Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 40-41 NIV, Ch. 42-43 ERV

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Thoughts

What, me?

Leviticus 27:30-33 talks about tithes. Verse 34, the closing verse of Leviticus, says, “These are the commands that the LORD gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.”

So giving tithes was a command. It was not optional.

The question is, are we as believers in Jesus obligated to tithe? Let’s do a little digging.

Some Background

First, what is a tithe? A tithe is an offering of 10%. And it did not originate with the Mosaic Law. There are references to tithes being given in Genesis 14 and 28, before Moses was born.

The New Testament does not give a requirement to tithe, but it does mention the tithe with favor. One example is Hebrews 7:4-10, when Abraham give a tithe to Melchizedek. 

Giving however, is commanded in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, where Paul says, “Now regarding your question about the money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem. You should follow the same procedure I gave to the churches in Galatia. 2On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once.” NLT

Hebrews 7:4-10 NLT

Notice that Paul said that not only should giving should be done, but that it should be planned for and done regularly.

In 2 Corinthians 8:8, Paul says that giving is a test of our love for God and those who do His work.

In 2 Corinthians 9:6, Paul compares giving to a farmer. The farmer who plants sparingly will reap sparingly. The one who plants generously will reap generously. 

And then he goes on in the very next verse and says that each person must decide in his or her own heart how much to give, and don’t give reluctantly or because of pressure, “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” And, he says, God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 

And in 1 Corinthians 9:7-14, Paul says that we should give to those who feed us spiritually. 

Is Giving An Option?

This is Paul speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, beloved. If we accept the Bible as true, then we need to accept these verses as true.

My Experience

Now, let me tell you my experience in giving. First, I was not brought up in a believing home. My parents did not go to church, though my mom did in at least her teen years. I wasn’t even aware of that fact until after she passed away, when I was going through some of her papers and found that she was a leader in her youth group. But since my dad was very much anti-church and anti-God, going to church was a non-starter when I was a boy. I tell you that to say that I did not have any training from home on giving to God’s work.

When I got saved as a teenager, I have to admit that I was a stingy giver. I didn’t mind putting a dollar or maybe a five into my offering envelope, but I never gave anything approaching a tithe. To be honest, I never even considered giving a tithe. It never entered my mind.

Once I became an adult and was aware of tithing, I rationalized that Christians are under the New Covenant, and were therefore not obligated to tithe, so I didn’t need to give ten percent. By then I had graduated to regularly dropping a $20 bill into the offering plate. I figured God loves a cheerful giver, and I didn’t feel too badly about putting a twenty in. Much more than that and, I reasoned, it would be more difficult to be cheerful.

And then, probably sometime in my 40s, after I had been faithfully serving God in my church for several years, my wife, the Lovely Lady LeeAnn suggested that we start tithing. I told her that we were under the New Covenant, yada yada yada. 

Unlike me, however, LeeAnn had literally grown up in church. Her parents were faithful believers, who were at church whenever the doors were open. And that’s not an exaggeration. They were a military family, and wherever they were stationed, the first they would do when they got to a new town was find the Assemblies of God church and immediately get plugged in. So LeeAnn had an excellent example on faithful giving, and specifically, tithing. At a minimum. 

So when I give LeeAnn my reasoning for not tithing, she did what every good Christian wife should do. She argued with me. No. She didn’t. She accepted my answer, but then she began to pray for me. She didn’t tell me that she was praying specifically for this, but I know now that she was. 

The Test

And then, over time, I began to question myself. I don’t remember if this process took several months or even a year or more, but one day in a time of prayer, I remembered the verse in Malachi, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” And I said, “Ok, God. I’ll try it. I’ll give tithes and see if I can still pay the bills.” Or words to that effect.

Of course, LeeAnn was thrilled. I can’t say that I was thrilled, but God had shown me in other ways that He is faithful, so I was willing to make the step of faith. And it was a step of faith. We had a mortgage, three sons, and only my business to pay the bills. LeeAnn was a stay-at-home mom, so all we had was my income. 

The Results

How did the test turn out? Let me answer this way: I have never, we have never gone back to stingy giving. That doesn’t mean that God has made us financially rich. Over the years we have had some lean years and some fat years. There have been times where we literally had zero in the bank account and we had nothing to give. But as soon as there was something from which to give, we tithed. And sometimes we have given above and beyond the tithe, when we saw someone in need, or for special projects.

And it was after we began to tithe that God called me to begin the world’s first Christian podcast. I won’t tell the whole story here, but in a nutshell, I was praying one day, thanking God for all the blessings He had brought into our lives, and I asked Him if there was anything more that *I* could do for Him. And that’s when He spoke to me and said, “Proclaim My Name.” There’s much more to the story, which you can read about here. 

As I said the other day, financially I am not a rich man, but God has blessed my life and my family so much. Sure, we have struggles like everyone else, but LeeAnn and I have a wonderful marriage and we have a faith in God that is deep and abiding. 

God has shown me that trusting Him in all things, even in giving, is something that He will bless. Are we required to tithe? No. But it is my firm conviction that *at least* a tithe is an appropriate amount to return to the God who gave His one and only Son so that I might live in eternity with Him. 

I highly recommend it. As the scripture says in Malachi, “Test me in this, says the Lord almighty.”