Theology Thursday: Christians have to give...do we have to tithe?

Welcome to Theology Thursday! Theology is the study of God, his relation to the world, and our relation to him. I hope these newsletters help enhance your faith and deepen your love for God and his people, the church.

Today's question:
Christians have to give...do we have to tithe?

Pastor Brady's thoughts:
Recent research shows that 42% of practicing Christians say they tithe 10% to their church, but 59% say they aren’t sure what the term “tithe” actually means. Church giving statistics show that only 5-10% of churchgoers actually tithe 10% to the church they attend. 

In Sunday’s sermon I laid out the expectation that any Christian interested in sincere discipleship of Jesus must practice generosity (of time, talent, and treasure - money!). Just as all Christians pray, study scripture, and participate and serve in the church family, all Christians are commanded and expected to give of their financial resources to their local church and other kingdom causes. That is the clear teaching of scripture in the gospels and letters of the New Testament. 

But what about this tithing business? What is it? Are we bound to a certain percentage of giving?

To start, “tithe” just means “a tenth.” It’s not a generic term for “giving,” it’s a number. It first pops up in the Bible in Genesis 14 when Abraham gives Melchizedek the Priest “a tenth of everything” (v. 20), then again in Genesis 28 when Jacob vows to give back to God a tenth of all he is given.

Throughout the Torah (the first five books of the Bible that comprise “the law” that God communicated to his people from Moses), and with some multi-layered and complex situational nuances, God establishes the expectation this his people - the Israelites - will offer a tithe in worshipful response to his providence (see Leviticus 27:30-34 for a specific example).

This is related to the biblical idea of “first fruits” - that God deserves from the best, the top, the first portion of whatever is being offered: money, firstborn animals, first part of the harvest grain, the first part of the oil, the first part of the wine, etc. To give God the “first fruits” is to ensure that God receives the best sacrifice from his people, not just whatever is leftover after they’ve used the parts they’d most like to use for themselves. 

Treating God with the faithful reverence he deserves in this way came with a promise in return, as Proverbs 3:9-10 says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”

This Old Testament command to give God 10% - the first 10% - became a regular practice throughout church history. Sometimes and within some Christian traditions, tithing (not just giving generally, but tithing specifically) has been presented as a non-negotiable expectation, just like in ancient Israel. Other times, and within other Christian traditions, tithing is presented as a good standard to maintain, or a decent goal to shoot for, but not a mandate. 

So, when you hear Christians talk about tithing (if they’re using the word correctly), they’re talking about giving 10% of their income to their church, or to a combination (usually) of their church and also to various missions organizations/missionaries and other ministries doing kingdom work. They’re taking an Old Testament law and using it as their guideline for giving back to God, either out of their understanding of strict obedience or as a recognition that they have to pick some amount, and 10% seems like a reasonable and faithful number.

To be clear, giving has always been a requirement for God’s people, and it still is. Scripture isn’t ambiguous about this: disciples of Jesus are obligated to support the ministry of the gospel (1st Corinthians 9:13-14; Galatians 6:6; 1st Timothy 5:17-18).

But is tithing a requirement? The New Testament happened. Jesus happened! Are we still commanded to give 10% of our income to God? 

The answer is, technically, no. Christians are not bound to a 10% tithing standard. But if you’re looking to keep more of “your” money for yourself, this isn’t the good news you think it is, because the witness of the New Testament is that tithing should be considered the minimum amount we give to God’s work. 

As in so many other areas, Jesus transforms the law from being about adhering to particular details to being about the posture of the heart. Jesus isn’t interested in legalism, he’s interested in his followers giving their whole selves to their Lord. 

One commentator put it this way: 

“Jesus implied that “a tenth” is good but that a transformed heart was even more important (Matthew 23:23). Rather than looking for what could become a legalistic “tenth,” the apostle Paul urged people to remember the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: “that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.”

So, the early Christians evaluated their giving in light of Christ’s sacrifice, not by following a technical formula (2 Corinthians 8:9). It’s worth asking whether we can say with them that, like Christ, we sacrificially give so that others can be blessed?

It’s too easy to focus just on the 10% without realizing that God owns everything that we might call ours (1st Chronicles 29). A better perspective is to realize that, in all we possess, God is the owner and we are his financial managers (Matthew 25:14ff). We must be good managers of all that God has entrusted to us, for it is truly God’s, not our own. This is why, for example, wealthy people are given the special commandment to “be generous and willing to share” (1st Timothy 6:18).”

I’ve always appreciated the generosity of MCCers and now that I’m on the ministry staff, I appreciate it even more. We have many members who have given to the church faithfully for years; decades, even. What a testimony to God’s faithfulness and to theirs!
But, I can also do math (kind of), and I know we are falling short of what we could do for God and where we could be in our pursuit of our mission to know him and make him known.

MCC has averaged about 225 in Sunday worship service attendance over the past year. Let’s say that comes to about 100 giving units.

(“Giving units” are how churches calculate how to reasonably assess donation possibilities - it’s figured by considering attendance in light of the fact that some of the total number are married couples and children. For example, my family consists of me, my wife, and our two boys. That counts as four in Sunday attendance, but we are one giving unit).  

The average household income in the U.S. is about $75,000. If that number is about right as an average for the approximately 100 MCC giving units, then $75,000 X 100 means that the total annual income for regular MCC attenders is $7.5 million. If those regular attenders raised their average giving even just to the tithe (10%) level, MCC’s budget would be $750,000. In 2024, the church received $501,026. That’s a gap from where we are to where we could reasonably expect to be of nearly $250,000. Not nothing! 

Imagine the gospel ministry that could be done - and done better! - with a 50% increase in available funds!

Another Christian author says, “Studying money in the New Testament, it’s a different ethic. Jesus urged the rich young ruler to sell all and follow him. Early Christians sold properties, bringing all proceeds to the apostles. They shared everything and considered nothing theirs alone.
 
Paul encourages Christians to give radically and sacrificially.

Looking at the New Testament, the standard of giving appears to be higher, going beyond 10% into radical, sacrificial, life-altering generosity.

The question then is, what does this generosity look like for Christians today? Many of us, living in the most prosperous culture in history, live like royalty compared to people in past times and have much more than first-century Christians. For people in the most affluent and prosperous culture in history, what does radical generosity look like? At this point, most happily revert to the Old Testament’s “10% is enough. We’ll stick with that.”

If you really want to be a biblical stickler, we’re called to radical generosity. 10% is a fine starting point. It’s not a finish line.”

2nd Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

I guess the key, then, is to allow God to work in our hearts to increase our cheerful generosity. May it be so!

TO KNOW GOD AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN!
- Pastor Brady

Have a question for Theology Thursday? Send an email to office@minierchristian.org and we'll respond, or we'll include in a future Theology Thursday Buffet.