When it comes to finance there is an atmosphere of fear and mistrust in the church. This is in many ways perpetuated by doctrines relating to the giving of tithes and offering. Every part of the your typical Church service is usually an enjoyable, spirit filled experience for the believer until the sound of “offering time, blessing time!” sends a shiver of discomfort down the spines of those seated. The pastor goes on a tirade about how those who don’t tithe will inevitably meet the devourer, people quickly reach for their offering envelopes not wanting to look like they are in any way reluctant to give or rebellious to his teaching. Was is it God’s intention for the giving experience to be so uncomfortable or was it his purpose that we would use our finances as an avenue to express our love and appreciation of God? This of course isn’t the case in every church, but doctrinal abuse in the area of finances is widespread.
I want to use this article to explain why I believe that under the new covenant we are no longer under obligation to relate to, or please God through the system of tithe paying which has unfortunately, been distorted by many Churches, completely removing the joy from what should be an experience saturated with the love and appreciation of God.
Before I explore further, I think it’s important to begin with some biblical context as to what tithes are and their history. Tithe which is literally translated as “a tenth”, was a requirement for the Israelites under Mosaic law (Leviticus 27:30) to provide out of their harvest, resources for various functions in their society, namely:
- To compensate Levite priests for their temple service. (Numbers 18:21-26)
- To be used for paying for the use of the temple and for religious feasts (Deuteronomy 14:22-27)
- To provide welfare for Orphans, the widows and the strangers who lived with the Israelites (Deuteronomy 14:28-29)
Tithing then for the Israelites was not only a requirement intended to honour God but also a system intended to serve the needs of their societal construct. To put this in to context, Israel for almost 400 hundred years, had been a nation with no central government, no compulsory tax, and no police force or standing army, other than an organised brotherhood of free citizens. So tithing to the Israelites wasn’t just a God honouring-obligation, it was a system that was essential for the effective and fair running of their society.
In the New Testament we see more evidently, the inclusion of all nations in God’s plan for salvation. It’s interesting to observe that tithing is seldom mentioned in this plan, why is this? Well I propose a few reasons.
- The priesthood (Levites) had the role of being the intermediary between the Israelite worshipers and God, this was recognised in the tithing system however, under the new covenant Jesus Christ is our priest (Hebrews 4:14-16).
- Jesus re-established the kingdom of God, not as a physical territory or nation exclusive to Israelites (John 18:36) but as a spiritual territory seeking to establish itself here on earth and make men from all nations heirs of this kingdom (Romans 8:17).
- The new covenant we have through Christ removes our obligation to justified by adhering to the letter of the law, we are made acceptable to God through faith which produces a genuine desire to do what pleases God, it’s this love that fulfils the requirements of the law (Romans 8:10).
Therefore the requirement to tithe which was perfect for the needs of the Israelites is seldom mentioned in the New Testament. The early followers of Christ were never told or encouraged to practise tithing and despite this they used their freedom from the requirement of tithing to give more generously, more dynamically and more sacrificially than the Israelites ever did.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:44-45)[/perfectpullquote]
The early christians didn’t give based on fixed percentages, they gave “as any had need” which often meant more than 10%! They gave to support a number of causes including helping the homeless, widows and the building of new churches depending on where the need was most urgent. It makes you wonder at what point in Church history was the requirement to tithe re-introduced, and for what reason? Because it isn’t found in the New Testament.
We still have the homeless, widows and churches in foreign countries that don’t have adequate resources to establish themselves yet many Christians believe that their giving obligation in the form of “tithes” is an exclusive covenant between themselves and their local Church, this isn’t even consistent with the Old Testament practise of tithing let alone our new covenant in Christ.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6)[/perfectpullquote]
You might then conclude “Awesome, I am no longer under obligation to tithe, I’m not putting any more money in the offering basket, I’m going spend the extra cash on more holidays instead!” I think this verse in scripture might addresses that heart posturing.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 John 3:17 ESV)[/perfectpullquote]
If, after understanding how essential your generosity is to advancing the Kingdom of God for the salvation of souls, through financing the establishment of the church and it’s workers, providing for the poor and needy; you feel no inclination, no internal compulsion to provide support then how can you claim to have genuine faith which produces a desire to do the things that please God?
Although I don’t believe the doctrine of tithing is applicable to Christians under the new covenant, I do think it’s important to note that many of the arguments against the doctrine of tithing are motivated by the hardness of the human heart which seeks to find opportunities to do less to honour God and more to gratify the needs of the flesh. Ask yourself, do you have a problem with the doctrine of tithes because you would rather pay less or nothing at all?
How then do New Testament authors, who understand that we are not under the obligation to tithe approach the subject of giving? Well at various points in scripture, they recognise the importance of catering to the essential demands of the kingdom of God such as to provide for the poor and widows (Matthew 5:42), for people working in ministry (1 Timothy 5:18) but not on the basis of the obligation to tithe but rather on basis of encouraging an internal conviction which produces outward generosity, which caters to the essentials needs of the kingdom of God much like the system of tithing did to the nation of Israel.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7 ESV)[/perfectpullquote]
We see then that giving under the new covenant is not an external force (the law) exerting its force on someone to produce financial provision but rather an internal force (genuine faith in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit) working inside someone to produce outward generosity. You are not under obligation to tithe but if there is no internal desire producing a love in you which motivates you to give generously and cheerfully as needs arise then you may have a much deeper issue to resolve than the question of whether you should be paying your tithes or not.
Obedience Founder
