Is the tithe for today?

I’m not sure what you were trying to communicate here, brother (or why you decided to insult....or try to insult...me). I am not so engaged in your ideas to be one of your critics. I did try to be a friend, but not a critic.

What I said was that the comment reminded me of a Flannery O’Connor story (along the lines of Greenleaf...watch those horns ). Do you have something against O’Connor?

I still think this is a good topic. What do you think was the significance of the tithe in the Old Testament? Do you think that it translates in some way towards New Testament giving?

 

That’s fine, as I didn’t feel insulted (I just wondered why the comment).

Scripture speaks of people who were not under the Law. Yet Abraham tithed. So there is a difference, I believe, between looking at tithing as something adhered to under the Law yet made obsolete with the New Covenant. For example, Paul points us to the Abrahamic Covenant with Christ as the Seed and believers as the children of that Promise. So we need to be careful not to ignore what was taught as the Old Testament not only finds expression in the New Testament, but it is essential in learning about the New Testament.

No one is trying to legalistically bind you. This was not an insightful comment on your part. What people are doing is discussing wither or not the Tithe is an active command for the Church. Whether we “can afford” to give 10% does not determine the legitimacy of tithing. Don't forget, there are commands in the Old Testament that we typically believe are commands for today (although not necessarily "under the Law"). We are, for example, to love our neighbor; to love God; to honor our parents; to refrain from stealing...ect.).

Also, New Testament giving was not merely giving freely and the fact that they freely gave describes the character of the people – NOT the gift itself. What describes the gift is that it was not of their abundance (what was left over) but was sacrificial. They gave joyfully and they gave sacrificially.

 

The only thing worse than that would be the pastor looking over the finance records and seeing who is giving how much - and if you dont "tithe" you are not allowed to have any church positions.

 

You misunderstand. Do you think that we are still bound to the command that we honor and obey our parents? It was a command implied with Noah and his sons and one given later under the Law. Do you think that a preacher who teaches we are to obey and honor our parents is legalistic binding children?

I hope you don't. It is the same with tithing. I do not believe the tithe is for today. But I do believe it finds an expression in the Church - NONE of God's words return void. So you have to ask yourself....what is that expression? You can't say "free-giving" because that is not biblical. You can say free, joyful and sacrificial giving but then you have to acknowledge that the 10% was but a shadow and question what you do with the 90%.

The problem is that you are describing anyone who disagrees with you as trying to "bind" you when instead they probably feel absolutely no responsibility for your choices and are offering you biblical answers for the questions you ask. There is no where in Scripture that the tithe is said to have been done away with, but there are hints that the tithe may also find it's fulfillment in Christ.

So here's a pretty good exercise, I think: When you give biblically, you give sacrificially. Make a list of those things you have sacrificed in order to give to your church. Look at that list along with your monthly budget, paying close attention to what you've spent.

 

It was public info! Thats how I learned about it.