907. False Assumptions: Giving 10% of All Your Money to a Church

It is often called tithing — usually interpreted these days as giving ten percent of your income—frequently to go to a church organization. But guess what? There is nothing in the Bible that tells us to do this ... in spite of preachers finding a way to make people think it is meant to be a "biblical principle" for Christians to apply. The way religion has stretched this out of context is mind-boggling. The "storehouse" for Israel was a place to collect the food tithes. The church is not some sort of modern-day storehouse to become a cash cow, as some have been told.

The Jewish tribes tithed their food to the priestly tribe of the Levites who did not own lands and cattle. It had nothing to do with money. It was part of a system of law that doesn't fit with where we are in a New Covenant as believers in Christ. We're not discouraging giving at all ... God loves a cheerful giver, as each person decides in their heart what they want to give and where to give it. The One who lives in you will guide you with that.



   
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810. The 800 Club: Looking Back - Tithing, Abraham and Giving Gracefully

As we continue looking back over the years after reaching the milestone of our 800th podcast … we’re following up on last week’s program. Many advocates for “the tithe,” as it relates to giving ten percent of all of one’s money or income, will try to use Abraham as an example on why people should tithe this way today. They will apply a couple of easily misunderstood passages from the Bible, but as we take a closer look, we find the pieces to the puzzle just don’t fit. We try to bring some context from both the Old and New Testaments about Abe and how his tithe to Melchizedek was so very different from the “church tithing” of today—and like the Jewish people under the law—it really wasn’t about money with Abraham either.

We also address some questions about the “tithe money” being received today. If such a system was meant to be in place and ordained by God, who is really supposed to be the designated receiver of the tithes with the priesthood of men no longer in place? Is the church corporation’s bank considered the so-called storehouse?

There is a better way for us to function when it comes to giving, and it’s by the freedom of grace as God’s Spirit moves within our hearts. God is a giver, but not because He is obligated to be … He wants to do it out of love, and so it is with us in the New Covenant. We have inherited this desire to help others, and it doesn’t always involve money.

Here again are some links to some of our past talks about tithing:
495. Covenant Confusion: Tithing
496. Christianizing the Tithe
497. Abe Gives a Tenth to Mel  

The Tithe (Episodes 769-777). Click on the first episode and then click "Newer Post" for each subsequent part.

   
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