There it is, I said it. I think this is the first I’ve ever heard myself go straight out and say it. Stop tithing, and Get out of debt. I don’t want you to give another dime until all of your unsecured credit is paid off. I’m not talking about your house, or your car, or your school loans. I’m talking about all the store and credit card debt. Get out of Debt!
“No one can serve two masters”. Although that statement in the context of scripture was not referring to debt, I believe it is applicable as a stewardship principle. It’s hard to serve God with your money while you are still a slave to debt. It’s also hard to serve God with your money while you are a slave to possessions as well. I know there are some legitimate people who are not slaves to possessions but have some debt lingering over them. In those cases, the simple answer is to get out of debt, and then you can give God your money.
Do not bow to the pressure of the tithing threats while you are in debt. God does not judge a person by what they’ve given; He judges them by what they’ve kept. You need to be a wise steward, and part of that is making the decision to get out of debt, and then give to God. Actually, here’s a thought that just ran through my head. Who said that paying your bills and striving to get out of debt is not giving to God? The misconception is that paying your bills or striving to be debt free is not a spiritual way of giving. Are you somehow dishonoring God if you pay off your debts? Why would God be more honored if you paid the parishioner, but were late on your bills? Where is the honor in that?
God judges us based on our stewardship. I’ve stated this so many times as an example, but it is so relevant: The servant who gave 100% back to the master when he returned, was the one considered a bad steward. A good analogous word for “steward” is “investor”.
In the end, the truth is we will be judged by our investments. Whether we are in debt or not, God will burn up our works like wood, hay, and stubble if we’ve invested in worldly things. If you are struggling financially, and cannot get out of debt no matter what you’ve done, then stop giving it away and start investing in the plan to get out of debt. If you have trouble with debt because of self-control, then get some accountability, get some instructions, follow a plan to stop spending; and start investing in a debt-free life. Dave Ramsey and Crown Financial offer good programs to help you get out of debt. Don’t feel guilty about putting your money towards debt instead of in the offering plate. God will honor your decision for being a wise, investing steward.
Remember, God’s blessings are reaped naturally by a cause and effect more than they are reaped miraculously, such as money falling from the sky. You will reap what you sow. If you sow a debt-free life, you will reap the rewards that come from it. The natural reward of a debt-free life is not money falling from the sky. However, I wouldn’t pass that up.
There are only two paths you can take toward Godly stewardship. One leads to debt as your master, and the other path leads to financial freedom as your master. Which path are you going to choose?
There are alot of different opinions here. I tend to agree with the author. I do want to mention something quite personal. My ex-husband is radical about tithing and won’t go a week without tithing. HOWEVER, he went years without paying child support for our daughter, saying he can’t afford it, is in debt and “he had bills too”. What do you tithers think about this? Don’t you think his first obligation would be to support his daughter?
He pays her school fees now, which I consider support, but he did go years without paying child support, yet tithed to the church. Don’t you think this is wrong?
Hi Jen, Your husband is following exactly what the tithe teachers and pastors are teaching to lie and manipulate so that they can get their hands on christians money. All authority is from above your ex husband can not submit to the pastor but lie to the government and not pay child support. Do you know that the Jews do not pay tithes anymore because they say that there is no more temple here on earth ?
Some people think they are being more “righteous” by giving to God while at the same time they use this very act as a reason to circumvent whatever other financial obligations seem inconvenient to them at the time.
I think this is in line with what Jesus said to the Pharisee that he was focusing so much on giving tithe of everything that they forgot the other matters of the law such as mercy, compassion, etc. Following God requires balance in all things.
there is a passage in the Bible, don’t have my Bible in front of me. Where JESUS is yelling at the Pharasees because they stored up there gift for GOD, but there own parents were in desperate need, but the children would not help the parents, because it was for the church. JESUS goes on to say in so many words, you would be helping GOD if you helped your parents, comes from the heart.
I was reared in a Baptist church. I came to the Christian faith later in life, in my twenties. I was reared to tithe. Once I began to earn my own income, I started to practice the tithing principle. After I married, my wife and I tithed. We live modestly in comparison to most of our neighbors. We are middle class folks. We rarely eat out. Slaves to fashion we are not. Our home computer is ten years old. We have no smart phone. We drive older cars (paid off) and have one car payment. After our child was born, we continued to tithe, but occasionally could not make ends meet and had to skip a month or two here and there. Our jobs are both in the field of education and our incomes rise very slowly and they almost never keep pace with living costs. With the need to maintain a modest home, save for retirement, save for emergencies, save for our child’s education, feed and cloth the family (forget about a vacation), we simply could not continue to tithe without slipping into debt no matter how hard we tried and bills for various things (car repairs, home repairs, medical expenses, etc.) began to grow. We got to the point where we were not giving our tithe cheerfully. When we hit that point, we stopped tithing. We still give for certain things and we give to the church of our time as we can. We have got almost all of our debts paid off. Now college expenses have hit us. Our child just started college and received a good scholarship, but it does not cover the full cost of education. We can tighten our belts a bit more (with not much to spare) and barring a disaster, we should be able to pay for room, board, and books and get her out of college without the burden of debt. If we tithed now, we would have to go into considerable debt to pay for her education (and she helps by working summers). Once she is out of college, I would like to tithe again or at least give more than we are giving now, which is not much. I need to save more for retirement and our home needs some serious repairs that we have put off to meet college expenses. I am torn. I would like to tithe, but I also do not wish to make tithing an idol. Ten percent of gross income is a lot of money on my salary. It is much less money for those earning higher salaries. I have come to the realization, albeit not a happy one, that tithing should not be expected of everyone if the choice is between tithing and debt/living paycheck to paycheck. For others, with considerably higher incomes, giving ten percent may not be enough. I am still working through this issue, but that is where I am today. And I am really tired of thinking about it.
hope this can help, in malachi 3:8-10, the whole people of israel rob God, the people here who give tithes are the people who are cursed with a curse, why? Because their tithing have become their curse and not their blessing. Originally, the people of israel tithed because they acknowledge God being their Lord. That is why they give their “maaser, maasar or maasrah” hebrew word for tenth part. Same as jacob who made a covenant with God (Gen 28:22) sums up: if u are my God i will give you the tenth part of all my increase (wealth). Meaning if ur God is the one that you worship today, give him ur “maaser”. We dont need to discuss tithing on the Law of Moses, we will just discuss the “alethea” (truth) of the tithe. Maaser coordinates with word eser or aser w/c means the 10th part, the upper part, the separated part, the best part, and it is holy unto God. (to clear this up, count 1 to 10, 10 is the tenth part) this is how Abraham and Abel offered unto God. Abel’s offering was honored because of the word “bakar” w/c means firstling, first part. Abraham’s tithe in Hebrews 7:4 was greek dekate & akrothinion w/c means 10th part of the top of the heap. (to clear this up, count 1 to 10, 10 is the tenth part, it is the highest, it is the best) As i have told you, best part of the top of the heap, best of the best. Thats why it says, it was offered in faith. Same as Isaac, his only begotten son was offered in faith. Now we are on the new testament, and the bible says offer ur life as ur sacrifice to God. How can u give ur whole life if u can not give the best part to God. Open ur spirit, in giving, it is is not giving until u give it from ur heart. In tithing, it is not tithing if it is not the best part or not the top of the heap. Ur tithe determines ur love to God, it is ur response of Him being your God. How much do you love Him who offered His most precious Jesus for ur salvation? Dont worry, tithing is also giving back what he has done for u. Before u tithe, (as u will tithe now, not the tithing with a curse), the Lord will bless you with blessings so u can tithe the tithe that the Lord is talking about. God Bless You!
