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Recent surveys show that under a third of evangelical Christians tithe (31% in the UKA; 23% in the USAB). Are Christians waking up to the fact that tithing just isn’t relevant in our age? Or is there a serious error taking place in the lives of a large proportion of Christians across the world?
Giving to special offerings on an ad-hoc basis is great and commendable, but there is a deeper foundational level on which you should give.
You are an ambassador of a different kingdom – the Kingdom of God. You are not sustained by the economy of the United States of America, or the United Kingdom, or Australia, etc. If you live by the principles of the world’s system you will eventually fail, but if you live by the principles of God’s Kingdom, you will prosper. The world’s way is self-gain, the Kingdom way is giving.
The world’s economy says that you can’t afford to give, you need to cut back, etc. but God’s Kingdom says that the Church needs to disciple its members, spread the Gospel, give to the poor, feed the hungry, befriend the lonely, etc. In order to do that, the local church needs to increase its finances so that it can fulfil its mission – that’s partly where the tithe comes in.
A PROPHET'S WORD FOR US TODAY
The book of Malachi is split into four chapters. In the first two, Malachi the prophet addresses the dysfunctional behaviour of the priests operating at the time. The last two chapters, however, are looking forward to future generations.
Chapter three starts with a reference to John the Baptist (“my messenger”) and promptly moves forward around 2,000 years to the second coming of Jesus Christ; his role as judge is expounded upon. Then we move on to verse six.
God reminds us in this verse that although we, by our human nature, are prone to change, he is not: “I the LORD do not change.” Hebrews 13:8 reiterates this point: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”. With this as a backdrop, Malachi goes deeper and explains in what ways we have changed. The answer: that we have become ignorant of God’s commands. What command in particular? Verse 8 tells us.
"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings.”
Malachi 3:8
So the prophet, seeing into the future, speaks into the era that we know today as ‘The Christian Age’, and says that we aren’t as close to God as we should be because we have been disobedient to a statute that has never changed.
THE NEW TESTAMENT VIEW OF TITHING
Many non-tithers cite the lack of scriptures on tithing in the New Testament to support their ‘tithing was under the law, we’re now under grace’ theology. But as we have just seen, Malachi’s teaching on tithing was, by prophecy, relevant to a New Testament, Christendom, grace-filled age.
You see, God didn’t intend tithing to finish at the cross. It was a statute that was in operation before the law was given (Genesis 14:20). It was then instituted as part of the law given to Israel to keep them in God’s blessings (Numbers 18:8-32). And when Jesus died and the law was superceded by grace, the command to tithe was not revoked.
Irrespective of the New Covenant being a better way, “All scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking and correcting” (2 Timothy 3:16, emphasis added). Not all of the Old Testament is relevant for practical living today, but we can take the principles and either learn from them or use them directly.
To view anything in the Old Testament with a correct New Testament viewpoint, we have to view it through the cross. The cross will do one of three things to it: revise it, remove it or re-emphasize it.
In Matthew chapter five Jesus spoke plainly about some major issues that have been updated to the new ‘grace level’. For example: no longer is adultery just about jumping into bed with a woman other than your spouse; it is now also 'adultery' if you look lustfully at a woman (verse 28).
Other biblical instructions were abolished because they were now obsolete and unnecessary. For example, the sacrifice of animals for the removing of people’s sins was no longer required because our sins are now forgiven through Jesus (Hebrews 10:18-19).
But some teachings of the Old Testament remain untouched – e.g. faith, love, prayer, the fear of the Lord, feeding the poor, etc. Another one for the list is tithing. View it through the cross and nothing changes.
JESUS ON TITHING
If you want it straight from Jesus himself you can find him mentioning tithing while talking with the Pharisees:
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.”
Matthew 23:23 (NLT, emphasis added)
Although Jesus makes it clear that justice, mercy and faith are more important than tithing, he doesn’t abolish tithing here. He leaves it alone. So it is still a requirement, always has been, and nothing has changed.
STILL NOT CONVINCED?
There is much more that can be said about tithing, and many other scriptures to study. That is why there are many, many books on tithing, many teaching its relevance today, but also many teachings its irrelevance. If you want to look at this issue further, by all means read more on this. You can still go to heaven and not tithe, you can still enjoy many of God’s blessings and not tithe, you can still operate in the gift that God has given you and not tithe. As Jesus said to the Pharisee, tithing is not a priority compared with truths like mercy, faith and justice. It is your choice. But tithing opens up a channel for God to bless you in ways that are just not possible without it. There is a spiritual law of obedience at work here. And God himself asks us to test this law out and see if it works!
Here is His invitation:
“‘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.’”
Malachi 3:10 (NIV)
If you open yourself up to the leading of the Holy Spirit in your prayers and reading of the scriptures, you will know in your heart what is right to do.
If you regularly give 10% of your income, with a grateful and obedient heart, sent joyfully into your local church (the storehouse) then God guarantees that you will receive blessings galore in your life. Now we know that the Bible says that there will always be troubles in life, but we’re talking here about an over-compensation of blessings rained down into your life on a continual basis.
And in fact, the tithe is just a minimum of what we should give back to God. The Bible talks about ‘tithes and offerings’. Offerings are in addition to the tithe. For more on that, see further articles in this section.
A ‘How Christians Use Their Money’, Published by Christian Research
B www.barna.org
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