Will God Bless My Business If I Don't Tithe?
There are a least 2 circles of opinion on the “tithing today” debate. The first being: How can any Christian, wilfully operate in disobedience to any of God’s commands and expect to receive the full blessings of God in their life or business?
Most Christian churches and pastors teach tithing, after all, it’s what the mainstream bible colleges are teaching their students, so why should the “lay-people” question it?
Many pastors might believe that their ministry is fully dependant on the continued practice of tithing, so much so that they dare not consider studying the matter and the scriptures with a truly objective outlook.
As church-goers, we have all heard testimonials from people who faithfully tithed, despite their dire financial position and then were blessed financially. I’ve never heard anyone being given a microphone to share about how they tithed, but continued to struggle financial hardships. Does this mean that it isn’t happening? What does the Bible say about tithing?
Old Testament Verses About Tithing
Genesis 14:19-20
And blessing him, said, May the blessing of the Most High God, maker of heaven and earth, be on Abram: And let the Most High God be praised, who has given into your hands those who were against you. Then Abram gave him a tenth of all the goods he had taken.
Genesis 28:20-22
Then Jacob took an oath, and said, If God will be with me, and keep me safe on my journey, and give me food and clothing to put on, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then I will take the Lord to be my God, And this stone which I have put up for a pillar will be God’s house: and of all you give me, I will give a tenth part to you.
Exodus 35:5
Take from among you an offering to the Lord; everyone who has the impulse in his heart, let him give his offering to the Lord; gold and silver and brass.
Exodus 35:22
They came, men and women, all who were ready to give, and gave pins and nose-rings and finger-rings and neck-ornaments, all of gold; everyone gave an offering of gold to the Lord.
Leviticus 27:30-34
And every tenth part of the land, of the seed planted, or of the fruit of trees, is holy to the Lord. And if a man has a desire to get back any of the tenth part which he has given, let him give a fifth more. And a tenth part of the herd and of the flock, whatever goes under the rod of the valuer, will be holy to the Lord. He may not make search to see if it is good or bad, or make any changes in it; and if he makes exchange of it for another, the two will be holy; he will not get them back again. These are the orders which the Lord gave to Moses for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai.
New Testament Verses About Tithing
Matthew 6:1-4
Take care not to do your good works before men, to be seen by them; or you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. When then you give money to the poor, do not make a noise about it, as the false-hearted men do in the Synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. Truly, I say to you, They have their reward. But when you give money, let not your left hand see what your right hand does: So that your giving may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward.
Matthew 23:23
A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you make men give a tenth of all sorts of sweet-smelling plants, but you give no thought to the more important things of the law, righteousness, and mercy, and faith; but it is right for you to do these, and not to let the others be undone.
Mark 12:41-44
And he took a seat by the place where the money was kept, and saw how the people put money into the boxes: and a number who had wealth put in much. And there came a poor widow, and she put in two little bits of money, which make a farthing. And he made his disciples come to him, and said to them, Truly I say to you, This poor widow has put in more than all those who are putting money into the box: Because they all put in something out of what they had no need for; but she out of her need put in all she had, even all her living.
Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, crushed down, full and running over, they will give to you. For in the same measure as you give, it will be given to you again.
Luke 11:42
But a curse is on you, Pharisees! for you make men give a tenth of every sort of plant, and give no thought to right and the love of God; but it is right for you to do these things, and not let the others be undone.
Luke 18:9-14
And he made this story for some people who were certain that they were good, and had a low opinion of others: Two men went up to the Temple for prayer; one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-farmer. The Pharisee, taking up his position, said to himself these words: God, I give you praise because I am not like other men, who take more than their right, who are evil-doers, who are untrue to their wives, or even like this tax-farmer. Twice in the week I go without food; I give a tenth of all I have. The tax-farmer, on the other hand, keeping far away, and not lifting up even his eyes to heaven, made signs of grief and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I say to you, This man went back to his house with God’s approval, and not the other: for everyone who makes himself high will be made low and whoever makes himself low will be made high.
1 Corinthians 16:2
On the first day of the week, let every one of you put by him in store, in measure as he has done well in business, so that it may not be necessary to get money together when I come.
2 Corinthians 8:2-3
How while they were undergoing every sort of trouble, and were in the greatest need, they took all the greater joy in being able to give freely to the needs of others. For I give them witness, that as they were able, and even more than they were able, they gave from the impulse of their hearts
1 Timothy 6:6-8
But true faith, with peace of mind, is of great profit: For we came into the world with nothing, and we are not able to take anything out; But if we have food and a roof over us, let that be enough.
Hebrews 7:1-2
For this Melchizedek, the king of Salem, a priest of the Most High God, who gave Abraham his blessing, meeting him when he came back after putting the kings to death, And to whom Abraham gave a tenth part of everything which he had, being first named King of righteousness, and then in addition, King of Salem, that is to say, King of peace.
