Tithing is a systematic practice of giving ten percent of your income to a church, Christian organization or cause. The basic idea for the modern-day Christian practice finds its roots in the Bible’s Old Testament when God gave ancient Israel 613 total laws to live by as part of a covenant with His people.
There were laws included about giving tithes of specific resources as part of God’s system to provide for the priests, the Levites, and the poor in Israel. In all, tithing under the Law amounted to much more than 10%, with most estimating about 23%.
So the Christian practice is not the practice of ancient Israel. Instead, it is a concept derived from there and then morphed to fit modern-day mindsets and systems of religion.
Different denominations create different philosophies on the practice for different reasons, but we won’t get into those here. We’ll deal generally with the validity of Christians teaching and practicing the doctrine of tithing.
Covenants and tithes
In order to understand the conclusions we’ll reach, it’s first important to understand the idea of covenants and the different types of covenants in the Bible.
Essentially, a covenant was an ancient near Eastern way to make a relational commitment. In the biblical sense, it is the terms by which God has partnered with humans to move God’s redemption plan forward. The covenant lays out the relational commitment being made by all parties.
Throughout the biblical story, God makes five key covenants with humanity (Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus).
In BibleProject’s article on these covenants, they point out how the covenants relate to each other…
Do you notice how the covenants progressively build upon one another, forming a complete redemptive storyline? God preserved the world through Noah, initiated redemption through Abraham, established the nation of Israel through Moses, promised an eternal shepherd-king through David, and then fulfilled all of his covenants through Jesus.
With each covenant, God’s promises and plans to save the world through the seed of the woman become clearer and clearer until we finally see that redemption can only come through King Jesus.
In the covenant with Moses (the “Old” covenant where the concept of the tithe was included), God commits to making Israel a kingdom of priests that will spread God’s blessing to all the nations if they commit to obeying all the laws he gives Moses at Mount Sinai. If they don’t, it would bring curses.
This was an external covenant of behaviors.
Fast forward to the covenant with Jesus and you find one that is wholly different, complete, new and better (Heb 7:22, 9:15). Instead of obeying external laws, God writes his law on the hearts of His people so they can partner with Him in the same way Adam and Eve were originally designed to, causing eternal life to spread and flourish on earth as it is in heaven.
Is tithing found throughout the entire Bible?
It is taught quite frequently that tithing is found throughout the entire Bible. This is true…in a way. It’s found in biblical stories before the Law, during the Law and after the Law.
It’s mentioned before the Law when Abraham gave a tithe to Melchizedek (Gen 14:20). It was a part of the laws that God gave ancient Israel in the Old Covenant to provide for the priests, the Levites and the poor in Israel. (Lev. 27:30) And Jesus mentioned tithing in the New Testament when talking to Pharisees. (Matt. 23:23)
But teaching that tithing is a biblical principle is deceptive.
Abraham lived before the Law and was under a different covenant with God that tithing wasn’t a part of. God’s covenant with Abraham was on the basis of faith. Abraham’s tithe to Melchizedek had nothing to do with God blessing him. It also had nothing to do with God fulfilling His promise.
The same was true of Isaac, and Jacob had no faith and tried to manipulate God by making a deal with Him instead of believing His promise.
While the concept of the tithe is seen a couple times before the Law, it wasn’t an instruction from God before the Law. Even if it was, it wouldn’t matter because we don’t live before the Law.
As mentioned, during the Law God required much more than a tithe. There were a lot more things included in that system. The perception that tithing was 10% of a person’s income is inaccurate.
Also, the tithe wasn’t a gift. It was a tax.
It was the way God was working with people that had a fallen nature.
After the Law, everything changed at the cross.
An error that infiltrates churches is teaching that parts of the Law still pertain to Christians (usually ones that fit some kind of agenda). Teachers and preachers will use verses throughout the entire Bible to support the concept of tithing as a Christian practice.
But in order to do so, they must handle the Scriptures in ways they weren’t designed to be handled. They take those verses out of context and piece them together to form the doctrine.
The New Testament is very clear that putting ourselves under any part of the Law puts us under the whole Law. (Gal. 3:10-14, 5:18).
