What do you think about tithing?

To tell the truth I don’t get the whole modern church tithing thing, except that I understand that churches sometimes want to try and manage budgets.

From an Old Testament perspective giving was much more than 10%. There was 10% to the temple, 10% every three years to the Levites, sacrifices of first fruits and the command to leave produce in the field for the poor and foreigners and others as well; probably more like 25-30% if you add it all up.

Given that the Rabbis also taught the kids, I think the principle was to look after the poor, teach the kids, look after the leaders (political and religious) and make sure there was plenty left over for community celebration. Of course this is all in the context of sacrifice, or remembering our indebtedness to God.

Jesus came not to abolish the law but to fulfil it (that’s what he said) and in doing so He somewhat upped the ante on the whole thing. For example his stance on adultery was a bit more stringent than the actual Old Testament  law because he wanted to point out that the law was not capable of saving us and in fact we are not capable of following it to the letter anyway so of course we need a saviour.

The New Testament principle for giving is 2 Corinthians 9:7, each is to as he has decided cheerfully. But the heart attitude is to give sacrificially and honestly in order that we can adequately we can look after the poor, teach the kids, look after the leaders (political and religious) and make sure there is plenty left over for celebration. All from a deep heartfelt gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice Jesus gave which is the only thing that saves us anyway.

So if we want a number, 10% might be a minimum although I don’t think scripture teaches that. And today we might have to factor in our giving to schools and our tax that supports our leaders and looks after the poor. But the point is God gives us everything we have for us to be stewards of. We need to make a heart decision on every cent.

And by the way, don’t forget the community celebration thing, it was central.

Blessings

Martyn