Do you tithe?
BERNIE DYMET'S INCOMPLETE VIEW ON TITHING
When I told people at my church that this Sunday, I was going to preach a message called “Why I Don’t Believe in Tithing” – well, you can imagine! A few people were a bit twitchy about that. But the long and the short of it is that I don’t believe in tithing. At least not the sort of tithing that much of the church teaches us about. Here’s why: There are a lot of things I really like about the US of A – but their system of tipping isn’t one of them.The original idea they tell me, is that tipping was supposed to turn every waiter, doorman and taxi driver into an “entrepreneur”. Great theory. I really like tipping people who go above and beyond.
These days though, unless you tip most of these people, they simply don’t earn a wage. So now, in effect – I’m obliged to tip. I really don’t like that. In a sense, that’s a bit like the approach that some churches have to tithing. od’s original intent with giving was that it should be something that comes from our hearts: The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. (Exodus 25:1,2) But now … now we seem to have turned giving into a rule. Whether we quite put it in these words or not, we’ve come to believe that unless you tithe your income, you’re simply not being a “good Christian”.Now please understand something. I am not against giving 10% (or a “tithe) of our income to God’s work. I think that’s a great place to start with our giving. What I am against – is this idea that we haveto tithe our income to the church. Why? Because it’s not what the Bible teaches. Here’s the executive summary:
1. We’re Under Grace, Not Under the Law: After I preached this message, one woman came up to me and said to me – rather angrily - How dare you preach a message like that?! Tithing is in the Bible. Sure. It is. Absolutely it is! But so is … selling your daughter into slavery (Exodus 21:7), the death penalty for working on the Sabbath (Exodus 35:2) and for adultery (Leviticus 20:10) and for planting two different crops side by side and sewing two different fabrics together. So is the requirement for men to travel to Jerusalem 3 times a year (Deuteronomy 16:16) … and a whole bunch of other things that we don’t observe today. And the reason that we don’t observe them as Christians, is because we’re under grace, not under the law (Romans 6:14) In fact, the moment we start applying “the law” to the grace and the freedom that we now have in Jesus Christ, then we are cursed: For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.” (Galatians 3:10)
2. The Tithe was there to Fund a Celebration:Reason number 2 is that the original law talks about tithing not as something that is primarily there to support the work of the church (or it’s Old Testament predecessor – the priesthood). The original purpose of the tithe was primarily to throw a whopping great party in the Presence of God. You can read the whole thing for yourself in Deuteronomy 14:22-29 – but here’s the nub of it: In the presence of the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose as a dwelling for his name,you shall eat the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as the firstlings of your herd and flock, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. (Deuteronomy 14:23) So, not only are we not required to tithe our income (reason number 1) but the thing that many churches teach us that tithing is primarily for, is not what the Bible teaches that tithing was primarily for.
3. God Wants Our Hearts, Not our Wallets: And finally, Jesus taught that our hearts are attached to our wallets and wherever our wallets are, there also our hearts will be (my paraphrase of His teaching in Matthew 6:19-24). The thing is, that God wants us to follow His lead, to decide in our hearts to give to His work and then to give it cheerfully. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7) So … what should we do?
I don’t believe for one moment that the Bible teaches us to tip God His 10% under compunction. In fact, that’s the last thing it teaches us to do. So instead, let’s do what the Bible actually does teach us to do. God calls us to give generously (2 Cor 8:1,2), sacrificially (2 Cor 8:3-6), deliberately (2 Cor 9:6.7) and cheerfully (2 Cor 9:7). Because when we do – here’s what happens. We end up giving more – much more – than we would have given were we just following a bunch of rules. Because now all of a sudden, it’s coming from our hearts!
