I heard about tithing when I was a little boy. I don’t really remember ever not knowing about giving in church. Mom or dad would always make sure I had some money to put into the plate. And I noticed they always gave money also.
I also don’t remember discussing tithing with my wife Luaine when we got married. She also was raised in a good Christian Baptist family, and we just did it. Tithing is just part of our Christian DNA, I guess.
Tithing is God’s perfect plan for financing the work and ministry of the church. When every Christian is obedient to God with the tithe there are no financial difficulties in the church.
I believe that every genuine Christian wants to be obedient and to please God. I don’t think we want to deliberately, by choice, ignore what God’s Word instructs us.
Yet I’m quite concerned that tithing is not part of the Christian DNA for many, and especially young adults and young people. They’ve never been taught the freedom and joy of tithing.
I have sometimes hesitated to preach on the subject of tithing. I don’t really know why. Maybe because some churches always ask for money. Maybe because of TV preacher scams.
Maybe because the health and wealth people make totally unfounded and unscriptural promises of unrealistic blessings if you simply have enough faith and will give to them.
But we must understand the basics of God’s truth about the tithe. So today, this is a teaching sermon about the liberty we have in tithing and about joyous giving.
The first time the tithe is mentioned is in Genesis 14:20. Abram was returning from a great victory of rescuing his nephew, Lot. As he returned, Melchizedek, the priest of God, blessed him. Genesis 14:20b, Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Later, Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, had a dream of a ladder from earth to heaven. When he awoke he said to God in Genesis 28:22, “This stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”
As you search the Scriptures you will discover Leviticus. Leviticus is a book of instructions and laws from God to His chosen people. Leviticus 27:30, A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.
And one of the most familiar, Malachi 3:8 - 10 8“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
So we see that in the Old Testament God clearly declares that the, “Tithe is the Lord’s.” This is the beginning point. The New Testament continues the teaching. In Matthew 23:23 Jesus accused the Pharisees of tithing with the wrong attitude and motives (see also Luke 11:42). This is one of the “woe to you” passages when Jesus is getting after the religious leaders.
In essence He said, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!” They were giving their tithes, but neglecting justice and mercy and righteous. He insisted they must not neglect the latter, nor the tithe.
The book of Hebrews is a letter that circulated throughout the Christian community. The writer wrote a whole section on the tithe in relation to Christ in Chapter 7. In ten verses the author mentioned the tithe, or the tenth, 7 times.
When you see the word for tithe, it is the same word as “tenth.” The bottom line is that tithing, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, is scriptural.
If you do not tithe, you do not believe the Bible. If you do not tithe you are disobedient to God. If you do not tithe you do not acknowledge God ownership of everything, including you. If you do not tithe, then Jesus Christ is not and cannot be Lord of your life.
Tithing is very personal. The most sensitive nerve in the human body is the one that leads to the pocketbook. People are sensitive about their money. That’s okay! Money represents your toil, your talents, and your efforts.
Jesus understood just how sensitive we are about our money. Of His 38 parables, a third of them have to do with possessions and money. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke one out of every six verses refers to the stewardship of possessions.
Why does Jesus talk so much about our stuff? Because He wants us to be more concerned about our relationship with God than with our sensitivity about our money and stuff.
The Bible never whitewashes the human condition. It describes us pretty well. And throughout Scripture money played an important role. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver (Matt. 27:33). The rich young ruler claimed to keep all the commandments, but refused to give up his things for Jesus (Matt. 19:16-22).
And you remember the story in 2 Kings 5 of how the prophet Elijah refused payment after Naaman washed in the Jordan and was healed of his leprosy. Well, behind Elijah’s back his servant Gahaza went after Naaman and tried to get the money for himself. Of course he was found out and Naaman’s leprosy came on him.
In the New Testament Paul was kept in prison as Governor Felix hoped to get bribe money out of him (Acts 24:26). After the resurrection Roman soldiers were offered money to lie about whether Jesus had come out of the grave or not.
So even in the Bible you see that money played an important part in people’s lives. God knows us well—how we cling to our stuff, how we want more and better stuff; and how we begin trusting our stuff instead of God.
So God warns us about putting our trust in money. From Mt. Sinai God said in Exodus 20:17, You shall not covet… because He knows what our tendencies are.
Jesus, in the greatest sermon ever preached, boiled it down to his in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Why do the scriptures speak so intensely about money and possessions? Because our possessions represent us and our money. They represent how we live.