GOD is reavealing the truth to more and more Pastors and Christians. Tithing was an old Testament law and a one time event that Abraham did. Giving is great and GOD wants a cheerful giver. But tithing is taking you back under law, which GOD does not want, you are free in Christ to give cheerfully as the spirit leads. Please know that GOD will prevail and this powerful lie that is binding Christians will be revealed through HIS Spirit. There are Christians and Pastors that read this that will cring and want to come against me, they know deep inside they are under law in this and it does not settle right in there spirit to keep tithing. But they do because this is what they were taught all there lives. I have more and more Pastor friends that have been told the truth and are Preaching against tithing and preaching to be a cheerful giver as GOD leads. The old time tithers know deep inside it is under law, but they have tithed so long that there head is convincing there heart that there is no way I could have been wrong all these years. GOD’s Spirit is and will prevail and this lie to the Church will be unvailed. GOD Spirit will break through, just be patient. If you are a tither you know deep deep in your spirit this is binding you under law. Please don’t get mad at me, I was a tither, just ask GOD to show you the truth and don’t be afraid of the truth and HE will show you. Alot of Preachers will be worried that the flock will leave the Church and they will not recive pay. But the Pastors that really fear GOD instead of man will preach the truth. One day before to long, GOD’s Spirit will reveal the truth in this to big groups like the southern baptist convention, and HIS Spirit will not allow them to keep it a secret, they will be convicted. GOD will free you tithers one day, believe me it will set you free. GOD bless.
Barry thank you for having an encuraging word of faith about the Southern Baptist I will pray with more thanks for them.
Just want to make sure that we are on the same page. I hope I did not come across in the wrong way. I have learned alot from alot of good people in the s. baptist churches I attended. But I have found over the years that any Churches that I have attended, Pentacostle, Baptist, Methodist that there is a degree of traditon and legalism in every one of them. Most of them think the other church needs work and not so much themselves. I had and still have religion attached to me. Not all others blame, alot to myself. There are tons of good Pastors out there that mean well and do a great job, but they have religion in them also, that they don’t even realize, we all do. Anyway, I just know that GOD has shown me that tithing is putting people under law and I am so convident that GOD has revealed this to me, I am afraid of the fear of GOD and will not go back into the tithing law. When GOD reveals something to us and we know, we will be accountable if we here from HIM and disobey. I really believe that most tithers and preachers that teach tithing do not know of this truth, they need to seek GOD more on this. If they do not know this truth now, they will not be held accountable. But when GOD reveals the truth about being a cheerful giver and not a tither to them and they choose to disobey, they will be held accountable, especially the Pastors. I am so convident in this truth that I know GOD will reveal this truth to all before JESUS returns. I cannot go back to tithing, becasue I will be held accountable for disobeying GOD if I do. I will Love to give as GOD leads.
I have also found that I do not need to try and convince Pastors of this truth, that is GOD’s job. I thought I was supposed to show them this and I did. I talked to a few and they either blew me off, said thanks but…. or really argued with me. I truly know I just need to pray for them and this truth and let GOD do the work. Some may say, why bother. The reason we need to pray is because there are thousands and thousands of people that look up to these good men and trust all they say, so that keeps the flock under this law. I truly believe GOD is talking to all of these Pastors deeep in there spirit, but they are scared to reveal the truth becasue they believe it is no way tithing could be wrong, because it has been taught this way by MAN for hundreds of year. Most all of there arguments would be, that Abraham tithed and that was before law, that was a 1 time gift that the church, not GOD has turned into this huge money machine. GOD wants a cheerful giver. I just pray that when GOD reveals this truth to more and more Pastors they will not be quiet, but preach what GOD is tellling them deep inside, GOD will hold them accountable if they keep it inside, it will eat them up inside. But, before any Pastor or tithing Christian argues with me, I say I LOVE you all and want you to be free from the law, it is great to be free. I truly Love you. And I ask you just 1 favor before you argue, then argue with me, but please stop for 30 seconds, close your eyes and tell GOD to please show you the truth about what HE wants you to do about tithing, that’s all I ask.
Last comment for today, I promise. There are some Christians that believe they have big houses and fancy cars because they tithe. Think about it, the non Christian neighbor next door to them has the same stuff and has never given anything to a church. Don’t get me wrong, I know that all Spiritual and physical things that I have, have come from the GOOD LORD, HE has really blessed us. I know HE wants to bless us more in every way. But, HE has given to us over and over (spiritually and physically) because of what JESUS did on the cross, not because I have earned anything, I am blessed because of JESUS, not becuase I have worked or earned anything. Some of these Christians with the stuff seem to think they are more blessed than other Christians. When anyone recieves JESUS, they are blessed just as much as the next Christian, no more, no less. JESUS will help us as we go along. If a person has a lofty attitude that he or she is more blessed than another Christian, GOD will humble them, like he has done to me a few times in my life.
How I pray to the Father that someone like you would preach this in front of our congregation, especially my parents.
keep praying, GOD is breaking through to Preachers and people like your parents. I totally know that alot of older folks have this so deeply inruited in them that they cannot hear the truth in there heart. For many many Christians, especially oler Christians it is not there fault, this has been pounded in them since they could walk. If a person is told over and over and over they are a success and will be a success, or told they will be a failure and are a failure it is going to effect them into believing it and becoming that. What we totally need is for Christians that have had this revelation of truth is to cry out to GOD on a daily basis over and over for GOD to reveal the truth about tithing to the people. I promise GOD’s Spirit will break through to these people if we cry out to HIM. It is no need to argue or try and convince Preachers and Christians, it will not work. Let us start today, you and I right now and others will join, to ask GOD to reveal the truth in this to Christian’s. Keep trying and asking GOD, don’t stop. The reason this is so important is because thousands are listening and believing this and they are not free, they are in bondage, this is a huge huge lie of Satan and he is loving it. Cry out, ask GOD to help, HE will. Do it now, ask others now to cry out. Tithing was for the Jews under Law, GOD wants Christians to give and give abundantly out of there heart as HE leads. But tithing keeps many many under the curse of the law. Cry out, GOD will move!!!!!!!!!!!
If you are a life long tither or a tithing believer reading this. All i ask you to do is to ask GOD to reveal the truth to you about what GOD wants. Don’t ask your Pastor, ask GOD Himself. I Love you and I was caught up in this. Please don’t get mad, you know deeeep in your spirit, there is something wrong with this teaching. Really, just say: “GOD please show me the truth on this”, that is all, no long drawn out prayer, just ask and also ask GOD to reveal the truth to your Pastor, HE will if you really trust GOD. Be a giver from the heart, not a lawfull tither, it will set you so so free. Love to give
want to feel sick in the pit of your stomach if your a tither. Google “CBS evening news video, to tither or not to tithe”. Will open your eyes and make you feel sick. Then pray to GOD for the truth.
I am feeling alot better after reading this blog. I felt so guilty about not tithing evey week, but my debt is growing. I feel like GOD will honor what I am doing by getting debt free. This tithing thing of the old test. seems like a big money making machine for churches. Yes, it is wonderful to help needy people and churches do that, but by putting this tithing burden on us Christians is making us become the needy people. And it really urks me when I struggle to give, but the Pastor pushes tithing, we must tithe or else, I leave the church in my old car and the Pastor leaves in a brand new Mercedes heading for his 700,000 house. Something is wrong with that, something is really wrong.
