1/13/07 – Tithing in the NT

Hi all,

I'm going to write about the #1 thing people write me about, which is tithing, and they always ask open ended questions like: What do you believe about tithing?

That's something like Groucho Marx asking the hapless guest on his show; "Have you stopped beating your wife?" If you answer yes, you're in trouble; if you say no, you're in trouble.

A question like that does not give me a clue where they're coming from or what their church experience has been, which puts me in the unenviable position of trying to write in some detail, yet for the sake of time and space having to summarize and assume a basic knowledge base, and inevitably I get burned as a result.

Most of those who ask such a question have a 'hot' button they got because they experienced a church that was either (A) very legalistic; or (B) very prosperity '100% tithing' minded; or; (C) they are tired of preachers arm twisting for money to the extent they now break out in hives if someone mentions Malachi 3, or; (D) all of the above or some combination thereof.

But they prefer to keep their little 'hot' button hidden from view, ask me an open ended question, and then attack or at the least, back off, when their button is pushed. 

With the start of the new year it only seems right (in a funny sort of way) to try to push ALL the buttons on this week's "Thoughts" by sharing some basic principles, coming at it from another perspective, and once you have the principles down you can apply them to any situation you've experienced (even over and above money issues), and questions you may have...it may be a help.

The first principle sounds ridiculously elementary, yet it needs to be said: People have been giving to God since Abel's offering. The 2nd principle is: People have been getting mad over giving to God since Abel's offering. (Cain didn't take too kindly to it if you'll recall)

But seriously...

Giving to God is normal behavior for believers in God...but wait, here are some statistics from George Barna's organization:

 

Percentages of people who:

Donated money to a nonprofit organization in the past month:

Non-believers - 48% Christians - 47%

Gave money to a poor or homeless person in the last year:

Non-believers - 34% Christians - 24%

 

The fact that non-Christians out give Christians may be because we (Christians) have been so abused, beaten over the head, and had our arms twisted so much over the years from the traditional church that we are shell-shocked over the issue of giving and tithing.  

Here I hope, is a little sanity to soothe your soul:

The first thing to keep in mind is that the Old Testament contained a series of 613 external laws to guide Israel's behavior. These laws were broken up into 3 groups: Worship, moral, and dietary/sanitary.

But now, God through the New Testament has written those laws in our hearts and minds. What used to be external is now an internal grace. Note Hebrews 10:16-17 quoting Jeremiah 31:34: "This is the new covenant, I will write my laws in their hearts and in their minds..."

This is why Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 that he didn't come to abolish the law, he came to fulfill it. Fulfilling the law is like this: When a person buys a car over the course 5 years with 60 months of payments for example, once they make that last payment they have fulfilled the contract. They didn't abolish the contract (negate the purchase), they fulfilled it.

Because they fulfilled the contract (law) they have now become the possessors of the contract and have (now) the grace to do whatever they wish to that contract. It's the same with a person paying off a mortgage. By paying the price in full you become possessors of the contract - burn the thing, frame it and hang it on a wall - it doesn't matter because you now own the contract.

Jesus fulfilled the law by walking blameless in all 613 rules, and then nailed those rules to his cross, taking possession as owner of the law. Colossians 2:14 says Jesus took the contract, the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and nailed it to his cross. Jesus now owns the contract, and we own it by virtue of being in Him and He in us.

Those external laws of the Old Testament are now in us, we possess them, and we can do with them what we want...so keep that in mind as we proceed.

There is another principle that builds on the principle of owning the law that we need to look at, and that is the principle of using the cross as a strainer.

Think of the Old Testament, from Genesis through Malachi as the thing we want strained. The 4 gospels are the funnel, and the cross is the strainer. Anything that makes it through the strainer into Acts through Revelation is applicable today in one degree or another.

How do we know something has made it through?  - If it's written about as being in the life of the churches Paul and others wrote to, OR if nothing is mentioned of it at all in the New Testament but understood to be relevant by the writers of the New Testament.

How do we know if something did not make it through? - It will be written about as being not for today.

How do we know if something made it through, but modified? - If it's written about in the New Testament as still being applicable but modified to the church then it's made it through the strainer. These issue are what I would term, swallowed up by grace and become part of a larger whole.

