Investments, insurances, groceries, housing,
entertainment, schooling…each one of these and dozens of other areas of our
lives constantly fight for first place in our hearts. So how do we know what how to prioritize
these things? What does this has to do
with our personal finances? C. I.
Scofield, an American Theologian in the early 1900’s, had this answer: “Show me a man’s checkbook and I’ll show you
where his priorities are.”
What we spend our
money on has a lot to do with what we prize in our hearts. Even Jesus says this in Matthew 6:21 “Where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Pay attention to Matthew 6, because Jesus
gives a lot of really good money advice there.
So what should
our first priority be when we budget our money?
Proverbs 3:9 makes a pretty good case for tithing: “Honor the Lord from your possessions, and from the first
fruits of all your increase.”
Our income is
often referred to as the “fruits of our labors.” This is for a good reason, because as I already
said last time, wealth in Biblical times often had little to do with actual
money. Whatever a man produced were his “fruits.” As this Proverb (as well as MANY other places
in Scripture) says, we are to give our first
fruits to the Lord. This is what’s
known as the tithe, and Biblically, a tithe is a tenth of our increase.
Malachi 3:10
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there
may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if
I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing
until it overflows.”
This is the most
common passage quoted to support the tithe in the Bible. The fact that the person speaking is God
Himself gives is that extra “umph” to show us it’s serious. God tells us to bring our tithe (again, a
tenth) into His storehouses. In Jewish
times that would have been for the Levites and their families (those who’s
occupation was to minister to their community).
This is the same function that a Pastor serves in modern churches.
I need to take a
minute here and speak my mind on tithing.
If you claim to be a Christian and you regularly attend a local church
and you are not tithing, you are in sin. Completely disregard this if you are not a
Christian. But to those who are, you
need to be giving to your local church or else you are disobeying instructions
God has given. I know that I just rubbed
a whole lot of you the wrong way, and honestly it’s a gift I have so I’m
glad. Biblically, those who claim to
have God in their lives and claim to serve Him need to be supporting those who
occupationally serve God.
The church is not
a for-profit organization, but it IS a business. And it is a business that ministers to the
needs of those both in the ranks of its members and out in the surrounding
community. Churches provide fellowship,
counseling, teaching, activities, mediation, advising, financial aid, physical
labor, training, food, shelter, and the list keeps going on. Churches don’t get government money to spend
on those services, and on top of that the pastors and various other staff have
to feed and take care of their families too.
The average senior pastor in America today makes between $70k and $90k
per year (http://www1.salary.com/Pastor-Salary.html),
and that is not much when considering that the average pastor in America today
works between 55 and 60 hours per week every week and rarely take vacations (http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/152641-pastors-hours-of-work-studied.html). Honestly, most pastors could take their
skillsets, go to a secular company and make twice their current salary or
more. So support your local ministers
and keep them encouraged. Only 5% of
American Christians are giving a full tithe (http://www.church-development.com/Quick-Stats-The%2095-Who-Dont-Tithe)
and 30% give nothing at all!
Read that verse
from Malachi again. It says to test God. God promises that if you tithe He will bless you. If you aren’t tithing you need to start
now. Stop saying “I don’t know if we can
afford to.” Listen to me, you can’t
afford NOT to, which is evident by the fact that the majority of Christians DON’T
tithe and feel like they don’t have enough to do so. Christians who DO regularly tithe will tell
you that it is a source of blessing in their life, both financially and
otherwise. So get to it! Make that budget and put tithing at the TOP
of your list so it doesn’t get overwhelmed by the other needs in life.
Remember what Jesus said in the latter part
of Matthew 6? Let’s read it together:
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or
‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the
Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Another note and
then I’m done for now: Tithes and
offerings are two completely different things.
Tithes are the instructed 10% we are to give to our local church. Offerings are anything above and beyond that
and do not necessarily need to go to our local churches. These are only to come out of abundance and
are not to be given if it means you can’t take care of your family. Family
is the second priority for budgeting behind tithing. I’ll jump on that one when I come back next
time.
