Wes at Reason to Stand doesn’t think that it is. He cites the Old Testament verses that are used to support tithing and explains why he doesn’t think they are applicable to Christians.
Then he says this:
Christ fulfills the requirements of the law in the NT. So for the same reason we no longer sacrifice animals on alters or consider buildings as sacred or see the Levitical priesthood as being in effect, we no longer tithe to support a theocratic system of government.
[…]the tithe has not been reinstituted in the NT. And yes, the tithe would have to be reinstituted since in the OT the tithe was given to a specific place (the temple) to specific people (the priests) under a theocratic system or partially independent Jewish state as the case is in the NT until about 90AD when they were eliminated as a sovereign or even semi-sovereign state.
In the NT we are told that we are to give to the poor, the needy, etc. It may be the case that man-made organizations such as 501c3 non-profit businesses may do a good job of filling the needs of the poor and needy. However it is wrong to conflate the ekklesia or assembly of believers with either the temple of the OT (to which tithes were to be paid) or a building/man-made organization which is meant by most pastors who advocate tithing.
Finally, in the NT we are told that our giving should not be under compulsion and in accordance with what we’ve decided in our hearts to give per 2 Corinthians 9:7. A tithe, by contrast stands directly opposed to this sentiment as it is both compulsory (Malachi 3:8-12) and it is a specified amount (Numbers 18:26).
In the NT we are called to practice grace-based giving to those in need. While some may choose to give to organizations that can and often do meet the needs of those in need quite well, others don’t. Neither, however, are sinning in how they choose to spend their money. However it is wrong to assert that the tithe is still in effect today. Especially when what we are supposedly tithing to is 1. not the temple and 2. often horribly mismanaged and/or spent almost exclusively on infrastructure (like props for the big show on Sunday morning).
I can tell you right now that I only do targeted giving for specific events that the church holds. The rest of my giving is to specific scholars and to build up other Christians who are doing good work with non-Christians.
WINTERY KNIGHT 
You are both right. There is one mention of tithing in the NT, and it is part of a critique of the Pharisees even tithed off their garden spices while missing the overall point.
The NT direction is clear: Give generously based on what you desire to, not reluctantly or under compulsion. Any organization trying to make you give out of obligation is simply wrong.
And of course we should give with discernment. I think it is wrong to give to people on street corners, who are not only likely frauds but under no circumstance could be considered the poorest of the poor.
But I also submit that if God thought the poorest Israelite could afford to give at least 10% then that would be a reasonable starting point for someone living the way we do.
Jesus wasn’t joking about the “treasure in Heaven” thing, and it wasn’t some shallow sound bite, either. I think many, many Christians will regret how they spent their money in this life.
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I like the direction Neil is heading…I think this is the right answer to the wrong question; it isn’t “Are we obliged to give at least what those in the OT gave?” But rather, “What possible reason do we have to give less?”
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Neil, you said: “But I also submit that if God thought the poorest Israelite could afford to give at least 10% then that would be a reasonable starting point for someone living the way we do.”
Yes.I believe that NT giving is grace-based giving rather than percentage-based giving. 1/10th is a starting point, I agree.
Also, discernment in giving is hugely important!
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I don’t think there are any set limits. If a person is poor and cannot afford to give without becoming a burden on someone else (ie friends or family) then I believe the wisdom found in the OT (like in Proverbs) would urge them to get their fiscal house in order before they attempt to give what they do not have to others.
Many pastors are fond of citing passages that seem to advocate illogical giving practices. Often referred to as “sacrificial giving” (as if giving by itself weren’t a sacrifice). However They tend to miss the clear command found in the text to 1. count the full cost of whatever it is you set out to do Luke 14:28 and 2. work with your own hands to provide for yourself 1 Thessalonians 4:11.
Given these two I think it is clearly evident that whatever we do decide to give to others ought to come from our own storehouse. My biggest aim here are the pastors who advocate giving even if it places you in debt. Sadly, this is a practice of many church organizations themselves. However Proverbs is clear here that the person in debt is a slave to the one who lends the money Proverbs 22:7.