As a side note lest someone try to apply cultural issues to the 'strainer' and not understand this principle is limited to the Mosaic Law: Cultural issues are clearly identified as being cultural, such as Paul mentioning three times in I Corinthians 11 that the veiling of women was a local custom when he wrote about it. In Rome women weren't veiled, but in Corinth's area it was common, not unlike the Muslim mid-east versus the west today...follow the local customs is what he said. (I Corinthians 11:6,13,16)

Back to the subject at hand: 

Some things making it through untouched that ARE addressed in the New Testament:

Sexual sin. Leviticus 18 is a chapter largely devoted to instructions about not uncovering the nakedness of various men and women - a friend's wife, your sister, your son's daughter, your sister in law, your dad's brother, etc.

Jesus in the 'funnel' of the gospels, and on the other side of the strainer, the letters of the New Testament have several passages dealing with fornication, which is sexual relations outside of marriage, so we know that guidelines for sexual relations has successfully made it through the strainer of the cross. (Incidentally, the instructions in Leviticus cover the subject of pornography, as seeing another man's wife/relative or husband/relative is forbidden)

The subject of sexual sin was in the Old Testament, addressed as being relevant in the gospels, and addressed as being relevant in Acts-Revelation; Therefore we are possessors of the law in this matter...it's not in my spirit to uncover another woman's nakedness...it's not a matter of external law, the law is inside my spirit man - the spirit/Spirit constrains me from the inside not to do such a thing.

Something not mentioned at all in the New Testament, and therefore has made it through unchanged:

Abortion and the question of life in the womb. Exodus 21:22-23 is a law that states if men are fighting and a nearby pregnant woman has a miscarriage as a result of inadvertently being injured in that fight, then the man responsible is to pay for it; anything ranging from a monetary fine to being put to death, giving "life for life", as the judges determine.

Therefore we know God considers a baby in the womb as life...was it addressed in Mathew through John? No. Is it addressed in Acts - Revelation? No. Therefore it made it through the cross untouched and we can say (it should be) illegal to kill a baby in the womb. 

Now for 2 things strained out, that are mentioned in the New Testament and modified - diet and holy days:

Leviticus 11 and elsewhere limits what Israel's diet should be - including not eating scavengers of any kind. Those who know me know that I don't eat what I call, "insects of the sea" (crab, lobster, shrimp), which is consistent with the law. I don't eat them because I don't like the taste and texture, and am mentally turned off because they eat poop and dead things, not because Leviticus tells me not to eat them.

But...can you eat them nowadays if you want? We strain them through the cross and look for something in Paul's writing, and lo and behold he talks about food in Romans 14: 1-18 and I Corinthians 8:1-13 and 10:23-33.

In Romans 14 he mentions 2 issues of the day: those who consider one particular day a Sabbath day (who he calls weak in the faith) versus those who think all days are equal; and those who "believes he may eat all things; another, who is weak (in the faith), is a vegetarian."

His answer? If a person wants to eat anything under the sun; or if they want to eat just vegetables, let them, for each does so unto the Lord. As he would later say in I Corinthians 10:23, "all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient."

So the dietary laws are now on the inside of us and we can eat what we want...eating 3 Big Macs a day might not be expedient, but it is lawful. John the Baptist ate grasshoppers, buy hey, who am I to argue with him?

The same with holy days...the OT says Saturday is the Sabbath (as well as other OT feasts/fasts), but places in the NT show they met on Sunday (I Cor 16:1-2 for instance) and from house to house any day..."Let everyone be fully persuaded in his own mind." (Romans 14:5)

Thus...both the OT Sabbath laws and the OT eating laws got strained out. No where does Paul or the other apostles command Christians to worship on Saturday or hold other Sabbath days, nor do they command them to eat according to the Levitical law...it all got strained. Yet the principles, the kernel of truth, remain. It is good and right we set a Sabbath to rest, reflect, worship, and recharge. It's still needed, though not mandated to be each Saturday. And the eating laws are good principles that make for healthy bodies, so the kernel of truth remains, but it's up to us if we want to follow them.

