Is Mandatory Tithing Biblical?
The question we will be attempting to answer in this study is whether or not tithing is taught to the New Testament Church. We are not talking about giving. Giving is definitely taught to the Church. Tithing, on the other hand, is a mandatory 10% of your gross income given to your church. We are also not asking if tithing is a good idea. There are many good ideas in the church today that are not necessarily scriptural. Hymn books, pews, overhead projectors, and sound systems are all good ideas, but that doesn’t make them scriptural. The question is not if it is good; we want to know if it is God! Baptism is scriptural. Prayer is scriptural. Loving God and your neighbor is scriptural. But what about tithing? Did Jesus teach it to His Church? Did the Apostles teach it to His Church? If they did, then that would make it a principle that we all should obey. But if they did not teach this Old Testament law to the Church, then not only would it be improper to hoist this mandate on the necks of the Believers (Acts 15:10), it could actually be fraudulent, exploitive and even blasphemous.
Justified by the Law… or Grace?
Tithing has been taught in the New Testament Church for quite a while. In many European countries your tithe is taken out of your paycheck, just like taxes. Here in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, we have a Constitution to protect us from such tyranny. But that hasn’t stopped organizations such as the Mormons (Latter Day Saints) to attach the issue to such important principles as attaining their Godhood! Without tithing they cannot get a "temple recommend" and without the temple recommend they cannot get into the Temple to perform their ordinances that help them earn their Godhood. But is our doctrine any better? Many Protestant Churches teach that God can’t bless you if you don’t tithe! They’ll say, "Haven’t you ever read Malachi? He said that if you don’t tithe, you are robbing God!" Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be found guilty of robbing God! Malachi goes on to say that "you are cursed with a curse" if you do not tithe! Wow! That sounds like serious business. But was Malachi written to the Church, or to the Jews under the Law? Malachi 1:1, says it was, "the oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel". Notice it does not say, "the oracle of the word of the Lord to the Church". We are not under the Law, but under the New Covenant of Grace. The Law no longer has a hold on us (Hebrews 8:6-13). We are no longer bound by the tenets of the Law (Gal 3:25). We are justified by faith, not by works of the Law (Romans 3:28). We are redeemed from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13). Anyone who has questions about this subject should stop and read the fifteenth chapter of Acts; the third and fourth chapter of Romans; the eighth through the eleventh chapter of Hebrews; the second chapter of Ephesians; and the whole book of Galatians! This is a foundational teaching of the New Testament Church. This is one of the biggies, an "essential" if you will. We are saved and justified by Grace alone, through Faith alone! Paul says in Galatians:
2:16, "…by the works of the law shall no man be justified."
2:21, "…if righteousness comes by the Law, then Christ has died in vain."
3:5, "Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the Law, or because you believed what you heard?"
3:10-11, "All who rely on observing the Law are under a curse… Clearly no one is justified before God, by the Law."
3:13, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law."
3:25, "Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the Law."
4:10-11, "You are observing special days and months, and seasons and years. I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you." {You may want to avoid mentioning this verse to the Seventh Day Adventists. They teach that worshipping on Sunday is the Mark of the Beast!}
5:4, "You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen from Grace."
Fallen from Grace? Yes, we can fall from Grace if we seek to be justified by any works or deeds. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by Grace you have been saved, through Faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the Gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast." This refers to any work, including tithing.
The Early Church "Lays Down the Law"
It’s not a new problem. The early Church was plagued by the same works mentality. Old habits die hard, especially when it comes to religion. When the Gentiles started coming into the Fold, the old timers (the Jews) started telling them that they had to obey the Old Testament Law to be justified in God’s eyes (Acts 15:5). The new kid on the block, the Apostle Paul, opposed this doctrine and went back to the Big Three (Peter, James and John) for some back up. He told them what was going on and the church got together to hold their very first "counsel" (Acts 15:6). They sought the Lord on the matter, and the Holy Spirit told them to write to the new converts and tell them not to worry about upholding the Law (Acts 15:24). The Holy Spirit then warned the new believers to abstain from idols and fornication. What? No mention of tithing? This most perfect opportunity to assure them that this one aspect of the Law had been carried over was lost! Or could it be that The Holy Spirit agreed with Peter in Acts 15:10, when he said, "Why do you try to test God, by putting on the necks of the disciples, a yoke, that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?" He was referring specifically to circumcision, but also to the Law in general.