A RESPONSE TO BERNI: A BETTER PERSPECTIVE ON TITHING
When I told people at my church that this Sunday, I was going to preach a message called “Why I Don’t Believe in Tithing” – well, you can imagine! A few people were a bit twitchy about that. But the long and the short of it is that I don’t believe in tithing. At least not the sort of tithing that much of the church teaches us about. Here’s why: There are a lot of things I really like about the US of A – but their system of tipping isn’t one of them.The original idea they tell me, is that tipping was supposed to turn every waiter, doorman and taxi driver into an “entrepreneur”. Great theory. I really like tipping people who go above and beyond.
These days though, unless you tip most of these people, they simply don’t earn a wage. So now, in effect – I’m obliged to tip. I really don’t like that. In a sense, that’s a bit like the approach that some churches have to tithing. od’s original intent with giving was that it should be something that comes from our hearts: The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. (Exodus 25:1,2) But now … now we seem to have turned giving into a rule. Whether we quite put it in these words or not, we’ve come to believe that unless you tithe your income, you’re simply not being a “good Christian”.Now please understand something. I am not against giving 10% (or a “tithe) of our income to God’s work. I think that’s a great place to start with our giving. What I am against – is this idea that we haveto tithe our income to the church. Why? Because it’s not what the Bible teaches. Here’s the executive summary:
1. We’re Under Grace, Not Under the Law: After I preached this message, one woman came up to me and said to me – rather angrily - How dare you preach a message like that?! Tithing is in the Bible. Sure. It is. Absolutely it is! But so is … selling your daughter into slavery (Exodus 21:7), the death penalty for working on the Sabbath (Exodus 35:2) and for adultery (Leviticus 20:10) and for planting two different crops side by side and sewing two different fabrics together. So is the requirement for men to travel to Jerusalem 3 times a year (Deuteronomy 16:16) … and a whole bunch of other things that we don’t observe today. And the reason that we don’t observe them as Christians, is because we’re under grace, not under the law (Romans 6:14) In fact, the moment we start applying “the law” to the grace and the freedom that we now have in Jesus Christ, then we are cursed: For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.” (Galatians 3:10)
2. The Tithe was there to Fund a Celebration:Reason number 2 is that the original law talks about tithing not as something that is primarily there to support the work of the church (or it’s Old Testament predecessor – the priesthood). The original purpose of the tithe was primarily to throw a whopping great party in the Presence of God. You can read the whole thing for yourself in Deuteronomy 14:22-29 – but here’s the nub of it: In the presence of the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose as a dwelling for his name,you shall eat the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as the firstlings of your herd and flock, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. (Deuteronomy 14:23) So, not only are we not required to tithe our income (reason number 1) but the thing that many churches teach us that tithing is primarily for, is not what the Bible teaches that tithing was primarily for.
3. God Wants Our Hearts, Not our Wallets: And finally, Jesus taught that our hearts are attached to our wallets and wherever our wallets are, there also our hearts will be (my paraphrase of His teaching in Matthew 6:19-24). The thing is, that God wants us to follow His lead, to decide in our hearts to give to His work and then to give it cheerfully. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7) So … what should we do?
I don’t believe for one moment that the Bible teaches us to tip God His 10% under compunction. In fact, that’s the last thing it teaches us to do. So instead, let’s do what the Bible actually does teach us to do. God calls us to give generously (2 Cor 8:1,2), sacrificially (2 Cor 8:3-6), deliberately (2 Cor 9:6.7) and cheerfully (2 Cor 9:7). Because when we do – here’s what happens. We end up giving more – much more – than we would have given were we just following a bunch of rules. Because now all of a sudden, it’s coming from our hearts!
