Uncovering False Teachings: The Tithe (Part One)

I ran a poll recently that asked the question:

When we give to "the Lord," where should the bulk of that money go?

• To a local church
• To the needy

What would your answer be? How do you think your pastor and Christian friends would answer that question?

Here were the results:

Total # of voters: 354
"To a local church": 199 (56%)
"To the needy": 155 (44%)

Many people also commented that it should be both and complained that the options were too narrow. They were narrow. But they were narrow on purpose. The reason is that, if you are giving to your local church, in most cases, very little (if any) of that money is actually used to help the needy. And when I say "needy," I'm defining that word in the biblical sense--the poor, the alien, the orphan, and widow--not the "spiritually needy" (which really could just mean any of us, for we are all equally spiritually needy.)

I've attended church services in nearly every denomination available, from Southern Baptist to Reformed to Catholic and a great many more. In fact, each Sunday, I make a point to visit a different church so that I can gain some insight into what's going on in the body of Christ.

Here's one thing I hear again and again from the pulpit: "It's time for tithes and offerings. You may know that we need to repair the roof (or purchase new sound equipment, fund the AWANA program, hire a new pastor, etc.), so please be prayerfully generous as we seek to do the Lord's work."

Also, many of us have been taught the following:

• The Bible says we each must habitually give 10% of our income to God (regardless of the level of our income).
• Our offerings are the monetary funds we give above and beyond the mandatory 10%.
• Our tithes must go to our local church. Our offerings can go to the church or to a Christian charity of our choice (or put in the benevolent fund at church.)
• It's also important to give of our time and to be hospitable, but that is separate from our mandatory financial responsibilities to the church.
• Despite that this is mandatory, we must give our tithes and offerings with a good attitude, for "God loves a cheerful giver" (II Cor. 9:7). 
• If we trust God with our tithes and offerings, He will "repay" us many times over. Perhaps the car won't break down or my kid will get that college scholarship. Conversely, if I don't tithe faithfully, God won't protect me from financial struggles.

So which of these teachings are true and which are false? You may be surprised to learn that NOT ONE of these teachings is 100% true. Each of them is either patently false or tainted with misinterpretation and misunderstanding.

Here are a couple of Biblical truths to keep in mind as we examine each of these teachings. 

1. Jesus did not come to reinforce Judaism, but to fulfill it. He called us to something new--to become the ekklesia--an every-member-functioning, priesthood of believers who are filled with the Holy Spirit. With Christ's death and resurrection, the old ways of doing things became obsolete--the Temple curtain was torn in two symbolizing that the separation represented by Judaism was over in the light of Immanuel's coming (God with us). We are not called to reinstate ancient Judaic practices.

2. The early Christians did not meet in a specially-designated building--what we call "church" today. They met in small groups in homes and larger groups met in open public spaces or rented a larger location for a specific event/purpose.

3. The early Christians did not have paid staff or officially trained clergy. There was no recognized difference between clergy and laity. Leaders and encouragers (i.e. shepherds, ministers, missionaries, etc.) arose naturally within the group and served, but it was nothing like the hierarchical power structures we see in churches today.

4. The early Christians financially supported two things: the needy and the missionaries (and the latter was more about the custom of hospitality than an official mandate). Usually, the support they gave wasn't through money, but by being hospitable and sharing what they had.

Okay, so now let's examine each of the above false teachings. But I'm going to split this into three posts since otherwise it's just too long:

False Teaching One: The Bible says we each must habitually give 10% of our income to God (regardless of the level of our income).

The first biblical example of someone giving a tenth of their possessions shows up in Genesis 14. Here, Abram has just defeated a pagan army and rescued the captured people of Sodom and Gomorrah, whom they had carried off. His primary purpose was merely to rescue Lot (his nephew) and Lot's family from among the captives. Afterwards, he is approached by two men--Bera King of Sodom and a mysterious character named Melchizedek, a "priest of God Most High" from the town of Salem (later named Jerusalem). (Some scholars think this was actually an early appearance of Jesus Himself.) Abram gives Melchizedek "a tenth of everything," which we assume is everything they gained in the battle (Paul assumes this also: Heb. 7:4), although the nature of this gift is not specifically defined. Then the King of Sodom suggested that Abram keep everything (except the people) that had been regained in the battle--an offer which Abram refuses so that he wouldn't be obligated to such an evil king.