In response to Caroline’s message above, I agree entirely. I have attended a mega-church near my home, basically by default because there are not many strong churches in the area where I live. The lead pastor is a good man. He has not led the church as have many pastors of mega-churches. The church building is comfortable, clean, and well equipped. It is not, however, a luxurious palace. The culture of the place is very corporate and business principles and “leadership principles” drawn from the business world and sanitized with a scriptural reference are commonly praised. The church, a Baptist church, does not however govern itself very democratically in my view. Most decisions are made by the lead pastor, the staff, and a church board. How that board is elected I do not know. Who is on that board I do not know for sure. Business meetings are held rarely and late on Sunday afternoons. The church as a whole (it is huge) never meets as a body for anything because it cannot. It is too big. Membership there means basically nothing. Your name is just on a church roll. When people join the church, they are not even presented to the full body and welcomed. They simply come forward and fill out a card after the end of the service. They meet with a counselor for a minute or two. They are encouraged immediately to join a small group and to “find their niche” (take a position of service in the church ASAP). That is pretty much it. There is a core of business and professional people on which the pastor relies. They are very successful economically and I suppose (I cannot know for sure) are major contributors to the church’s finances. They establish compensation standards for our pastor. They come to this question with a business mentality. They provide our pastor with a salary that a corporate executive would receive (someone just like them). Our pastor lives in a very nice house in a classy subdivision. He is to all appearances well off. The church’s “political culture” is very corporate. Decisions are discussed and taken within a very narrow circle of people and announced to the congregation. Occasionally there is a pro forma meeting to “discuss” something or to “gather input” but in 14 years at this church I have never seen a single major initiative of the “leadership team” effectively questioned and altered by the church membership. The church costs lots of money to run. The staff is large. I think that the administration of the church is comparatively frugal for a mega-church, but the culture of the place is decidedly VERY UPPER middle class to upper class. We hear tithing messages from time to time but tithing is not pounded into our heads. Still, I sense pressure to tithe. Maybe it is just my Baptist upbringing. But in my church if you are not middle to upper middle class, then sometimes you really feel out of the loop. Our church charges fees for all sorts of things. If you have children and are not wealthy, then there will be many activities at our church in which you simply cannot afford to participate. There are always “scholarships” available for the asking, but I do not think that most people who need them will ask. I am rambling here, but in the church we have really gotten something wrong with money. American culture influences the church here (at least my church) almost totally. In the nation at large, and for the most part in the church today, the score is Mammon 1-Church 0. We hear all the time about tithing and staying out of debt (courses on how to do this are available for a small fee then the first lesson: TITHE!), but not much about consumerism and fact of economic class differences (which are growing worse, not better). It is disheartening. The economic class divisions in the US are well entrenched in the church. And that is a forbidden subject of discussion. I think that it contributes to the anguish that many decent Christian folk experience regarding the tithing issue.
I think anyone who examines their budget can easily find 10% to give to the furtherance of God’s work. Keep in mind, God doesn’t need our money as he doesn’t need our praise and worship.
However, the giving of our first fruits whether in time, skills, money, etc. teaches us to be thankful and helps us appreciate all that God has given us. I believe it’s a form of worship and recognition that our money is not ours.
I don’t believe we are under the law but I still tithe. I’ve been paying off significant credit card debt for 2 years and have faithfully continued to tithe. My thinking and conviction was that just because I was unwise with my money and got in debt it shouldn’t give me a free pass not to tithe.
I notice that Dave Ramsey is mentioned in the original article. I’d like to note that Dave believes we should continue to tithe even while paying off debt. He does not believe we should make offerings while in debt.
I started paying off debt in 08 and wasn’t faithfully tithing 10%. My wife and I discussed our convictions and in 09 we made it our goal to give back to God first, instead of fullfilling our wants or paying off debt. At the end of 09 I received a bonus that was more the double the one I received in 08. We cheerfully gave 10% of it to missionaries that we support. This year my bonus was smaller but God has blessed me in still providing me with a job, a slightly smaller bonus, and even a modest raise.
I’m not telling others that you’ll automatically get more just because you tithe. Just wanted to share some thoughts and personal experience. Thanks for listening. God bless.
If you were not under the law you would give as the Spirit leads whether it was 10% or not. Your are under the law because you believe Spirit led giving is a”free pass” to get out of giving. It was for freedom that Christ set us free (Gal. 5:1). Salvation is a free gift and not paid for by anything we give. That being said, the principle of giving still stands because God is a giver and still we should give in order to become more like Him, but we should not limit ourselves to a particular percentage anymore. We receive blessings from giving in general, not because we gave a particular percentage. For every example of someone stating that tithing brought about blessings, there is also an example of someone who found that Spirit led giving also brough about blessings. Since making the decision to be a better steward of all that God has given me, I have paid off considerable debt and received significant raises and some bonuses at work and I don’t tithe. I give as the Spirit leads. God knows what is in our hearts and what is our motivation.
To Non-Tithing:
I agree with what you wrote except about the part about me still being under the law because my comment about having debt doesn’t give me a pass. Perhaps, to clarify my general reason for posting: I personally felt lead by the Spirit to continue giving even though I am in debt. Honestly, I don’t get caught up in exact numbers and don’t believe God sits in Heaven with a calculator. I’m not going to argue with one who wants to give on gross or net, etc. I believe what I consider to be tithing is actually Spirit lead giving. However, I think having a general goal in mind for a year or month helps me in my humanness to remember what’s important financially and helps me actually hear and listen to the call of the Holy Spirit.
Andy,
Thank you for clarifying your position. I think perhaps some things may have gotten lost in translation for me when I was reading your initial posting because it would seem that from what you just said, you meant to say that tithing = giving – not an exact number or percentage? Correct me if I am wrong. :)
In general, I don’t judge people who strictly tithe 10% because only God knows their motives and I can’t read their hearts or minds the way God can. What I have a hard time with is when people try to judge me for not giving an exact 10% because that is what they believe.
I remain committed to giving same as you, and I respect your commitment to giving while paying off debt. Believe me, I am in the same position, and it can be really hard sometimes.
Blessings!
To below response from Non-tithing:
I don’t believe there is a magic number to give / tithe. The reason I originally mentioned a number is because so many people that are in debt could have more money if they got rid of so many things that our culture considers to be needs (Cable TV, cell phones, flat screens, movies, eating out, etc.).
I don’t think a tithe at whatever percentage has to all be given to your home church either. For a while after we moved to a new city we hadn’t settled in to a church and felt better about saving what we would normally give until we found a permanent church. Instead of giving to a church we increased our monthly support of our missionary friends. Even today, after being settled in a church for about two years we give about half of our givings to our church and half to the missionaries that we were previously supporting.
I could almost be out of debt today if I wasn’t tithing over the last two years. However, I feel like by continuing to give has been an investment in God’s kingdom. I would rather be in debt longer than miss the opportunity to give.
Thanks for the conversation and encouragement. I know that God will continue to be faithful to each of us. Take care and God bless.
In Corinthians 8:12-13, Paul instructs the Corinthians that giving is acceptable out of what a person has not according to what he does not have. Guess what? If you are in debt you not only have nothing you are even worse you have negative money. Romans 13:8 let no debt remain outstanding
Response to Giver’s post on 1/1/11:
Giver:
If you want to use Romans 13:8 as reason to postpone giving while in debt then according to you many, many people should stop their tithing, giving, offering, etc. until their mortage, student loan, car, business loan, etc are paid off.
There is a difference between a debt being outstanding and a debt that is being paid according to the terms of the loan.