Let’s Up the Ante
Unfortunately, most Pastors that teach mandatory tithing, don’t stop there. Legalism leads to more legalism. Most will say that you not only have to tithe, but you have to tithe to them. That’s right, forget about the Priesthood of the believer! They insinuate that, "You can’t possibly hear from God on your own, so you bring the money to me, And I will decide where to spend… er… sow it." Now they won’t actually say "tithe to me", they will use the biblical term "storehouse". "You must tithe, and you must bring the tithe into the storehouse." That’s legalistic scripture manipulation. Nowhere is the term "storehouse" used in the New Testament in reference to giving. It is where the Old Covenant people brought their tithe. It was a literal place. Today, if I wanted to take my tithe to the "storehouse", that would be literally impossible. It was destroyed with the rest of the Temple in 70 A.D.! But what these legalists want to say is that the church building is now the storehouse. But I ask you, how can that be? Did the early church call the church building the storehouse? No! Because they didn’t even have a church building to meet in! They met in each other’s homes, and in the synagogues and in the Temple. But wait a minute… didn’t they have a storehouse for forty years before it was destroyed by the Romans? When the New Testament believers took up offerings for the poor, did they take it to the storehouse? After Paul took an offering for the poor, did he take it to the storehouse? We have no Jewish "storehouse" today, but the early church did. So I ask you, did they take their offerings to the storehouse? No! If they did, they would have been supporting the very people that crucified Christ! Why do you think God had the Temple destroyed? So that the Church, bought and paid for by the blood of Christ, would have to let go of the old ways, the Old Covenant.
Example: http://saintjameschurch.com/online-giving-make-a-donation/online-giving-make-a-donation
But we have some legalists that want to place the yoke of the Old Covenant on our necks, still to this very day. I remind you of Peter’s stern warning in Acts 15:10, "Why do you try to test God by putting a yoke on the necks of the disciples?" Remember, tithing is good… tithing is great… as long as it is taught to be voluntary! The minute it is required or mandated, it becomes legalism.
I recently heard an internationally known Pastor (Ted Haggard) teaching on this subject. He was talking about tithing and the necessity of bringing it into the (his) storehouse. To show you how far this can go, he said that you also should not designate where the money goes, by writing "soup kitchen’ or "missions" in the memo portion of your check. Once you give it to God (the Pastor/ the Church) you must learn to let go of it. God hates the fact that you would try to manipulate Him. "But Pastor I was not giving it directly to God… He doesn’t need my money, I was giving it to you, to give to the poor, to glorify God and take care of the Saints." This Pastor thinks that is sin. He went on to say, and I quote,
"For most people, the testament is just very, very simply, tithing into the storehouse. Just tithe into the storehouse, ‘cause that constantly reminds you of that idea. I’m a steward of God’s things. Tithe into the storehouse from your income and tithe into the storehouse from the profit from your business. Alright? And when you do that, it reminds you, but don’t control that! Now listen to me everybody, I see this all the time. I’ll see people that will tithe faithfully when they are earning a thousand dollars. They’ll tithe a hundred dollars and then they’ll pray, ‘Oh, God bless it.’, and they’ll do it freely, they drop it in the bucket or put it in the slot, or whatever. They don’t think a thing of it until God does multiply that hundred dollars and they’ve earned a million dollars. And then when they earn a million dollars, they have a hundred thousand dollar tithe and then they start to say, ‘Oh, I need to control this.’ THAT’S THE ISSUE! Controlling the thing. See, ya gotta be sold into the kingdom of God. So they’ll say, ‘Now that it’s up to a hundred thousand dollars, I can’t tithe anymore. Now I want to direct it.’ And so they’ll either designate it, or they’ll say, ‘This much goes here, this much goes here.’, or the epitome of a lost soul, that’s trying to be a Christian, is they say, ‘I’ll start my own 501c3 corporation so I can dictate my own tithe, and run it.’ THAT PERSON WILL GO TO HELL!" (Copy of tape available upon request)
I don’t know about you, but I thought that the Bible teaches that you go to Heaven or Hell based on what you do with JESUS… not what you do with your money! But this is what legalism can lead to. Paul made the issue of giving very simple. Each person is to give what he has personally decided to give. Give cheerfully, not under compulsion (II Cor. 9:7). But how can you give without compulsion if the Pastor says that you are robbing God if you do not tithe?