A RESPONSE TO BERNI: A BETTER PERSPECTIVE ON TITHING
How do you teach an immature person how to be disciplined in any part of their life without having a ‘rule’? Just as a son is considered a slave until he comes of age, even though he owns the whole estate. Tithing is how we teach Gods people to give, obviously it isn’t the end of giving – its only the start. If we taught New Testament giving as strongly as you teach against tithing no one would come to church. The early church sold land and houses. How many people are giving like that? How many preachers are telling their churches to give like that? Or perhaps like the Macedonians? Are we teaching that under grace (New Testament) that our overflowing joy should result in longing for the honor of giving into the work of the church just as Paul talks about to the Corinthians. They ‘pleaded’ for the privilege to give out of their “extreme poverty”. How many poor people is the church extracting an offering from? Are we teaching the widows to give their best and their last? Or are we just tickling the ears of the immature who are looking for a reason not to give? Are we feeding the pride and rebellion of those who don’t trust or honor their leaders and pastors by refusing to tithe and give offerings to God through the church. The early church took the money from the sales of land and houses and ‘laid it at the apostles feet’. Is the church teaching that? Does the prophet Habakuk have no implication on the church? Should we disregard the whole old testament or should we, like Jesus – extract the greater/higher truth behind the law? You have heard it said eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth but I say….. Did not Jesus say to the Pharisees in relation to the tithe and their lack of compassion for the hurting they should focus on helping people ‘without neglecting’ the tithe? And did he also not say ‘give to Caesar what it Caesars and to God what is Gods’? If we do not teach people the discipline of tithing we fail to teach them how to build generosity into their lives. Tithing is not Old Testament law – tithing comes before the law. Abel gave a pleasing offering, his gift pleased God. When Abraham rescued Lot, Melchizedek came and blessed him and so Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils – a tithe. Jacob said, if you will be my God and be with me then I will give you a tenth (a tithe) of everything I own. Tithing is not a law, its a principal of honor. Abraham honoured Melchizedek who was a type and shadow of Christ (see Hebrews). Jacob declared the tithe to be in honour to the God that would be ‘with him’.
HERE’S THE KICKER: But because Israel forsook the Lord Moses had to TEACH them how to honor God. So the tithe which was already a principal of due honor was instituted as law to teach the immature children of Israel to honor God.
How else do you teach people to become generous towards God without setting a bare minimum standard for giving?
How else to we provide a platform for a demonstration of trust and belief in the the pastors and leaders of the local church if not by following the example of both Abraham and the Apostles – by laying our gifts to God at the feet of his priests/apostles?
All this message does is give people an excuse not to honor God when they don’t “feel” like it. But honor should not be driven by emotion but by conviction. Hense David said, ‘Praise the Lord O y soul’ – because he knew his emotions weren’t lining up with the truth. God deserves our praise and our honor all the time. When we have much or little, when we are up or down, ‘I will but praise him’. Jesus was impressed by the faith of the widow – not by the large gift of the wealthy. Why? Because it’s about faith. We exercise faith in God to supply our needs by honouring him with the tithe – just as Jacob said, ‘if you will be with me then I will give you the tithe’. When we tithe, we confess our faith that God will be with us as he was with Jacob. Tithing teaching faith. Where your treasure is your heart will be also. Tithing teaching us to put our heart towards God. Tithing tests the heart of a worshipper. The only people who rebell against tithing are the ones who don’t desire to give to God in the first place. Why? because their heart is not towards God, it’s towards their own pocket and their own needs. Instead of trusting God, they trust in wealth. Instead of choosing to seek forst the Kingdom, to not worry & to trust God to ‘add unto them all that they need’ – they choose to put their trust in themselves and dishonour God.
The result of teaching against tithing is in Malachi – God’s people begin to give half heartedly because they are undisciplined in the area of giving. They give carelessly without affection. They give flippantly without a desire or passion for the Kingdom of God. They give their left overs instead of their first fruits. The give what have at the end of the week instead of the start and in doing so the rob God. The word ‘rob’ used by Malachi means to ‘get around’ to ‘circumnavigate’ or to ‘avoid’ – When God’s people fail to tithe they are avoiding and getting around their proper response to honor and worship God whole heartedly. It has nothing to do with the money and everything to do with the heart of a worshipper. It is a complete lack of the Fear of the Lord that enables a person to dishonour God willingly.
