Drunken Mystic

As a young man, I truly believed in God. My mother never had to drag me to church. She made it clear by her example and teaching that tithing was a requirement of Christian life. Even while my father was not as committed to the fellowship, my mother would manipulate the finances to honor God through her tithe. The money she gave went to support the salaries and other financial obligations of the church we attended. I always believed that tithing was essential. Why wouldn’t you give your tithe to support the fellowship you love?

Once someone becomes a Christian or begins to attend a fellowship, they will invariably hear a sermon, message or other teaching on the requirement of tithing. This is not always true, but many times it is discussed when someone becomes a “member.”

As I’ve continued to study the scripture, God has revealed an uncomfortable truth to me.

I don’t believe tithing is a requirement for Christians.

Now, you are hearing this from someone who has tithed consistently over the past 10 years or so. As I got married, Becca and I both felt the need, possibly conviction, to tithe from our salaries. But as I’ve experienced more of the freedom in Christ over the years, I’ve realized that tithing is a form of legalism, based in the Old Covenant, and not at all a part of the New.

Hear me out before you call me a heretic …

I know all the scriptures. I’ve probably used them. I know how the prophet tells us to test the Lord in our tithe, how He will bless us. I even know the scripture in the Gospel where Jesus admonishes the Jews that their tithing was something they were doing right.

I’ll address that one first, since I used to consider it evidence that Jesus supported tithing. Jesus was actually rebuking the Jews for what they had left undone, which was justice and mercy, while still adhering to the tithe in order to collect money. He was speaking in past tense of their adherence to the Law, which included a balance of mercy of justice. He was, in effect, rebuking them for keeping outward traditions but forsaking the foundational principles.

Which is the weakness of the Law and exactly what many do in the New Covenant when we tithe.

I’m going to point to a few important scriptures. The first is from Matthew 17 where the Jews are giving Jesus and His disciples a hard time for not paying the temple tax. Jesus asks Peter an important question. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect taxes, from their own sons or from strangers?” Peter of course responds that strangers pay taxes to the king. Jesus then says something very profound. “The sons are free.”

Then, of course, is the cool story where, in order not to offend the Jews, Jesus tells Peter to go fishing and get the coin out of the first fish he catches … which just happens to be the exact temple tax for Peter and Jesus combined, teaching the very statement he just made. As the King, all things belong to Him.

In other words, sons and daughters of the King should feel no need to pay a tax, since they are heirs of the Kingdom. And yet the exact opposite is the attitude we have in modern tithing.

The next scripture in 2 Corinthians 9. I’ll quote it for you so we can examine it. “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

So we see that our giving is guided by the degree to which we want to reap. There is a sowing and reaping aspect here. Because we are free, we are not to give out of necessity or obligation. That is for common citizens. We are sons and daughters of the King and everything He has is ours. But sons still have to obey. When we are led to give and purpose to obey, there will be sufficient resources to complete it (believe me, I’ve done it) and when we give money or time or material goods to those in need we are actually sowing into the Kingdom and will recieve an eternal reward.

Nowhere in the New Testament is 10% given as a standard. You want to know what is? 100%.

Jesus said several times to different groups of people, “sell all that you have and give it to the poor.” Give it all away. This was not just to the Rich Young Ruler or those with a greed problem. Who doesn’t have a greed problem? And the direction is not to just acknowledge that all your money belongs to God, but it is to physically express it by giving it to the poor. Why aren’t we legalistic about that?

That is the giving standard set up by Christ and followed in the inception of the Church in Acts. Ananias and Sapphira were killed because they said they gave it all but had kept some for themselves. This goes right along with giving as you purpose in your heart, not out of some legalistic tradition or feeling of obligation.

We don’t really use the tithe for the main reasons the Bible tells us to give, anyway. Giving in the New Testament was for one of three reasons: 1) to the poor 2) to other needy Christians and 3) to mission work. Not once do we see money given to assure a minister’s salary or a place to meet. The only other New Testament directive on money is to work and support your family.

The principle I’m describing is wholly New Covenant. The New Covenant is not about adhering to a checklist but listening to the Spirit and obeying. Tithing generally requires no communication with God to specifically understand what He wants from you. In fact, it almost directs you to NOT talk to God about it because a doctrine or organization says to do it, so you gotta do it.

Perhaps God will tell you to give 10% or allow you to be babysat by the Law until you are mature enough to handle true giving. Either way, that’s up to Him. But be careful. Don’t say that he has directed you to tithe when He really hasn’t and you’re just trying to justify a tradition. Seek Him out and hear from Him.

The danger of our modern idea of a tithe is that very little of it goes to the type of giving I describe earlier. A vast majority of it is to used to support ministry positions that aren’t even mentioned or described in the scripture and a building that we hold too dear. Very little of it is used to be the actual salt of the Earth, which is giving to the poor and those within the Church who are in need, like widows and orphans. When is the last time you saw a fellowship support a widow and her family? The early Church did it often. They even had rules about it. Missions giving is also a small portion of what we do.

To be clear, the Spirit will always be in line with the scripture. I am not advocating doing whatever we want with our money and excusing ourselves with being led by the Spirit. I would be very concerned with someone who told me that God has directed them not to give at all. That is against His nature, and if He has shared His nature with you, giving is a primary call of your life.

If you’re truly seeking Him, I’ll be so bold as to say you might drop less into a passing plate and more into the hands of needy people that cross your path. It will become more personal, spontaneous and less legalistic. You’ll find yourself giving MORE than 10%. Although, you may not even notice it because to understand it in those terms could lead to pride. You will give more than you believe you could and have more than you believe you should. Believe me. I’ve been there.

If you choose to tithe out of a pure heart, then I believe there is a blessing in that, as well. It is an Old Testament promise under an Old Covenant, and ultimately you will have to move past it to follow God under the fullness of the New. The nature of God is relational. Why would financial giving be any different?

In closing, can you imagine what it would look like if every Christian gave more than 10% of their income to the poor, the needy among us, and to those going somewhere else to spread the gospel? It would hasten the Day of the Lord, I can assure you. Organizations might perish, but the Organism of the Body would find new life.

Peace.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 8th, 2006 at 7:32 pm and is filed under ticfitb series. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.