Let me start by making it very clear. The teaching that tithing 10% of your income to your local church is a commandment of God is an absolute lie. This is not my opinion. It is the truth. New Testament tithing is a lie. The New Testament does not say anything about Christians giving anyone a tithe. Absolutely nothing. If fact we are told to not give under compulsion but to give with a cheerful heart. Tithing as a command in the Old Testament is most definitely compulsory. Malachi 3:10 is one of the most abused and distorted verses in the Bible. If you study Malachi you will quickly see that this warning was to the priests who were keeping the tithe for themselves and not passing it on to the Levites who depended on it to live.
The reason I bring this up is that when Christians who have been taught this their entire life find out the truth they quickly realize that they have been abused, played, taken advantage of, and lied to. The reason for the lie is obvious and sickening to those who discover it. Once discovered, they are done for good.
Tithing is an Old Testament law given to the Israelites. It was basically a tax much like our income tax. It consisted of 3 – 10% tithes with the third being every three years making the total tithe 23 and 1/3 percent annually. 10% went to the Levites to support them, 10% was kept by the tither to be used to travel to Jerusalem for an annual celebration. and the final 10% every three years was for the poor. The tithe was only calculated on crops and livestock and was never paid in money. Only a Levite could receive the tithe. Joseph and Mary would not have tithed since their occupation was carpentry. The tithe was used to fund the operation of the synagogues and to feed the Levites who made the sacrifices. There are no more sacrifices and no more Levites. Christ has lifted this burden off of mankind. When a man claims the he is qualified to take a tithe from you he is lying. Plain and simple.
Tithing is NOT the same as giving. Giving is a New Testament doctrine and it must be done cheerfully and without compulsion. Giving in the New Testament was almost always used for the poor. The only exception is that some money was given when the apostles went on missionary journeys. Paul boasted that he paid his own way and only used gifts to help those who were less fortunate. Like the starving saints in Jerusalem. Giving can be less or more than 10%. Tithing is an Old Testament law and is mandatory. It is for those who are under the law and who are seeking salvation through the law. Those who seek salvation under grace give out of thankfulness of what they have freely received. Here are some basic facts about tithing.
- Tithes were never collected in cash (livestock and crops only).
- Tithes were not collected on monetary increases nor could you pay a tithe in money.
- Tithes were collected only by Levitical priests.
- In the Old Testament, not everyone was subject to the tithe. For example, if you were a carpenter, you would not owe a tithe. If you were a farmer, you would.
- A Levitical priest must be Jewish and is not allowed to own property.
- Tithes were often mandated by God for other uses such as giving to the poor.
- Tithes were sometimes to be used for the personal needs of the person who tithed.
- Tithing is not mentioned in the early church. It came about around the 8th or 9th century as Catholicism grew and more money was needed to fund the Catholic church.
- Note – The tithing of crops and livestock in the Old Testament was in part so the hungry could be fed.
- On average, tithing makes rich churches richer and poor churches poorer.
So how does the teaching of tithing hurt the modern church?
1. First, the doctrine of tithing is simply not true. This may be difficult to believe but preachers actually know this. If fact, if you read the New Testament it is impossible not to know it. When someone misrepresents the truth, you tend to not trust other things that they tell you. Also, if you can’t trust someone to tell you the truth, can you trust them with a tithe? The Old Testament commands people to tithe. The New Testament commands us to give as God has prospered us and to give cheerfully and not under compulsion.
2. Secondly, tithing consolidates resources (money) into one central location away from those who tithe and into the hands of others. Under this system the Holy Spirit is not needed to guide the individual as to what to give to or support. Instead, the organized church takes this responsibility. Any guidance the Holy Spirit would give to an individual is now useless since all of the persons extra resources or money have been collected and placed into the hands of Church leaders. Oftentimes money given does not go to what the giver intended. Also, under this system, Christian organizations outside the local Church must survive off of the scraps left behind by the organized church.
To illustrate this point try this. Write down on a piece of paper the amount of money that you would tithe. Lets say its $10,000. Now, allocate that amount to where you feel it would be most effective in accomplishing what the Bible and the Holy Spirit tells you as a Christian to do. In other words, prepare a budget for the $10,000. What would you do with it? Now, compare your budget to your churches budget.
3. Lastly, tithing takes the joy from a Christian and replaces it with obligation. In exchange for a check, It falsely relieves us from the responsibility of spreading the gospel, feeding the poor, helping the homeless and mending the broken hearted. Turning these jobs over to professionals has created a system where $50,000 dollars or more is spent for every person saved while millions in our own country go hungry or are homeless. Something is obviously wrong.
Additional articles on tithing:
Lies Pastors Tell Christians about Tithing
18 Ways God (or Your Pastor) Has Changed Tithing
CNN Article on The Sunday Morning Stickup
Tithing debate 
• Shoud the Church Teach Tithing?
Tithing Lecture • Tithing is Not a Christian Doctrine
No comments:
Post a Comment