Tithing is intensely personal because it hits us exactly where we live, and Jesus knew it. That’s why He speaks to us about it. In fact, Jesus said in Luke 16:11, “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”
In 2 Corinthians 9 the Apostle Paul said several things about a giving church: (Read 2 Cor. 9:10-13). 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 are about generosity.
Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to generously give, as the Macedonians had, to the great offering he was taking to the saints in Jerusalem. Now in 2 Corinthians 9:10-13 we see that…
Why are we here? We are here to honor and glorify God. This is the chief aim and end of man. Verse 11, Your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. Verse 12, …overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Verse 13, Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God…
When we take our possessions and give them to Jesus, God is glorified. When I say, “Lord, you’ve got me, including my money,” then I am glorifying God.
Paul said in v. 12, This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people…. And in v. 13, Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.
When we give we bless others, we bless people. When we bring the tithe, God’s money, to the church, it’s a service to others.
In v. 13 again Paul said that men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ.
“Pastor, I don’t know how we can make it if we obey God and start tithing.” This is where the discipline and self-blessing come in.
You tighten your belt and you discover that the remaining nine-tenths begin to go farther. You begin to watch what you buy more closely. You pray and think about something before you buy. You may decide you don’t need that new item after all.
You start drawing the line on debt so that you’re not beholden to the creditors and under the cloud of monthly payments. And an amazing thing begins to happen.
You begin to understand that all you have belongs to God anyway. In the discipline of giving you discover freedom. It seems a paradox, but it’s true.
The Greek word means “tenth.” The standard College Dictionary says the tithe is the tenth part of anything; a tax or assessment of one tenth.
Maybe you don’t work outside the home and your spouse won’t tithe. What do you do? Does God hold you responsible? No! You’re only responsible for what God gives you. God doesn’t hold you responsible for what another person does not do.
You can’t give what you haven’t got. God knows. It’s your attitude, what’s on your heart that God cares about.
Though the Bible doesn’t specifically say so, I’m sure He did. He taught the tithe. Remember He told the Pharisees that there are more important things, like judgment and mercy, but the tithe should not be left undone.
But the most important reason I believe He tithed was because His enemies looked for anything they could to criticize Him. They said He ate with sinners; that He broke the Sabbath laws; that He spoke to women.
Those super legalistic religious people looked for anything to get Him. The watched Him closely. But one thing they never said about Him was that He didn’t tithe.
When the disciples found the coin in the fish (John 23), Jesus said, “Give Caesar what is Caesar’s. Give God what is God’s.” He also said that He came to fulfill the law, not take it away (Matt. 5:17). So, yes, Jesus tithed.
This is always a good question. Maybe you are a giver. And you give 5 percent to Billy Graham, and you give another 5 percent to a TV preacher, and you give a little bit to the church. You may even go farther and give to this good cause and that good cause.
That’s wonderful! Keep it up. But that’s not tithing. The Bible tells us that the tithe, the tenth, is to be brought to the storehouse, which today is the local church where you receive spiritual nourishment and fellowship. Look at this passage in 2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 31:11-12, 11Hezekiah gave orders to prepare storerooms in the temple of the Lord, and this was done. 12Then they faithfully brought in the contributions, tithes and dedicated gifts.
From the time of Hezekiah there was in the sanctuary a storehouse to receive the tithes and offerings of God’s people. You see this also in Nehemiah 10:38-39. The people brought their offerings to one place.
The New Testament counterpart is the local church. Giving elsewhere before giving the tenth to your church is a matter of defrauding God. It’s disobedience to God
Gifts to other ministries and good humanitarian causes should always be over and beyond your regular tithes and offerings. Why? Because it is here that we receive our primary ministry, and our fellowship, and privileges of service.
Bring your tithe to the church. The tenth goes into the general budget of the church. Then we tithe 13 ½ percent to the Cooperative Program and the Association.
If every member would bring their tenth to the church we would be able to support more missionaries, more ministries, and send more people on mission trips, without having to have fundraisers, which I don’t like as long as our budget is not being met.
One of the things I’ve always appreciated about the Billy Graham ministry is his insistence that we bring our tithes to the church first, and then, if we are so led, to support his work as an over and beyond gift.
It is a joy to give. Obedient giving brings freedom to your life. Come and place your total resources at God’s disposal—everything you are, everything you own, and everything you hope to be. This is what God wants from you. When you live with this attitude the tithe is easy—part of your Christian DNA.