Hope you guys
learned something today and were encouraged to start using a little Common
Cents.
-Heath
PS: To my Hampton Roads readers, our class in the Denbigh Community Center still has open seats! Jump over to class registration to sign up today! Couples can sign up together for a discount! Follow me on twitter (@commoncentsnn) for updates on our classes.
Actually, what C. I. Scofield teaches is the following and has NOTHING to do with tithing:
ReplyDeleteThe New Scofield Reference Bible [p141, 144, 177-179], Oxford Press, 2 Cor 8 and 9: 270. "In contrast with the law, which imposed giving as a divine requirement, Christian giving is voluntary, and a test of sincerity and love."
You quote Malachi 3:10 but leave out the most important verse, which is verse 7, where God says they were not following His ORDINANCES. Those ORDINANCES are in Leviticus 27:30-33 and Numbers 18 where God defines His tithe as a tenth from HIS INCREASE of food from crops and animals, and commands that HIS tithe be taken to the Levites. If you don't follow those ORDINANCES, you, also, are robbing God IF Malachi 3 has anything at all to do with Christians.
You use Proverbs 3:9 as though it applies to tithing. The verse reads HONOUR the Lord with thy substance (wealth), not give to the Lord your wealth. The verse does not say honour the Lord with a tenth of your wealth, or give to the Lord a tenth of your wealth.
ReplyDeleteHow does one honor the Lord with their wealth? I believe the best way I can honor the Lord with my wealth is to be a good steward of that wealth and use it to glorify the Lord the best I can.
The verse reads AND with the firstfruits of all thine increase. In other words, HONOUR the Lord with the firstfruits of all your produce, or crops (Hebrew word definition). Doesn’t say give to the Lord the firstfruits of your produce, or crops. That comes later in the Word.
For those who say that all thine increase can also mean all your income, read the next verse:
Proverbs 3:10 (KJV) “So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”
Verse 10 makes it clear that increase in verse 9 is referring to the crops and not income.
Leviticus 23:10 (KJV) “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:”
The above verse tells us that the Children of Israel were commanded to take the firstfruits of their harvest to the priests.
Numbers 18:21 (KJV) “And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.”
The above verse tells us that the Children of Israel were commanded to take the tithe to the Levites.
Nehemiah 10:37 (KJV) “And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.”
Nehemiah 10:37 confirms that the firstfruits were taken to the Temple for the priests, and the tithe was taken to the Levites who lived in the Levitical cities.
You are taking verses completely out of context and changing their meaning to fit your agenda.
Tithing was actually disannulled according to Hebrews 7:5,12,18.
When God gave the Israelites the promised land, He RESERVED, for Himself, a tenth of the crops and every tenth animal (Leviticus 27:30, 32). They NEVER did belong to the Israelites. In other words, the tithe was from God's increase of FOOD, not from man's income. It was a way to distribute FOOD to the Levites and priests who did NOT inherit any land.
No one, not even the farmers, tithed from their income.
The farmers made their income by SELLING and/or barter-exchanging their crops and animals but did NOT tithe on that income.
Today, ALL born-again believers are priests. ALL of us are called to be disciples of the Lord. No one of us is greater than another. Our bodies are the Temple where the Spirit dwells. According to the scriptures, priests do not tithe (Numbers 18).
The New Testament teaches generous, sacrificial giving, from the heart, according to our means. For some, $1 might be a sacrifice, while for others, even giving 50% of their income might not induce a sacrifice. In the Old Testament, ONLY the farmers tithed, and it was a tenth. The New Testament teaches the principle of equal sacrifice instead of a tenth. Equal sacrifice is much harder to achieve, if not impossible, than giving a tenth.
To start off, since I don't know you, hi! My name is Heath Hudnall. It is a pleasure to meet you and I hope our discussion will be beneficial to both of us.
