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Dave Ramsey on Tithing

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Who is Dave Ramsey?

Dave Ramsey is the most popular Christian voice today offering stewardship and financial advice. Ramsey is a NY Times Bestselling author and has currently written five books. His most notable book is The Total Money Makeover. According to Wikipedia, The Dave Ramsey Show is broadcasted to over 600 radio stations.

Ramsey focuses much of his attention on debt. Many families have changed their lives and vanquished their debt due to the highly popular Financial Peace University program.

What does Dave Ramsey believe about tithing?

RamseySolutions.com states, “The Bible explains that tithing is an important part of faith for those who follow God and that your tithe should be money you set aside first.” Dave Ramsey believes that Christians should be giving a minimum tithe of 10% of their income to their local Church.

Dave Ramsey believes tithing must go to your local church

Ramsey says, “Giving 10% of your income to anything other than the local church isn’t really a tithe.” I don’t know where Ramsey gets this declaration from because it’s not found in scripture. Tithing was explained in the Old Testament but there’s nothing in the New Testament that states where or how to give a tithe to your local church. During festivals, the Israelites traveled to far places to have feasts and celebrate using a tithe.

He believes tithing should go to the local church due to the interpretation that the Old Testament storehouse equates to the New Testament local church. This belief is in error because the bible makes no correlation between the Old Testament storehouse and the Church. The storehouse at the temple stored grain. Our church stores nothing. The storehouse in the Old Testament correlates to our storehouse in heaven, not the one on earth. 90% of the tithe never even made it to the temple storehouse. The Jews in Israel had synagogues much like our worship centers, yet, they didn’t bring the tithe to their local worship building.

Dave Ramsey believes you should still tithe while paying off debt

“Even if you’re in debt or walking through a rough financial season, tithing should still be a priority.” This statement from Dave Ramsey’s site is shocking to some. It’s very difficult for many people to make ends meet. I have read numerous stories of those struggling in debt while advancing further into debt because of their tithe. There are other ways to give back while getting out of debt. God looks at your stewardship practices as a whole. If you are in debt because of poor financial decisions then tithing does not make a wrong a right. If you are in debt because of economic circumstances such as expensive medical bills while living on social security, then you can find peace in knowing that the poor in Israel received tithes. You can read more about this in the article, Should I Tithe While in Debt?

Dave Ramsey believes tithing is 10% and anything above that is considered an offering

Many people equate tithing and offerings. Offerings are considered a very general term for giving to God, which includes tithing. Tithing is considered a subset of offerings and is the act of giving 10% to God to fulfill an Old Testament command.

Dave Ramsy states, “A tithe is a specific amount (10% of your income) that you give first, and an offering is anything extra that you give beyond that.” It may sound confusing that tithes and offerings are separate when I just explained that tithes are a part of offerings. It really comes to semantics. Many Christians like to say that anything above 10% is a freewill offering. Yes, tithing is a type of offering to God but that’s how many differentiate the two.

Dave Ramsey believes tithing is a firstfruit offering

Here’s a quote from his website. “Firstfruits is just a biblical way of saying that you should give first—before you do anything else with your money.” Dave Ramsey believes in setting your tithe away first before you spend your income on anything else. He also quotes Proverbs 3:9, which states “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.”

The Bible was very clear in Leviticus 27:32 that the tithe was to be taken from the tenth one, not the first, and that it didn’t matter if it was good quality or poor. I am not arguing against honoring God with the best of what we have. What I am stating is that tithing and first fruits are not synonymous. The first fruit offering is a representation of Christ. The tithe, which was given at a separate time, was not.

Dave Ramsey believes tIthing can be from your income either before or after taxes

After reading about Dave Ramsey’s beliefs about first fruits, I was surprised to read from his website, “Whether you tithe from your gross pay or your take-home pay is totally up to you.” This seems to deviate from his belief that our tithe should come out first. Nonetheless, why this question can get complicated is because tithing was used in Israel for civil duties, much like a tax, which paid for judicial matters and such.

If you are paying more than 10% of your income towards the government in taxes, then technically speaking you are paying tithes much in the same way that Israel was.

Should I Tithe While in Debt?

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I’ve touched on tithing while in debt before but it’s time to revisit this topic. To directly answer whether you should tithe while in debt – the answer is, no. You should not tithe while in debt. We should focus on our entire stewardship path which includes spending, saving, and giving. I explain why this is important moving forward.

