Giving Ten Percent

Jesus words to the Pharisees (Matt. 23:23) raise the question of tithing, or giving ten percent of our wealth to God. Should Christians today pay tithes, or are we free from that practice?

For that matter, why was there a custom of giving ten percent? In the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to give on-tenth of their produce or income for three reasons:

1. To support the Levites who were responsible for religious worship.
   
   
2. To support various feasts and sacrifices, some of which lasted more than one or two days and were times of happy celebration and thanksgiving.
   
   
3. To establish a pool of resources to help orphans and widows, the poor, and foreigners.
   

In the New Testament, neither Christ not the apostles gave any explicit instructions about tithing. However, Jesus clearly endorsed it, as he did all of Gods law (Matt. 5:17-20; 23:23). He denounced the hypocritical way that the Pharisees ignored the more important points of the Law - justice, mercy, and faithfulness. But these great questions did not just brush aside the smaller ones.

So what is the place of tithing for believers today? Several principles might be considered:

1. Our giving needs to originate from love for Christ, not legalistic obedience to a percentage standard. When Abraham gave the first tithe recorded in the Bible (Gen. 14:17-20), he did it as an expression of thanks to God, who had delivered him in battle. Throughout Scripture, loving God and worshiping him are at the heart of tithing.
   
   
2. In the end, everything we have comes from God and belongs to him--not just what we give away, but also what we keep. So he has total claim on all of our income, not just a tenth.
   
   
3. Ten percent makes a great starting point for giving. However, studies indicate that as a group Christians in the United States give nowhere near that amount to ministries or charities of any kind. In fact, although per capita income has increased, church members have actually decreased their contributions to churches.
   
   
4. The New Testament is clear that Christian workers whose ministry is full time have a right to expect financial support from those they serve (I Cor. 9:13, 14;Gal. 6:6). Likewise, many churches and other ministries assist orphans and widows, the poor, and foreigners. So it seems legitimate to expect believers to donate money to those causes.
   
   
5. No matter how much we give or where, the present passage indicates that our first priority should be to ensure that justice is carried out around us, that we show mercy to our neighbors, and that we practice our faith, not just talk about it. In the end, it is through our obedience that Jesus increases our faith.