The heart of tithing

A note on the whole tithing issue.

I think when it comes to both old and new Christians alike, one of the hardest things to understand is the gospel of grace. 

What I mean by this is the whole idea that we do not gain favor with God based on works. 

Time and again, the New Testamant declares that mere works do not make one righteous.  The examples of the rich young man Matt 16:23, the Pharisees Matt 23:23, Paul 2 Cor 11:22-30  and on and on declare that works that do not come from faith are worth nothing. 

Worse, they give the impression of righteousness without really delivering.

What counts is a soul submitted to the person and work of Jesus Christ.  A heart that loves God and lives to please Him.

Enter tithing.

Let me make this clear, I am not against tithing.  I think it’s a great principle to practice, and valid starting place for giving. 

But you are not more righteous if you do it.

I think people often give out of guilt or obligation guised in the garb of obedience. 

This is problematic, because it can become a starting place for legalism that binds people to a law they have been delivered from.  Romans 6:14 says clearly that we are no longer under the law, but under grace.

Now at the risk of sounding heretical should we not then evaluate not merely the fact that we give, but why we give?  Should we base our giving on obligation and a percentage amount, or on a desire to financially partner with the advancement of God’s kingdom?

I believe we ought to move toward the latter.

One of the concerns I have is that we tend to view tithing as a number we reach for, and having achieved that, the rest is ours to do with what we may.

That is not the case.  All of our resources are Gods.  Not just 10 percent.  No one can take self-righteous satisfaction for having reached that number, neither should they wallow in condemnation if they haven’t.

The danger of course is that people will interpret this freedom as license, meaning that they won’t give anything at all, or very little.  But this is always the challenge of living under loving grace.  With no concrete law to follow, how will we know if we are doing enough?

This has always been a struggle, but here is where the value of the law comes in.  It helps set guidelines that point us to the true law, that is, the higher law of love. 

The problem is that we will tend to default to the lowest common denominator, namely the minimum requirements of the law.

Jesus in Matt 23:23 said that the Pharisees were guilty of this in that they gave a tenth of their (wealth) but neglected the weightier things such as justice, mercy and faithfulness.  They obeyed the law of obligation, but not the law of love.

So given these principles how do we handle our finances? 

What we ought to consider is the nature of our hearts, and how finances are revealing what we truly value. Can we say of our spending that we possess a willingness to see God’s work done, and is our spending an act of worship?

My opinion is that we ought to give with joyful hearts an amount that we have determined in our hearts to give that is both in keeping with our income and generous.

Not only that, we must consider whether we or not we have truly committed our resources to the Lord?  All of them.

These include not only financial resources but talents and time as well. 

I fear that all too often we define righteousness as having met the “tithe” mark, but are unwilling to give beyond this of a resource that is infinitely more valuable. 

Ourselves.