I agree that giving should be intentional. It should be cheerful. It should be spontaneous at times. It should be sacrificial. It should be deliberate. But I am gravely concerned that when we teach Gods people that they don’t have to tithe that we are setting them up for a rebellious life instead of a life of faith. Faith is something that is learned. It must be grown. It must be disciplined and practised by what we do says James. Tithing is God’s gift to us to teach us how to grow in faith through giving. When we tithe we confess our faith, we use our faith – especially when the 90% that is left is not much. But if a person cannot tithe regularly, faithfully, constantly & consistently how will they ever be generous on “all occasions” – let alone towards the God of heaven and His beloved Church.
Tithing is the ground floor of giving. Then, we start to sell houses, give away cars, sell land and possessions… until the church is outrageously generous, we must teach the basics – giving 101 which is the tithe.
HERE’S THE KICKER: But because Israel forsook the Lord Moses had to TEACH them how to honor God. So the tithe which was already a principal of due honor was instituted as law to teach the immature children of Israel to honor God.
How else do you teach people to become generous towards God without setting a bare minimum standard for giving?
How else to we provide a platform for a demonstration of trust and belief in the the pastors and leaders of the local church if not by following the example of both Abraham and the Apostles – by laying our gifts to God at the feet of his priests/apostles?
All this message does is give people an excuse not to honor God when they don’t “feel” like it. But honor should not be driven by emotion but by conviction. Hense David said, ‘Praise the Lord O y soul’ – because he knew his emotions weren’t lining up with the truth. God deserves our praise and our honor all the time. When we have much or little, when we are up or down, ‘I will but praise him’. Jesus was impressed by the faith of the widow – not by the large gift of the wealthy. Why? Because it’s about faith. We exercise faith in God to supply our needs by honouring him with the tithe – just as Jacob said, ‘if you will be with me then I will give you the tithe’. When we tithe, we confess our faith that God will be with us as he was with Jacob. Tithing teaching faith. Where your treasure is your heart will be also. Tithing teaching us to put our heart towards God. Tithing tests the heart of a worshipper. The only people who rebell against tithing are the ones who don’t desire to give to God in the first place. Why? because their heart is not towards God, it’s towards their own pocket and their own needs. Instead of trusting God, they trust in wealth. Instead of choosing to seek forst the Kingdom, to not worry & to trust God to ‘add unto them all that they need’ – they choose to put their trust in themselves and dishonour God.
The result of teaching against tithing is in Malachi – God’s people begin to give half heartedly because they are undisciplined in the area of giving. They give carelessly without affection. They give flippantly without a desire or passion for the Kingdom of God. They give their left overs instead of their first fruits. The give what have at the end of the week instead of the start and in doing so the rob God. The word ‘rob’ used by Malachi means to ‘get around’ to ‘circumnavigate’ or to ‘avoid’ – When God’s people fail to tithe they are avoiding and getting around their proper response to honor and worship God whole heartedly. It has nothing to do with the money and everything to do with the heart of a worshipper. It is a complete lack of the Fear of the Lord that enables a person to dishonour God willingly.
I agree that giving should be intentional. It should be cheerful. It should be spontaneous at times. It should be sacrificial. It should be deliberate. But I am gravely concerned that when we teach Gods people that they don’t have to tithe that we are setting them up for a rebellious life instead of a life of faith. Faith is something that is learned. It must be grown. It must be disciplined and practised by what we do says James. Tithing is God’s gift to us to teach us how to grow in faith through giving. When we tithe we confess our faith, we use our faith – especially when the 90% that is left is not much. But if a person cannot tithe regularly, faithfully, constantly & consistently how will they ever be generous on “all occasions” – let alone towards the God of heaven and His beloved Church.
Tithing is the ground floor of giving. Then, we start to sell houses, give away cars, sell land and possessions… until the church is outrageously generous, we must teach the basics – giving 101 which is the tithe.
