’s shortcomings, or quit your whining about the little ‘g’ taking taxes from you to do the job that you were supposed to do anyway. Either way, the job’s gotta get done; it just depends on which ‘g’ you want to get credit for it.

Libertarians, Republicans, Democrats, & Independents: Abolishing the enforcement of tithing would do very little for God’s kingdom if we don’t change our hearts. Let’s make sure we do that first and foremost.

Agree? Disagree? You have the freedom of speech. So, SPEAK UP below.