The Fallacy & Legalism of the Church Tithe

"The Widow's Mite" by Gustave Doré, Mark 12:41-44 (source: Accordance)
Earlier this week, T. C. Robinson delivered a short post, "What I've Come to Believe about Tithing" which generated a good bit of healthy discussion. Last year, in private correspondence, I laid out my own beliefs about the subject, but did not make them public at the time. While I hope this post doesn't come back to haunt me later, I'm encouraged by the overall response to T. C.'s post to offer my own thoughts here. The idea of a tithe has a "sacred cow" status in many of our churches, and for this fact alone, should be re-examined. The content below is adapted from my private correspondence from last year with personal content removed.

From the outset, despite the title, I do believe in supporting one's church financially, which I see as a different issue than giving a tithe. One's support of a church is even more important if you have covenanted with a church as a member or participant and take part in its ministry and/or receive the benefits (spiritual or otherwise) of its service. Moreover, if one's church has a set budget, members and regular participants in the church's ministry are obligated to seeing that its financial obligations are met.

As I hope to demonstrate, I don’t believe the idea of a church tithe is biblical. And I find it ironic, after spending my entire life in Baptist churches that seemed so careful to separate themselves from the very idea of tradition because somehow that seemed to be Catholic, the reality is that we have numerous traditions of our own, while not always recognizing them as such. Actually, I don’t mind having traditions at all if we can all agree on them and recognize them for what they are. But I do have a problem with holding to a tradition, while masking it under the label of biblical imperative.

Let me try to summarize as briefly as I can my objection to tithing as a model for church giving.

1. The term itself.
As the most minor of points, I don’t care for the word tithe in general. It is an adaptation of a 12th century Old English word, teogotha, that originally simply meant tenth. The problem, for me, lies in the fact that the current English word tithe has taken on religious baggage over the years that the original word never meant.

While this is ultimately a semantic issue and doesn’t matter in the big picture, I have noticed that the HCSB—the Southern Baptist, Lifeway-sponsored and owned translation of the Bible used in our Sunday School literature—never uses the word tithe, opting to more specifically translate the Hebrew word מַעֲשֵׂר/maaser and the Greek words ἀποδεκατεύω/apodekateuo and δεκάτη/dekate as tenth or, when in the verb form, give a tenth.

Regardless, I’ll use the word tithe as needed below for sake of common terminology.

2. The Old Testament context does not resemble the context of the church.
The practice of Israelites giving a tenth of their annual yield comes primarily from Levitcus 27 and Numbers 18. The Levites, as a priestly class, were to be supported by the other tribes because they did not have a tribal land allotment of their own. Having no land meant that crops could not be grown and cattle could not be bred. “Since the Levites do not possess any land and therefore cannot readily produce their own food, they are given the agricultural tithes of the people for their sustenance and as reward for their service in the tent of meeting.” [J. Christian Wilson, "Tithe," in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992). 6:579.]

Essentially, the Old Testament practice of giving a tenth/tithe was a stipulation of the civil and cultic law for the ancient nation of Israel (as opposed to any other nation, let alone non-nationalists, which would include the church). “The tithe was subject to a variety of legislation. Numbers 18:20-32 provides for support of the Levites and the priests through the tithe. The Deuteronomic code stipulated that the tithe of agricultural produce be used for a family feast at the sanctuary celebrating God’s provision (Deut. 14:22-27). The same code stipulated the third year’s tithe for care of the Levites, orphans, widows, and foreigners (Deut. 14:28-29).” [Chad Brand, Charles Draper, Archie England et al., “Tithe,” in The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1600-01.]

This also means that quoting Mal 3:10 as a model for giving in the church (which I've often seen over the years) is not only invalid, but completely ignores the context of the verse. Here God was speaking to post-Exile Israel, who was in danger of falling back to the position their ancestors were in before the Exile. They were not keeping the commands of giving a tenth to support the Levites as had been commanded in the Law (among their other offenses). This was partly out of greed and partly out of a lack of faith. While we can certainly draw valid application from this to a church context today, to say that this application for us centers on the tithe is wholly mistaken.

