Leadership Thought: Why I Don’t Believe in Tithing.

Dear Friends.

As we come to the last of these thoughts about our stewardship, let me briefly review a few of the points that  have  previously mentioned. 

We are most like God when we give and most unlike Him when we withhold.

Jesus talked a lot about money matters because He knew that “money matters”. He talked more about money issues than He did about heaven and hell and faith combined.

It is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

God owns it all and we are simply His money managers.

Stewardship is what happens to mine because of what happens to me. 

With these statements in mind, you might ask is there any benchmark we should consider when it comes to our giving? 

Is the tithe or the giving of 10 percent of our income the goal of our giving? After all, it was what the Old Testament Jew gave. But I would ask can we who live on the other side of the cross be expected to give anything less than then the Old Testament Jew  who lived in the shadow of the cross? My answer to that question is no. I believe the tithe is a good place to begin our giving, but I would ask can we lower the ceiling because we stand on higher ground?

It is true that tithing in the New Testament is neither directly commanded nor rescinded. But I would point out that every New Testament example of giving goes beyond the tithe and none falls short of it.

I would ask does God expect his New Covenant children to give less or more that the Jew living under the Old Covenant? Should  we as believers lower the standard because we stand on higher ground? Jesus raises the spiritual bar. He never lowers it.  Can we who possess the Holy Spirit and who live in the wealthiest country in the world, give anything less than the tithe?

Let me quote from Randy Alcorn’s wonderful book The Treasure Principle. The tithe  is God’s historical method to get on the path of giving. It’s unhealthy to view tithing as a place to stop, but it can be a good place to begin. Even under the first Covenant it wasn’t a stopping place for the Jews who also gave additional offerings beyond the tithe.  Tithing is not the ceiling for giving; it’s the floor. It is not the finish line of giving; it is just the starting blocks. Tithing can be the training wheels to launch us into the mind set skills and habit of grace giving. P 61.

"Grace giving" should be sacrificial giving. Paul says of the Macedonian Christians in  2 Cor 8:2-5  "Although they were going through hard times, and were very poor, they were glad to give generously. They gave as much as they could afford, and even more.  Simply because they wanted to. They even asked and begged us to let them have the joy of giving their money for God’s people.  And they did more than we had hoped.  They gave themselves first to the Lord, and then to us , just as God wanted them to do."  

I believe the Macedonian example should be the model for our giving. Our giving should be generous, sacrificial, and motivated by our love for others. It may be more than the tithe, or it might be less than the tithe, but whatever it is, it will represent a worthy sacrifice in light of the sacrifice Jesus has made for each of us.

Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom