The Truth About Tithing - Part 5

The Practical and the Poor

Photo by Mihály Köles on Unsplash

We are finishing a little series called The Truth About Tithing today, where I’ve shared what the Bible actually says about the matter, and it’s not what most of us were taught. Like me, I’d bet you were told tithing, though an OT practice, is still a NT requirement for Christians. And not tithing is “robbing” God.

We’ve seen how that just isn’t so when we understand that

• Tithing is a specific mathematical amount: 1/10

• Tithing was given to a particular people: the descendants of Abraham, the Jews

• Tithing was given under a specific covenant: Mosaic

• It was given for

  • Spiritual reasons: to honor God

  • Practical reasons: to support the Temple and its priests (Levites)

  • Poverty reasons: to provide for the poor

NT Christians don’t have to tithe because we are not under the covenant of Law, but we are compelled to give—to practice generosity—because we are under the new covenant of grace. This is something Paul plainly lays out in his two-chapter discourse on generosity found in his second letter to the Corinthian Christians (chapters 8-9). In the middle of that, he gave one of the most impactful declarations about Jesus ever made.

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though being rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9 (LSB)

Paul wrote this not the context of teachings on salvation or atonement but Christian generosity.

Last week, we broke down what NT generosity looks like, using Paul’s words to the Christians at Corinth in those two chapters.

Where tithing was a specific mathematical amount, generosity is not a specified amount, but it is

• Voluntary - of our own accord

• Intentional - something thought out beforehand, not after the fact

• Proportional - in proportion to how we’ve been blessed, taking us back to the percentage example in the OT tithe

• Sacrificial - generosity isn’t tipping; it costs us something

• Regular - Paul told the first Christians to practice generosity on the first day of the week when the church gathered

Where tithing was given as a Law for a particular people, the descendants of Abraham, the Jews, generosity is the natural compulsion of a particular people, the spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham. The biological descendants of Abraham became the nation of Isreal with the Law and the tithe, but in the NT, Paul reveals those who come to faith in God through Christ are Abraham’s offspring as well.

7 so know that those who are of faith, those are sons of Abraham. Galatians 3:7 (LSB)

Why? Because we came to God the same way Abraham did. By faith, by believing in God’s promises. God’s people, Abraham’s offspring, under the old covenant, tithed according to the Law; God’s people, Abraham’s spiritual offspring, practice generosity according to the new covenant in Christ.

So, just as the tithe was the required response to the Law under Moses, generosity is the appropriate response to those under the New Covenant of grace in Christ.

The late John Stott, a British priest and theologian says,

A Christian giving is an imitation of the grace of God towards us. God has showered His grace, His generosity towards us. And our giving is a grace in the sense that it is responding to His giving and imitating His giving and becoming generous like our generous God. …

So, God has given us Christ as an unspeakable gift. Christ has given us Himself. He was rich and He has become poor. And the logic is that if God is a generous God, it is inconceivable that His people should be [ungenerous]. How can our God be a generous God and we be His [ungenerous] people? What have pinch penny misers to do with the kingdom of God? Nothing. Our God is a generous God. Think what He’s given of Himself and of His son.

So, Christian giving is a grace because it is a response to the grace of God. It’s an attempt to imitate the generosity of God… Christian giving is an imitation of God’s grace towards us. But… Christian giving is [also] an expression of God’s grace within us. See, the wonderful theological truth is that our gracious God has not only revealed His grace towards us in Christ, He’s put His grace within us by the Holy Spirit. It’s a double kind of grace. You see grace towards us in the giving of Jesus to die for us, grace within us by the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts. So, that’s the second reason why Christian giving is a grace. It’s a gracious act giving, that is, both inspired by God’s example in Christ and prompted by the Holy Spirit of grace within us. And honestly, if we’re [miserly], if we don’t enjoy giving, then it makes us wonder whether the Holy Spirit is within us at all.¹

If that isn’t convicting for all of us (including me), I don’t know what is.

Just like the tithe, generosity concerns three things: the spiritual, the practical, and the poor. It’s spiritual in that it’s a way to honor God and grow in grace.

9 Honor Yahweh from your wealth And from the first of all your produce; Proverbs 3:9 (LSB)

This means Christian generosity is transformational, not transactional. It involves giving with a deeper purpose, where the act itself, practiced in response to God’s abundant grace, is a reward all its own that impacts the giver in a myriad of ways.

Now, let’s pick up where we left off last week. Also, just like the tithe, Christian generosity involves the practical.

In the OT, the people’s tithes supported the upkeep of God’s house and the Levitical priests who served in it. The Levitical priests were from the tribe of Levi, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Unlike the other eleven, they were not given property when Israel entered the promised land. So, yes, giving the tithe was a spiritual matter because it had to do with obeying God, but it had a very practical side effect: it provided a way for the priests to make a living. In the same way, NT generosity directed towards the church meets the practical needs of ministry, such as the support of pastors and staff.