If we’re supposed to bring “the whole tithe” as is often promoted in church stewardship rhetoric, from a biblical basis, this would have very little to do with our paychecks, but would require among other things, any cattle farmer in our church bringing a tenth of any livestock born this year (what a mess that would make of the average church sanctuary!). I would need to bring 10% of any new food I’ve put in my pantry this year. And frankly, I don’t know of any Levites on the church staff to receive any of this. Now, you can say I’m being overly literal here. But to hold up Mal 3:10 as a model for church giving—that we must “bring in the whole tithe" as the biblical standard—means that we can’t simply pick and choose which parts of the biblical commands to follow. If we're going to be biblical, let's bring in the cows. Seriously, because I want a front row seat to see it.

3. No Support for the tithe in the New Testament or in the early church as described in the New Testament.
While the tithe is mentioned in the New Testament (Matt 23:23; Luke 11:42; Luke 18:12; Heb 7:2, 4-6, 8), none of these instances are in reference to any kind of command to the church to implement a tithe along the lines prescribed by the Old Testament Law. All of these references in the New Testament refer to either Jewish practices during Jesus’ ministry or, as in the case of the references in Hebrews, to Old Testament practice.

Don’t misread me at this point to think I’m saying that just because something is in the Old Testament that it is to be ignored by the church. I don’t believe that at all, but as mentioned in the point above, the practice of giving a tenth in the Old Testament is part of the legal and cultic system of the nation of Israel, not as something prescribed for those outside that nation, including the church. Every New Testament reference to the tithe is in the context of Israelite Law (or Abraham and Melchizedek, which was part of the foundation for Israel’s laws on tithing).

Let me be perfectly clear on this: There is neither biblical nor historical evidence that the New Testament Church practiced anything similar to a tithe. The Old Testament tithe was not even really about money, which is nearly always the emphasis for modern church stewardship campaigns. It was primarily about giving a tenth of what was mostly agricultural yield in support of the Levites who had no land of their own.

And no doubt, some in the early church gave much more than a tenth of their income for both church needs and for charity, but also many probably gave a lesser percentage.

In fact, while there is much about generosity in the New Testament (and the Old Testament), there is no reference to regular offerings as practiced in today’s church at all (although don’t misread me to think that I’m opposed to regular offerings as we have each week; I’ll address this below).

The earliest reference in church literature to a regularly taken offering comes not from the Bible, but from the Didache (probably early second century) which reads: “As for money and clothes and any other possessions, take the first fruit that seems right to you and give in accordance with the commandment” (Did 13:7). Note that “seems right to you” echoes 2 Cor 9:7: "Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver" (HCSB, emphasis added). Note carefully that there is no percentage model given.

4. Often the idea of a church "tithe" results in church members giving less.
This happens in two ways. I've heard one prominent Christian financial guru say, "If you can't live on 90%, you can't live on 100%. Well, that's probably true most of the time, but certainly if the household income is $3,000 a month it's easier to live on $2700 than to live on $900 when one's income is only $1,000 a month.

I've seen low-income believers give very generously in my lifetime. I've seen people who ought to be receiving help from the church, give sacrificially. In Mark 12:42, Jesus praises the widow who gives a 100% offering.

YetI've also seen a different scenario in which for people in desperate financial situations see the tithe as nothing but one more burden in their lives. I've known people, who knowing they couldn't give ten percent of their income, simply give nothing at all. I was in a situation similar to this many years ago. I had so many bills and expenses that I didn't feel like I could reach the 10% my church was teaching. So, knowing my inability to meet that goal, I simply gave up and gave nothing at all for a period of months. Then, I heard a financial speaker at our church say, "If you can't give 10%, give something." Suddenly, "giving something" was endorsed from the pulpit, and I knew I could do that. So, before the next Sunday, I sat down to write an offering check. I intended to write out the check for $25 because I knew that was a good manageable beginning. But instead of writing $25, my hand wrote out $50, which was a bit of a risk to me at the time, but something I felt I could trust God with. From that small start, I was able to begin giving to the church again and eventually go beyond that amount.

