Pass the Plate

I know that tithing is kind of an edgy topic, but hey, if you don't like edgy issues, you probably wouldn't read this blog. I'd like to draw everyone's attention to the three types of tithes practiced in the Old Testament, remembering that these were for Israel as part of their taxation system. They are:

1. A tithe of the produce of the land to support the Levites who had no inheritance in Canaan (Leviticus 27:30-33; Numbers 18:21-31).
2. A tithe of the produce of the land to sponsor religious festivals to carry to Jerusalem. If the produce was too burdensome for a family to carry to Jerusalem, they could convert it into money (this is sometimes called the "festival tithe"). (Deuteronomy 14:22-27).
3. A tithe of the produce of the land collected every third year for the local Levites, orphans, strangers, and widows (Deuteronomy 14:28-29; 26:12-13).

Now let's do the math. Two tithes of 10% annually = 20%, plus a 10% tithe every three years = 23.3% per year. You may be shocked right now. Many will inevitably say, "I thought the biblical tithe was only 10%." Wrong, it's 23.3%.

But this leads me to my next point: Tithing is biblical, but it's not Christian. The oft-quoted passage that people like to use to justify tithing is Malachi 3:8-10:

"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

But the problem is, the verse is being used out of context. Check out verse 5 to see what I mean:

"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.

You see, God's heart in this issue is the neglect of the widows, fatherless, and aliens. The tithe for the Israelites was the national taxation system in order to provide for the poor and for the Levites (priests), since they owned nothing. Today, the money you put in the plate goes towards pastors' salaries and building costs, and often the biblical tithe actually oppresses the poor.

Not a few poor Christians have been thrown into deeper poverty because they have felt obligated to give beyond their means. Malachi 3 is thrown into their faces, and they begin to fear a financial curse if they aren't tithing. In such cases, the gospel is no longer "good news to the poor," but it instead becomes a heavy burden.

On the other hand, modern day tithing is good news to the rich. To a high earner, 10% is nothing to drop into the plate. Tithing, therefore, appeases their consciences without impacting their lifestyles.

The bottom line is this: with the death of Jesus, all the ceremonial codes of the Jews were nailed to the cross and buried, never to be used again to condemn us. Christians didn't tithe in the New Testament (they actually gave more than 10% in many cases), any they gave from their hearts, not out of compulsion. I'll say it again: Tithing, although biblical, is not Christian. 2 Corinthians 9:7 sums it up well:

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.