I have recently been thinking about the practise of tithing in our evangelical church and have wondered again where it came from. It doesn't seem to be a scriptural thing at all to me and I find it curious that so many advocate it. True, we find it in the Old Testament a few times. Not once is it mentioned in a positive way in the New Testament though. But most churches rely on the OT to support this practise. So what texts give all these churches and people such a strong case? I'm not really sure. The Isrealites gave to the Levites a tenth every 3 years of their increase. But the Levites were the people who set up, tore down, carried stuff, basically did menial tasks. Today, the tithe is usually sent to the preachers/teachers of the Word, not the deacon types. Doesn't seem to be a correlation here to me.
I included a link here to a blog that talks about early church thoughts on giving/tithing. It was a short entry and fairly interesting I thought.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
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4 comments:
Just saw your blog, Seth. Glad you're back online, bro! I asked one of our pastors about tithing about a year ago. His main emphasis is that we should give with a right attitude. I believe he mentioned the cheerful giver. He was quick to point out that God knows our circumstances and if we can't give anything, don't. We knew we couldn't tithe 10% but we started giving what we could regularly. God has been faithful and though there have been times of great need and zero money, He time and again proves his faithfulness to us and provides for all our needs! I know you haven't found a home church yet, but when you do, I would encourage you to pray that God would give you a desire to give to Him. Then faithfully give what you can afford. He will honor that. God bless you bro. Looking forward to seeing a post on finding a church! :o)
Glad you found it Mike! Yeah, tithing has been an interesting topic for me. I grew up tithing regularly, always actually. But I reconsidered the practise once I got to college. Here is where I am at now on this topic; I think there is a big emphasis in the bible regarding giving to the poor (people who can't afford food, clothing, or shelter). This would especially include widows, orphans, and such people. I am in the process of attempting to see how this can be done in the American context. But many barriers present themselves. One is that many poor people in this country seem to be poor by choice, for example many homeless people are homeless because they chose to spend all their money on drugs rather than basic shelter/food. I am loathe to give money to these type people. I think it was Dave Ramsey who did a study on this, don't quote me on this because I'm not totally sure. However I believe he was studying the genuineness of the homeless person. He/the organization told a number of people on the street that if they came to a certain location (a church I believe) that they would receive free food and a place to spend the night and free job training. Evidently 95% of those invited failed to show up. The lesson I draw from studies like this and my personal experiences is that the poor in our country and time are different from the poor of Jesus' time. So, anyway, I digress. But my point remains that this seemed to be the main emphasis of the bible in regard to giving to others. I would say too that there seems to be a special emphasis on taking care of the needy in the church first. This being said, I believe that tithing was an old covenant requirement only. I also am not sure that I can support the practise of supporting pastors full time. I know many good people disagree with me on that. That's the great part of blogging though; these different ideas can be examined in one of the best venues, and hopefully we can come together to be more like Christ.
This is an interesting topic. I believe in the new testament Christ says to question everything. So I find this a relevant exercise. Nothing like a good rebel rouser to stir things up! :)
I personally believe that we miss the point entirely when we get into the semantics of tithing. For me it's a simple concept, its the act of sacrifice, of giving, of compassion. These virtues of Christ are what I take from tithing. My tithing comes in the form of "giving to the poor" and also to support my local and non local ministries. I'm reminded of people like Enoch in the old testament and people in our time like Rich Mullins. People who desire not of this material world.
For me it's a reminder that we are nothing without God. That he is our provider. The older I get the more I realize this. No matter what education I have or how good my salary is, If I make those earthly things my focus I miss the point. By tithing I am not only reminded of my purpose but I am also fulfilled through Christ's love.
I don't see the poor of biblical times and current time any different. I see them both as having a void in their life's that drive their addictions, ignorance or whatever you may call it. That void, that need that they have is something as Christians we can help them fill through Jesus Christ. A doctor doesn't come for the healthy but for the sick.
P.S. On a side not I'm not a fan of TV evangelist that pressure their congregations to give all they have.
- Jeremy Muchow
Jeremy,
Thanks for visiting! Didn't know you knew I had a blog that I rarely keep up with....
Yeah, I agree with you on not focusing on the semantics of tithing. I posted on it because it seems like such a fascinating practice that evangelicals engage in these modern times. Certainly the focus (I think most christians agree on) should be toward loving others like Jesus did and sacrificing financially to care for other people. However, that being said, there remains an interesting segment of the christian population that views tithing as a New Testament obligation. I have known of churches that required the members to turn in their tax returns so that their numbers could be verified. So I guess I was addressing that sort of idea with this post. It seems that sort of attitude misses the freedom that Christ brought and uses tithing (among other issues) to subtly re-impose a form of legalism. Would you agree with that somewhat?
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