You are correct in one thing, I have nothing. My net worth is negative. However, should we be like the Pharisees and only give a small portion of what we have? Or should we be more like the poor women who gave all she had?
In a few years, through a lot of hard work, all my earthly debts (mortage, car, student loan, etc) will all be paid and then I will be able to give even more. In the mean time, I’ll continue to give back to God and pay off debts.
If you do one thing as a result of this post go check out Dave Ramsey. I really believe he has a good handle on how Christians should handle their money.
Andy,
Forgive me if I was insulting with the negative money thing. It was not a loving way to communicate what I was saying. But, I don’t see anything biblicaly wicked about getting out of debt before giving. I don’t know of a biblical list for acceptable debt, but the only debt I would ever keep because of financial sense is a mortgage, I don’t know anything about business loans. But don’t you think other debt needs to just go away as fast as possible? The church isn’t going anywhere and there will always be missionaries to support. You will have more money to give sooner especially if you pay off high interest loans. The quicker you pay than the less total interest you pay and that means you are losing less of the churches money to banks since each one of us is church. Isn’t thinking we’re separate from church like a subconscious heresy? We are the new temple. Wasn’t the widow giving her everything to support the old temple? Isn’t the more you, me and our brothers and sisters keep in our pockets and out of the banks pockets is automatically better stewardship and God glorifying? In my opinion, we should have never as a church started going outside our own brethren to meet our needs. oh yeah, Plus if God should take you up early I don’t know if he will look at your net worth or at how much you gave. That would be important to find out. That would actually solve this whole question.
It’s funny all the emphasis on monetary tithing but didn’t Jesus deny the worthiness of money after he pointed out Caeser’s face on the denarius. Ironically, if Jesus were in this discussion he might be upset that we even considered using our man made currency for worship. So although “giving back to God” is an often used phrase in church today, Jesus himself declared money is for man and not for God.
We should present ourselves as a living sacrifice, Holy and pleasing to God,this is our true and proper worship.
Thankful for your reply it made me think some more, peace and grace to you
oh , I went to financial peace university several years ao and still have the package, the only thing I didn’t like was the give to church first part. until I realized I was church.
It does not matter which church I attend, and there have been many. something is different inside these days than when I was a boy 35 or so years ago. In the past I did not bounce from church to church, it was 1 church, and I do not promote bouncing from church to church, get established in 1 as long as you can. But believe it or not the LORD has me looking from th outside in at churches to show me how full of religion and tradition the church has made me. I blame alot on myself, but most church going people that are in the inside think that there church is the most right and the others are messed up. I truly think that the church is getting further and further away from what GOD intended, the Bible points to that. But, I really believe most Pastors and Christians think they are going about it right. I have attended big, medium and small Pentacostle, Baptist, Methodist, Catholic and Episc. churches. It is not the same as the old days, alot alot of tradition, and alot of money money in most of them. I can’t get my arms around the big difference, but what I really really think is different of todays church is that there is MORE OF THE WORLD IN THE CHURCH THAN THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD. Even the most conservative churches that try there best to keep the world out, cannot do it. When I say this about the world, I do not mean do not invite the people in, that is what we need to do. I mean, we have adapted alot of the worlds evil system to get people to come and stay. And money and this tithing thing is part of the whole thing that is wrong. Let me just say it, the Pastors that still preach tithing and are aware this is wrong will have to explain themselves to GOD one day. Anyway I still try and get the family to church, there are good people and good values in there still, but I try and keep a close eye on what the church is pushing. The church has been invaded by wolves. Anyway, I attend a small group on Tuesdays that is in a garage and it brings non churched people in and loves on them and it is growing. This Garage is so much more like what GOD truly wants than church on sunday morning that is full of politics, tradition, and laws from the OT. GOD bless and listen to what the Spirit is telling you and don’t close your eyes in Church, watch closely to what is going on, don’t just continue to believe everything that is going on these days. The Church has us thinking that the world is evil and you can be safe inside, the wolves are inside, keep an eye out.
I was a tither and really believed it was the right thing to do. I stopped tithing after GOD convicted me and I searched the scriptures, all of them, for myself. If you are a tither and are not budging on it, you should search the scriptures deeply. Most Pastors that push tithing do not deeply study the scriptures on tithing, they just push it. If you really look you will find that you are putting yourself back under the law, which JESUS warned us about. There is a spirit of the Law, but JESUS broke us out from under the law of the jews. Many tithing Preachers will show you the Malachi verses that tell you to bring the whole tithe to the storehouse so there will be food in GOD’s house. People GOD was talking to the Jews that were under law. Jesus came and when HE saved us from the law and gave us grace to Love and Believe HE broke us out of the law. If you continue to go back and put yourself under the law then you are not really under grace. Listen to this: Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written: Cursed is everyone who does not continue doing everything written in th book of the law. 11 Now it is clear that no one is justified before GOD by the law, because the righteous will live by faith. 12 But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by the. 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. See folks, JESUS saved you from the law, that the JEWS had to follow to the tee. JESUS wants us to be cheerful givers, but not lawfull tithers, if you choose to go back under law and lawfully tithe, then you have to follow the whole law, and grace is no good to you. Now listen, most tithing Preachers go back to Genesis and say, look, Abraham gave a tenth of his spoils to the Priest, that was before law so we need to do that also. First of all it was a 1 time gift between Abraham and the Priest, and that was put on Abrahams heart. The spirit of that is good, we should give when GOD puts it on our heart. But the church says look, we need to tithe every Sunday. Listen if this is true, why does the Church only teach to do this 1 time thing that Abraham did. Why does the Church not teach us to do everything good that Abraham did??? Abraham presented burnt offerings to the LORD, that was before law. The Church tells us not to present burnt offerings to the LORD anymore, that was under the law. Well why is it ok to tithe, because Abraham did?? Why not do everything good that Abraham did? Be careful tithers and start researching, you will be shocked at what you have been taught. If you are like me, that tithing is deeply inbeded in you, so it will take a long time to see the truth, but don’t stay under law. If you are interested in reading about Abraham and his tithe for yourself, look at Genesis 13. But look at everything that Abraham did good, why is the church only focusing on his 1 time tithe, you know why, they need your money. By the way, if you take a deep look at what Abraham did with the other 90%, he gave it back to the worriors, which seemed to be non-Christlike. Why does the Church not bring up the other 90%??? Anyway the bottom line is, I was a lawful tither and was putting myself back under law, then GOD showed me, HE wants me to give out of the hear. I believe Abraham gave out of the heart, that is the message in what Abraham did, not that the Church should gather 10% in a lawful way from you. I Love you and want you to be free from the law. I only ask you to stop taking your Pastor at face value on this, I don’t care how good of a man he is. My Pastors have been great, that is why I stayed in bondage on this for so long, they had to be right, right?? Well if a Pastor knows what I know and keeps it quiet, he willl have to anwer to GOD big time. Tithers, research this before you tithe again, you may be set free.
Nice job, Barry. I especially like your phraseology “cheerful giver, not lawful tither”. The arguments I have heard so far are good, but I have not heard anyone mention Hebrews chapter 7. The tithe pushers point to this portion of scripture to attempt to validate their claims. If only the Holy Spirit would reveal to them the true context of the epistle to the Hebrews: to wean law keepers off of the Law and the Prophets, and bring them fully into the realm of grace. These early church Jews had one foot in the old covenant and the other foot in the new. The entire epistle was written in an attempt to extricate them from the observance of that which had passed away. They needed to hear that Christ did not suffer and die for the purpose of merging law with grace, but that grace was to supplant law in its entirety; NO MIXTURE. Meditate on Luke 5:36-39; Hebrews 8:6-7 & 13.
