Tithes and Offerings under grace
Jesus rebuked the scribes and pharisees over their insistence of equating the strength of their faith based on their tithes: But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone (Luke 11:42). They had become so concerned with honoring this portion of the Law that they forgot about the grace of God. They had taken their tithing to the extend that even out of the herbs and spices they grew they were offering a tithe. Jesus rebuked those that equated salvation and faith with tithing through the teaching of this parable: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted (Luke 18:10-14).
Jesus really identified the core teaching behind tithes and offerings in commenting on something that happened as He was teaching the crowd: And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had (Luke 21:1-4). Surely from a financial viewpoint, this widow’s two mites were worthless to the amount of money donated by the rich men but it wasn’t the amount that was given that matters the most. It was the condition of the heart that was behind the giving. The apostle Paul understood this well and even taught it to the early Christians in Corinth: Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).
Giving and the Christian
I understand that this has been a longer entry than I normally do but there is so much that needs to be said about Christian giving. There are so many misconceptions, so many wrong ideas, and so many who distort what the Bible says about it to support their personal agenda. I’ve heard some comments and view points about tithing from well-meaning Christians that are just as untrue. Personally, I believe that we need to stay true to the terms as defined in the Bible. If we say we are going to tithe or claim that we are tithing, then what we place in the offering plate should be 10% or one-tenth of our income. This tithe also belongs to the local New Testament church and not to this ministry or other web-based ministries, or televangelist. Now, are Christians required to tithe? No, but we should be willing to do so if we feel the leading of the Holy Spirit. Offerings are anything other than the tithe, regardless of the type or amount of the offering or to whom it is given. The tithe that is to be the main financial support of the local ministry. Unlike the days of the Old Testament, we are under grace. It is the condition of the heart of the giver that matters to the Lord.
In all honesty, because of bad financial decisions I have made before I became a real born-again believer in 2006, I am not in the financial situation to tithe. However, I do not let my financial situations become the reasons I give for not giving to the Lord. I still give offerings, including to missionaries, because I not only feel the leading of the Holy Spirit in my life, but because I want to show my faith and love to the Lord. I once heard a sermon by the late Lester Rollof who said, “I’ll show you a man’s real love by showing you the ledger of his checkbook,” and I do believe that this is true. There is a joy that comes from self-less giving that simply cannot be explained in words. Don’t give if you feel you can’t or if you truly don’t have the desire because God does not need money given by someone who is doing it out of anything other reason than love and adoration for Him.
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