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Puritan Belief pretty well sums up the problem with tithing as taught by the church today.When I converted to Christianity at age 23, I started tithing because I was taught to tithe 10% by my church. The typical passages from Malachi was preached in regards to the tithe and how if we tithe then God will bless our giving.
Years later, I started researching the Bible seeking Scripture to back up all my beliefs. When I studied the tithe, I discovered that it is not taught correctly today. The book of Colossians chapter 2 deals with how we are free from the OT Law which also includes the tithe.
When dealing with the OT tithe, we must remember that when Jesus was walking the earth, He had not yet completed His atonement for sin. Because of this Jesus did instruct people to listen to the Rabbi and to continue following the requirements of the OT. After His sin atonement, Jesus gave us the new covenant of Grace thus abolishing the Law that was against us. If we are to tithe today are we also to bring sin sacrifices to the temple for our sins?
Here is the article from Puritan Belief http://puritanbelief.blogspot.com/2006/02/why-tithing-is-wrong.html
This seems to be an attempt to get out of giving to the church. If God's people don't fund the church, who will? Why do we tithe? Because God loves giving. For God gives (like his son for your sins), thus to give is to replicate God's actions. And every Christian's desire should be to try to emulate God to the best of our ability. Now, you should not tithe. II Cor. 9:7 tells us why. God only wants you to give what you want to give. You are setting up arguements to stop people from giving, thus you must not want to give either. Once you have righted yourself with a desire to give to God the first fruits of all your efforts, then you should give. And it is true we are not held back by a percentage. The 10% is more a guideline. Give 20, 30, even 50% if you can. God will return it tenfold. Maybe not finacially, but he will return it. Read verse 11 in that passage for reference. Gving is not about laws and rules, but about the heart.
ReplyDeleteIt's not an attempt to get out of giving. Jesus taught us to give. This is exposing the 10% "myth" taught out of context. Many churches are short changing God by teaching this version of the 10% tithe.
ReplyDeleteI believe that if we can give 60% of our income then that is what we should give. I encourage giving from the heart as lead by the Holy Spirit.
I hope I clarified my points. People who do not want to give will not give no matter what we teach about giving.
Thank you for your insights.