George Müller offers a lesson about tithing while in debt

I recently came across an article on George Müller. If you are not familiar with him, he founded an orphanage in England and helped care for over 10,000 orphans in his lifetime. He also established 117 schools. A truly remarkable person. We can learn a lot about giving and debt by learning about this man and his ministry.

George Müller launched his orphanages on freewill donations. Below is a story about a donation he received from a donor that was in financial trouble. His response is not like one you will witness in modern times.

January 1, 1840. About one o’clock this morning, I received a sealed envelope with some money in it for the orphans. The individual who gave it was deeply in debt, and I was aware that she had been repeatedly asked by her creditors for payment. I resolved to return the envelope without opening it because no one has a right to give while in debt. I did this although I knew there was not enough on hand to meet the expenses of the day.

https://www.georgemuller.org/devotional/january-1-1840

I often hear a question wondering how churches can be supported without enforcing a tithe. The answer to this question is not a mystery. Muller was a man who did not rely on tithing to fund his entire ministry. Thousands, if not millions of ministries thrive on the support of freewill donations. This is besides the point of the article, but worthy of mentioning.

George Muller lived on integrity and faith. He expected others to live their life with these principles as well. He understood that stewardship is a holistic mindset. Debt and generosity are not exclusive to one another. It’s important to understand that if God wants a ministry to grow, he will provide the means for it. He’s much bigger than your measly 10% that you feel guilted to give. It’s not about you and your feelings. God’s reputation is more important.

Is Debt Wrong for Christians?

Using the word “wrong” is too vague, since we really want to know if debt is a sin for Christians. No, debt is not wrong or sinful for Christians. There are no laws in the bible that explicitly command us to stay out of debt. The error on our part is sinful desires or trusting bad advice prior to the debt. Debt is only a symptom. We should always address the cause whether it creates debt or not.

We should not make debt the object of our focus. Some of us could fall into the trap of being lackadaisical in our spending and stewardship management because we don’t see any symptoms yet. Debt can be like cancer that could take years of poor habits to finally catch up to you.

The book of Proverbs offers a lot of advice and wisdom, but at what point do we distinguish between breaking God’s command and not following biblical advice? Proverbs 22:26-27 is a popular verse that comes to mind.

This is where principles come into play. God wants investors, not givers. Remember the parable where the master gave silver to three servants and went on a journey? Two out of three increased the master’s wealth, while the third buried it. The master rebuked the third servant regardless of receiving 100% of it back.

We all start off in this world in debt. Nothing we have is our own. We are borrowing what God has given us including our own bodies. With it, he expects us to invest in his kingdom.

There are a lot of opinions about whether Christians should have zero debt. I am just one of those opinions. If you have unsecured debt, then you need to focus on paying that off instead of focusing on tithing or giving. Part of paying that off is making sure you behave with your spending in general. If debt is costing you less than your investments are paying, then it makes sense to make sure you are giving before investing.

Overall, this is a very simple way of looking at a complex topic. Everyone is different and every situation is as well. The question I ask myself is will this decision improve the lives of others? If the answer is “yes”, then more often than not, you’re taking the right step.

Is Tithing right for Christians?

Giving 10% (tithe) is not required of Christians. Tithing wasn’t even required from Israel. There are many articles that explain why, so I don’t want to go into depth here. I do want to point out that the poor in Israel received tithes – they did not pay them.

Although we aren’t commanded to give 10% of our earnings to God, he does expect us to be givers. Don’t look at the requirement to not tithe as an opportunity to be stingy.

In the Old Testament, God required Israelite farmers and herdsmen to give the tithe regardless if they were in debt or not. This is not so for us because the Holy Spirit guides us under a different covenant. There is no absolute requirement to give a tithe regardless of your situation.

Tithing does not make a wrong a right

We cannot give in order to absolve ourselves from the stain of debt. Making sure your church ministry you support is in the black while you go in the red is unwise thinking. Do not believe the lie that you will be compounding your sins if you don’t give while in debt.

I assume that most of us get into debt due to foolish purchase decisions and not preparing for unexpected costs with savings. So, for most of us, the fault lies in us. Paying bills instead of giving money to your church is not an additional sin on top of poor stewardship decisions.

If you still make unnecessary purchases and also do not give while in debt, then it’s not the lack of giving that’s the problem. It’s a lack of perspective about what God expects of us as stewards.

