Does your church teach tithing?
Have you ever questioned whether they should?
I regularly hear it taught that if one tithes God will bless financially and/or spiritually if we “tithe”.
Classically the verses from Malachi are quoted
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.
This of course refers to a time when the whole economy was agrarian and the tithe was the first tenth of all crops. It was not a monetary tax.
Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.
It was used to support the priesthood
“I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting.
“At that time men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes. From the fields around the towns they were to bring into the storerooms the portions required by the Law for the priests and the Levites, for Judah was pleased with the ministering priests and Levites.”
At that time the whole of the tribe of Levi were priests and needed supporting.
Jesus did not appear to say that tithing was wrong, but he did highlight the danger of it becoming legalistic whilst other matters of justice were neglected by the religious.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
Luke 18:11-13
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’
Tithes are not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament except by the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews and even then a point is being made which is not that tithes should be paid.
And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises…….. Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak,
And so we come to a very interesting passage about Jesus and the “Temple Tax”.
In Matthew 17 this episode is recorded.
24 When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the itemple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?” 25 He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” 26 Peter said to Him, “From strangers.”
Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27 Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”
It appears that Jesus does not agree with paying a tax to the temple! Presumably He could have asked Judas to pay out of the common purse that he held, but He doesn’t. Instead there is this strange business of the fish.
From a Christian, post Calvary and resurrection, perspective the Temple is an irelevance! Sacrifice for sins has been made once and for all by the perfect Lamb of God. Close up the shop and go home! No need for Levites anymore. Radical, even shocking. Thus it comes as no surprise that “Tithing” is not a thing in the Acts or Epistles. The Church had no buildings, no overheads, nothing to support or maintain. Indeed the early believers had “all things in common”. No-one was without. O. K. so you can argue that the 11 apostles, their wives and their children, were “supported” from the common purse.
So what of tithing today? I would suggest that it is a moot point. It would be much more relevant to simply point out that buildings and staff cost money and rely on members of congregations giving. An assumption that God will bless generosity can be asserted for sure but all sense of duty or obligation should be avoided.
The only real New Testament instruction comes from Paul when he writes in 2 Corinthians 9:7
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
What is a moot point? A moot point is a point, an aspect, or a topic that is no longer relevant or can no longer be questioned or debated.