Should we tithe or give?

The Bible does not teach that Gentiles are to Tithe, that is where it ends for me, if people are teaching Tithing I would like to see their Scriptural Support for Gentiles to Tithe.

 

Give, but the tithe is the least we should give.

 

Scarlett, excellent thoughts!

 

Scarlett's quote...
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I've always wondered why people who don't believe in tithing get so annoyed with those of us who do?
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Perhaps because those who believe they should tithe because the O.T. commands it choose to ignore the parts of the O.T. they don't really want to follow.

Those of us who give as we have decided in our own hearts, per 2 Cor. 9:7 are seen as somehow lesser Christians by those who boast of their tithing.

I have seen that those who tithe are usually very stingy beyond that point.

Most seem to see it as a limit, freeing them from any sacrificial giving.

Tithing is a tax and a commandment.

New Testament giving is an offering from the heart, not reluctantly or under cumpulsion.
{Also 2 Cor. 9:7.}

Jews today do not tithe as they realize it is impossible to fulfill the requirements of it.

MR

 

Tithing for me is an act of faithfulness and I look forward to tithing, many people are stingy with their money and think that the church runs on love alone. A lot of people use the church and all it's ammenities but don't even support the church financialy. Is someone unsaved if they don't tithe? Of course not...but like I said above, it is an act of faithfulness for me. Do I boast about my tithing? No. Do I think less about those who don't? No. It is a personal decision and I choose to do it.

 

If Scarlett tells you that she tithes, then she tithes. Do away with the techno-speak, or the plain double talk. She has decided to tithe, and so she does. Don't infer that she is lying by calling it something else. That is repulsive.
It is also repulsive that you should call a doctrine that many Godly people on this board believe in and practice "heresy." To infer that so many are heretics is not wise. Please refrain from doing so. Furthermore those that tithe are not necessarily in bondage. As Scarlett pointed out, they do it out of their heart, and out of obedience to God. Your words offend many, no matter how sincerely you believe them to be true.

Concerning tithing:
Abraham tithed to Melchizedek (a Christophany), which was pre-law.
Jacob tithed to the Lord at Bethel, which was also pre-law.
Malachi, during the Law, sets out some very good principles of tithing.
Jesus, in his own time said:

Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Christ never condemned tithing, he encouraged it. "This ought you to have done." Never did he put an end to tithing.

If the excuse is given that this is during the law, because he is speaking to a Pharisee, or because it is before the cross, then by the same logic were the disciples of Christ really saved because Christ hadn't died yet? Were they just Old Testament saints? That is not what Peter's confession says.
John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets. The law ended with him. Thus tithing was before the law, during the law, and after the law. From that a reasonable argument can be made for tithing today
DHK

 

If someone brings up the Malachi passage, I am going to comment that I tested God according to his declaration therein, and no 'blessing' resulted from it. The correlation coefficient simply fell out; the test failed.

Now, how about you? Have you tithed, and you now grow such bountiful crops that no barn can hold them? Or, if you are unbiblically limiting this to money, is there no bank big enough to hold all your "blessings?"

 

The Bible holds a constant thread that we are to give "of the firstfruits" of our labor. Sacrificial giving is to be done as an act of faith (the widows 2 mites). Whether you call it tithe or offering, it is important that the giving is at least a certain minimum that you feel led to set. Whether that is 10% or some other number, it is an act of faith to give it from the firstfruits (before allocating out for other obligations), rather than out of what's left when all else is done. This is what God blesses.

That being said, we should in no way limit our giving by saying "God led me to give 10% off the top and that is all I give". Giving should be from the heart and not limited to a fixed amount. I only meant that the fixed amount is to be a minimum given by faith.

 

For some ten percent of zero is still zero. Others do not have anything to give and should be given to.

 

Yeah. Ain't it?