Give in other ways

While you are in debt, it does not mean that you sit on your hands. There are other ways to give. Here are only a few:

  • Serve
  • Give something you own to someone who needs it more than you.
  • Send words of encouragement

We all have something other than money and possessions that you can give away. It could be knowledge, a talent, or a hobby that could be used to give. We are all functioning parts of the body. Giving money to your church so a few members can take on the entire job of the body is not how it’s supposed to be. We are all participators.

Get a plan to get out of debt

That’s it. Get a plan to get out of debt. Maybe I’ll write up an article on this topic one day, but for years of my life, I was in debt. Besides a mortgage on my home, I am debt free. I couldn’t express how much anxiety and stress has been lifted off my shoulder.

If you get out of debt, you probably wouldn’t need to look up articles about whether we should give while in debt. I’d like to hear stories about others and how they’ve been freed to give willingly and freed from the bondage of debt. Please share your story below.

Is 10% a Good Place to Start Giving?

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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.

Tithing Confession

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If you navigate to the website of Family Community Church in North Highlands, CA, you will come across their “Tithing Confession” page. here is the link – http://familycc.org/tithing-confession

Look at the ridiculous, and comical tithing confession below

tithing confession

Every single one of the blessings you can receive by the tithing confession is all about MONEY, MONEY, MONEY. This greedy, manipulative, viperous, prosperity pimp is downright heretical. If you give your tithe, now, all of a sudden your bills are paid off and your debts demolished!? What kind of nonsense is this?

One of the most annoying things about the pentecostal, prosperity gospel crowd is their arrogance. It’s just how they demand these things to happen if they just state it with complete boldness and proclaim “in Jesus name” at the end of their declaration. They are always trying to cast out the demon of debt (in jesus name) or the demon of poverty ( in jesus name). the only demon they need out of the equation is themselves. More money, More materialism, more checks in the mail, more gifts, more income, better job, bigger bounuses. ME . . . ME . . .  ME. Does “more for me” sound like the name of Jesus?

Pat Robertson on Tithing

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Listen to Pat Robertson’s response to this person’s inquiry below

Melissa: “Our family is struggling financially. We cannot pay our mortgage and now it’s getting to the point to where our tithe to our church is taking away from paying our bills”

Pat: “The bible says, will a man rob God. If you really want a blessing, be faithful with your tithe”

I’m sure Pat may be well-intentioned but this advice makes it OK, to rob your mortgage and utility company. And also, we don’t need to be faithful in paying our bills.

Why do believers feel it’s justifiable to neglect their debts in order to fulfill tithing. Since when is it pleasing to God that we do one wrong (not paying bills) to do a good thing (tithing)? Should I lie, cheat, and steal, so that i can tithe as well? Is it OK to default on my loan so my Church can beef up its youth program? Look, I’m not saying that materialism isn’t part of the battle to be fought here, but at the moment, the decision is whether or not you defile God’s name to your debtors, or whether you should make your church happy. Hmmmm, that seems like a tough decision.

Going the Distance With Debt

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I just wanted to brag a little. Here is a screenshot of our odometer on our 1997 Toyota Camry. 200,000 miles!!! Happy B-Day. Just to reward the faithful Camry I installed brand new Monroe quick struts. They were buy 3 get 1 free in the month of May! Now she rides smoother than butta! Can’t say that i’ll ever install quick struts again. I literally lost 6 lbs in one day just trying to take out old struts and install new quick struts!

Who cares about stupid stuff like this, right? Ha! Well, this blog is about stewardship right? I’d like to explain why this is important to me.

My family is probably comfortable enough right now to make car payments on a new vehicle, but we don’t want the debt. We have two bills that could be considered ‘debt’. One is our mortgage, and two, is my school loan, which i purposely am not paying off due to the low interest rate. A few years ago, this was not the case. We had unsecured debt that had accumulated up to 5 figures!

I don’t consider myself debt-free simply because of our mortgage. But nonetheless, i think a mortgage is one of those investments that deserves an exemption to the ‘debt list’, considering it is an asset and holds equity. I could sell it today and have no debt or surplus tomorrow. Anyway, i have two reasons below that help explain the secret to paying off so much debt.

