Your Responsibility to Give

May, 2003

by: Jack Hughes

• Giving

What does the Bible say is your responsibility to the local church in the area of giving? Does the Bible teach that Christians should tithe? Why is it that most professing believers fail to support the local church? Many have never studied what God says to them about the stewardship of their material possessions and money, so they don't give because they don't realize that God commands them to do so. Others have been “turned off” from giving by a bad experience with a local church or denomination. Still others have resolved not to give to the church because they have seen TV evangelists and “Christian” charlatans scam who knows how many well–intentioned people for millions of dollars to indulge in sin. And there is always the group that has been browbeaten by a previous pastor who is looking to build an empire so he takes Scriptures out of context to use them for his own empire building. There are also people who say they would like to give, but they have thrust themselves into such debt by overindulging in the things of the world that they can't afford to give, or at least that is what they tell themselves.

The reasons professing Christians fail to faithfully give to the local church are legion. Yet, whatever the excuse is, it never satisfies God. The bottom line is that most professing Christians who fail to support the local church financially are suffering from greed, lack of trust in God's ability to provide for them, unbelief, and selfishness. They just don't want to let go of “their money.” And this is the root problem. Their lack of giving is nothing more than the symptom of a bigger heart problem with their relationship with God.

In the world “money talks” and “cash is king.” But for the Christian, God's Word talks and He is King. The Christian is called to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, not by experiences, whether good or bad, and definitely not according to the ways of the world. The faithful Christian realizes that he is a servant of the King of kings, that he has been bought by the blood of Christ and is no longer his own. He understands what the Apostle Paul meant when he rebuked the Corinthians in I Cor. 4:7 for boasting about what they had, “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” Paul's point is simple; everything we have has been given to us by God, so how can we boast of what we have, if everything we have was given to us? Christians, who fail to give, live like practical atheists. They say they are Christians, and they claim to love God, but when it comes to their finances, they are atheists, God haters, and traitors to the cross of Christ. They won't give and if they do give it is only a guilt offering to appease their guilty conscience.

It is shameful to have to admit this but in most churches 20 to 30 percent of the members do 80 to 90 percent of the giving! The faithful few carry the burden of providing for the unfaithful many. I am sure you would be very disappointed if your body only did 20 to 30 percent of what it was supposed to do. You would be barely alive, barely functioning, weak, and unable to do what you could do if your body was functioning at one hundred percent. Regrettably, most churches are suffering because they have many members using resources but only a few supplying them. And when the demand on resources is high but the supply is low, ministry suffers, and in the end, God is dishonored. Everyone wants lots of ministries, lots of programs, nice facilities, well–trained staff, quality teaching, a large missions program, but only a few are willing to obey the Lord and support those ministries so they can function with excellence.

I am not telling you these things to make you feel guilty and I am not telling you these things because I want you to give under compulsion. I tell you these things because they are true, shamefully true. It is the duty, the responsibility, the joy, and the blessing of every Christian to faithfully support the local Church. In this Calvary Review series, I want to investigate what the Bible says about giving and encourage you to obey God faithfully in this area. I do not want to do any arm–twisting, any guilt manipulation, and would not want to have a single penny ever given under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. But I do want to see God bless Calvary Bible Church and how can he do that if the members are living in rebellion against His Word? My prayer is to see Calvary Bible Church have an abundance for missions, evangelism, training, and equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. I want to see each person at Calvary Bible Church obey God's Word in the area of giving — nothing more.

Our plan of attack will be as follows. First, we will address the whole tithing issue. Many have been taught that Christians are supposed to tithe or give a tenth of all they have, but this is not true. So we will look at tithing in the Scriptures and examine the New Testament to see what the Word of God tells Christians is their responsibility to the church in relation to finances. Secondly, we will look at proper motives for giving and contrast those with improper motives of giving. We will examine the Bible to see what God says should be our motive for financially supporting the local church. Third, we will examine sins that often hinder us from giving faithfully to the Lord and how to overcome them. And finally, we will look at the Bible to discover the blessings God promises for those who are faithful givers, giving practical ways you can obey God in the area of your finances.

Does the Bible Tell Christians They Need to Tithe?

The word “tithe” means “tenth.” There are texts in both the Old Testament and the New Testament where we read of people tithing or giving a tenth of what they have to the Lord. Tithing has been so widely taught by the church that the word “tithing” has become a synonym for “giving.” This has caused further confusion because some churches do not teach you have to tithe but they use the term “tithe” in reference to giving. Of course, some pastors like to teach that Christians have to tithe because they reason to themselves “it was done in the Old Testament, Jesus encouraged it in the New Testament, and so it must be God's standard for the church.”