Legalism
Legalism is a cancer. It knows no bounds. It will go as far as it can in every direction. If a person gets cancer, the doctor doesn’t take some out and leave some in. He gets rid of all of it! And that is what the Church needs to do today. Rid the Body of Christ of the cancer of legalism! But unfortunately, legalism is creeping into the Church at an alarming rate. Many denominations struggle with legalism to some degree. The Church of Christ denomination, for example, is rife with legalism (baptismal regeneration; musical instruments in worship are "pagan"; communion must be taken every Sunday; etc). But what concerns me the most are the mega-churches. These are churches that have ushered in a Breath of Life into the Church in the areas of missionary work and Praise and Worship. Because of their influence, many of the more traditional churches are even beginning to open up to a new wave of the Spirit. But sadly, these churches are now falling in to the same old routines of dead denominationalism. The Baptists, Assemblies of God, the Calvary Chapels, the Vineyards, and most of the independent charismatic churches teach mandatory tithing. Sometimes it is very subtle, such as always using the word "tithing" instead of "giving". But many are willing to put their local congregations under the curse of Malachi 3:9, in order to follow the dictates of the most recent church growth seminar. These seminars teach that we must be "seeker friendly" to attract new members. Everyone must be "trained to tithe" to "support your predicted growth". Great advice. The only problem is that it is not biblical! "Seeker friendly" insinuates a dumbing down, or worse, a watering down of the Gospel. "Don’t mention the word Hell, but by all means, teach Old Covenant law to fill those offering plates" (so you can pay for another Church Growth Seminar!). Although some denominations are fairly autonomous, most of them adhere to their headquarters’ guidelines.
At this point, I have probably offended just about everyone, though that is not my intention. My heartfelt goal is to issue a wake up call to the Church. We are being lulled to sleep by the soothing, works oriented lullaby of legalism. It’s human nature to want to win God’s Favor, but we don’t earn His Favor by trying to earn our Faith. Even the Faith that you have was given to you as a gift from God (Romans 12:3)! You cannot earn anything from God that He has already given to you as a Gift. We do our good works out of gratitude for what God has already done for us, not to earn it! Any works that we do to earn that priceless Gift, which has been freely given to us, will do nothing but devalue the Gift itself. If a friend gives you a gift, do you ask them, "How much do I owe you?" Of course not. And to seek to be justified in any way but Faith, is to ask God, "What do I owe you?" The price that He paid for your Gift of Eternal Life was the Blood of His very own Son! There is nothing you could possibly do to pay Him back.
Closing Comments
Legalism and Grace go together like oil and water… they don’t mix. Some defendants will say that tithing transcends the Law because Abraham tithed to Melchisedec before the Law was even established. True, but he did it out of his own free will, not as a mandate. Besides, he only tithed to Melchisedec once, from the spoils of one battle, which is a far cry from what is being taught in the Church today. Others may say that Jesus told the Pharisees to tithe, which is also true. But they were still under the Law, and as such, Jesus had to speak to them as under the Law, for He had yet to fulfill the Law. Jesus even confirmed this when He spoke to the Pharisees about their tithing by saying, "You tithe, but you miss the weightier matters of THE LAW." Paul said that Jesus nailed the Law to the Cross (Colossians 2:14). Jesus said that the New Covenant was issued in His Blood (Luke 22:20). The writer of Hebrews said that the Everlasting Covenant was through the shed blood of Jesus (Hebrews 13:20). Therefore, anything taught before the Cross, was not part of the New Covenant of Grace.
Tithing is one of those subjects that can elicit strong emotions from both sides of the issue. Those of us who are sensitive to legalism, automatically assume that those who teach mandatory tithing are doing it to fleece the flock and line their own pockets. But we have to be careful not to assign motives. Many people that teach mandatory New Testament tithing, actually believe that they are teaching sound biblical theology. But the issue has to come down to which side has the scriptural evidence to back up their beliefs. Some may say, "If we stop teaching tithing, then the people may stop giving… and then how will the Church survive?" That is not any of your business, because it is not your Church! Your job is not to raise funds for Jesus; your job is to feed the flock the Truth, and let Jesus take care of the rest. On the day that you stand before Jesus to give an account of your life (as a teacher), you do not want to have to explain why you taught Old Covenant Law to His New Covenant Family. Jesus told a parable in Luke 18:10-14. He tells of two men who sought God. One man, a Pharisee, came to God exclaiming that he was glad that he was not like other men, who did not fast or tithe. But the other man, a tax collector, came before God and simply plead for mercy, recognizing that we all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Jesus said that the latter man went home justified, but the Pharisee did not. He was like the Galatians that sought to be justified by their works, instead of relying on the Grace of God. And many times, we are no different than the Pharisee or the Galatians. Paul had to pound the idea of grace into their heads.
Remember, Paul made the issue of giving very simple. Each person is to give what he has personally decided to give. Give cheerfully, not under compulsion (II Cor. 9:7).
Law versus Liberty… Good Works versus God’s Grace. It is a very hard concept to grasp. But therein lies our freedom. And as the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 5:1, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and don’t let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
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