The 213th Christian Carnival is up: Bookstore Edition
The 213th Christian Carnival is up at Jevlir Caravansary!
Part 1 of my series on tithing was featured in this week’s carnival. I just posted part 2 of that same series yesterday. Check out the Christian Carnival, and then check out my series on tithing! And don’t forget to have a great Friday!
Personal Finance Bible Verse of the Day: Pride
This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the Lord." Jeremiah 9:23-24
Wealth can become the center of our life and take God’s place. We need to remember that anything we earn comes from God, and that if we want to be proud of something, we should be proud and boast of our salvation in Jesus Christ.
The Bible and tithing: To give or not to give - Part 2
In part 1 of our “The Bible and tithing” series, we talked about the perspective that tithing is a biblical requirement, and that all Christians need to give 10% (at least) of their income. Anything after that is a free will offering. For a quick refresher, see Part 1 here.
Today we’ll look at a slightly different perspective, one that says that tithing is not a New Covenant biblical mandate, and that while we should still give, it is a free will offering and not required.
George Greene, on his website NoMoreTithing.org, says that tithing is not a teaching aimed at New Covenant believers:
Should we as New Covenant believers continue to try to obey all the Old Covenant laws? Absolutely not! If you don’t tithe it is not a sin! If you are selfish then that is a sin.
So while not tithing may not be a sin, it is still a sin to be selfish and to not give. He goes on to explain:
There are a whole host of things we would have to start doing differently if we really wanted to start obeying the laws God gave to the Israelites. Read some of them for yourself and you’ll see what I mean (animal sacrifice, death for cursing God). The biggest problem is that the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ would have no benefit for you since you would still be trying to obey the laws that all point to Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.
On his website, blogger Travis gives some historical background on tithing, and why it does not apply today:
one thing that constantly trips up modern-day Christians is that we fail to remember that the Law given to Moses did not merely outline a religious system… it was a constitution establishing a nation’s government. Thus, we need not only to discern which laws were sacrificial in nature (as Christians, we hold that Jesus Christ is our atonement and makes all other sacrifices—and thus all laws requiring sacrifices—moot), but also whether certain laws were governmental or sacramental in nature. While this may be a simple process with the laws of a “secular” nation, it can get difficult when you’re dealing with a theocracy.
My studies keep drawing me to the same conclusion: God’s eternal Law of Love compels us to serve the poor, but the tithe laws were a form of taxation, and served as the welfare system for Ancient Israel. Thus, these laws only apply to those under the Old Covenant living in geographical Israel.
Don Koenig agrees and expands on that idea:
There is not one word written about tithing in the New Testament to the people of the New Covenant…. The New Testament teaches Christians are to give from out of their heart - there is no percentage used. This only makes sense since you can not give cheerfully if you are giving out of some legalistic requirement. Some wealthy people should give much more than ten percent of their increase (tithe) and some very poor people should give little or nothing or even be aided by the church.
So based on the assertions of many of these sources, tithing is not a new covenant law, and to preach that it continues to be a teaching that Christians should follow is simply legalism.
So even if tithing is not a requirement, and don’t have to give 10% as a strict baseline, should we still give? Again, Travis chimes in:
So if I don’t think the tithe applies to us today, does that mean I can get away with not giving anything? God forbid! On the contrary, I believe Christians are to “sell [their] possessions, and give to the needy” (Luke 12:33), but are not bound by a 10-33% annual tithe to modern-day Levites per se. The sacrificial system is no longer binding, but I am still bound by the perfect Law of Love: specifically, to “love [my] neighbor as [myself],” (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 19:19, etc.)
In Matthew, Jesus speaks to the teachers of the law, and talks about how legalism and man’s law (specifically about money pledged to the church instead of to the needy), can be made to go against God’s true intentions for his Kingdom:
But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ he is not to ‘honor his father with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ Matthew 15:5-9
So as Jesus recognized, men can often get caught up in rules, laws and regulations, and forget the true meanings and God’s intention behind the laws. Their hearts are hard and they twist the laws to fulfill their own wants and needs.
So according to these and other sources, tithing is not required in the New Covenant church. It is an Old Testament law given to the Israelites, and was specific to their time and place. When Jesus died for our sins, we were given the New Covenant in him. Tithing was replaced by freewill offering, and giving from the heart.
LINKS:
The Bible and tithing: To give or not to give - Part 1.
Are Christians commanded to tithe or is this requirement legalism?
Tithing, Giving, Sowing and Reaping
Are you Giving to God with a Cheerful Heart?
No More Tithing
Tithing - Defining the issue in Christ
What Does the Bible Say About the Tithe?
The Curse of Tithing
The Backlash Against Tithing - WSJ.com
Tithing and Financial Problems
Should the Church teach tithing?
Tithe - A requirement for Christians?(forum post)
Forum Discussion of Tithing
Personal Finance Bible Verse of the Day: Laziness Won’t Help
No matter how much you want, laziness won’t help a bit, but hard work will reward you with more than enough. Proverbs 13:4
I know there are days where I just want to lay on the couch, play a video game and not do a thing. This verse tells us, however, that laziness won’t help us a bit in anything we do. Hard work will reward us, and we will be given more than enough.
I Have Proof That Money is Evil!
I logged into my account over at Mint.com today to look at our spending trends this month, and what did my disbelieving eyes see? One of my savings accounts has gone bad, and made a deal with the devil! Look at the balance in that acount:
Ok, I kid, but that is kinda strange isn’t it? Maybe a sign that love of money is the root of all evil? A reminder that we shouldn’t sell our souls to make money? What do you think?
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