In Hebrews 7 the author unequivocately asserts “And verily they that are of the sons of Levi…..have a commandment to take tithes of the people ACCORDING TO THE LAW”. Heb 7:5 Tithe enforcers always tell us that tithing was in Abraham, therefore not under law, but this scripture would befuddle them if they didn’t conveniently ignore it. Now meditate on chapter 7 vss 12 & 18. This is powerful. Please read and re-read the entire chapter and meditate on it. When we don’t hear the truth from the pulpits, we need to find it ourselves with the help of the Holy Spirit, our Teacher. I hope I have made myself clear and that my words are an encouragement to you, a Truth-Seeker.
Thanks for commenting Bill. So many ignore the obvious with Hebrews 7. I agree with you. The book was addressing those who could not get both feet out from under the law.
– jared
Thought some of you may get a kick out of this mock trial, it is so true though. Love to give, love to give and follow GOD.
The trial of Pastor Jones
Judge: Mr. Jones you have been charged with multiple counts of extortion. Your crime spree covers 20 years and thousands of victims. You have defrauded people out of their money with fear and manipulation, telling them they had to tithe 10% of their income to your church and that God would bless them if they did. You also told them that if they didn’t tithe God would curse them. How do you plead?
Mr. Jones: I plead not guilty your Honor, I have done nothing wrong. I have only preached what the Bible says. In the Bible Abraham tithed to Melchizedek and God blessed him for his faithful giving. The Bible even says he was rich in silver and gold.
Judge: Is it not true, Mr. Jones, that in Genesis chapter 13 verse 2 the Bible says Abraham was rich with livestock, silver and gold?
Mr. Jones: Yes, you are exactly right, that’s what I just told you.
Judge: Ok, we read about Abraham being a rich man in chapter 13 but it is not until Genesis chapter 14 that we read about Abraham’s tithe to Melchizedek. So Abraham was already a rich man before he tithed to Melchizedek, wasn’t he?
Mr. Jones: Yes, I suppose you are right.
Judge: So his riches were not the result of his tithe to Melchizedek?
Mr. Jones: No.
Judge: Mr. Jones, you also say God blessed him for his faithful giving. How many times is it recorded that Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek?
Mr. Jones: Well, just once.
Judge: So the Bible never said that he gave week after week?
Mr. Jones: No it does not.
Judge: Where did Abraham get the things that he gave to Melchizedek?
Mr. Jones: Well the Bible says it was from the plunders of war?
Judge: So you are telling me that he gave from the plunders of war?
Mr. Jones: Yes that’s what the Bible says.
Judge: So he basically took things that were not really his in the first place and gave them as the tithe?
Mr. Jones: That is what the scripture seems to indicate.
Judge: Is it recorded that he ever took anything from his own possessions
and tithed them to Melchizedek or anyone else?
Mr. Jones: I guess not
Judge: You guess not, you are a Pastor and you are only guessing, is it or
is it not written that he ever gave any of his own possessions as a tithe to
anyone?
Mr. Jones: No it is not written anywhere that I have seen.
Judge: Is it recorded as to what exactly Abraham did give Melchizedek?
Mr. Jones: I believe it says plunder?
Judge: So plunder could be any number of things?
Mr. Jones: Yes, I suppose
Judge: It could have been food, cattle, sheep, the people’s
possessions or any number of things. It does not say it was all money
correct?
Mr. Jones: Yes you are correct, it does not say just money
Judge: As a matter of fact money is never mentioned in that account at all
is that correct Mr. Jones?
Mr. Jones: Yes your Honor, money is never mentioned just goods and food and
people.
Judge: So there is no way you can say with any certainty that Abraham in
fact gave Melchizedek any money at all?
Mr. Jones: That is right.
Judge: I only have one last question for you Mr. Jones, did God command Abraham to give this plunder tithe to Melchizedek?
Mr. Jones: No, it appears that he did this voluntarily.
Judge: So are you trying to tell me that because of this voluntary, one time gift by Abraham, that may not have even consisted of money, all Christians everywhere are obligated to bring 10% of their weekly paycheck to a local church?
Judge: Considering all the evidence I would say you are beyond any shadow of a doubt guilty of deliberately trying to make the scriptures says things they have not said for financial gain.
Mr. Jones: Ok your Honor, I can see how foolish I was to try and use the story of Melchizedeck to try and get the people to tithe money. But there are many other verses that will support my belief on tithing. Jacob said he would give God 10% of everything. I think we should follow his example.
Judge: Let’s see what Jacob said. Please read the verse you are talking about for me Mr. Jones.
Mr. Jones: In Genesis chapter 28 starting at verse 20 it says. Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, and Yahweh will be my God, then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God’s house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give the tenth to you.”
Judge: You said we should follow Jacobs’s example, is that right Mr. Jones?
Mr. Jones: Yes that is right, he vowed to give a tenth and we should too.
Judge: Let me point out one thing for you Mr. Jones, Jacob said he would Give God a tenth, ONLY if He blessed him first. So as you said previously, we should follow Jacob’s example and tell God that we will only give him a tenth if he blesses us first. Is that right?
Mr. Jones: That is not what I meant.
Judge: What did you mean then?
Mr. Jones: That we should give God a tenth also.
Judge: There you go again, trying to make the scripture say what you want it to say for your benefit. I would also like you to tell me the scriptures that say that Jacob kept his vow with God. I would also like to know where he gave the tenth to because there was no temple or levites to give it to at that time.
Mr. Jones: I can not think of any scriptures that say where or if he ever tithed after his vow.
Judge: It seems fairly obvious to me that Jacob made a voluntary and conditional vow to God. This in no way can be used as a reason to demand others to bring their income to you or any other place.
Mr. Jones: I do have a few more scriptures that I believe will show that we are supposed to tithe.
Judge: You have not said anything yet to convince me one little bit that people are obligated to tithe money to the local churches and that you were justified in what you were doing. You have taken scripture and misapplied it to your beliefs and for your gain. But in order to be fair to you I will allow you to present more evidence.
Mr. Jones: In the book of Malachi chapter 3 starting at verse 8 it says, will a man rob God? yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, In what have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now with this, 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. So you see your Honor, we are commanded to bring the tithes into the storehouse or God will curse us.
Judge: Answer me this Mr. Jones, were you aware that God never required anyone to tithe money?
Mr. Jones: No I didn’t know that.
Judge: The tithe spoken of here was always edible products never money.
Mr. Jones: well your Honor that is because they didn’t have money at the time so God had them tithe food instead.
Judge: Not true, money is first mentioned in Genesis and Malachi was written hundreds of years later. God had them bring food in so that the levites, the fatherless and widows may eat and be satisfied. The tithe was used mainly to take care of people. Also notice it says in the verse you quoted, that there may be food in my house. How do you completely overlook the word food in those verses?
Mr. Jones: I don’t know
Judge: I also want you to know that these verses speak to people under the Old Testament law. As you may or may not know Jesus fulfilled the law, it is no longer binding. Tithing was part of that law that has been abolished.
Judge: Once again you have tried to completely take a scripture out of context and apply it to others for your benefit. Can you give me a single scripture where God changed the tithe from food to money?
Mr. Jones: I do not know of any.
Judge: So if God never changed it from food to money who did?
Mr. Jones: Man must have.
Judge: So far all you have done Mr. Jones is take Old Testament scriptures out of context and try to apply it to believers under the New Covenant. Is this all the proof you have?