When it comes to addressing this, however, we either ignore it or choose not to deal with it because it makes us uncomfortable. Or, like some churches, we miss the mark altogether and promote a very sinful and unbiblical view, like a church in Alabama where every Sunday, the same deacon ended his prayer over the offering with, “Lord, you keep our pastor humble, and we’ll keep him poor.”

This attitude—that those who serve and lead in the church should not expect to be provided for or at least not expect much—is still around today, and I suppose it always will be. It’s based on the warped idea that if they are truly called by God, he will meet their needs financially. I’ve even heard it supported by Jesus’ words to his disciples.

1 Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. 2 And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 “Go! Behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 “Carry no money belt, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the way. Luke 10:1–4 (LSB)

See, they say, Jesus told them not to worry about money! He would provide. But they rarely keep reading.

5 “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ 6 “And if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him, but if not, it will return to you. 7 “Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. Luke 10:5–8 (LSB)

Jesus himself established the practical precedent that those ministered to provided for the ministers. This burden obviously falls on the church, something seen throughout the NT. In fact, Paul very plainly mentions this, but most translations obscure it because, as I said, it’s an uncomfortable subject.

17 The elders who lead well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor at preaching the word and teaching. 1 Timothy 5:17 (LSB)

Pastor, are you sure you have the right verse? That’s honor, not moola.

Yes, the Greek word translated as honor here sometimes means recognition, but it can also just as easily mean payment rendered. How do you tell what is meant when looking at a word with more than one meaning? Context. Look at this text with the next verse added.

17 The elders who lead well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor at preaching the word and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” 1 Timothy 5:17–18 (LSB)

Paul unquestionably meant pay because he quotes Jesus who said, as we saw, “the laborer is worthy of his wages.” A scant few translations—such as the CEV—are brave enough to admit this.

17 Church leaders who do their job well deserve to be paid twice as much, especially if they work hard at preaching and teaching. 1 Timothy 5:17 (CEV)

Let me stop and make sure you know I have no ulterior motive here. Honestly, it feels awkward to me. But I’ll suffer that to help teach you what the Scripture really teaches about something. As I said, this idea that Christian generosity should be directed toward the practical is evident in Paul’s writings. It’s in those two chapters we covered.

8 I am not saying this on my own authority. The Law of Moses tells us not to muzzle an ox when it is grinding grain. But was God concerned only about an ox? 10 No, he wasn’t! He was talking about us. This was written in the Scriptures so that all who plow and all who grind the grain will look forward to sharing in the harvest. 11 When we told the message to you, it was like planting spiritual seed. So we have the right to accept material things as our harvest from you. 12 If others have the right to do this, we have an even greater right. But we haven’t used this right of ours. We are willing to put up with anything to keep from causing trouble for the message about Christ. 13 Don’t you know that people who work in the temple make their living from what is brought to the temple? Don’t you know that a person who serves at the altar is given part of what is offered? 14 In the same way, the Lord wants everyone who preaches the good news to make a living from preaching this message. 1 Corinthians 9:8–14 (CEV)

NT Wright, in his commentary on the double honor passage of 1 Tim 5:17-18, pushed through the discomfort to write:

…we find verses 17 and 18 declaring—to a Christian community that was composed, most likely, of poor people—that elders who give good leadership, or who work hard at preaching and teaching, should be paid double. (Some translations say ‘double honour’, but the word most naturally refers in this passage to money, not social respect.) And the command is backed up with two quotations, one about oxen not being muzzled while they’re working hard, and one (which looks like a biblical quotation but is actually a reference to Jesus’ own teaching) about workers deserving their pay. Once again, this part of the letter is quite close to 1 Corinthians, in this case 9:3–11.

Double pay for good leaders and teachers! That’s not something you hear too often in parishes and church committees, and I can imagine enormous resentment if anyone tried to put it into practice. After all, who’s to decide whether this or that person is really ‘good at leading’, or is working especially hard at teaching and preaching? I can see in my mind’s eye endless committees being set up to review different applicants, and the whole thing becoming an embarrassing waste of time.

Yet there is an important principle at stake. The churches in much of the Western world—and by ‘churches’ I basically mean the non-ordained people, who form the great majority of members and give the great majority of such money as there is—have allowed themselves over the years to slide by, insisting that of course the clergy shouldn’t earn as much as other people, without noticing that now most clergy spouses, in Britain at least, find themselves forced to work to help the family budget; that clergy have fallen not only way behind people with similar professional qualifications, but also behind those with none; and that though (thank God) there are still plenty of people willing to make the enormous sacrifice to give up a lucrative career elsewhere in order to preach the gospel and look after God’s people, there must be many others who, with major family commitments, simply cannot afford to do so. There are serious questions here for the churches to address in the next generation—not least how to talk about money without sounding as if they simply want to get rich themselves.²

This isn’t just about pastors; it’s about all those who give themselves to ministry.

