A Full-Circle View of Tithing

i'm sure you've heard it at some point. 

"it's offering time in the house of the lord!" 

"who's excited to give!" *cue audience applause*

*cue fred hammond "lord of the harvest"* (you'll have to dig in the dirt to get it, because that song has been RUN INTO THE GROUND)

i'm sure that the famous (or infamous) scripture from malachi has been read or discussed in your hearing as well. you know, malachi 3:8-11 which basically says....

"you steal from me (god) when you don't give your tithes! if you tithe i'll bless you tremendously! if you don't, i'll curse you and all your stuff!" and this is quoted from the IPVV (Intergalactic Planetary Verdell Version).

lots of people believe this. but there are lots of people that don't believe this. i personally don't believe that we can use this verse to discuss the cycle and motivation for giving today. here's why:

-this was an old testament law, which we are no longer under. tithing was a part of a much larger system, most of which we disregard and/or don't even know.

-tithing is only mentioned in matthew, luke, and hebrews. in matthew and luke, the discussion is about how the pharisees ignore the weightier matters of the law, such as love and justice, but are unrelenting in their outward demonstration of smaller issues. in both instances jesus says not to ignore the weightier mattes of the law, while still keeping all of the law (matt 23: 23, luke 11:42) . however, this was during the time when there was no new covenant. jesus had not died yet, there was no new law of the spirit to follow.

-the instance in hebrews 7 is to demonstrate the superiority of jesus' eternal priesthood over the finite priesthood of the levities. using melchizedek as a type of christ, the writer of hebrews says that levi, technically in the loins of his father abraham, tithed to melchizedek BEFORE there was a law. so the priesthood of jesus, which melchizedek represented, was superior to the preisthood of levi. the point wasn't to command people to tithe, but to show superiority of one system over another.

-even though abraham tithed, giving a tenth to show gratitude wasn't a strange thing. that was a common practice in the ancient near east, to give to show thanks for a military victory or a good harvest.

-acts 15 depicts the jerusalem council, where the controversy over gentiles and the faith was discussed. did gentiles have to follow all of jewish regulations in order to be considered christians? after discussion, this is what they came up with: "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: "You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.Farewell." (Acts 15: 28-29). tithing is not mentioned.

so, what am i saying? based on this, it may seem like i'm saying to burn up every offering envelop you see. don't give anything! be free!

actually, that's not what i'm saying at all. at times when people discuss their disagreement with the usage of malachi 3, i believe that they don't go full circle with it.  i believe that we cannot use the old testament standards of giving as a requirement, as in, TITHE OR DIE. no, that doesn't apply. however, giving is discussed all throughout the new testament. giving doesn't have a required percentage anymore, but it does need to be abundant and from your heart. we give because love gives. 

i had to think about it for a while. oh, i don't have to give ten percent. if i don't give 10 percent, god won't blow up my house. but...would i WITHHOLD ten percent from god? again, the numbers don't matter, but it caused me to check my heart to see what the real issue was.

for me, 2 corinthians 9 details how i approach giving now. when i look at my poor self, with my barely there salary, my car note, and my debt from college, i realize that it could be much better. i also realize that 90 percent of the world would kill to be in my position. and that 10 percent usually is exchanged for a honey bun, a comic book, chinese food...in short, something pointless. i can use my resources to make a difference in the lives of those around me. in that light, 10 percent doesn't seem bad. it makes me want to up the percentage actually.

so give. give because it's the godly thing to do. give richly, abundantly, and WISELY. you should be saving your money too, but that's a blog for another day.

give because you can. and give A LOT. give to causes, charities, and yes, your local church (ministry DOES cost money).

give because it's good.

give because you're blessed.

don't give because you think god will blow up your house if you don't.

give because your giving could result in someone else coming into god's house.