Mr. Jones: I do have a New Testament scripture that will show that Jesus told us to tithe.
Judge: Ok let me hear it.
Mr. Jones: Jesus said in Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. See Jesus said we should be tithing.
Judge: Let me ask you a question, who was Jesus talking to?
Mr. Jones: The scripture says the scribes and Pharisees.
Judge: Are you a scribe or Pharisee?
Mr. Jones: Of course not.
Judge: Jesus also said in that passage, you have left undone the weightier matters of the law. Are we under the law Mr. Jones?
Mr. Jones: No.
Judge: Why not?
Mr. Jones: Because Jesus fulfilled it.
Judge: When did Jesus fulfill the law?
Mr. Jones: When He was crucified.
Judge: So the law was still in effect until Jesus death?
Mr. Jones: That is correct.
Judge: I think you know where I am going with this don’t you?
Mr. Jones: Yes your Honor. Since Jesus had not yet been crucified and the law was still binding the Pharisees were required to tithe because it was part of the law. Once the law ended, tithing ended also.
Judge: I want you to take a look at that verse again. Also tell me, what were they tithing?
Mr. Jones: The scripture says it was mint, dill and cumin.
Judge: Is money mentioned?
Mr. Jones: No it was not.
Judge: Once again it was edible products that they were tithing, not money. Do you have anything else you would like to say?
Mr. Jones: If people only tithed edible products like the scripture says, then how would the church survive? We have our mortgage payment, utility bills, my salary and a host of other things that we have to pay each week. We depend on the money from the people.
Judge: The need does not justify the means. In other words, just because you have all these debts does not give you the right to twist and manipulate scripture and cause people to give under fear of being cursed by God to meet your needs. In closing, let me recap a few things for you Mr. Jones. The tithe was never money; the tithe was an Old Testament law, which is no longer binding. When it was binding the tithe was used to take care of people, not buildings. We are under a new covenant now. Paul instructs the Corinthian believers how they are to give. He says in second Corinthians chapter 9 verse 7, Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart; not grudgingly, or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. So each believer is supposed to give as he or she has determined in his or her heart. If you are trying to make people give under the threat of being cursed or any other reason you are wrong. Someone can not give cheerfully if they are being forced to give. If your church can not survive on freewill offerings maybe God is not part of your church at all.
Mr. Jones: I never realized all these things, I have always been taught that we had to tithe money to the local church and that is what I have always taught. I can see now that I was completely wrong. I did not study the scripture for myself, I only took mans word for it. Yes I am guilty. I will not teach this error anymore.
Judge: Mr. Jones, I can see that you done this in ignorance and are repentant, this court will not hold you accountable. It is your responsibility to know the truth. I would advise you and everyone else in this courtroom to really start studying the Bible and seeking God on the subject of tithing and your eyes will be open. Do not just take mans word any longer. Start seeking God as to how and where He would have you give. Court adjourned.
The Bible says if we don’t do it out of Love it is usless, so I do Love Gary, but I need to Love more. Anyway, I was a tither for years, I respect my Pastor and other Pastors, they have a tough job and I could not do it. I thank all Pastors that are truly called for what they do, I have learned alot from them. As far as tithing goes, I ask you people that are tithing and have been for years to simply do some study. I really think that most Pastors are trying to do the right thing but really don’t study the tithing verses deeply. I know it is all GOD’s, I Love to give, giving to church adn Pastors is good, but don’t get hung up on how much and numbers, that is lawful. Let us just touch on the main verses they use in there sermons or talks. I won’t quote them, you research them for yourself, that will help you more, it really will. And please go into this in prayer and and open heart, not an angry heart. Remember, every one, yes every one of these verses are under law, which we are not. In Gen 14: Abraham comes back from war and gives by free will, not a command 10% of his spoils (not money) to the preist, Melkecedek (sp). Abraham was already a rich man before this and the bible never sais that he tithed before or after this event. Abraham did this from his heart, like we should give, from out heart. By the way, Abraham sacrificed animals also, it was before law. There are many other tithing verses inbetween Gen and Malachi, but most preachers don’t touch on them, because most of these verses do not help the Pastors cause for pushing the tythe. Then we get to the famous tithing verse in Malachi, please really know this, GOD was talking to the Jews deep under law, not Christians. GOD was mad at them because they were not giving there tithes, even the Priest were being corrupt with the tithes. GOD told them if they went back to giving like they should, then HE would open the windows of Heaven and pour out great blessings on them, but if they did not there would be a curse on them. So many Pastors use this and show us the blessing that is coming if we tithe, but if we don’t we will be cursed. GOD warns against Pastor’s putting us under guilt, they will be held more accountable, be careful Pastors, study your Bible. Then in the new testament, Jesus has the same speach, but in 2 different areas in the gospels, Mathew and Luke. Remember, you probably might not know this, JESUS was a Jew under Law when HE said this, He had not gone to the cross yet, and HE was fussing at the JEWS that were under law, HE was not talking to us. HE was upset with them becasue they were tithing there spices and herbs to the tee, but they were not loving or following the more important parts of the LAW, the LAW. And remember if you choose to keep tithing and not just giving, no verse in the Bible ever shows anyone tithed money. But if you choose to keep tithing please please look at Gal 3. Galatians 3 talks about if you are going to follow part of the law, you must follow all of the law and if you do that you are putting yourself back under law and JESUS is useless to you. Please read Galatians 3. Now if most Pastors see that these verses are not working on you, they will try and twist other verses to make tithing right. And if you listen careful to a tithing Pastor you will here some of these hand me down sayings, these are man made sayings, not in the Bible. And by the way, did you know that the NT Church brought back tithing just about 160 years ago, GOD didn’t bring it back. OK, be weary of these sayings, you will here them if you start asking: “The Jews were required to give more than 10%, so we are lucky”, “10 percent is a good starting place for you or a good benchmark”, “you can’t outgive GOD” (which is true if you give out of the heart), “I have been tithing for 42 years and the LORD has always supplied my needs”, many people that have just given for 42 or 52 years without tithing have been looked out for by GOD. Oh, listen to this one, “you are looking inwardly and not outwardly”. Just Love your Pastor and support him, but please study tithing for yourself and pray about it. Like I said, mostly these guys mean no harm, they just go off what they have learned. GOD bless you, Give in abundance as GOD leads.
This is interesting since I stopped tithing, I have been aiming to get to the bottom of the truth.
I will keep this short and to the point. It is terribly unfortunate that some churches make people feel as though God judges or condemns us if we don’t give our 10%. Instilling fear as a motivation for giving causes us to completely miss the point. We tithe not because we have to “or else!” We give because 100% of what we earn, posses and are blessed with belongs to God. He provides for us in every way, so we should joyfully WANT to sew back into His kingdom what already belongs to Him!
Also, there are many better ways to get out of debt that to stop tithing. For example, stop going out to eat. If you stop for coffee on the way to work even once a week, skip the coffee. Go down to one car to eliminate a car payment and reduce insurance costs. Get rid of cable and internet. There are many corner cutting options that make more sense than cutting tithing.
Moral of the story, God loves a cheerful giver. “You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” (2 Corinthians 9:7 NLT). I also think of the story of the widow’s offering in Luke 21 ( 1 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”) Jesus loved the fact that she gave, even out of poverty, because she recognized that her money, daily bread, her life even, didn’t belong to her, so it wasn’t hers to sustain. It is one thing to be a good steward of what you’ve been given. It’s another thing to try to preserve yourself on your own without including the Provider Himself.