The cross was the hinge upon which mankind’s way of relating to God changed forever. It was no longer through external regulations. It was a way that no one had ever lived on planet earth before, and the way the first humans were designed to live. The Old Covenant became “weak and worthless” (Heb. 7:18) compared to being a child of God whose Spirit lives within you.
Where tithing fits in
So tithing is biblical…IF you’re an ancient Israelite living under the Law. While there can be some well-sounding arguments put forth using Scripture to defend the idea of tithing for those under the New Covenant, all of them mishandle the Scriptures in some way or another.
While those that sincerely believe it’s what the Scripture teaches, it is sincerely wrong.
The bottom line is tithing, as well as all of the 613 laws, is not for God’s new humanity. They were nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14). They are obsolete.
Matthew E. Narramore, author of the book Tithing: Low-Realm, Obsolete & Defunct explains how it’s a mistake to use the Bible to support a doctrine of tithing for today…
Just because a story is in the Bible doesn’t mean that it portrays the will of God for the people involved. It certainly doesn’t mean that it is God’s will for us today in the New Covenant.
The Bible records many things that men did which were not the will of God. The Old Testament and the New Testament both record many things people did out of ignorance that were not the will or plan of God. Their stories are included for our benefit but they are not all patterns for us to follow today.
We have to rightly divide the scripture to apply it to our lives correctly. Life in the New Covenant is based on spiritual union with Jesus Christ, not on past examples of people who weren’t born again. The resurrected Lord Jesus Christ is the model for us today.
Using tithing Bible verses incorrectly
A great example of using the Scriptures incorrectly is taking things Jesus said and forgetting that the New Covenant didn’t begin until after Jesus death and resurrection. When Jesus referred to tithing, the people were still in the Old Covenant. He never taught that tithing would be a part of the New Covenant.
In fact, in Luke 18:9-14, he tells a parable where the person who is justified is the one who didn’t tithe. He was foreshadowing the New Covenant.
Getting free from and Old Covenant mentality can be challenging. Acts 15 chronicles how the church in Jerusalem was struggling with leaving it behind as they tried to work out how the Law should apply to new Gentile believers.
They concluded they would give them four instructions, but this was still erroneous thinking. One of the main issues was whether they should eat meat sacrificed to idols. Paul addressed this in 1 Corinthians. He said it was not an issue if you have a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 7 is the only place where tithing is mentioned after the Law, and this is used incorrectly as well. The author of Hebrews is arguing that Jesus is a greater high priest than any priest in the Old Covenant.
To make his point, he calls out how Jesus was prophesied as a high priest “after the order of Melchizedek” in Psalm 110. Abraham represented all of the Old Covenant priests (they were in his loins). His argument is that Abraham tithed to Melchizedek (not the other way around) and the one who received the tithe is greater than the one that gave it.
That’s it. It is not Scripture that teaches tithing is a part of the New Covenant.
Under the Law, God was limited by the nature of the people He was working with. You could say the Law was the best way He could work with humans at the time.
How a Christian relates to God
A Christian lives the Christian life by the Spirit, the indwelling Life of Christ. That’s the meaning of the term “Christian” (little anointed one). This is why you will read multiple times in the New Testament where a letter to a church first talks about the identity of the people being written to followed by “Therefore, walk by (or keep in step with or be led by) the Spirit.”
The truth is…
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor. 5:21)
A Christian has the same righteousness that Jesus has. They’ve accepted that their sin from the past, present and future has been removed and they’re seen as someone who has done everything right. This comes through faith, not the Law. It can be accepted or rejected, but it cannot be changed.
This is what baptism is all about. A person shares in Christ’s death (under the water) and His resurrection (up out of the water). Their relationship to the Father is now the same as Jesus’ relationship to the Father, and Jesus doesn’t tithe to the Father.
A Christian relates to God as a mature son. Check out what Paul wrote about this…
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters. Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. (Gal. 4:4-6)
Not only does a Christian have the same righteousness that Jesus has, they live and walk with the Father as Jesus does. Their new God-given nature directs their life. They don’t need rewards and punishments to motivate their behavior.
The Abrahamic covenant was a pre-cursor to the New Covenant. When Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son, he was asked to give everything. That’s how a Christian relates to God.
When Christians don’t know how to live by their new nature, they default back to looking for laws, rules and principles to guide their relationship with God. It amounts to a system of religion and becomes the spiritual paradigm through which they view their relationship with God.
