Tithing Today?

Who hasn't been sitting in a Sunday service when the topic of tithing comes up? Normally, it coincides with a churches need to galvanize giving for a specific project, or two, or three. Normally, when the subject comes up a pastor will jump all the way back to the book of Malachi. I mention this because I stumbled across a devotional by a pastor I had never heard of that was entitled "Tithing Today?" He begins by referring to a, now classic, passage from Malachi 3.

"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." Malachi 3:10-11

Now, who wouldn't be encouraged by this passage? There isn't a person in the world that wouldn't like to have the "floodgates of heaven" thrown open for them. And, I am not a farmer, but if I was I would love to have God preventing "pests from devouring" my crops. The author of the devotional acknowledges that this passage was written to an "agrarian society," hence the reference to crops and vineyards. But, he goes on to say that we "can transpose this principle right into the era in which we live." Oh really? We can transpose this principle and apply it to ourselves? How convenient. The authors whole point is to promote tithing in order for God to bless us and rebuke the devourer. I guess he doesn't have an ulterior motive in mind. For instance, most pastors "transpose" the "storehouse" in this passage to mean the church. And if you are the pastor of the "storehouse" receiving the tithe then you are going to get blessed as well. Sounds a bit self-serving if you ask me. Besides this pastors misunderstanding of what tithing really is and its original purpose, he is making one huge error.

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15

It is not too much to ask a pastor to correctly divide the word of truth. The passage in Malachi 3 is usually taught in conjunction with a message on robbing God, as is mentioned in verse 8 of the chapter. Of course, nobody wants to be guilty of robbing God and be in jeopardy of missing out on His promises. Therefore, the fear that arises leads to open wallets, checkbooks and pocket books. But, the question must be asked, "who is this passage written to?" It is not Christians. This passage was written to Jews, as is clearly stated in verse 6 when we read, "O descendants of Jacob." Furthermore, these are Jews under the law not Christians under grace. Christians are not subject to the Levitical priesthood, unless your pastor is a Levite! Jesus is our Priest. At best, if we try and uphold the law the most we will receive is fleshly blessings. And that is the deceptive lure that leads so many astray when they put themselves under the law. We all want our flesh blessed. And when a pastor encourages us to tithe in order to be blessed by God, he is encouraging us to sow to our flesh. That doesn't sound like it comes from God.

"All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." Galatians 3:10

It makes you wonder why a pastor would encourage his flock to observe the law of tithing, which was not given to Christians, in an effort to encourage them to get their flesh blessed, when scripture teaches that they are under a curse for attempting to do so. I wonder how many Christians know that if they observed all 613 commandments (Yes, there is more than just the first Ten) they would only get their flesh blessed, but would not know their God and would end up in Hell. Yes, that is the truth.

"Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law." Galatians 3:21

All our self-righteous attempts to get God to bless us through our futile attempts at law keeping only reveal how much we don't know about all we have been given in Christ. Scripture is clear that eternal life is not received as a reward for our obedience to the law. In fact, the law was put in place to show us our disobedience so that we would be humbled enough to turn to Christ by faith. We also know that attempts to obey one part of the law means we must obey all of it. And while we can talk so expectantly about the supposed blessings we receive from our obedience, we must not overlook the promised curses for our failure to obey. All one need do is take a look at the book of Deuteronomy to see what awaits those who fail to obey the entire law. In chapter 28 we see curses for disobedience such as confusion, sudden ruin, diseases, scorching heat, mildew, defeat by your enemies, boils, tumors, festering sores and "the itch." That doesn't sound to encouraging. The bottom line to all this is that we pick out and preach those laws which we deem are easiest to obey, focus on the blessings, ignore the curses and, by doing so, ruin the grace of God!

"Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." 2 Corinthians 9:7-9

God does not want your money. God wants you. That which we give is not solely relegated to the giving of our money to a particular church. What we have to give is God Himself, in the Person of Jesus Christ. We have been given everything we need for life and godliness as well as having been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. It is not about giving a tenth of our income so God will give us 100% percent return in fleshly blessings. The life we have in Christ is a gift that could have only been received or rejected. In turn, we share Him with the world around us in an effort to bring the lost to Christ. Sin can best be defined as our attempts to receive unconditional love, acceptance, meaning and purpose to life apart from our relationship with the Lord. When we are trying to get fleshly rewards in an effort to fill a spiritual need it only proves that we do not know what we already have been given. God has already poured out "so much blessing" to us in Jesus Christ. We don't give to God in order to receive from Him. We receive from God that which He has freely given. We don't need fleshly blessings we needed a spiritual blessing that came in the form of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Thank you, Jesus!