In fact, Acts 15: 20-21 says the only constraints from the Old Testament they put on the believers was to abstain from sexual sin, idolatry (Commandments #1 & #2 having made it safely through the strainer), and from eating blood (for the sake of the synagogues and Jewish population around them - in other words, that part is a directive to be sensitive to local custom and culture no matter how 'free' you are in Christ - ie be considerate - if you're having dinner with an orthodox Jew, don't order your steak rare)

Thus whatever gets strained remains a good principle, and we can learn from it...but it is now a grace on the inside of us to do with as we wish. Paul said the things that happened to Israel were examples for us. ( I Cor 10:6)

Now something superceded and swallowed up by a larger principle:

What about giving to God, either 10% (tithe) or more, or even less? Giving to God has been in existence since Abel gave to God, and giving has made it safely through the cross, for giving is talked about quite a bit in the Gospels and rest of the New Testament, but not through legalism, but with grace.

Is there anything from Acts to Revelation about tithing?

The answer is no. Why is that? Because the law, having moved inside us, is now a grace. Therefore giving in the New Testament has superceded and swallowed up the 10% level of giving, for in Acts 2: 44-45 we see: "And all that believed were together and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them to all men, as everyone had need." and in Acts 4:32 "...but they had all things common."

Why drop down from 100% to just 10%? Tithing has been swallowed up by the 100% giving of the New Testament. (laying down your life for others) You aren't held to an external law, but rather an internal one - love, grace, integrity.

The Law not only set a minimum of 10%, but by naming a percentage it also provided a cap...they didn't have to give anything beyond that 10%. In the New Testament there is no cap. You give as you have, as you want, as you are led. Why would I want to drop down to 10%???  

You don't suffer a curse at 9.999% giving and then burst into heavenly blessing at 10.001%...you are blessed because of Jesus' blood, and that is how God relates to you in terms of his relationship with you.

But in the natural realm we must ask: Is the truth of 'what is released on the earth is also released in heaven' still at work? Yes...from Genesis, through Proverbs, through Jesus' statements, through Paul's writings, God does bless the giver...that has made it through the strainer for sure, untouched.

How we give is modified by grace, but giving itself went through the strainer of the cross untouched.

There is a grace over Christian givers that is not over stingy Christians - a sense of timing, 'luck', favor, and a host of intangible things that are hard to put into words...we still live in this world and if you give you enter a flow of blessing that involves inflow and outflow and timing...it's just the way it is. God so loved that he gave...and those who follow in His footsteps by giving are blessed.

Paul called giving a grace in II Corinthians 8:7: "You abound in faith, utterance, and in knowledge, and your love for us, see that you abound in this grace also." Abound...in this grace also. We want to abound in grace when we come before the throne asking for mercy, or help, or peace...do we want to abound in this grace as well? (that's a heart issue each of us must ask of ourselves)

He says in verse 10 that he gives advice on that matter. Why advice? Because giving is a grace, not an external law. (His advice became our scripture so it was very good advice)

He continues:

Verse 11: "Give out of what you have, not out of what you don't have."

In modern terms, don't give out of your need - give out of what you have. Don't charge a financial gift on a charge card unless you are going to pay that off within your card's 30 day or whatever billing cycle. Don't give your utility money or rent money to the church - you don't have it to give - give out of what you have.

Paul's advice in I Corinthians 16:1-2 was that they purpose to set aside something every week according to how God blessed them that week. In other words, it's a discipline that you must do...discipline yourself to set something aside from what you have, on an every pay day basis, is what he was saying.

To walk in grace, it is a discipline, no matter the issue. Let me explain why walking in grace involves discipline no matter the issue: Jesus said to look on another person with lust is the same as having sex with them. He said to hate someone without cause is the same as murdering them. (Matthew 5)

Grace requires discipline in the mind not to lust, not to hate, and discipline in the body not to take action in either of those areas. If that is true of the negative, then it is true of the positive. We must think rightly of that beautiful man or woman as a brother or sister, and we must think forgiveness when angry with someone.

In the use of money, we must use our mind to think about how God may want us to use the money he gave us this pay period, then have the discipline to follow through.

Didn't we get saved by grace? Jesus had to discipline himself to go to that cross...so grace involves discipline.

So the same thing with the grace of giving...Christ is in you, the whole of the law is in you, now it's just a matter of discipline and doing what is right, and that's why Paul told them each to set something aside each payday based on how God blessed them that week... 

II Corinthians 8:12 continues: "For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what a man has and not according to what he doesn't have. For I don't mean that others be eased while you are burdened."

Don't give if it causes a burden on yourself...don't allow your bills and family to suffer and ease someone else's burden while putting a burden on you and your family.