DeleteTo address your first point, I did not quote Mr. Scofield as a proof text for tithing, merely as a reference for priority in our finances. I backed that up with Jesus' words in Matthew 6 to drive the point home.
I too believe that we are to honor the Lord with our wealth IF we have wealth to honor Him with. That portion of the verse, however, does apply to everyone. I do not, however, understand how you disconnect the idea of giving your first fruits and a tithe. A tithe is supposed to be a tenth of our increase (produce, crops, etc.) and was separated from normal increase for the purpose of supporting the Levites (Num. 18:20-24). So how is the idea of honoring the Lord with our wealth and from our first fruits from Proverbs different from tithing?
You make a very valid point in that all these verses refer to actual produce (crops) and livestock (food). In modern society, however, the average person does not grow produce or have livestock, so where does that leave the modern Christian? Secondly, the point I made in both this post and the previous post is that in the times of Old Testament crops and livestock were considered measurements of wealth, not just actual money. In today's society we are not farmers or herders, so the equivalent would be our financial income.
In regards to your statement of me taking scriptures out of context and changing their meaning to fit my agenda, I will first say I am offended by that. What, exactly, do you feel my agenda is? My "agenda" is to see people giving to their local churches to support their pastors and ministers. My "agenda" is to help people understand that giving should be a top priority in their budget and that God has said in His Word that He blesses those who tithe.
Tithing is in the law, which you showed in your references to Hebrews that we are beyond the law since Jesus fulfilled the law. But Tithing is pre-law as well. When Abram came to Melchizedek in Gen. 18, he gave him a "tithe of all." Who told Abram to do this? Did Melchizedek demand it? I do not believe so. God led Abram to do so. That tithe was given of riches received from war against Sodom, not just crops Abram grew or livestock he possessed.
The verse from Malachi, as well, is post-law, being a word received from God by a prophet. God asks us to test Him to see if He doesn't bless us for following His ordinances.
You are probably the most angry about the statement I made about those who do not tithe are in sin. This comes from the statement in Malachi which God instructs His people to tithe. You site Hebrews 7 to say that the tithe has been annulled, which I would disagree with. This annuls the Jewish office of the priest, NOT the tithe. The tithe is used as an example to show the priesthood of Melchizedek and the Law as a total is basically called useless under the new covenant of Christ. However, as I just got done saying, the tithe is pre-law, which is also what this passage in Hebrews shows.
At the end of the day, I'm sure you and I will just have to make a point to agree to disagree on this, because I'm not budging and I'm sure you aren't either. However, I think we can both agree on something: statistics show that people aren't giving tithes OR offerings to the church. Very few people give more than 2% to the church, with nearly a third giving nothing at all. My goal (or "agenda") is simply to emphasize that giving needs to be a priority in our lives and if we claim to love God we should support His workers as He has asked us to do.
Thanks for your comment! This was fun.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMalachi is speaking to the priests. The farmers did not take the tithe to the Temple storehouse. The tithe went to the Levites in the Levitical cities. Then the Levites were commanded to take a tenth of the tithe they received to the priests at the Temple. It is that tenth of the tithe (the tithe from those who received the tithe, the Levites) that went to the storehouse. This is shown in Nehemiah 10:38 "And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house."
ReplyDeleteThe tithe was never a tenth of "OUR" increase. It was a tenth of GOD'S increase of food from crops and animals. It had nothing to do with man. Man merely TRANSPORTED God's tithe to the Levites per God's command in Numbers 18. The priesthood tithe was not given (as in gift), nor paid. It was taken, or transported.
The whole nation, not the individual, was either blessed for tithing per God's commands, or cursed for not following those commands. It was a nation thing, not an individual thing.
It was the priests who robbed God of the offerings by giving the worst instead of the best as told in Malachi 1. It was the priests who robbed God of the tithe by stealing the Levites portion of the tithe when they were working at the Temple as shown in Nehemiah 13.
Nowhere in the scriptures does it refer to our income as fruits from our labor.