Narramore goes on to say…
Laws, rules, principles, regulations, guidelines, formulas, methods, and systems do not define the New Covenant. There is only one issue, that is Christ himself living within. The very life that Christ now has is available to those who will enter into that dimension of life with him.
But to do so we must leave behind the old, carnal ways of religious tradition. It cannot be overemphasized that the key to life for a Christian is an understanding of what it means to be in Christ. Most of the church has not been taught that. Some who think they understand that truth are unknowingly negating it with other teachings and practices.
In many cases the whole spirit of giving has been distorted and what is being taught is much different from what we see in the lives of Jesus and the apostles.
When tithing is a law or formula, people are simply using the flesh to perform a religious work.
The problem with the doctrine of tithing
The problem with the doctrine of tithing is it encourages people to live by an external regulation rather than living by their new nature.
The main thing we learned under the Old Covenant was that humanity needed transformed hearts, not a set of rules, principles and laws that would please God. Without transformed hearts, humans are unable to hold up their end of that kind of covenant.
While some may suggest that tithing shows maturity and a willingness to obey God, it actually has the opposite effect. It keeps Christians immature because they resort to living by the flesh instead of the Life of Christ inside of them.
As Narramore points out…
The church has focused its attention on learning and applying principles, rather than knowing Jesus Christ, abiding in him, and expressing his life by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the New Covenant, God is first, last, and everything in between. He is the only thing. He is the all in all. There is nothing else.
When people try to put God first they end up with a lot of rules and principles for how that should be done. If they would let God be what he wants to be, the source of everything in their life, they would be free to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit without regard to any rules on how to put him first or how to be a good Christian.
When Christians live this way, it treats God like a genie in a bottle that we can manipulate by our actions. A relationship with God becomes a formula of works that are based in fear instead of faith. This does not please God…
For whatsoever is not of faith is sin. (Rom. 14:23b)
Paul makes it very clear in chapter 4 of Romans that we are children of God in Abraham’s family, and that being a part of that family is by faith alone. We are now joint heirs of everything.
No…salvation isn’t only for forgiveness of sin and a securing of an eternal destiny. But because that’s what’s mostly taught today, we default to thinking God’s blessing is based on things we do. But that’s just adding to the finished work of Christ, and it’s one of the enemy’s favorite strategies.
If he can get Christian’s to embrace an Old Covenant mentality in one area, it can spread to every area of life. As Galatians 5:9 says…
A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.
How a Christian gives
A Christian gives because giving is a part of their nature. It’s all the motivation they need. If they’re not motivated to give, the answer is not to implement regulations that will entice giving in order to gain something (blessing) or avoid something (curse).
The answer is to remind them of who they are. That’s the approach the first apostles took when they wrote letters to the churches they raised up.
Where tithing goes wrong
When churches preach and practice tithing, they think and relate to God by the Old Covenant paradigm. This deception is one of the enemy’s main tactics to keep churches immature and away from expressing their divine nature.
They start to believe things based on mishandled and misapplied Scriptures, like…
- If you don’t tithe, you are a God-robber
- A curse will come on you if you don’t tithe
- You can “prove God” when you tithe
- Tithing is a way to receive more from God
- Tithing puts God first in your life
There are many more deceptive philosophies around this topic related to these. None of them are Christian thoughts.
Where we go from here
We need to stop mixing the Old and New Covenants. It’s putting new wine into old wineskins (Lk 5:37-39). It’s also counterproductive. A Christian community’s goal is to learn to increasingly by motivated and animated by the Holy Spirit. Teaching living by an external regulation thwarts that.
We need a paradigm shift, not just in relation to tithing, but in relation to God and what has been done through the work of Jesus Christ.
If the Holy Spirit is leading you to practice tithing, do it! You are free in Christ to be led by His Spirit. But be careful that the Old Covenant mentality doesn’t grip you and take a hold.
Michael Fleming
Mike Fleming is the creator of Finding Healthy Church. Over 20 years ago, he was sparked by the frustration of failing to experience what the biblical story claimed a healthy church was like. He caught a vision and passion for seeing local churches be what they were designed by God to be. He shares what he's learning along the way so the health of local churches around the world are improved. He’s currently working on an eye-opening book that will help better understand what it means for a church to be healthy.