First, We Want You to Know that Tithing is:

1. Not a Requirement for Believers, and

2. Not Taught in New Testament Scripture as a Requirement.

​

What is a Tithe?

​The word tithe means "tenth." It's the practice of returning one-tenth of your income to the Lord through the local church. Ancient Israelites practiced the tithe before they were ever called Jews; this collection included one-tenth of everything they grew or raised. So, "tithing actually precedes the Mosaic law and first appears in Genesis 14:20. Abraham returned from a victorious battle—rescuing his nephew Lot—and gave Melchizedek, the king of Salem, one tenth of his victory spoils. It’s worth noting that Abraham’s first tithe didn’t come out of his own personal wealth (John Macarthur, Grace To You).

​

There is nothing wrong with encouraging Tithing or if you decided that ten percent is what you want to regularly give to your local church. But what is wrong, is anyone calling you a sinner for not Tithing 10% and making it a requirement for church membership.

​

What does the Bible Say about Tithing?

Pastor John clarifies, that "a closer parallel to modern tithing occurred under the Mosaic covenant. It became a requirement for citizens of the nation of Israel to demonstrate faithfulness to the Lord and fund the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system. 'Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord (Leviticus 26:30; cf. Deuteronomy 14:22-29).

 

"In his book Whose Money Is It Anyway?, Pastor John explains that tithing was an Old Testament form of taxation that supplied the necessary funds to operate Israel’s theocratic government. He concludes that the principle of Malachi 3 does not apply to believers under the New Covenant.

 

For years, many conservative, evangelical, and fundamentalist churches . . . have promoted tithing as the basic standard for what their members should place in the offering plate. But such a rigid concept, viewed as a universal and eternal principle for all believers, simply is not taught in Scripture.

The New Covenant principle on giving—the one you and I should live by—is not derived from some mandatory percentage. New Covenant giving flows from the heart and is personally determined. . . . “He who sows bountifully shall reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6–7).

​

...Sadly, rigid and unbiblical rules about tithing have become ingrained in the culture of many churches. For many there is simply no turning back from the massive budgets they now operate on. It will be no small feat to break those patterns and free congregations from those legalistic practices.

Those pastors who threaten satanic attacks and separation from God’s favor rightly deserve a place alongside the worst indulgence peddlers throughout church history—including the scribes and Pharisees Christ confronted during His ministry. In fact, our Lord modelled how we ought to respond to that kind of spiritual extortion during His earthly ministry" (John Macarthur, Grace To You).​​

​

At Formed For Christ, we agree with Pastor John on this one and thank you for not only any money that you give, but your time, talents, and other resources to support our local church's mission and ministries.

 

We also want you to consider that God's blessings to His people who worship and give tithes and offerings, should not be viewed as an automatic return of money back to you in abundance. God can and will bless His people, but some of these blessings, we have already received and there will be many more in our eternal life with God.  However, God can and often does bless His children in ways that we may not have expected or recognize. Being saved eternally is the greatest blessing we could ever receive on this side of eternity.​​