There is no example of wage earners tithing in the scriptures. There is no example of God accepting money as a tithe. Yet the Temple Tax (tribute in the KJV) had to be paid with money. Abraham purchased land with money even in Genesis.
The scriptures don't tell us WHY Abram gave a tenth of Melchizedek. However, Biblical historians agree that it was custom during that time to give a tenth of war spoils to the king. There is NO example in the scriptures to show that Abraham ever tithed from his income or wealth. Did God want a tenth of the war spoils? I don't know, but I do know the scriptures tell us how God wanted the spoils divided in Numbers 31, and He didn't command a tenth to the Levites, but rather a much smaller percentage.
The verse in Malachi is NOT post law - it is REFERRING TO THE LAW. Read Malachi 3:7. It had everything to do with the law - following the law as God had commanded it.
You are stuck on the tithe which is inferior to the giving principles given in the New Testament. We need to move up to better principles. The problem in today's church is that tithing is taught instead of the New Testament giving principles. That is why so little is given. If we forget about tithing, and concentrate on New Testament giving principles, I believe much more would be given.
The tithe taught in the scriptures always came from the NET and never from the gross. If you need scriptures to prove that, I have it. The Biblical tithe was NOT the first tenth, but rather the last tenth (Leviticus 27:32). The tithe was not the best - it was the tenth one whether it be good or bad (Leviticus 27:33). The Biblical tithe was never money and never came from anyone's income.
ONLY God can give the increase of the seed. Man can cultivate the land, plant the seed, and water the seed, but man cannot make the seed turn into fruit. It is that miracle from God that He commanded His tithe to come from.
A study of the history of tithing in the Christian Church reveals that tithing from one's income was first taught in 1870 IN ORDER TO BRING IN MORE MONEY.
The way tithing is taught in the church today is not only not Biblical, it is satan's entry into the church. It is a way for satan to corrupt pastors and misguide church goers.
Our giving as the church should be prioritized and lavishly given. The priority should be for the things of God, that which God cares about, which is primarily the church (Eph. 5:25-27). His concern is to present the Church to Himself spotless and He gave Himself to ensure this happens. Because He cares so deeply about the Church and all things pertaining to her, including her purity and welfare, we should care about the Church too. One way we do this today is to give to our local body with the first priority. Since, as was already discussed, most of us in the Western world are not farmers or herders, we need to give to our church with priority of what we do have, namely wages.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, our giving needs to be lavish as you pointed out Gary, above and beyond a tenth. There is a part in Deut. 14 starting in verse 22 that talks about a tithe, but it is a second tithe, beyond the obligatory one under the law. The worshiper was to bring his tithe and eat it before the Lord, or liquidate his tithe if he lived far away into money and buy food to feast before the Lord.
I guess to put it in a different perspective, picture someone who gives under the law at a tithe or ten percent. He looks at a Christian giving 2% or nothing. Would the man giving under the law call the Christian lavish in his giving? We are to be witnesses for Christ in our giving. It is a wonderful avenue of evangelism. We show God's worth by our giving lavishly, sacrificially and we do this, though we do not have a law to command us, by giving beyond the required tithe of those under the law. This was Paul's method of evangelism (1 Cor. 9:19-21). To the Jew (those under the law and thus required to tithe) Paul became as a Jew (thus he would tithe as a witness to the Jew). And to the world which does not tithe, our giving beyond a tithe shows the preciousness of what we give to, namely the church and what the church is about, the saving of souls.
-Joey
@ Joey - Let's not forget that the Church is made up of the called out ones, NOT some building or corporation doing business as a church.
ReplyDeleteDo donations/contributions to a local church meet the definition of a gift? Is that really considered “giving?” Let’s start with the definition of a gift:
From Webster’s Dictionary:
Something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without its being earned.
From The American Heritage Dictionary
Something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation.
1 Corinthians 9:13-14 (NIV)
13Don’t you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and
those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?