Practically what this all boils down to is this. There are valid reasons a person should not give anything for a period of time. Especially when their finances are not in a place where they can count the cost and give knowing full well that they will not need to turn around and beg for money from someone else.
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“Given these two I think it is clearly evident that whatever we do decide to give to others ought to come from our own storehouse. My biggest aim here are the pastors who advocate giving even if it places you in debt. Sadly, this is a practice of many church organizations themselves. However Proverbs is clear here that the person in debt is a slave to the one who lends the money Proverbs 22:7.”
Agreed! I heard a pastor on radio advise someone who phoned in to give 10% despite being in serious debt already (as in being unable to make payments). That’s giving away money one doesn’t own! In fact, because they’re paying exhorbitant rates of interest on the money they owe, they are also reducing the total amount they will be able to give over time, whereas if they held off giving when in serious debt they would have more to give later.
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One thing to remember about the tithe – it was established for Israel as a nation and not for anyone else. And there were many tithes so that there was much more than 10% overall required of most.
I don’t think Christians should even think about 10% or any other percentage. The teaching is to give without compulsion and to give generously as we are able.
My sister went to a legalistic AOG church in Alabama and called me once asking what to do; it seemed they required her to show her pay stub to insure she was paying her 10%. The problem was that as a single mom with two kids after her husband left her to play around elsewhere and left her nothing and paid no support, she was doing good just to keep the rent paid and food on the table. If she had given 10% of her income she would have been in hardship. She said she gave what she could, but didn’t think God really minded in her present strait if she couldn’t muster 10%. I told her God looks at the heart and to run, not walk, as quickly as possible from that church. After all, it is none of the church’s business how much congregants give.
From a personal point of view, I was never really taught about giving and didn’t give a whole lot as a new Christian. But as my wife and I matured in the faith we began giving what we had available on our limited income. While there were church people who virtually demanded everyone pay 10%, I never even looked at the percentage we were giving – we just gave as we were able, and not all to the church; we began supporting ministries we felt were often in more need than the church was! (This is a practice we still do.) Out of curiosity, we began looking at the end of the year to see just what percentage we were giving and we discovered we were doing about 7%. As our income increase, so did our giving. While we still don’t worry about percentages, we end up at the end of the year figuring it because we deduct from IRS. We discovered over the years that we long ago passed the 10% mark. I think this happens easily when people don’t worry about percentages and just give as they feel led and as they are able; you discover that 10% is really nothing in the whole scheme of things.
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I agree with the posts here: give what you can and that 10% is a good starting point, not a mandate. Get your fiscal house in order then give what you can. And like Chatfield said, when you’re able and you do give, 10% is really nothing in the whole scheme of things.
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I am curious (sincerely curious, not looking to debate it) why the tendency to give to ministries rather than the church first? Maybe it’s just me, but I tend to start with the church because I know exactly where the money is going, who will be handling it, and whom it will be going to. Also, I feel a responsibility as a member of the church to provide for my brothers and sisters there the same way I feel a responsibility to provide for my family.
Does that make sense?
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I don’t give to a ministry, I cover a speaker’s speaking fee/travel/advertisement for particular events. Usually I like to fund church training classes, university lectures or, best of all, a university debate!
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About a 40% of what I give goes to my church. But we have a fairly well-to-do congregation which keeps the church in the black. Another 40% goes to the support of three missionaries. The remaining amount that we give goes to reputable apologetics ministries.
Apologetics is the handmaiden to the gospel, and yet very few want to help fund them. I have been in the apologetics ministry for almost 35 years and that’s where I believe my calling is, and where I am called to support as much as possible.
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Heck, no, it’s not binding.
Christ fulfilled the law.
Additionally, IIRC, the tenth-of-all was also during a time when the Nation had large celebrations– think uber-weddings– with that income.
Look to the parable about the poor widow more than the old Jewish laws, in this case.
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Blast and bother, forgot to subscribe.
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In relation to “giving what we are able” after our own house is in order, how do we determine what that really means? I struggle with this. For instance, say you have a good income with a surplus every month. How much of that surplus should be given to ministry, and how much can be put towards improving your standard of living without it being called greed or vanity?
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Maybe this will help?
The Catholic Church:
The Christian faithful are obliged to assist with the needs of the Church so that the Church has what is necessary for divine worship, for apostolic works and works of charity, and for the decent sustenance of ministers. They are also obliged to promote social justice and, mindful of the precept of the Lord, to assist the poor from their own resources.
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They is no Biblical basis for saying we should start our giving at 10%.
First of all, in the Old Testament ONLY the Israelite farmers who inherited the promised land were commanded to tithe, and only on crops and animals raised on the Holy land. No one else tithed. The poor didn’t tithe. Jesus didn’t tithe. Peter didn’t tithe. Paul didn’t tithe. The farm workers didn’t tithe. No wage earners tithed. The tithe was NEVER on anyone’s income. The tithe came from the miracles of God – the crops and animals, which are assets, not income.
Those that tithed were commanded to take their tithe to the Levites who did not inherited any of the promised land.
In other words, the scriptures tell us that those who were commanded to tithe received their land, house, and everything else on it free and clear. No mortgage payment.
The tithing commands actually called for three different tithes that averaged out to 20% a year over a 7-year period. If you are going to follow the Old Testament tithing commands as your starting point, you should be using 20%.
How can you compare those who tithed in the Old Testament to Christians today who not only have to pay for their home and land, but also pay incomes taxes, property taxes, and sales taxes?
There is no “tithing principle” to bring forward.
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It’s CGD, Christian Guilt Dollar
Let’s face it, when someone tithes after a talk about tithing, it’s almost always from guilt.
It’s like: is it okay to give less than 10%? Yes it’s okay, but …
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I think Jesus himself said you should tithe –
“How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you ignore the important things of the law- justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the most important things..” – Matthew 23:23-24
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Matthew 23:23-24 (New International Version, ©2010)
23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
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Keep in mind, they didn’t say “tithe” in the modern sense of a tenth of your income, but in terms of Mosaic law.
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Wow, Foxfier… impressive!!! I’ll dump the footnote here:
[23] The Mosaic law ordered tithing of the produce of the land (Lev 27:30; Deut 14:22-23), and the scribal tradition is said here to have extended this law to even the smallest herbs. The practice is criticized not in itself but because it shows the Pharisees’ preoccupation with matters of less importance while they neglect the weightier things of the law.
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One of the advantages of the USCCB site– they have a really good annotated Catholic Bible.
I’m trying, at the moment, to picture what a tith of “military person adjusting equipment” might look like.
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No, Jesus didn’t say that we should tithe.
Jesus was born, lived, and died under the Old Covenant. Jesus was speaking to those under the law. In Matthew 23:23 Jesus wasn’t speaking to the gentiles or to the Christian Church.
Jesus said they should follow ALL the Old Testament laws.
Matthew 5:17-18 states Christ came to fulfill the law and not abolish it.
This is where some education in law is useful. What does fulfill mean? What does abolish mean?
Let me give an example. A legal contract is enforceable under the law. Let’s say you hire a contractor to build a swimming pool in your back yard. Once the contractor has completed the job, and everything in that contract has been completed, the contract has been fulfilled. The contractor’s job is to fulfill the contract, not abolish it. He fulfills it by completing the terms, bringing it to an end.
Consider:
Hebrews 8:13 (KJV) – In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Colossians 2:14 (KJV) – Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Galatians 5:18 (KJV) – But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Galatians 3:19 (KJV) – Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
Until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. In other words, until Jesus came and fulfilled the law.
Galatians 3:23-25 (KJV)
23But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Galatians 3:10-14 (KJV)
10For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
11But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
12And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
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