Dr Paul Allen

A widespread cynicism toward giving exists in our culture. Some nonprofit organizations have mismanaged funds. Thus, many people are reluctant to support these organizations with their donations.  But the cynicism extends even to the Christian community . Some unscrupulous televangelists have given tithing a bad name, so many believers do not contribute to the work of the church. This, I believe, is a significant error, for the Bible commands Christians to be good stewards of their resources for the sake of the kingdom of God . The whole concept of stewardship begins with creation. Creation is celebrated not only in Genesis but throughout Scripture, especially in the Psalms , where Israel celebrated God’s ownership of the whole universe. “The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein” ( Ps. 24:1 ). God is the author of all things, the Creator of all things, and the owner of all things. Whatever God makes, He owns. What we own, we ow...

I Get Money (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Thou shalt not be required to financially support your church – but you should anyway. That’s the upshot of a new informal survey of evangelical leaders finding that less than half believe that the Bible requires church members to tithe , the practice of giving at least 10 percent of one’s income to the church. The survey, conducted by the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) among its 100- member board of directors , found that 42% of evangelical leaders believe the Bible requires tithing, while 58% do not. “The Old Testament called for multiple tithes, sort of combining government taxes with religious stewardship,” NAE President Leith Anderson said, reacting to the survey. “Since there is such a strong tradition of tithing, I was a little surprised that a majority of our evangelical leaders say the tithe system of the Old Testament does not carry over to the New Testament or to us,” Anderson said in a statement. The National Asso...

Deutsch: Christus im Hause des Pharisäers, Jacopo Tintoretto, Escorial (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees , hypocrites ! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment , mercy, and faith : these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” ( Matthew 23:23 ) This particular “woe” among the eight in Matthew 23 is often only partially proclaimed. Usually, sermons are delivered about the “judgment, mercy, and faith” that are indeed the “weightier matters of the law”—but Christ ’s somewhat offhand remark on the responsibility to tithe is either ignored or downplayed. Surely the legalistic and public display of “obedience” to the law is condemned by Jesus . He rebuked these same men for their desire to show their spirituality. “Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glor...

The Pharisees Question Jesus (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Pharisees distorted the emphasis of biblical righteousness to suit their own behavioral patterns of self-justification. Jesus frequently confronted the Pharisees on this point. Jesus said to them, "You tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness" ( Matt. 23:23a). On numerous occasions, Jesus acknowledged that the Pharisees scrupulously obeyed some points of the law. They paid their tithes, they read their Scriptures, they did a host of things the law required-and Jesus commended them for their actions, saying, "These you ought to have done" (Matt. 23:23b). However, it was the emphasis that was out of kilter. They scrupulously tithed , but in doing so they used their obedience to this lesser matter as a cloak to cover up their refusal to obey the weightier matters of justice and mercy. That distortion occurs today. It is much...

English: Peresopnytsia Gospels. 1556-1561. Miniature of Saint Matthew. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, 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." ( Malachi 3:10 )   Today there is much talk of financial security . The biblical formula in today’s verse, given to Israel , but applied to all, begins with a scathing indictment. "Will a man rob God ? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings" ( v. 8 ). What a terrible thing, to rob God. The result of their thievery, in God’s eyes: "Ye are cursed with a curse" ( v. 9 ), such that their financial state was much worse than it would have been had they been obedient. This teaching and promise has not been rescinded ( Luke 6:38 ;  1 Corinthians 16:2 ...

Oil painting of a young John Calvin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 23:23–24 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees…you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness” ( v. 23 ). The Social Gospel movement , which arose in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries under the inspiration of theological liberalism, downplayed sin and reduced Christianity to feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, and other acts of social justice. There was a justifiable backlash against this movement in the churches and an exodus of people who affirmed the essential truths of the Christian faith . Unfortunately, some theological conservatives were so afraid of falling prey to the Social Gospel that works of charity ranked at the bottom of their priority list, if they were done at all. Those who neglected acts of social welfare for fear of looking like liberals were guilty of throwing out the baby with the bath wate...

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 ...

Deutsch: Christus im Hause des Pharisäers, Jacopo Tintoretto, Escorial (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Some people in the Scriptures loved the Lord so dearly they scandalized themselves by lavishing love, precious ointment, and attention upon Jesus . Prostitutes, overwhelmed at being forgiven, disrupted dinner parties and washed Jesus’ feet with their tears and hair. They poured precious perfumes over Jesus without regard to the protests of those who thought of the profit that could have been realized had the perfume been sold. These are the same type of people Moses commanded to stop giving to the sanctuary when it was under construction, because they had given too much. What a testimony to heartfelt devotion and gratitude, the twin virtues that comprise the essence of giving. These are the people who experienced no terror when warned by Jesus that their righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees , or else they would not inherit the kingdom of God . Not even the P...

Malachi 3:8-12 "Bring the full tithes .... And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts , if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing ( v. 10 ). Stewardship, the wise use of our resources to glorify God , is the final means of grace that we will discuss in our study of five basic practices of Christian piety. The way we allocate our time, effort, and money speaks volumes about our heart's priorities, giving us a clear window into our own spiritual maturity. Our Creator instituted the principle of stewardship in creation when He gave humanity the task of exercising dominion over the earth He created ( Gen. 1:27-28 ). Ever since then, all people have been tasked with managing their natural resources for the purpose of advancing God's kingdom. This is a principle that is easy to forget because we like to think of our paychecks, properties, investments, energy, and time as our own. Yet "the earth is the Lord's and...

Cover of The Doors [Blu-ray] John Densmore , longtime drummer for the Doors , took up tithing after John Lennon praised it in a  Playboy  interview.  Years later, Densmore mentioned in an essay for  The Nation  that tithing helped him resist greed. He wrote, "During the Oliver Stone film on our band, the record royalties tripled, and as I wrote those 10 percent checks, my hand was shaking." My left hand did not shake in 2008 when I tithed on an advance check for my book about tithing, but my soul quaked a bit.  I was going through one of the most barren periods of my life as a journalist. I was filled with shame about not bringing more money into our household. I was unsure I could deliver the book. Who was I to continue tithing? What, apart from a distaste for brazen hypocrisy in myself, moved me past this hesitation? Mostly this: I could not see in the voluntary discipline of tithing the same escape clauses that I would expect in a prenuptial agreeme...