I agree with Bethany. There are sacrafices that we can make in our luxury or within our miscellaneous budget spending. Some people may not even have a budget, so they are clueless. I am reminded of the movie “Liar! Liar!”– “Greta: He knocked over another ATM. This time at knife point. He needs your legal advice.
Fletcher: [picking up phone and shouting] Stop breaking the law, *******!”
Some people need discipline, but don’t live with mommy and daddy, and even some parents empower such bad behavior and bail them out of each and every situation. Take the advice of Fletcher but in terms of breaking the law, breaking your financial resources. Stop it!
I notice in Bethany’s quote that “we tithe not because we have to “or else!” (but) We give because 100% of what we earn, possesss and are blessed with belongs to God.”
Anyone want to pounce on Bethany because she may give a “tithe?” I certainly could care less, that is up to her clean conscience before God. I’d soon give more and forget pulling out a calculator or doing mental math. However, maybe she doesn’t tithe and is a free will giver. Maybe she gives less. Who am I to be an enforcer as the tithe preachers may be doing? Why become something that you hate in others? Peace be with you Bethany.
I might have a different take on this … I’m actually Jewish. Tithing, after all, is a Jewish law that I believe Christians have taken to be their own. But, there’s nothing Christian about the tithe. In fact, Tithing, by Jewish law is not even a legal practice since the Levites were the only ones allowed to take the tithe in the first place. You will never find a synagogue who takes a tithe in the name of God. We just call it what it is … a membership fee. Any way, Old testament rules about tithing have been lifted by Christianity and kind of twisted to mean: if you write me a check, the you will be blessed for doing so. It’s an absurd notion and not at all Christian. God enters His way into our hearts because we allow him to … not because we find 10% lying around in the church’s name. God doesn’t live in the church … He live everywhere else.
Now, does that mean we shouldn’t be charitable? Of course not! That’s exactly what we’re supposed to be! But the tithe was Literally (not metaphorically) supposed to be comprised consumables like food, wine and grain. A surcharge was originally placed upon valuables like silver (money). If pastors knew what they were talking about, they would only accept food and then charge you for taking the money.
In the New Testament, tithing is only discussed as a reference back to the Old Testament. Jesus never took a tithe that I knew of. Neither did any of the apostles. But, then, he would have known that it wasn’t a legal act to do so. Plus, tithing, from His perspective would have likely been an insult to God. Money doesn’t help people … starving people need to eat. That was the point.
The Dave Ramsey plan that demands a 10% tribute/tithe in order to help build the spirit of giving just misses the point. God could care less about our money — it’s all his anyway. But, he does care that we’ve enslaved ourselves to a bunch of corporate junkies like Bank of America. That’s a much bigger insult than our failure to tithe.
Again, great article!
Barry, you’re not quite accurate about your interpretation of Jewish law. First, we give according to Tikkun Olam which essentially says that we should give as much as we can to help heal the world. Giving is not a tithe. A tithe is essentially a maintenance fee or a tax. These aren’t the same things. But, the “Jews” were never required to pay 10%. Only land owners and wealthy people were required to tithe. Poor people and slaves were actually forbidden from the tithe (something Christian pastors fail to mention). But ministers will gladly take 10% from anyone who walks through the door. This flies in the face of spiritual giving since we should be helping the less fortunate … not goading them into giving under the “guise” that their giving will reap them rewards, like a spiritual lottery ticket of sorts.
Leviticus outlines all of the fairly complicated rules about tithing. On the 7th year, there was actually no tithing allowed. There were also particular times and dates when the tithe actually happened since the Levites didn’t even attend to the temple a couple of times a year. So, it would have been impossible to demand 10% of your first fruits.
I THINK MANY PERSONS ONLY TITHE OUT OF FEAR ANYWAY, AS THEY HAVE BEEN LED TO BELIEVE THAT THEIR ‘FRUITS WILL BE DEVOURED’ IF THEY DON’T. TO BE HONEST, WE SHOULDN’T DO ANYTHING UNDER THIS TYPE OF FEAR.
GETTING AND STAYING OUT OF DEBT IS INDEED SCRIPTUAL AND GOD’S BEST FOR US.
Honestly curious. How many of you, since ceasing tithe have come completely out of ‘monetary’ debt & are living in ‘financial’ overflow? How are the other areas of your lives? Health, relationship, influcence, etc?
I would love to tell you about my experience because it is a very positive one, but what does tithing have to do with these things when there are even non-believers that are rich, healthy, and influential?
– jared
Thanks for answering back, Steward. The reason I asked is because I read in Malacai 3:10 to,”Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
For whatever reason, a lot of people I’ve met seem to think that the tithe is only a way to get financial increase or something. But I don’t see anywhere in that scripture making it exclusive to one’s income. God says there that if you faithfully honor Him with obedience concerning this thing, He would supply you with an abundance of favor for whatever you need, whether that be in income, health, deliverance, etc.
From my walk with Christ, I’ve come to the conclusion that it really does take faith to effectively serve Him & live according to His commands (lol). I’ve found that my common sense is not always in line with God’s wisdom which, at times, seemed pretty silly & irrelevant to me. But He is an omniscient God, isn’t He? His ways are clearly higher than my own limited view of things.
I can personally testify to doing according to Malacai 3:10 & taking God at His own words right there in black & white, & experiencing success & breakthrough in ALL areas I was defeated in before. And I came to realize that this is not an exersize in my wallet but for my faithful obedience. it’s not about the tangible object that is the tithe (in my case money) that caused me to be open to His favor. I see that this “tithe” is simply a God tailored vehicle for my faith.
And it’s great to be able to give an offering too! But the offering is based on basic sowing & reaping. Whatever you sow is what you can expect to reap. This is why non-believers who are philanthropists are so wealthy & have a large sphere of influence. They give money & thier time & reap the harvest of that. Whether they’re healthy in their bodies, have peace, or their marriage or relationships are fruitful is usually a private matter. But for me & people that I have met that do tithe, we have experienced complete peace & wholeness. The means to prosper in everything we do is consistently available. And trials still come, of course, but that active practice of faith conditions us to keep those little foxes of fear, worry & doubt from spoiling the power that God has put in our hands.
God is a wonderful father. And Christ made it possible for me to be joined back unto Him & learn to trust Him in all my ways so that he can work in & through me. I realize that I am redeemed from the curse of the law which is death. Through Christ’s grace I can now operate in the law of Love. Love God with my whole being & love my neighbor as I love myself. And because I love God, I tithe. Because I love Him & want to please Him, & to please Him I need to have faith, I will abide by this command which calls for faith. Should YOU tithe? God says to judge our own selves according to His word. Should I tithe? No. It is not a suggestion to me, it is an opportunity to show God I trust Him totally. I WANT to tithe. My God is bigger than any issue that can come up in my life because the same God asking me to give a tenth of what comes into my hands is the same God that enabled me to earn it.
This is my experience <3 Be blessed my friend, Steward! And I would still love to hear how God has blessed you. Tithe or not, I’m always glad to hear people praise the Lord.
New Covenant fulfills and supersedes the Old Covenant/The Old Testiment is good and true but MUST be considered through the lens of the New Covenant given by Jesus Christ.
