The Tithing Myth-- Part I

One Sunday in the adult Bible-study class I used to teach, during a lesson discussion about giving, one of the class members, a woman of some years and a church-goer for most of her life said, "we're commanded to tithe". For those who aren't familiar with tithing, in its simplest form it's the practice of giving 10% of your gross income to your church. God set this up as a requirement of the laws He gave to Moses. These laws are usually called the "Law of Moses" or just, "The Law".

Tithing was and is an Old Testament (OT) law and is never mentioned as doctrine in the New Testament (NT). In every instance where giving is mentioned in the NT it is always presented as an attitude of the heart and that heart's relationship to God.

"But wait a minute" you say, " What about Malachi 3:9"? Sorry-- God talking to OT people attempting to live under OT Law.

"Well, how about when Jesus said to the Pharisees that they were right for tithing to the last grain of their herbs even though He said they were wrong about ignoring the more important matters of The Law" (Luke 11:42).

Again, Jesus was talking to OT people still living under The Law of the OT times. Yes, He commended them for doing what was right, but under circumstances in effect at that time, i.e., The Law, which was rendered useless after Jesus. Mind you, It wasn't rendered void, but now God had come to man and offered the true path to salvation that The Law could never provide. Jesus is the complete fulfillment of the law, that's why Jesus said "Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfill." (Matthew 5:17 NASB)

"Okay then, what about when Jesus commended the widow for throwing her last two cents in the offering box at the temple?" (Mark 12:41-44)? Jesus made a point of calling on His disciples to take note of her action, then commended her to them for the attitude of her heart-- she loved God so much that she was willing to give Him everything and trust Him for her needs (we also need to take note of that).

Jesus answered a question about the most important commandment by saying " Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself' " (Matt 22:37-39 NIV). He then uttered one of the most important statements He could have made to a Jew in those days-- "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments "(Matt 22:40 NIV) meaning that those two summed-up the sacred writings of the Hebrews, which comprise what we call "The Old Testament" (or: Old Covenant).

In Acts 15, Luke wrote about an occasion when Gentile believers of Antioch were being told they still needed to follow The Law even though they had become Christians. This resulted in a meeting of the Apostles which came to be known as the "Council of Jerusalem". The Apostles sent word back to Antioch saying the believers would not need to be concerned with The Law except for four things:

1. Do not eat meat that was polluted by (offered to) idols.
2. Refrain from fornication (sexual immorality).
3. Do not eat the meat of strangled animals (such meat is potentially poisonous).
4. Do not ingest blood (life is in the blood and God forbids us to eat or drink it).

Tithing or any other type of enforced giving is not mentioned as a requirement in the NT. In Christ, all believers are the same, neither Jew nor Gentile. It then follows that only these four items retained from the old laws, considered church doctrine by the original Apostles, apply to the whole church even to this day.

In Part II we'll look at NT attitudes about giving.