I've seen the opposite happen, also. I've seen people for whom giving 10% is nothing. They would have to give much more than that for the gift to come anywhere close to being sacrificial. But they give only 10% because that has been taught to them as their Christian obligation. Supposedly, if they give 10%, they're in good standing with the church and with God. But this may actually be very far from the truth.

With either scenario, blind allegiance to the idea of a tithe in our churches keeps us from receiving the offering amounts than we're capable of as a whole.

5. The emphasis on a church tithe promotes legalism.
Most of the churches with which I'm most familiar  would quickly tell their members and the community at large that they preach the grace of Jesus Christ. Yet beyond this grace are little pockets of works and legalism. If it's promoted that good standing equals a tithe, this is legalism, plain and simple. If taking on a responsibility within the church such as teaching or some committee position or a role like deacon requires giving at least 10% of one's income, this is legalism by its very definition. And yet these same churches supposedly believe they promote God's grace in all areas. Sadly, they do not.

So what is an appropriate New Testament model?
A good friend of mine has written, “God owns 100%, not just 10%. We are accountable for how we use all his gifts for His glory,” and I agree. Ultimately this is true in both testaments (see Psalm 50:10 for foundation in the Old Testament) as true stewardship is not just about giving to the church, but also about (perhaps more about) what we do with (i.e. how we manage) what we “keep.”  Of course, the standard church stewardship committee never seems to discuss this part of the Christian financial obligation, even though it's probably a more significant issue.

Ultimately, there is no New Testament “policy” or “standard” given to the church on giving, but I do believe we can draw some solid principles.

The first principle is mentioned above—that 100% of what we have belongs to the Lord.

Paul says a lot about giving, especially in 1 & 2 Corinthians, but none of this can be called church “policy” or commands for standard practice. Everything Paul says to this subject in these letters was in the specific context of the offering he was collecting among the gentile Christians for the poor in Jerusalem.

Paul’s command in 1 Corinthians 16:2 that “On the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save to the extent that he prospers…” (HCSB) is in reference to this collection for the poor in Jerusalem. So, while we can’t call that policy given to the entire church, we can say that when the church has a reason for collecting funds (and a voted-on church budget surely counts!) this collection ought to be done regularly. Thus, we have a solid second biblical principle—that we can take up regular weekly offerings (but we can’t call it biblical command or policy to do so).

How much does one give?
The “cheerful giver” label in 2 Cor 9:7 is often touted as to what our response should be in giving to the church. I agree, but this, as evidenced in earlier points, has nothing to do with a tithe. The context here, too, had to do with Paul’s collection for the poor in Jerusalem. But if we draw a third principle from his statement, we must surely read the whole verse: “You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. ‘For God loves a person who gives cheerfully’” (emphasis added, NLT).

What’s the principle here? We should give based upon our own convictions with no outside pressure and no set requirement (such as a tithe). And if we follow the principles of Paul, we must be willing at times to give sacrificially (he writes about this in 2 Corinthians especially) meaning we give more than what we can really afford to at times, trusting that God will provide for any shortfall in our personal budgets.

No doubt our churches suffer from members who give less than what they ought. But rather than hold that 10% mark over their heads, why not have members determine what percentage they are actually giving and encourage a 1% increase every year? That will inevitably reach its own limits after a while, but it won't hold an artificial mark of spirituality over anyone's head or prevent someone from giving beyond this artificial mark.

So there’s my little theology of giving to the church. It has nothing to do with tithing, it’s not legalistic, and I certainly believe it reflects biblical principles. And honestly, I believe that if it was fully taught, we’d never have trouble meeting budget.

If we're to have traditions, let's recognize them as such.
Now, it may be that a particular body of believers gets together and decides that 10% is a good measure of what a their members ought to give as a minimum. But let's not be all pious about it and resort to the kind of spiritual manipulation that I often hear such as "To be a Christian in good standing with God and the church, you must be giving at least 10% of your income." No, let's call this what it is: tradition. As I said, I'm not opposed to tradition if we can acknowledge it for what it is. Let's just not dress it up in Bible verses taken out of context and call it something that it's not.

As always, your comments, thoughts, questions and rebuttals are welcome below.