This course is designed
to emphasize the importance of tithes and offerings and show that
tithing is still a valid practice within the church today.
Furthermore, it is the goal of this course to evaluate typical
tithing practices of Christians and understand that many are not in
line with what the Bible says.
Class:
Tithing
Getting Started
Please answer the
following questions before reading through the rest of the course.
What percent do you
believe the average Christian tithes of their income?
What would you
guess the average Christian gives to their church per year in
dollars?
How would you
characterize your own giving? in %in $
In the Beginning
Sacrifice starts all the
way at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis with Adam and Eve.
After they sinned, they realized they were naked and they were
ashamed. They tried covering their nakedness on their own and
hid from God but it did not help. God sacrificed an animal to
create clothing for them.
The first time we hear
of man making a sacrifice is in the story of Cain and Abel.
Genesis 4:2-7 tells us part of the story. "...Abel kept
flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain
brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.
But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his
flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So
Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord
said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you
do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires
to have you but you must master it.'"
What was the difference between Cain
and Abel's offerings?
Why was Cain not doing
what was right?
When it comes to tithes,
offerings, or even our worship, our attitude is the most important
thing. We can see Cain's attitude reflected in this passage.
He brought "some of the fruits of the soil." He didn't bring
the best, he didn't bring his first harvest. Abel brought from
the firstborn of his flock. Abel didn't even know if he would
have any more born into his flock, because these were the first.
He didn't wait to tally everything up at the end to see if he had
anything left that he could bring.
It can also be assumed
that Cain knew his sacrifice wasn't acceptable to God. The
only example we have of sacrifice before this is God sacrificing an
animal. However, when Cain and Abel go to sacrifice, we hear of no
specific command. They must have known, either from God's
earlier example or from previous experience, what God expected of
them.
God addresses Cain as one would a child who has done
something wrong and the child knows they have done it.
Cain becomes angry and ultimately kills his brother because of
jealousy that God accepted Abel's sacrifice.
Throughout the Old Testament, God institutes numerous types of
sacrifices, each one of them being a picture of something- most
pointing to Jesus Christ as the ultimate sacrifice for sins.
By offering up his own type of sacrifice, Cain was unknowingly
saying that he didn't need Jesus as a sacrifice and that he could
make a sacrifice that was just as good.
Sacrifices were not
instituted because God wanted to have a fund raiser. They were
instituted to make a point.
The Law
God gave Israel strict
guidelines concerning their tithes. Deuteronomy 14:22 says,
"Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each
year." Part of the tithe was to go to the Levites (priests) so
that they may survive. God had given them no inheritance or
land as he had the other tribes of Israel. Without land to
grow food on, they had to rely on the tithe from the other
Israelites.
This correlates with
pastors today. Full time pastors do not work a "real job" and
so they must depend on the tithes of the church so that they may
survive. The Levites however, still had to give a tenth
of what they received as a tithe. Numbers 18:26 says, "'Speak
to the Levites and say to them: "When you receive from the
Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must
present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord's offering."'"
The Israelites were not
always faithful in giving their tithes or supporting the temple and
the priests. By Malachi's day, God had had enough and he was
very angry with the people. God calls upon the people to
return to tithing and he would be faithful to bless them.
Malachi 3:8-12 - "'Will
a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, "How do we
rob you?" In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse
- the whole nation of you - because you are robbing me. Bring
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. I will
prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your
fields will not cast their fruit,' says the Lord Almighty.
'Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a
delightful land,' says the Lord Almighty."
In light of the fact
that God says he has placed the entire nation of Israel under a
curse for not properly tithing, do you believe that God could/would
place a curse upon an entire church or even denomination that has
been unfaithful in their giving?
What do you think about
God's promise to bless those who are faithful in tithing? Is
it literal? Is it a physical blessing or spiritual blessing?
Is it still a promise for today?
Tithing Today
Dr. Elmer Towns teaches
a lesson called "Who Owns Your French Fries?" In it, he tells
the story of a father and son who have gone out for dinner at a
local fast food restaurant. As they are eating, the father
reaches over to grab one of his sons french fries as fathers so
often do. However, the little boy slaps his father's hand and
says, "Don't touch my french fries." The father is taken aback
and considers his son's selfishness. He bought the french
fries and by right, the fries belong to him. Furthermore, his
son belongs to him. The father has the right to become angry
and never buy his son fries again. He leaves the restaurant
wondering, "Why is my son so selfish? I gave him a whole
package of fries and I only wanted one.
The idea behind the
story is that God has given us all that we have. When he asks
us for just a small portion, we often slap his hand and tell him to
stay away from our stuff. God likewise has the ability to
prevent us from obtaining anything else. Or he can shower us
with blessings like he promised the Israelites in Malachi 3.
It is his choice.
Numerous people argue
that tithing is no longer required in the church age because there
is no mention of giving a tenth in the New Testament.
Obviously, many things changed when Jesus came. But he also
told us not to think that he had come to abolish the law, but rather
to fulfill it.
Many of the sacrifices
that the Israelites made are no longer valid because they pointed to
Christ. For example, we no longer have to sacrifice a lamb for
our sins because Christ made that sacrifice one and for all.
