The Tithe — For Today or Not?. “Isn’t the tithe Old Testament?”
By: Darrin Dick
Tags: Giving, Church, Bible, Tithing

“Isn’t the tithe Old Testament?” “I give back to my community and pick up meals and such for others, that’s my tithe.” “The church has too much money as it is, what do we even need to give money to the church for?” “Aren’t we supposed to take care of the community? The needy and the poor?”

As a pastor, I have heard many different opinions on “tithing” and “giving to the church”. It’s interesting to me how much “money” is talked about in the scriptures and how often it is addressed. Yet, it is still one of the most argued and debated topics in the church today. Is the tithe for the church today or not? So, as a young pastor and minister, I finally wanted to gather all of my thoughts, the scriptures, personal testimony and evidence for what I believe the “tithe” really is. Before you read any further though, I want to make it simple…tithing is not about religious superstition or tradition, it’s about surrender. God is not after your money, he is after your heart. I have seen enough, I truly believe that choosing to put him first in your finances and to support the work of the local church is one of the best spiritual disciplines and investments into God’s kingdom that you can be a part of as a believer.

In the rest of this article you will find an exhaustive list of scriptures to go study and read, an explanation of tithing, and how I’ve seen God’s Principles about money shape mine and other’s lives.

God wants your heart. Not your dollars.

What is a tithe?

Simply put, tithe means “one tenth”. Whenever a tithe is mentioned in scripture, it almost always refers to crops. Often you will read the phrase “first fruits” in correlation to the tithe, more on that later. Something I’ve come to learn about the tithe is that it is a part of what I call “God’s Principles”.

principle — a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.

When God created the earth, he established principles, things that are woven into the nature of His creation. These things are true for all of humanity and those who have lived on this earth, whether you believe in God or are a practicing follower of Jesus or not. I suppose you could do a robust study on this idea, it’s probably a “theory” at this point, but some examples I like to give are Karma and rest.

KARMA — It is a widely accepted belief that “what goes around, comes around”. Hinduism and Buddhism have called this Karma, and the East and West alike have come to agree that eventually you “get what’s coming to you” as a result of cause and effect. While this sounds like a New Age and anti-christian viewpoint, it’s really a principle that was designed in God’s earth well before these other traditions and spiritual practices ever existed. Simply, it is the principle of reaping what you sow.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7–8

REST — If you’ve never read the book “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” by John Mark Comer, I cannot recommend it enough. There is proof in our world, outside of religious superstition and culture that a 6-day work, one day rest rhythm is in the fabric of humanity and our world. Even non-believers scratch their heads and can’t figure out why the 7-day rhythm is what has stuck for centuries and even why when some cultures (the USSR in the 1930s) have ultimately relented trying anything different with the calendar.

A recent study has found that devout 7th Day Adventist men who practice strict sabbath rest weekly along with other lifestyle habits actually live 7.3 years longer on average than the average Californian. If you were to truly take resting 1 day a week out of your life and give it to rest and worship for your whole life, it would total up to…you guessed it…about 7.5 years. Fascinating!

Where is “tithing” and “giving” in the bible?

Genesis 14:17–20 ‘After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. ‘ Genesis 14:17–20 https://my.bible.com/bible/59/GEN.14.17-20

Malachi 3:8–10 ‘Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. ‘ Malachi 3:8–10 https://my.bible.com/bible/59/MAL.3.8-10

Proverbs 3:9–10 ‘Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. ‘ Proverbs 3:9–10 https://my.bible.com/bible/59/PRO.3.9-10

Matthew 23:23 ‘ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ‘ Matthew 23:23 https://my.bible.com/bible/59/MAT.23.23

Matthew 19:23–24 ‘And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” ‘ Matthew 19:23–24 https://my.bible.com/bible/59/MAT.19.23-24

1 Corinthians 16:1–2 ‘Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. ‘ 1 Corinthians 16:1–2 https://my.bible.com/bible/59/1CO.16.1-2

Why the Church?

The Church is Jesus’ bride, it’s the vehicle in which God has chosen to bring heaven to earth and to bring people to him and in community with His body, the Church. When I hear someone say they don’t have to “tithe” to the church to be obedient with their money…I generally agree, but here are my three follow up questions?

Can you really trust God with your money if you still believe you have to have a say and “control” over where it goes? Do you not trust the local church (body) you are a part of and believe in the work being done there enough to invest and give back to it, in order to see the administration of it and the blessing that it is in your community continue to thrive? Where and how much do you give? I ask this only because typically it’s a defense and not true that a full “tithe” is bering given somewhere else.

I’ve said it before from stage and I will stick to it, while I believe your “tithe” should go to your local church that you are a part of, I am a bigger believer in The Church and the principle that if you can’t “tithe” to your church, “tithe” to another one simply to see the blessing that is putting your firstfruits back in God’s hand does to your personal growth and relationship with money and also blesses another part of the Body of Christ (church).

Also, if you are reading this, have a full-time or even part-time job, and live in the United States, you are in the top 90% of the economic wealth in the world, so giving offerings or above the tithe to other organizations, missions and to meet the needs of others is also a given. In fact, 10% is merely the baseline for believers in providing for and keeping up the administration of the church and it’s overseers (pastoral staff).

How do I start? I’m not sure I can afford to tithe.

Surrender, put God first (first fruits), Paul said God loves a cheerful giver, but he also mentioned the importance of setting some aside, in keeping up with your income and to meeting the needs of those ministering to the church. Pick an amount and start, working towards the tithe, it must be first, because if you do it when you have “enough” at the end of a month, you’ll never have it. None of us would, that’s part of the God first principle. He will show you have to live on the rest and ultimately be your provider.

Other Resources

JD Grear on Tithing - https://jdgreear.com/questions-i-get-about-tithing/

How to give to NewSpring Church: if you are a part of NewSpring church and would like to set up a recurring gift or give financially to the ministry of the church, you can do so at newspring.cc/give