Let me define what a burden is and is not: It is NOT that if you give you can't go to that movie you wanted to see. It is NOT that if you give you can't eat out that week. Those are luxuries. A burden means you can't pay for the roof over your head or to put food on the table or to pay the electric bill...please take care of those things first!

Paul said he wants them to ABOUND in this grace. Therefore in II Corinthians 9:6-7 he says "He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly. Every man as he purposes in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or out of need, for God loves a cheerful giver."

If you follow his advice, you will have all sufficiency in all things and he will multiply your seed sown. (verses 8-9)

And...I like verse 10, where he says God will provide seed to be sown and bread for your food.

AHA! That is my job, to separate the seed from the bread!

In 1980 some friends gave us an unexpected donation of $300, which was the better part of our $375 rent. But we had some of the rent, I was getting paid next week which would take care of the rest, so immediately we sent the whole $300 on to some missionary friends.

The next day I got laid off work...we needed that $300 for the rent after all...God had intended it for bread, but we thought it was seed to be sown. From there on out we started holding on to extra money for a bit and seeing if it was seed or bread.

In about 1990 a lady in our church came to me. She was a nurse working full time, and raising a teen age son. She tithed regularly, and her tithe, $60, could either go to the church or to their groceries, for they were out of food until pay day. She came to me on Monday because she got afraid and withheld her tithe on Sunday.

I told her to use the tithe for her food...God would not have she and her son suffer...I showed her that even in the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy 14:22-29 God told them to eat their tithe by holding a party, and give to those in need in their community/neighborhood.

So she bought groceries...but later that week the power company sent her a refund for $59 and change...so she gave that plus a dollar in the offering, and was thrilled at the goodness of the Lord.

In Matthew 15:1-6 Jesus got angry with the Pharisees because they had made a law that said if a son had a gift for God, but his parents were hungry, the son had to give his tithe/offering no matter what, even if his parents were hungry. Jesus was irate, and told them the greater principle is to honor mom and dad...

Tithing has been swallowed up by grace - why would I drop back to 10%? (why would I come under legalism)

In the New Testament Christ lives in us - therefore it is up to us to honor him and give out of a pure heart - there is no external law of the tithe. I urge people to do what Paul said and set something aside each paycheck...whether 10%, 5%, 3%, 15%...whatever percentage it may be, find where there is grace in your heart to give, and discipline yourself to do it.

So do I believe in tithing? Sure I do! But it's only a small part of the larger whole...being grace, we (personally) have given way beyond 10% for years...when you give 20% or more the 10% is in there, but it's been superceded by something larger! Grace.

A few weeks ago I gave some money to a young lady who approached me in a shopping center parking lot who was down on her luck, so she could buy a bagel at the nearby coffee shop. After running my errands I went to the coffee shop and asked if she had bought a bagel. The lady behind the counter knew her, knew her story. She was in rehab, not working presently, and lived in a shed behind her mother's house. I went to the grocery store next door, bought a $20 gift card, and left it at the coffee shop for the young woman...later I verified she had picked it up.

Why did I do that? It was in my heart to do it. Do I track such things in a mental calculator to make sure I'm hitting at least 10% total giving? Of course not. It was in my heart to do -I had a $20 bill on me, so I didn't gas up the car like I'd planned, I bought her some food instead. I just did it. It's grace people...the laws concerning giving have moved inside me. Therefore God can use me to give where he sees fit. Beyond that, it's up to me to discipline myself to set something aside as Paul said, "on the first day of the week (or) when you come together...that's grace.

So if I say I tithe and believe in tithing, for me, you should understand that 10% is only part of a larger percentage...If I say we gave 18% of our pay last year what is that to you? I do it unto the Lord...it just came out that much, anything over 10% I don't track until the end of the year statements.

And if you set aside 15%, 10%, 5% or 3% (or whatever), you do so unto the Lord...I won't question your giving any more than I would question if you are a vegetarian or if you think Saturday is the only Sabbath...what you do, you do unto the Lord. Who am I to judge another man's (Jesus') servant?

I echo Paul's statement in II Corinthians 8:7 - I hope you will abound in this grace also!

Hope that clears up some of the mud floating around out there in church circles that makes it hard to see the truth and freedom of the New Testament.

Blessings,

John Fenn

cwowi.org