However, the reason for tithing was to support the work of the
temple. Today, we still have the work of the church to
support.
Jesus tells us in
Matthew 6:19-21, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust
do not destroy, and where thieves do break in and steal. For
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." He
continues in verses 31-34, "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we
eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For
pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows
that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
God expects us to put
our money where our mouth is. If we believe that it is
important for the church to reach our community, our friends, and
the entire world, we need to invest our money in this. Rest
assured, such an investment will pay dividends that will not be lost
if the stock market crashes or if a natural disaster takes all that we
have on earth.
Many people claim that
they would like to give more to the church but they simply cannot
because of their bills. Obviously in some cases this is true,
especially involving medical expenses or people on fixed incomes.
However, for many people, this is a simple lack of faith.
People will not trust God enough to take care of them if they give
more money to their church. They'll have plenty of excuses,
but this is what it boils down to.
So are we commanded in
the New Testament to give a tenth of our income? No, there is
no direct commandment. Nor is there any statement saying that
the system of tithing was obsolete and unneeded. Why is there
little to be said about tithes and offerings in the New Testament?
My best assumption is
that the early church didn't need to be reminded of it. They
simply did it and did it with the right attitude. In the Old
Testament, we read where God had become angry with the Israelites
for not tithing. The New Testament had no such need to remind.
At the very beginning of
the church, we see Christians giving. Not only is this ten
percent of what they own, they give everything. Acts 4:32-35
tells us, "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No
one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared
everything they had. With great power the apostles continued
to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was
upon them all. There were no needy persons among them.
For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them,
brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet,
and it was distributed to anyone as he had need."
Is it any wonder that
the early church grew at such a phenomenal rate?
Five Motivations
After we give our
tithes, they are the church's to do with as it sees fit.
However, each of us has a preference as to where we would like to
see the majority of our money spent. These things become our
main motivation for giving.
There are five
motivations, as identified by Jerry Falwell. They are: Light and Heat
Bills, Missions, Ivy Walls, Cup of Cold Water, Bricks and Mortar.
Light and Heat Bills
- Some people are motivated to take care of the day to day
operations of the church - make sure it keeps running smoothly.
These people give to the general fund that pays for the most basic
expenses such as electricity and church staff salaries.
Missions - Some
are motivated by seeing their money go to work outside the church.
This can be in supporting overseas missionaries, or supporting an
outreach project. These people can even be motivated just to
pay for advertising for the church - anything that gets the word
out.
Ivy Walls - Some
people are motivated most to support education. These people
will give more readily if they know the money will support the
Sunday school program, a Christian school, or even a church camp.
Cup of Cold Water
- Some are most motivated by the "social gospel" - if you meet the
needs of others, they are more likely to be receptive to the gospel.
These people will support food banks, homeless shelters, hospitals,
and emergency relief programs.
Bricks and Mortar
- Some are motivated best by seeing physical growth in the church.
These people are most likely to give when there is a building
project going on and money is needed to physically expand the
borders of the church.
Which of these five
motivates you to give most?
Real Numbers
Finally, we come down to
real numbers. What is normal for a Christian? How much
much does the average person give? What does the average
church need to operate?
I will answer the last
question first from my own experience. I have not seen any
numbers to actually back this up but it has been true in every
church I've been associated with. The church needs about
$1,000 per person in attendance per year. That means, if your
church is averages 70 people on Sunday, your operating budget is
probably around $70,000. If the church averages 1,000 on a
Sunday, the operating budget is probably around $1,000,000 per year.
Please note however, I've only dealt with churches in rural areas.
Churches in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, or Philadelphia will
likely require more per member because of a higher price for
everything in the area.
I've been given two
different numbers concerning how much money Christians give per
year. Neither number is reassuring. George Barna (from
barna.org)
reports that average giving is $488 per year. Jerry Falwell
reports $520 a year. Using either number, this means two things.
1) Many churches are not meeting their budget
2) Churches that are meeting budget probably have a couple of people
who give way over average
Even taking the higher
figure, this means the average Christian gives $10 a week. If
they eliminated going out to eat once a week at $5 a week and
instead gave that to the church, offerings would increase 50% in one
year.
If an average couple
makes $35,000 a year (some places this is high, some way low for two
people) and they tithed ($1,750 per person) offerings would triple
in a year's time.
So what percent does the
average Christian give? Only about 2.6% of their total
income. If all these
people gave 10% church offerings would increase almost 400%.
Imagine what your church could do with 4 times as much money as what
they are currently receiving.
These are all averages.
Your church may be doing much better. Cost of living may be
higher in your area, meaning $520 is a lot less in New York City
than it is in the middle of Iowa. But just think of the
implications if everyone was willing to give 10%.
It all comes down to,
"Are we willing to give a portion of what we have back to God?"
The New Testament doesn't give us a number. The Old Testament
gave us 10%. The New Testament gives us an example of
believers who gave everything. The Old Testament tells us that
God will bless us immensely if we are willing to give a tithe.
The New Testament saw a church that grew rapidly because the
believers were willing to give.
Are we willing to give
and trust God with the investment?
Before
submitting, be sure you have filled in all of the answers. You
may wish to print your responses for your own personal use.
You may do so by pressing ctrl-P.