Love to Work

W.O.R.K. Yeah. i worked my @$$ off! Really, there was not extravagant things for my wife and i to cut back on. We have no cable TV. We don’t eat out often. Our vacations are around every year-and-a-half, and it’s not extravagant. Sure. we cut back some, and i’ll go over that below. But, all in all it was the gift and ability that God gave me to work.

Some of ya’ll lazy bums need to get out there and work and do it hard. Just imagine if we enforced 1 Thessalonians 3:10, “If a man will not work, he shall not eat”? We’d have a bunch of starving people, wouldn’t we? The ability to work is one of the greatest gifts and one of the first gifts that God has ever given to us. If you think heaven is going to be a work-free zone while you sit back and sip martini’s, you have something coming for ya. Genesis 2:15 says, “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” I believe God put man to work immediately because God felt worshiped by it. Work was the very first form of worship that man ever did for God. Many people get confused because they think that work is part of the curse of sin. Work should be fun, but unfortunately, our sin gets in the way. So the next time you are sitting in your office at work, or on the construction zone; don’t forget that your penny loafers and steel-toe boots are standing on holy ground.

About 2 years ago i have had my own web design business, and it was in the early stages. So I got a 2nd job. I worked 4 days a week from 4:30am to 9:30am. Then, after my shift at my part time job, i traveled home and worked on my business til 5pm.It takes work people! Don’t be lazy and learn to love to work.

Budgeting

I’m sure you read the word, ‘budget’ and you think i’m going to endorse it, but can i admit another secret? I didn’t budget. Budget’s are too depressing for me. I tried a budget at one point and i hated it. But here’s what i did do. I took one opportunity to look at our  expenses (Mint.com endorsement here), and then compare our income. I make sure that i can operate within my means with the basic necessities included in the initial plan. After calculating my costs and i know i can make it financially, i don’t look at it again. Truth be told, i rarely check my balance at my bank. I’m sure most think that’s kind of risky, but if i’m always operating within my means, why do i need to worry about the pennies and calculations? All it did for me was get me panicked, worried, and stressed.

If you think coming up with a budget is the magic bullet, or if you think the budget plan is what got so many families out of debt. I’m no expert but i’d have to disagree – it was the fact that they learned to say, NO! No to eating out. No to overpriced food. No, to extravagent lifestyles. No, to exhuming every single extra dime you get. No to the new toys, and cars, and sneakers, i-pods, i-phones, i-touches, and i-things. NO NO NOOOOO! Learn to say it.

My wife would get annoyed at my predictability when she’d inquire about buying something for the kids. She knew the first thing i’d say is, “do we need it?” If i knew we needed it, then i knew i planned for it, so we bought it. I didn’t get out my check book to see my balance. I didn’t carry budgeting envelopes with me. I don’t want to slam budgeting, but if you can’t learn to say NO, then what’s the point of budgeting if you have disciplined yourself to say the magic word – NO.

For me budgeting is much like dieting. My part time job was working at a gym, so i witnessed lots of types of diets and exercise routines. With dieting, there are those that get out measuring spoons and measuring cups and weight scales to calculate their meals. That’s sooo depressing and takes all the fun out of eating. I’d like to enjoy my food, not treat it like a chemistry project. If i wanted to diet and also enjoy my food at the same time, i might just learned to say, NO, instead of getting all scientific with eating! By the way, that’s another thing . . . i lost 20 pounds this past year through eating healthy and exercising. I contribute it to the fact that i learned to say, NO. When i was offered desert, i didn’t whip out my calorie calculator and calorie envelopes and figure out if i can afford desert that night. Sorry Dave, Sorry Crown, it’s the way i feel. It’s amazing how trimming the waist is similar to trimming your debt.

Final thoughts

If you look at our Camry, the back left fender is rusting out, the front driver’s side door does not even match the rest of the car since it was replaced with a junk yard door. The paint is also fading and chipping away fast. It’s not a pretty sight. This reminds me of a reason why a majority of us get into so much debt; we’re most concerned about preserving our leather and our paint job. In a spiritual sense, we’re more concerned with how we look outwardly than we are concerned with how many miles were putting on the odometer for God.

When i pull up in the parking lot, i think my Camry is the best car in the lot. I wonder if God sees us the same way? I’m sure he looks past the dings and the dents from all the troubles and trials from the outside environment, but he takes a look at what we’re doing for him. How many miles have you put on God’s odometer this week? My challenge to you is to go the distance with God and leave the debt where it belongs.