6 And the one who is instructed in the word is to share in all good things with the one who instructs him. Galatians 6:6 (LSB)

Add to this the equally practical needs of paying light bills, providing materials, upkeeping facilities, and a host of other things that would be impossible apart from Christian generosity.

Finally, Christian generosity involves the poor in the same way the OT tithe supported the impoverished among the Israelites. Even a casual study of the NT shows charity was aimed at the less fortunate in the early church. The love gifts mentioned in our two chapters were for poor, starving Christian Jews in Jerusalem. In Acts 6, we observe the church assigning high priority to a meals-on-wheels ministry for vulnerable widows. Ancient extra-biblical writings attest to how Christians tangibly supported the destitute. Church history at large has Christ's followers starting orphanages and hospitals. So much more could be said on this.

It’s only been in the last ten years or so that I’ve seen how much ministering to the poor was a part of OT Law and NT generosity. It’s not just referred to; it’s an unmistakeable, indispensable component. In fact, pretty much anywhere you see good works mentioned in the NT, it means supporting the poor and not—as I thought and taught for so long—sharing the four spiritual laws with unbelievers. This truth is much neglected in the modern Western church and deserves so much more attention as well. We will make our way back to this one day.

I need to finish The Truth About Tithing (for now!), but before we wrap it up, you may wonder how to respond. I’m going to let the late Dr. Tim Keller help with that. He will use the OT tithe of 10% simply as a reference.

A person who’s been touched by the grace of God, who owes everything to Christ, what you may say is, “I’m strapped. I can’t do it. I’m too much in debt. I have obligations. I’m in trouble. I can’t make it.” But you would never say, “That’s unreasonable.” Never. You have a pragmatic way to find out whether you’re a legalist or a real Christian today. If 10 percent is unreasonable to the One who’s given you everything, you don’t know him yet. If it’s reasonable, but you don’t know how you’re going to get there, that’s different. That’s different.

Some of you can get there. Some of you say, “I can’t afford 10 percent.” The answer is, if you suddenly had a 10 percent reduction in your income, what would you do? You’d make do, and you’d be grumpy and unhappy. Make do now. Only instead of the unhappiness of feeling like you don’t have it, make do now, but take that money with the joy of knowing now you’re a philanthropist. You never thought you could afford it. The fact is, you say, “If I had a 10 percent reduction in income, I could make do. It would be painful.”

You can make do with the joy of knowing suddenly your radical generosity can change the world and have the impact we’ve been talking about. There are a lot of you who just can’t get there because it’ll take you time, because you’re boxed in. Because you’re learning about radical generosity, maybe today, for the first time. You say, “Boy, it’s going to be a while before I can get there because of the obligations I have.” All right, then get in that direction. Move that way. Say, “Lord, I want to get there.” Give to the point where you get scared. Make a plan, be gutsy, and move toward that. It may take you a while, but get there.

In Malachi 3, God says, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse …” “Prove me. Put me to the test,” he says, “and I will pour down into your heart blessings that you cannot imagine.” That’s Malachi 3. He says, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse. Put me to the test whether I do not bring down a blessing into your heart.” If you begin to give the way God says, he actually says, “Put me to the test. Dare to give in the proportions I’m talking about. Dare, and I promise you I’ll put something in your hand.”

Now the blessing, we don’t know what that blessing is. Does it mean more money? Sometimes it does. Blessing means something much more than that. In some of your cases, you won’t stop worrying about money until you start to give like this. The first blessing you’ll get from radical generosity is when you start to give in these proportions, and you find God is supporting you the way it says in this text, you’ll stop worrying about money for the first time in your life. Some of you are eaten up with worry, and until you begin to obey this text, you’ll never get to the security.

God says, “I want to put blessings into your hands, but I can’t put it into a clenched fist. Your fists are tight, clenched around your possessions, afraid you’re going to lose them. Open your hand up. I can’t put my blessing into a tight fist. Let go of your things, and when you see what I’ve put into your hands … Look what happened when Jesus opened his hand. Look what happened when my Son let go of his wealth. Wait until you see what I put down into your heart, and into your hand, when you finally let go. Let go! Come change the world. Come change your life. Open your hand.”³

1. Stott, J. (1983). Christian Giving — Duty Free? In John Stott Sermon Archive (2 Co 8–9). Faithlife Corporation.

2. Wright, T. (2004). Paul for Everyone: the Pastoral Letters: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus (pp. 62–64). Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

3. Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. Redeemer Presbyterian Church.