Awesome interpretation. I love reading your blogs on tithing as it validates my insight about the same. Many years ago I was in debt up to my nose. I honestly didn’t know what to do. I was about to lose my house, I lost one of my cars, and I lived from hand to my mouth as a registered nurse. So, one day in 2007 I turned to God and asked his permission to not tithe for a while until I got out of debt and the answer I got was shocking. Only I heard his instructions so no other believer would understand. I heard God say “I don’t need your money. Do whatever it takes to become debt free” firstly, I immediately felt a huge burden come off my chest since that meant I didn’t have to work overtime to balance bills and tithes. Fast forward to 2016, oh!!! God has been faithful. I am almost debt free, I am a nurse practitioner now and mostly, I learned over the last nine years to simply be a giver rather than a tither. God honors a cheerful giver. I refuse to bind myself by Malachi 3:10 and I chose to live according to Christs victory to give cheerfully. Unfortunately many Christians tie tithing with health Etc but I have not been ill and I have not had any other physical loses since I started combining Gods wisdom with mine. If you tithe or give and can’t balance your budget then you must rethink the way you’re spending or giving
Hi GG, are you trying to compare your peanuts again with other christians ?
Go ask tithe teachers like Robert Schuller of Crystal Cathederal or Eddie Long, Keneth Copeland why their ministries are struggling financialy.
Dont forget Evander Holyfield why the bank wants to forclose on his home ?
Did the windows over them suddenly close ? Who are you goin to blame ? God for not providing or christians for paying their bills but not paying tithes so that these chosen few can continuie to live in a life of luxury and excess ?
It is not a SIN TO USE YOUR BRAIN . No offence but please read what the bible say ,
YOU CAN NOT Serve both GOD and money. Either you hate one and love the other but you can not serve both of them at the same time. I hope you get it.
“my peanuts’? I don’t believe we’ve ever met, Joel. I simply asked a question to which I expected a simple answer as to people’s own personal experiences. Stewart seemed to have got that.
I never tithed since being saved 6 years ago. I have had a lot of the same sentiments as the other non-tithers on this blog so I won’t re-iterate, except that it is just plain obvious in the scriptures that gentile Christians are under no compulsion to “tithe”. I really tried to see the tithe like so many people that I admire and respect faithfully see it, but whenever I would sit down and read the Word it just wasn’t there. That said, I believe in giving in love to those in need. I believe that our time here is short and it is crazy to live in our outrageous abundance as U.S. Americans while the rest of the world can’t even get clean water or have any access to health care. People that really need to see the power of God working in His people. I am trying to figure out ways to give more and more to spread the gospel to those who were obviously close to Jesus’ heart, the poorest. I would like to someday be able to give away more than 50 % of what I make,which I implicitly see Jesus teaching in scripture, unfortunately, right now because of my own greed for financial security and lack of faith I am only at a point of giving less than 10% of take home after funding my 403 and IRA. This is giving to my local church(not a tithe, but an amount I set in my heart) and missionary work. But to answer your question in particular. In the last six years I have become increasingly more blessed financially, my salary has nearly doubled, I have no debt other than mortgage, my debt to income ration is 21%. I was given an amazing wife who loves and respects me far more than I deserve, we have the most beautiful son. And along with my salary nearly doubling I also work less hours(only 40/week as opposed to 50+) so
i get to spend an amazing amount of time with my family and with God’s family encouraging and growing together in faith. When I see the current church paradigm the tithe has all the appearance of thoughtless superstition. Kind of like when all the times when the disciples of Jesus would break a Sabbath commandment or a cleanliness law the Pharisees would try to convict then but Jesus would always tell them they are missing the point. Today most church tithe misses the point. The money is not given to be redistributed to those in need as it was in scripture. Often it pays high salaries, builds outrageous buildings, fancy sound systems and whatever stuff that will keep the pews filled and give the appearance of Godliness. Sounds great until you read scripture and see that there are plenty of people coming to Christ for the wrong reasons which is actually probably fine, what is worrisome to me is that they continue to stay for the wrong reasons i.e., health, wealth and prosperity. Is a tithe really pouring self out to God and dying to self? Or does it just help with the appearance that you are? Is Christ really what you are after or do you just want more worldly blessing? The tithe is dangerous because it is not even close to what Jesus says is the cost of discipleship. It costs us everything and our true hope is in heaven. I am just trying to actually believe that but it is hard being a fairly new believer and seeing that hardly any other “believer” is willing to follow Jesus in this way.
Awesome!! I agree 100%
I can’t understand how a church leader could read about the apostle Paul’s life and with a clear conscience decide that it would be good for the sake of the gospel to mandate a tithe.
There is one question of imminent importance in all of this discussion: Who gave New Covenant church leaders the authority to say to the Body of Christ “God demands a tithe (tenth of your monetary income)? Or a tenth of anything else, for that matter! Apostle Paul stated in Gal. 1:8 “But though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed”. He then emphasizes his point by repeating the very same thing in verse 9. Well, Paul never even mentions the word tithe in all the NT epistles which he authored (unless he happens to be the author of Hebrews; authorship is uncertain). But read and understand the reason Hebrews was written. So preachers today who insist that God demands a tithe are preaching another gospel. Why was tithing in the church not practiced from Apostolic times until about 1880? Who was wrong, the apostles, early church fathers, and preachers prior to circa 1880, or modern day preachers who have reached back into the old covenant to place new covenant believers in bondage? Why not mandate Sabbath observance, circumcision, etc? Maybe because there would be no money involved? Instead of exercising faith that the Lord would move the hearts of the congregants to generously give to supply the needs, they fear, and seek to control them by intimidation and coercion. Study to show yourself approved and you won’t be taken unfair advantage of. Let God be true and every man a liar.
Tithing is found all the way through the Bible from Genesis to 1 Corithians 16 :1-2
If it is just a Jewsih Law Than why did The aposle Paul ask them to set aside at the first 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 let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.” (1 Cor 16:1-2) The principles of Giving is sowing and reaping Tithing is just training wheels to being a real giver You will never out give God It may not come back to you in cash It will come back favorably Cast thy bread up on the water … Give and it shall be given unto you God loves a cheerfull giver Squabbling about percentage is so trivial in the scope of eternity Men and women Need Jesus . The Gosple needs to go forward Just use descernment and prayerfully give to the right ministry and Know them which labor among you
Rodney, no disrespect intended, but in reading your comment, it appears to me that you havn’t done your homework. Your understanding of what the scriptures require concerning the tithe is lacking. In I Cor 16 Paul was not talking about tithing. We cannot freely use the words “tithing” and “giving” interchangeably. To tithe would seem to always mean to give; but to give does not always mean to tithe. Today the concept of tithing always refers to God’s command to OT Jews in connection with the Law of Moses. The objects to be tithed were livestock, grain, wine, oil, etc.,not money! The reason for tithing was because the tribe of Levi (the priesthood) received no land inheritance with which to grow crops and raise livestock in order to provide for their sustenance. The tithe was God’s provision for them. There are many valid criticisms of New Covenant forced tithing in this thread based on solid scriptural research. Have you read them with understanding? You should understand that my opinions and your opinions will not hold up against God’s opinions and His ways. We need to base our arguments on what the Word of God says: nothing added and nothing taken away. May God be praised.
I agree. First of all the body of Christ totally misses the point about tithing. The reason for tithing in the Old Testament was to raise welfare funds for the fatherless and widows and to rebuild and maintain the synagogue. The church today builds monumental churches but neglect to assist their members who are struggling to live. Some churches even tax members to buy their pastors a brand new Benz to show appreciation. America was founded on the bible and that’s why a 10% deduction is taking out of your check every two weeks and sometimes more. So if you have to deduct another 10%, then what’s left for you?
80% is left for you
Should I tithe on my student loans that isn’t enough to cover the courses I must take?
No. A loan is not income