The Doctrine of Tithing

You know, I hate the word "tithe" and the theology that goes with it. It comes up every now and then, and no matter how many years pass by it still really ticks me off. I've tried being rational about it, not getting all fired up and whatever, but I've finally just given up. The fact is I hate the practice and I frown on evangelicals for propagating such an erroneous teaching.

My greatest lament is that I can not get my husband to take a serious look at this teaching. I have tried, but I guess I just come off as hysterical when I talk about it. He never takes what I say very seriously and has the general attitude of "Well, we ought to be giving anyway. What does it matter if we call it a tithe or not?"

But it IS important and I want to explain a little about why.

Tithing is not giving. To say they are is to say that a tax is the same a charitable donation. They've got nothing to do with each other.

Giving is something you chose to do. Giving can be anything. You can give to anyone or any charity or institution. You can give in any amount, even just a little bit. There are no guarantees that God will physically bless a giver. There is no punishment for not giving (though their is a punishment for selfishness and greed.)

Tithing is required to be a "Good Christian". Tithing is required to be a member of (some) churches. Tithing must be money. Tithing goes to your church. Tithing is used to support your Pastor's salary and the church building(s). Tithing must be at least 10% of your income before taxes and living expenses. The poor, widowed, and fatherless are expected to tithe. Many teach that if you tithe you will gain something in return from God and if you don't tithe God will punish you in some way.

Many have objected to tithing because it's based on the old Jewish Law. Jesus replaced the High Priest and our bodies are now the Temple so it's not really practical anyway. Additionally, the New Testament authors only talk of giving never tithing. For more detailed arguments concerning this please go HERE , HERE, and HERE. (Disclaimer: I have not read through everything these sites have on them. I can only say the reasoning behind these particular pages is sound.)

But there is a secondary argument that I've heard. They say that tithing was common practice among the godly and was done long before the 10 commandments. They use Genesis 14 as the example.

In this chapter it talks about a huge battled between a bunch of kings (4 vs 5 specifically). After the war, the spoils went to winners (the 4 Kings I believe). Alas, Abram's Nephew, Lot, was part of the spoils! So the Nephew and everything he owned got hauled away.

When Abram heard this he immediately set out to free his nephew. He was successful and freed his Nephew. But not only did he free his nephew, he also "freed" the 4 Kings of all their spoils of war. Abram came back with his Nephew, his Nephew's belongings, plus loot from 9 Kings.

On the way back he bumps into the Kings of Sodom and Salem. The King of Salem is apparently a priest of God as well, and blesses Abram. In return, Abram gives him a tenth (tithe in KJV) of all the loot. The King of Sodom (one of the losers of the war) asks for his men back, but offers Abram all the goods. However, Abram refuses and gives the King of Sodom everything back.

Now what people point out here is that Abram gave Melchizedek a tithe. Therefore, tithing predates the law and is an acceptable practice for Christians.

But lets look at a few things here:

1) Abram gave him a tenth (tithe) of the spoils of war.
2) Abram gave all of King Sodom's stuff back. Which means that Melchizedek didn't get any of it.

3) Before and after this, there is no mention of Abram giving tithes to Melchizedek or anyone else. (In fact, there is no mention of any Jew tithing at all until Leviticus 27!)

So what does this mean? We know Abram regularly offered animal sacrifices to God, but there is no mention of Abram regularly tithing to anyone. Melchizedek seems to be the exception. The Priest-King did not demand or even ask for a tithe. Abram did not give out of "his own pockets" but out of the stolen goods from the defeated kings.

Read that again.

It was only the spoils that got tithed, and not even all of that since Sodom got all his stuff back. Abram gave a tithe of what wasn't really his to begin with. And after this we never hear about Melchizedek or tithing on Abram's part again.

Paul compared Melchizedek to Jesus. (Some even say Melchizedek could have been a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. Though I'm not sure how likely that actually is.) Please read Hebrews 7 to understand why Paul makes this connection.

Anyway, the point is... Jesus is a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. It implied that Melchizedek got the tithe for being a High Priest of God. Christians only have Jesus as their High Priest. So if we are to tithe, we are only to tithe to Jesus.

But lets take this a few inches more and see if we can take that mile. If we are to reject the Judaic Law form of Tithing and follow the example of Abraham, what would that mean?

1) We should tithe out of our abundance, not our income.
2) If we have a made promise to someone that requires us giving them a portion of our abundance, we are to do so. Exclude the promised portion from the tithe.
3) The person we are to tithe should not ask or demand a tithe.
4) Tithing is rare, rather than common. It has nothing to do with blessing or curses from God.

Lastly, what would it mean to "tithe to Jesus", as that's the only High Priest available to us today? Well, the church building is not Jesus. Church ministries are not Jesus. The Pastor, Youth Pastors, and Deacons/Elders are not Jesus. In fact, Christians are "the Bride of Christ", not Jesus. But tithing to the Bride is not the same thing as tithing to Jesus.

So now we're at a dead end. We have no one to tithe to because Jesus is at the Right Hand of the Father. And even when he gets back, he won't need our money.

But if you're short on time, there's an even simpler way to refute Genesis 14 being a pro-tithe passage. Just say "I notice people were sacrificing animals to God before the Mosaic Law too. Does that mean it's OK for us to do the burnt offering thing today as well?"

Using Genesis 14 to justify modern tithing doesn't work. To try to make it work is taking scripture out of context. Worse yet-- it is forcing Scripture to say what you want it to say to get money. I fervently hope no one reading this wants to be that much of a slime-ball that they would purposefully use scripture to get money.

Other arguments are used for tithing in the New Testament, such as the Widow's Mite. I recommend reading those 3 links above, as they cover that too.

If you really look into it, you will find there is no New Testament support for the modern day tithe. There is much said about generosity, about helping the poor and needy, and even about donations to Christians suffering in other places of the world. But there is nothing--zero--about Christians needing to tithe.

Now you're thinking to yourself, "How are we suppose to give then, if not tithe?"

I say:

1) Give how ever much you want to or are able to give.

2) Don't just give money, or don't feel like only money counts as "giving". Your time, expertise, clothes, or food are just as needed as your money. Consider giving those in place of --or along with-- money.

3) If you're seriously struggling to make ends meat--don't give. Seriously, stop feeling guilty about it. God has *never* demanded money or goods from the poor, Old or New Testament. Anyone claiming otherwise is trying to rob you, and God seriously frowns upon robbing from the poor.

4) Don't limit yourself to the church. Give to that homeless guy on the corner, or that neighbor who is struggling, or to that charity you feel strongly about. Your local church is great, but there's more out there and absolutely no reason to limit yourself.

And that's all I gotta say about that. :)