Ask a Pastor Column

Q: Would you explain about the tithe? Is tithing just to the church or do donations towards shelters, hospitals, etc. count too?

A: By all means! Let’s take a closer look at tithing. When we say a “tithe,” it literally means a tenth of something (In fact, the New King James Version translates the same Hebrew word as tithe and tenth in Leviticus 27:32). “Tithing” means to offer a tenth of something to another.

We can trace the concept of tithing clear back to the Patriarchs. Abraham offered a tenth of the spoils of battle to Melchizedek, because he was a priest of God (Genesis 14:18-20). His grandson Jacob committed to give God a tenth of all God gave him as a sacrifice (Genesis 28:20-22).

It was Jacob’s promise to God which became the basis for tithing in the Old Testament. Jacob’s descendants (the Israelites) inherited God’s promises to Jacob. In the same way, they also inherited Jacob’s promise to God. The Law of Moses formalized God’s claim to a tenth of everything Israel had been given. The collected tithes were used to maintain the priests, the Levites, the Tabernacle and later, the Temple (Numbers 18:21). If the tithe couldn’t be carried to the location of the Temple, then it could be given to local Levites, or to the poor (Deuteronomy 14:24).

While I know many churches and church leaders try to use the Israelites’ tithing obligation to motivate their members to meet the church’s financial needs, I think we must be careful in doing so. Early Christian leaders carefully avoided imposing the obligations and requirements of Old Testament Law onto believers in the Church (Acts 15:10; Galatians 3;1-4; 10-14; etc.). Nowhere in the New Testament do we see any obligation to tithe. Instead, church leaders appealed to Christians to give freely and cheerfully (II Corinthians 9:6-8), trusting God to supply their needs and reward their generosity by His heavenly riches (II Corinthians 9:8, 10-11; Philippians 4:18-19). The more generously a Christian gives, the more generous God is in rewarding them (again; II Corinthians 9:6-8; 10-11).

If a believer makes a personal choice to follow Jacob’s example and offer a tenth of their income back to God, then it is entirely up to them to decide whether they offer that to their local church, to the poor, or to supporting the spread of the gospel. My only advice would be to be careful not to limit yourself to 10 percent. I know of many believers who have joyfully committed to giving far more, even though they couldn’t afford it. They were richly blessed by God (see the examples of the poor widow in Mark 12:41-44 and the Philippian Church in II Corinthians 8:1-5; Philippians 4:15-19).