I didn't expect anything, but to disprove all the junk I had been hearing. Example: The woman retired from the cotton mill who claimed she resolved to give at least a complete tithe 14 years before she retired, "...and I only missed 6 days of work, being sick, for those 14 years!" I guess it's too bad God doesn't do things completely, and he didn't see to that she missed no days by being sick; ain't it? Another one was a friend about 30, near my age at the time, who claimed she started tithing and all her bills were paid on time, her kids had food, and the money..."I just don't know where it all comes from!" Evidently she must have thought anonymous donors make deposits to her bank account and she doesn't bother to balance it; or maybe currency appears in her purse out of thin air. No, she probably meant it was something like grocery specials occur at exactly the right time for what she needs, or that God makes them so confortable they don't have to use much air or heat, or maybe that He provides special effectiveness for their cheap insulation, or He keeps her car from having trouble; things like that. Regardless, there was nothing to indicate any blessing so vast nothing she could contain it; she seemed to contain it rather well.

I don't either. The 2 possibilities were that He did fail me in this test, or that this test is not applicable to New Testament Christians. As I said, I think it was the latter.

The Malachi test is to look for a blessing such that I/we cannot have room enough for it. Is that the one that was not produced? Yes.

Have you known people who virtually, if not in fact, swear by something like a fad diet plan or a book on self-help? Or achieving their greater spiritual selves, as taught by Bhuddaism? or yoga? These people become committed to what they are doing and aver that it works for them-- because they are so determined for something to work for them. that they give it their time and dedication, and yes, much of their money. And tehy think because of all this they are controlling something from the spiritual realm, because they are wasting all this if they don't perceive it to 'work.' So they do. That is what people like you do with the tithing issue. Rarely does someone resolve to be a tither, or more than a tither, if they are not firmly committing more than their money. So then you think all this just has to work. If you really don't think this is what you are doing, then consider the Mormons; they are among the most rigid of tithers, as part of their commitment to their church, and they make the same claims you make about how they are "blessed" by doing this. But presumably you are an working adult, who has ends to meet, and you are meeting them your way, which includes your commitments including tithing; so it's not to be expected that you can see in yourself what you know to be erroneous in others.

[quote} was right. God, the Father, in His discourse in Malachi was right. No barn can hold ANY of that increase.[/QUOTE]Now that's interesting. Your blessings are intangible, and that is the reason no barn can hold them. That nullifies any test on the matter. BTW, have you noticed that the blessings you claim by your commitment to God is our commitment to God? Cause = Resultalso nullifies any test.

If I haven't made it plain, I was testing this according to what many preachers, writers, and Christians giving "testimonies" claim-- that you will have more money by giving 10% (at least) to the church than if you kept it all. That is precisely what the pastor of my church at the time said, directly citing the Malachi passage. My endeavor was to show there is somethng wrong with that... that is is not mystically simple, or that this does not apply to NT Christians, as it was declared to an agrarian socity with a complex system of temple worship and sacrifice.

Say that if you want to, but I will quote: "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows"" (Malachi 3:10, NASB).

That's the point here-- that people like you want to condemn someone for not trusting God if they don't so something NT Christians are not required to do.

There is no need to restate what I have said my conclusions are about my statistical test.

Well, we learn something new every day.!

Likewise.

[ February 21, 2005, 01:50 AM: Message edited by: Alcott ]

 

Hey guys...I agree that tithing as taught in most Baptist churches isn't what the Bible actually teaches but I'll stop short of calling it heresy and I do think we that do understand the scriptures rightly divided on this subject need to "lighten up" on those who do choose to use a tithe(tenth)as a measuring stick or starting point on their giving if they are giving out of a heart dedicated honestly to the Lord.I get equally as "chapped" as some of you when I hear a preacher preach a curse on his people out of Malachi which they shouldn't be under but I'll just about GUARANTEE you that all they are doing is preaching what they were TAUGHT to preach.....and NEVER questioned it.We should teach and inform others of the truth....but NOT condemn innocent brothers and sisters who are simply trying to be faithful to the Lord in their giving.....however misplaced it may be.Now...the qualifier is that if someone is neglecting the needs of their family or their legitimate obligations in order to meet the edict of a mis-informed preacher...that may be cause for true concern.JMO


Greg Sr.

 

Great post Greg.

Paul, led by the Holy Spirit said that "each man should give as he has decided in his heart," not as someone else has decided he should give.

MR

 

Israel back then was ruled under the theocracy form of government, wherein one rule is to give tithes, which are given then to the priests at that time. it is totally inapplicable today, as it is a nation-rule, and not a church requirement.

as for the church, members are instructed to give out of their heart's desire, from zero to everything.