Here are some insights about this passage:

• The "tithe" (meaning tenth) that Abram gave Melchizedek was a freewill offering. It was not mandated by either God or the priest (Jesus?) himself.
• Abram only gave Melchizedek this gift once. We do not see Abram habitually tithing.
• This gift was given, presumably, out of a recent large acquirement of goods, not out of Abram's regular income.
• This gift consisted of animals, clothing, food, weapons, etc. Minted coins and paper money would not be invented for hundreds of years.
• Abram was exceedingly wealthy. To give a tenth of a recent windfall was nothing to him, and he didn't bother to keep any of the rest of it, either. Aside from what his men ate or earned, he gave the rest (90% of his take!) back to an evil, pagan king. (By the way, that wasn't demanded by God, either.)

Later, in Hebrews 7, Paul discusses the tithe Abram gave Melchizedek. However, though he recognizes that the Levites (not descended from Melchizedek) were required to collect a tenth from the Jews, nowhere does Paul teach that the tithe is required of followers of Christ. His discussion of Melchizedek had one purpose--to validate Jesus to the Jews as the prophesied "priest forever in the order of Melchizedek."

But what about the tenth that was required from God's people to support the Levites? If you do not practice Judaism (Remember, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are not called to Judaism, but to life in Christ.), then you are not required to support the Levites (or any other paid clergy) (Num. 18:21-24). If you do not practice Judaism, you are not required to give a tenth of your harvest in the fall (Lev. 27:30) or of your flock/herd in the spring (Lev. 27:32). If you are not a Levite (or, again, practicing Judaism) neither are you required to give a tenth of what you get to the High Priest (or the denomination, or whatever) (Num. 18:28). 

And, get this: Even prior to Christ, not everyone tithed! Only those who brought in a harvest or raised flocks or had some other form of renewable wealth, paid tithes. The rest participated in sin/guilt offerings and freewill offerings according to their ability (sin/guilt offerings were mandatory, but dependent on income). So, if you were poor, you didn't pay tithes. It wasn't a universal law then, and it isn't a law at all now. 

"For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: 'The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little'" (II Cor. 8:12-15).

When's the last time you heard a sermon preached on the passage above and the pastor said, "God's desire is NOT for a tithe, but for whatever you are able and willing to give?"

But what about the "widow's mite?" Doesn't that mean even the poor are supposed to give?

"As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 'Truly I tell you,' he said,' this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on'" (Luke 21:1-4).

If your pastor said this passage means we're supposed to give even if we are destitute, or give above and beyond a tithe, that was a false teaching. (Yes, even good, well-meaning people say false things from time to time. Even you. Even me. Don't get hung up on it; just learn some healthy critical thinking.) The point Jesus was making is that the amount we give (or the percentage) is arbitrary to God. He wants ALL of you, starting with your heart, not a spreadsheet of your tax-deductible giving record. Generosity is not in the numbers, it's in the heart (how much do you love others) and in the spirit (how much do you trust God?) Generosity is relational, not formulaic.

But what about this passage in Malachi?:

"Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ 'In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. 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 there will not be room enough to store it'" (Mal. 3:8-10).

Again, this was written to and for those practicing Judaism. So, are we robbing God by not tithing? No. We are not required to tithe. However--and this is important, so I'll go deeper into this later--God does desire that, as representatives of Christ, we develop and display the Godly qualities of generosity and compassion and helping the needy. In this way, God's character and desire for us (as described in this passage) has not changed.

False Teaching Two: Our offerings are the monetary funds we give above and beyond the mandatory 10%. 

Since the teaching about the tithe is wrong, this teaching is also necessarily wrong. Since Christ's death and resurrection, the only kind of giving God asks for is the freewill offering. But He asks it of us in every area of our lives.

"But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did" (I John 2:5-6).

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth" (I John 3:16-18).

This kind of giving is not "mandatory" in the sense of being a required act that, if fulfilled, somehow earns us salvation or God's favor. But it is an essential discipline that develops our character and brings amazing rewards of its own. These rewards are relational, not self-centered, spiritual, not financial, and everlasting, not temporal.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:19-21).

God desires that we develop generosity of spirit that mirrors His own: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

THIS POST IS CONTINUED HERE: Part Two, Part Three.