But this is equivalent to saying, “sacrificing animals was done in the Old Testament, Jesus encouraged it in the New Testament, so it must be God's standard for the church” or “observing the Sabbath day was observed in the Old Testament, Jesus encouraged it in the New Testament, so it must be God's standard for the church.” We must remember that Jesus lived in the Old Testament era and was under the Law of Moses, we are not. The Law of God, given to Israel through Moses at Sinai was intended to govern Israel, as a theocracy, which was both a religious and governmental system. A theocracy is when God rules his people through earthly rulers. The Law of Moses required the Levites and Priests to govern the people by the Word of God. Hence the religious sacrificial system and the Law of Moses was both religious and civil, functioning as a religious governmental system. All of the Law of Moses has principles in it that we can and should apply to our lives but we are not under the Law of Moses (see Rom. 6:14; Gal. 4:21). So you cannot place the church under the Law system of Moses, which was designed for the people of Israel, living in the Promised Land, governed by a theocracy, and under the blessings and cursings of the covenant God made with Israel. We must remember that: 1) we are not Israel, 2) we are not under the Mosaic Covenant, 3) we are not under the blessing and curses of the Mosaic covenant, and 4) our governmental system is not a theocracy or theocratic monarchy.

Now that we have explained some of the critical differences between Israel and the church, let's look at the Old Testament and see if in fact God did require Israel to tithe. The Israelites were instructed in Deut. 18:4, to offer an offering called the first fruits. According to the Jews, it was to be no less than one sixteenth of the first of the year's increase of one's crops or herds.

After the first fruits offering, according to Lev. 27, they were to give a mandatory tithe or tenth of all they had left. This was to support the Levites, who, in turn, were to support the priest with a tenth of what they received.

Then in Deut. 12:5-6, 11, 18, there was another required tithe to be given for sacred meals and the supporting of the priesthood. Finally, according to Deut. 14:28-29; 26:12, there was to be another tithe given every third year, to support the welfare system. When you figure this all out it comes to about 33 percent.

In addition to the 33 percent required tithes, in Lev. 19:9; 23:22, God told the Israelites that they had to leave the corners of their fields unharvested for the poor to glean in. This was also part of the welfare system. Of course it is impossible to say how much this was, it would depend on the size of your fields and how big you wanted to make the unharvested corners.

In addition to the tithes and the corners of the fields, Ex. 23:11 says that every seven years the Israelites were required to let the land lie fallow and not farm or harvest for an entire year. So they would give up an entire year's produce every seven years, which would be the equivalent of giving one seventh more or an additional fourteen percent! When the fields were not planted or harvested, the people were in effect sacrificing an entire year's worth of crops to the Lord. God wanted them to do this so they would learn to trust Him for all they had. He wanted them to realize that every crop, every year, was from the Lord and all they had came from His hand.

In addition to all of that, in Deut. 15:1; 31:10, God said that every seven years the Israelites were required to forgive all debts. Of course, depending on how much was borrowed and lent, this might be a significant sum. In addition to that, every fiftieth year, according to Lev. 25:8ff, the Jews were required to celebrate the year of Jubilee and had to let all land holdings go back to the original owner. This is also impossible to calculate because not all people acquired land belonging to someone else, but if they did, it might cost them substantially to let it go back to the original owner.

Finally, the Israelites were required to participate in a very complex system of required offerings and sacrifices that were self–initiated. There were sin offerings, guilt offerings, grain offerings, wave offerings, peace offerings, etc. These offerings were required, but they were self–initiated. Each believer was to offer up sacrifices as they felt led to before the Lord. No specific frequency or amount was stated, but if a person was honest about one's sin, it would be a substantial amount.

Total up everything mentioned above and it could easily be anywhere from 40 to 70 percent of one's income! This is what the Law of Moses taught and this is what Jesus supported while on earth. If Pastors are going to tell people they have to tithe according to the Law of Moses, then they need to tell people they need to do all the tithes, the first fruits, the corners of the field, forgive all debts every seven years, etc., too. You can't say we must give one tithe but not the rest of them.

Now what does the New Testament teach is the amount believers should give? Well, we are out of space so you will just have to wait until the next Calvary Review to find out. Until then, take some time and meditate on II Corinthians chapter nine where Paul gives instruction to the Church of Corinth about giving. Ask yourself if you are obeying God in the area of your finances. God's Word says this to you in II Cor. 9:6-7, “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”