Prosperity #2: What About
Tithing?
Thank you so
much...those of you who took the time to encourage me to continue with this
topic after submitting the letter http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/sep2007/barbiem910.htm. Before continuing, I first offer the prayer to
God that He gives me the right words to say and that He prevents me from saying
anything that would lead someone into error.
In spite of
my concern that I might alienate some right off the bat by discussing tithing, I
feel that is the best place for us to start because 1) the topic of
tithing has been the primary focus that led to this discussion, and
2) I believe that some of us will need to "unlearn" a few things before
learning some new things.
There are a
number of conditions or principles listed for Godly prosperity in the
Bible. However, in many circles, the one we continually find
ourselves being taught at the expense of all others is that of giving materially
to the work of the Lord. The Bible
does have much to say about the principles of “giving and receiving” or “reaping
and sowing” - and that principle does appear to transcend all
administrations. And, while admittedly these principles rarely address giving to
ministries, common sense alone dictates that money must flow into God’s houses,
leaders, and works in order to accomplish many of His purposes. What I am trying to make clear from the
outset, is that this article is not intended to turn people away from giving
materially to their churches and other Christian organizations. I fully support the need for
Christians to financially support the purposes set out by the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, it
is my desire that this series of articles will stir the reader to a greater level of giving – a level that will
bring him or her to a greater level
of abundance in every area of their life – not just materially, but spiritually,
physically, mentally, and socially.
However, my
question at this point is twofold. First, can we scripturally support the doctrine that tithing, or at least
giving, is for the most part a necessary key for having our financial needs met
and/or financial abundance? And,
secondly, what else does God say
about financial abundance?
I have sat
under many Christian teachers who have taught that God expects us to return to
him a minimum of 10% of our income in one form or another in order to be
guaranteed a certain degree of financial prosperity. Other conditions may apply as well. However, after an honest (and I
believe objective) study of God’s word, I have not yet seen the grounds for that
teaching in our administration nor even in Jesus’ day – and truthfully not even
in the old testament.
As I began to study the topic of tithing
and material abundance, I found myself greatly concerned for those people in
church who were perhaps spiritually young and who had learned of God’s promises
of meeting their needs and even greater. They were excited about scriptures
such as:
I John 3:22:
And whatsoever we ask,
we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that
are pleasing in his sight. (KJV)
Or Matt
6:33:
Seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto
you. (KJV)
Or perhaps
they had even been taught the principal of giving and receiving Luke 6:38:
Give, and it shall be
given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running
over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measure to you
again” (KJV)
These people
were showing up in Church excited -
possibly having made changes in their lives that involved financial sacrifice
and steps of faith – expecting to see great things from God, only to hear that
because they had not tithed a full 10%, they had no right to expect God to work
financially in their lives. If they
had been trusting God to meet their needs before, they were not likely to
now.
The other
thing I was seeing in my church was an increasing focus on tithing for the
purposes of “getting” with little to no teaching on the love walk. Sometimes I almost wondered if I was at
a “multilevel marketing” meeting – if you know what I mean. Witnessing these things stirred my heart
to want to write down what I had learned and share it with others.
Since the time
that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, many scriptures were written
detailing God’s desire to bless us financially and at a minimum meet our needs –
none of which explicitly or even implicitly indicate the condition of
tithing. In fact I have found
very little justification for the teaching of the conditions of tithing in our
administration. When a
believer grasps the principle of tithing without the maturity of walking in
love, they may give for purely selfish motives, or give away things that God did
not tell them to give away. As a
result, they may not receive the financial blessing they were expecting, and
lose faith in the principles of giving altogether.
Many have
stated that tithing is assumed in the New Testament and that the scriptures
regarding giving of material things refer to offerings above tithing. In future articles, I will
address what God’s word says about giving out of our abundance, but today I just
want to address the topic of tithing.
I had in the
past written a study on some of the scriptures that refer to tithing.