Research outlined in the book, Pagan Christianity
According to the research outlined in the book, Pagan Christianity, Jesus did not teach tithing to his disciples and 1st century Christians did not observe it and for 300 years followers of Christ did not do it.
Tithing belonged to an Old Testament era where a taxation system was needed to support the poor and special priesthood. There is now no temple tax and no special priesthood that stands between God and man.
It is good to support the work of the Lord and to give to the Poor. As Christians we should want to do this of our own free will. But there is no “set percentage” commanded and no legal, mosaic or covenant obligation. We should give cheerfully because we want to help and bless people and ministries etc..
Why do Pastors of most modern Churches request a tithe? “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding.” (taken from the book, Pagan Christianity).
“Under the Old Testament system, tithing was good news to the poor. However, in our day, mandatory tithing equals oppression to the poor. Not a few poor Christians have been thrown into deeper poverty because they have felt obligated to give beyond their means.” Tithing – A Burden on the poor: Mandatory Tithing by the poor. Tithing was instituted to benefit the poor, not oppress them.
Tithing – Good news to the rich. 10% to a high earner effects not their lifestyle and it appeases the wealthy.
Tithing appears in the Bible, so yes it is Biblical, but it is not Christian. Tithing belongs to ancient Israel. It was essentially their income tax. Never do you find new testament Christians tithing on the new testament.
There were 3 types of tithes given under the Mosaic Law:
1. A tithe of the produce of the land to support the Levites who had no inheritance in Canaan
2. A tithe of the produce of the land to sponsor religious festivals in Jerusalem (this could be converted into money if too burdensome to carry)
3. A Tithe of the produce of the land collected every 3rd year for the local Levites, orphans strangers and widows (This was the Biblical tithe)
God commanded Israel to give 23.3% of their income ever year, not 10%. All these were tithes of the product of the land (not money). Most modern tax systems now serve a similar purpose.
With the death of Jesus, all ceremonial codes that belonged to the Jews were nailed to the cross and buried, never to be used again to condemn us. We never see the NT Christians killing goats and bulls to forgive their sins or paying a tithe to priests. Tithing belonged exclusively to Israel under the Law.
We see the first century Christians giving cheerfully according to their ability, not dutifully out of a command. Giving in the NT was voluntary, and those that benefited were the the poor, orphans, widows, strangers and sick.
What about Abraham who tithed to Melchizedek before the Mosaic Law?
Abrahams tithe was voluntary. Abraham tithed after the spoils he won in a particular battle. He did not tithe out of his own regular income or property. This is the only recorded tithe that Abraham made during his 175 years of life.
The Levitical system has been abolished and we are all Priests now.
It was not until the 4th Century that some Christian leaders began to advocate Christian tithing as a means to support the clergy. For the first 700 years, tithes were hardly ever mentioned. Tithing spread from the state to the Church.
Ministers were un salaried for the first 3 centuries. Constantine instituted clergy salaries.
For more historical research and details, please read chapter 8 of “Pagan Christianity” The Book by George Barna & Frank Viola.
When a Church functions the way it should, with everyone sharing and helping, using their gifts, there is no need for a professional clergy. However, that is clearly not happening in most areas of our society today.
Give FREELY!
Giving should be from the heart and not out of mandated compulsion or an Old Testament percentage. We are not under Old Testament law. We are free. Don’t let an incorrect obligation burden you or rob your joy as a Christian (or stop you from being part of a Church). We are free to give more or less than the traditional 10%. We can give what ever we can afford and what ever the Holy Spirit convicts us to give (and not limited to finances). Emotional testimonials from people who tithed and God blessed, coupled with years of indoctrination by Pastors we admire might make the questioning of this seem offensive, but watch the video and give it some fresh thought and study the Bible passages.
In the book of Revelation, we read all about the things that Jesus told John on the Island of Patmos, to write to the 7 churches. There was a lot of grievances and commendations on all matters to do with the church, but no mention of tithing, beit a failure to tithe or a commendation for tithing.
Have you heard these words from your Church leadership?
“You Can’t Out-Give God”
“Try it! Put me to the test!”
Most of us understand and accept that it was wrong for the clergy to raise funds for church buildings and more, by selling indulgences. Some are now questioning whether that is significantly different than asking your congregation to invest finances for a greater, personal financial return.
I understand that there are believers on both sides of the debate and I’m not wanting to cause division. You need to make your own decision, based upon your own research and conviction, but it can be good to ask the question and to read the bible passages and explore the details in context.
What do you think about tithing? Share your comments below, or on our Facebook or Instagram post.
2 Responses
Good to feature Andrew Farley’s New Testament Christian take on tithing rather than a Old Testament legal Judaism view. It’s so great Jesus came to liberate me from the legal obligations of the Old Testament. I’m now free from all that mess!
Great to see a Christian new testament minister feature in your website.