A QUESTION ABOUT TITHING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT Before I say anything about the content of this text I want to try to answer this question: Why is the Old Testament command to tithe not used by Paul in the New Testament to enforce his efforts to raise money from the churches? First Three Things That Are Not the Answer! 1. JESUS ABOLISHED IT It is not because Jesus abolished the tithe. You never read anything like, You have heard that it was said to you, Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse! But I say to you, Five percent will do, or even two. On the contrary Jesus says in Luke 11:42, Woe to you Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. So Jesus warns against making the tithe a religious cover for injustice and lovelessness. But he doesnt throw it out. He says, These you ought to have done. 2. PROPORTIONATE GIVING HAS CEASED TO BE THE RULE The reason Paul doesnt use the command to tithe is not because proportionate giving has ceased to be the rule. In 1 Corinthians Paul says, On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that contributions need not be made when I come. In other words, proportionate giving is still the rule. If you prosper more, you give more. If you prosper less, you give less. And that is exactly what tithing is. So there is no conflict here. Proportionate giving is still the rule, and that cant be why the command to tithe is not used. 3. MINISTRY NEEDS LESS MONEY NOW It cant be that the ministry needs less money in the New Testament. In Galatians 6:6 Paul says, Let him who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches. And in 1 Timothy 5:18 Paul talks about the payment that preachers and teachers should receive and says, You shall not muzzle and ox when it is treading out the grain, and, the labourer deserves his wages. Not only that, he expects the disabled poor in the church to be supported by some kind of systematic collection. This includes elderly widows in 1 Timothy 5 and the poor saints in Jerusalem (Romans 15:26). All that takes money. Not only that, he teaches that the churches should support financially the missionary enterprise of taking the gospel to the unreached peoples of the world. In Romans 15:24 he asks the Roman church to assist him on his way to Spain. And in 1 Corinthians 9:7 he says, Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Who tends a flock with out getting some of the milk? In other words, the teaching and preaching and caring and mission of the church all cost money, just like the temple service did in the Old Testament―in fact it probably cost a lot more because the mission of the church stands so much more in the forefront. So the reason the tithe is not commanded by Paul is not that Jesus abolished it. He didnt; he approved it. Nor was the reason that we should no longer give proportionately. We should, as we may prosper. The more you make, the more you give. Nor was it that the need of the ministry is less in the New Testament. Its not. Teaching, preaching, caring, missions all take money. Why, then, did Paul not use the command to tithe when encouraging this kind of giving in the church? THREE REASONS! 1. HE WANTED TO EMPHASIZE WILLINGNESS He didnt command a tithe because he wanted to emphasize willingness rather than constraint. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Another example of the principle here is when Paul writes to Philemon. He says, Though I am bold enough to command you to do what is required, yet for loves sake I prefer to appeal to you. And he says in 2 Corinthians 8:8, I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. So Paul downplays the possibility of commanding a certain level of giving because he wants to emphasize loving willingness rather than constraint. 2. HE WANTED TO EMPHASIZE LIBERALITY He didnt use the command to tithe because he wanted to emphasize liberality rather than limitation. He wanted to urge people beyond the old constraints of simple proportionate giving. For example, in 2 Corinthians 8:3 he commends the poverty stricken Macedonians like this:They gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favour of taking part in the relief of the saints. And in 2 Corinthians 9:6 he says, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. In other words the issue isnt meeting a minimum limit. The issue for Paul is how to unleash the maximum liberality. The command to tithe just doesnt suit this approach. 3. HE WANTED TO EMPHASIZE OUR DESIGNS FOR GIVING He didnt use the command to tithe because he wanted to emphasize that all our getting should be designed for giving. He says in Ephesians 4:28, Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labour, doing honest work with his hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need. In other words the alternative to stealing in Pauls mind is not working in order to get and have, but working in order to get and give. Everything we spend on ourselves should be to build a platform for giving, that is, for loving. Or, as Jesus taught, he is the Owner of all we have. We are just stewards commissioned to invest his money for his glory. And what glorifies him most is loving liberality from a simple base, not tithing from a palace. So the reason that Paul did not use the command to tithe in order to enforce his teaching about giving was that he wanted to emphasize willingness over constraint, and liberality over limitation, and a sense that all our money is Gods not just a tenth. How Do We Set Aside This Command? Now what does all this have to say to us about how we use Malachi 3:7—12? Verse 8 says that not tithing is the same as robbing God. Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, How are we robbing thee? In your tithes and offerings. And verse 10 commands tithing:Bring the full tithes into the storehouse. Now how does Pauls approach to giving help us put this text to use? What Pauls approach does is show us that there is a proper New Testament way to, as it were, set aside this command and there is a wrong way to set aside this command.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 19:08:42 +0000
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