Should Christians Tithe?

April 3, 2024

Wednesday

Sometimes people come to me and ask if Christians are free from the law. They will bring up dietary laws mentioned in the Old Testament. The real question is whether they are supposed to tithe but they are afraid to ask that one.

They have good reason for not asking about the tithe. I am paid by God from their tithes, gifts or offerings. They see me as an employee of the church. They surmise that I will tell them they must tithe so that I can make more money. First off, this is not true. I make the amount the church approved in the budget. If we have a tremendous year, I don't make any more money.

My tithe is the largest amount of money I disperse in any given month. If I didn't tithe, I could buy a new car with cash every other year. So, I understand where they are coming from. The problem is that it has never worked like that for me. I have found that when I had the discipline to tithe, I also didn't spend money unnecessarily. Thus, I had more money by giving a tithe and an offering. (An offering is above the tithe.)

So, what does the Bible say? Are we still under the law? Absolutely not! Does that mean that we can violate the law as we see fit? Absolutely not! We cannot ignore the Ten Commandments and violate them whenever it is convenient. No, they still give us a structure for living godly lives.

What principle should be applied when concerning the tithe? Let's look at a couple of scriptures.

Matthew 23:23 (NASB 2020) ²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

Jesus said that the Pharisees neglected the weightier provisions of the law. His rebuke was not on their tithing. In fact, as precise as their tithe was, Jesus still said this is something they should have done but without neglecting those weightier things.

2 Timothy 3:2–5 (NASB 2020) ² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these.

Many people don't tithe because they are lovers of money and lovers of pleasure. They put God below the money they spend on themselves. I am not talking about those who don't have the money to put food on the table. The scripture is plain on this as well. We take care of our families' physical needs. The problem I find is that people are saying that new cars and 65" TVs are part of those physical needs. They don't tithe because they make sure that they get what they want beyond their physical needs before they consider God. The give God leftovers.

God is a very generous God. He gave His only begotten Son. We can never match God's gift to us. He intended for us to be generous too. That is why we say that it is more blessed to give than receive. We are fulfilling the characteristic of God He has created us with when He created us in His image.

So, should we tithe? We tithe as soon as our family is fed, clothed and housed. If we don't we will find ourselves as those who are lovers of money and lovers of pleasure. We can't walk with God by neglecting God.

Wasn't this the real question anyway?