14In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should
receive their living from the gospel.
In other words, the preacher deserves to be paid for his services. Although the payment is voluntary on the part of the payer, when you “give” or donate to the church, you are essentially paying for a service as well as helping to pay for the facilities that you, yourself, are benefiting from. You benefit from the seating, air conditioning, program, etc. That doesn’t even meet the definition of a true gift; therefore, should not really be considered giving at all.
Unfortunately, most church goers limit their “giving” to the local church and never really give a true gift to where it is needed.
Matthew 25:42-45 (NIV)
42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
nothing to drink,
43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe
me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or
needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of
these, you did not do for me.’
In Matthew 25:42-45 Jesus tells us how to give to Him. We are giving to The Lord when
we feed the hungry, give to the poor, etc. Nowhere in the scriptures does God say that
when you give to the Christian Church you are giving to Him.
Because of this false teaching in today’s church, most church goers give little or nothing to the Lord. They are paying for services and material things they benefit from. Therefore, they aren’t even “giving” to begin with. They are paying.
Being Spirit led, I find myself giving far more than a tenth of my income. My giving is, in fact, giving. I give to those in need.
When I attend church services, I pay for a service, building, air conditioning, etc. etc. I pay my fair share to help pay the bills.
Mr. Arnold,
ReplyDeleteAfter taking a break from our conversation, I came back and see that in reality you and I are talking about some very similar things but with some key differences.
To start, I will never and have never said that a ten percent giving is a salvation issue or is it where people should stop. I teach (and my wife and I actively engage in) giving above and beyond the tenth both to our church and to our community. In our current lesson plans, generous giving is taught in detail, both to the church and to the community.
Most of what is going on here is the arguing of terms, and that is not edifying. So in order to encourage some peace between us I will concede that Biblically the tithe is not commanded upon New Testament believers. Therefore I will modify my statements accordingly. I still firmly believe that if you are not giving to your local church (whether giving means paying or giving means a gift, either way people aren't doing it) then you are in sin. Either you are in sin because you are unwilling, which is a heart issue, or you are in sin because you are unable, meaning you are not being a proper steward of the money God has bestowed on you.
As you have pointed out, New Testament Christians are called to a much higher level of giving, and I believe and support that. However, that was not the topic of this blog. The topic of true sacrificial giving will be presented later as I encourage people to give to their community, their family, their neighbors, and their churches. This of course would be well beyond the level of a simple tithe.
However, I agree with St. Augustine (who taught the tithe well before 1870) that we should tithe and give out of the remainder. Never once did I say we shouldn't give beyond the tenth.
Lastly, I will address your repeated statement that what I have done here is engage in false teaching. You do realize you accused me of false teaching? You do understand that you, in essence, called me and all others who teach a tithe a heretic who has advocated the things of Satan?
To be honest that makes me incredibly upset. If I taught that tithing was necessary for salvation, I would agree with you. If I taught that anyone who didn't tithe was to be shunned or excommunicated, I would agree with you. But as I addressed earlier the VAST majority of people give less than 5% to their church, let alone ANY to their communities. Giving is NOT a priority in the heart of Christians today, so I teach the tithe as a standard for giving that encourage people to give to their local churches AND I teach that offerings (which do not necessarily need to go to the church, they are used for personal giving and other charities) only come out of the rest of your money.
If people don't have the money to give, they are likely at the point because of poor financial decisions, debts, or life hardships. At that point God has told us to take care of our families first (I Tim. 5:8). But beyond that, proper stewardship and care for our finances will allow us to give well beyond that ten percent. I will always teach generous giving beyond the tithe. And I do not believe that to teach that tithe is the vile atrocity you have claimed it to be when taught properly as a starting point, not a checklist requirement.
With that I would like to end this conversation peaceably, because arguing this any longer will not be edifying to my readers regardless of who is right or wrong. If you would like to continue our discussion please do so via my email commoncentsnn@gmail.com.
Thank you,
-Heath