However, after having recently read a paper entitled “Tithing is
Unscriptural Under the New Covenant” by L. Ray Smith at www.bible-truths.com/tithing.html,
I honestly felt that I would serve you better by referring you to this
article. It is a little long
(48 pages); but if you do have questions about what God’s word says about
tithing, I do think it is worth your time. I would like to say, however,
that I am not nearly so hard on preachers and televangelists as is
Smith. I truly believe that many,
many spiritual leaders who teach tithing, do so out of a genuine heart. I think we can always know if these
people and their ministries are genuine by looking at their fruit - if we
really want to take the time to look. And we don’t need to throw the
baby out with the bath water because someone teaches one thing with which we do
not necessarily agree.
In any case,
even if you don’t take the time right now to read Smith’s article, please take a
minute to look up the only four places that tithing is mentioned in the New
Testament (Hebrews 7:2-9, Luke 18:12, Luke 11:42, and Matthew 23:23). Read the context and tell
me if you honestly think any of those four scriptures are about believers
being required to tithe. Before you do, I am going to go ahead and share one thing that I don't
recall seeing in Smith's article.
Luke 11:42 and
Matthew 23:23 are virtually identical.
KJV:“But
woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and
pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to
leave the other undone.”
Many times I have been taught that the “not to leave the
other undone” was referring the verb “tithe” at the beginning of the
sentence. And the way it is
commonly translated, it definitely does sound that way. However, the usage of the Greek word
“kakeinos” (the other) demonstrates that it refers to “that one” as in “the one
I am talking about.” Look up other
usages of “kakeinos” to see what I
mean. In
addition, the grammatical construction of the pronouns used in this verse is
suggestive. Both “these” and “the
other” are demonstrative pronouns, in the accusative case, neuter gender and
plural in number. The significance
is that the “these” to which He was referring (judgment and the love of God),
were “the other(s)” to which He concluded. This should cause the end of the verse to read as it is currently
translated in the Lamsa Bible: “These were necessary for you to have done, and these very things by no
means to have left undone”.
At this point I
would have to say that to use the above scriptures as an argument for being
required to tithe would be a weak argument indeed. Additionally, we are never told that we will be financially blessed in return for tithing. Nor do I believe that the three gospel
occurrences are addressing the necessity or even the desirability of
tithing.
If
tithing is a condition to having our needs met and even living a life of
material abundance, could something so crucial as this to our Christian walk be
so lightly touched upon in the New Testament? Or is it feasible, as some say, that it
should be “assumed” from old testament writings because the practice was so
engrained within the people that there was no need to even discuss it. Are we really expected to believe
that these people who throughout the epistles were exhorted or chastised in
nearly every aspect of their lives from how to treat others, the importance of
respecting governing authorities, our attitude towards our jobs and our
employers, giving money to the poor, adultery, drunkenness, jealousy, stealing,
and backbiting, just to name a few – that of these same people, none needed to
be reminded to tithe because that was simply never neglected?
And are we
further to believe that God somehow in spite of his infinite wisdom managed to
neglect to make that clear in his word for later generations who were not so
conditioned? That is a weak argument - especially when
we are told that we are redeemed from the curse of the law. The law was
necessary before Christ became the ultimate sacrificial lamb. Not only was this because we had no
other way to redeem ourselves but by the law; but also because without Christ in
us, we did not have regular access to communion with God on an individual basis,
and therefore were in need of rules and guidelines.
Once again I
want to say that I fully support Christians sharing their money to help
accomplish the purposes of God. Although He can accomplish anything He
wants without our help, that is not His desire. God wants to work through
the Body of Christ. However, He is not pleased with his Word
being misused. It is our responsibility to find out what God's
word REALLY says and then and only then can we truly prosper from it. God
wants us to give to others because we love Him and His children - not out of
fear or greed or tradition. He wants to have a relationship with each and
everyone of us so that we can know what, when, where, how, to whom and in what
quantity he wants us to give. We will delve deeper into that a
little later. Even if you do not agree with me on the topic of tithing, I
would encourage you to join me with the rest of these studies.
Note: For those of you who might want to
respond that tithing existed before the law - making tithing exclusive of the
benefits of having been redeemed by the law, I think you might find a new
perspective in L. Ray Smith’s article mentioned above.
God Bless you all
Barbie