Thesis 30/36: Tithing or Stewardship

DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH
Doctrine 30 / 36: Tithing or Stewardship

Money is one of the biggest hindrances in the world to a person being saved. Jesus said, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:23). The very first principle that must be understood when speaking of finances is that all things are God's. "The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof" (Psalm 24:1). No man has anything that he did not receive from God. Even if the man gave something in exchange for it, ultimately, all things come back to God. The life that the man has is from God, so that he could do nothing without Him. "For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (1 Corinthians 4:7).

Once a man recognizes that all things are God's, and that he is only a steward of God's things, then he must look to see what God desires of that which is His. When dealing with finances, we see the principle of tithing established all the way back in the life of Abraham. A tithe, by definition, is the giving of ten percent of something. After Abraham recovered Lot from captivity, he tithed on the spoil (Genesis 14:20). Tithing is followed up as a law in the Mosaic Covenant, when all the people were to give a tithe of all that they had (Leviticus 27:30-32). God considers the tithe to be His, so that if a man were to withhold the tithe from God, he is actually robbing God (Malachi 3:8). The children of Israel had the opportunity to give a freewill offering on top of their tithes, but the tithes themselves were God's. Jesus commended the Pharisees for their tithing as well (Matthew 23:23).

Under the New Testament, the tithe is not repeated as a command. However, Paul charges the Corinthians to be faithful in giving, even to the point of making themselves poor, by following the example of Jesus Christ. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). In that passage, Paul is saying to the Corinthians that God has given so much more than could ever be repaid, that the Christian should give as a sign of gratitude. When considering how much to give, the tithe is a great place to start. Beyond that, the Christian should give according to what he has (2 Corinthians 8:12). As the tithes in the Old Testament were for those that lead worship, and for the temple expenses, so in the church, the tithe is used to maintain the local leaders and expenses for the local ministry. On top of that, money given goes to support missionaries around the world.

God promised to bless those that proved Him, and tithed. He promised that the return on the "investment" would be great, and that to hold on to God's money would actually hurt their finances. He does not say that they would have less money, but rather that their money would not be able to go as far (Malachi 3:10-11). The money spent for God on earth will end up having eternal value (Matthew 6:19). Christians are to be content with the simple life from a physical standpoint, knowing that they have Jesus Christ, and that is all that is needed to make them content (Hebrews 13:5).

"The love of money is the root of all evil."