A few months ago, I posted an article on the site.  It is written by Gary Amirault and entitled, “The Tithe Is Illegal.”  You can read the article here.

Since posting that article, the traffic to my site has skyrocketed.  There are at least twenty people who visit my site per day as a result of searching for information about tithing.  Setting my own sentiments aside, this type of traffic clearly tells me one thing – there is a growing number of believers who doubt the validity of tithing.  By using the word “tithing,” I mean the belief that all Christians are required to give a minimum of 10% of their gross income (or net income, depending on the group you talk to) as a basis to receive blessing from God.

Ok, I will share my opinion in two statements:

1. Nowhere in the New Testament do we see the practice of tithing demonstrated or required as a fundamental practice of our Christian faith.
2. Followers of Jesus are called to lead lives of extravagant, outrageous giving that includes gifts of time, energy, and sometime money.

As the comments have gone back and forth, one stands out.  It is written by “Doug”:

I agree with what Jim says in that we are to just do as the Holy Spirit directs us. In other words, we just need to get out of God’s way. That includes imposing any sort of required percentage on what we give. Tithing is not a biblical concept for the New Testament believer. Those that preach it do so out of fear and not trusting God, even though they may deny this. Otherwise why would they preach it? Don’t they think that God can speak to every individual heart? So what if people spend their money on latte’s or chocolate, or whatever other indulgence their flesh desires. That is between them and the Lord. What they don’t need is someone teaching a message of guilt and fear to get them to do something different. God will speak to their hearts whether you tell them or not. Preaching guilt results in compulsion and such giving is not glorifying to our Lord. Didn’t the apostle Paul teach that we are not to give out of compulsion. Isn’t making someone feel guilty about buying a latte instead of giving to a church making them compulsory givers? Of course this brings up another point of where did God direct that people are to give to an institution? There is a whole host of issues that this subject brings up.

I don’t mean to be argumentative, but every preacher loves to preach from that one little verse in Micah that says “don’t rob God of the tithes in the storehouse.” Yet, I have yet to hear any preacher teach from Deutoronomy 14 where it basically says to spend it on whatever your heart desires and rejoice before the Lord. It also says to remember the Levite, so I could guess that if someone wanted to twist things around, they could say that pastors are modern day Levites, but that makes no sense since you are a Levite by birth not by personal election. God doesn’t want us twisting His scriptures around to fit our own desires no matter how worthy the cause. God has never been one to teach us that the ends justify the means.

The point is that we need to be free. Jesus came to set us free. Every person is a member of the “priesthood of believers” as stated in Hebrews. The man made pastoral system that is in place today limits people and quiets the voice of the prophets and other saints. People become spectators instead of participants. Our meetings are all geared around one man. It is too easy for heresy to invade a church where only one man can speak the word of God. This is not to criticize the well meaning Godly men who have taken on the title of pastor, but a criticism of the system that perpetuates this unbiblical practice. It is time to let God’s people go. Many pastors are like modern day pharoes who enslave God’s people with fear and trembling and rule them with legalistic requirements. I don’t apologize for coming on strong here because it is the truth.

Here is how I put it to people. What if some remote tribe in a jungle, with no prior human contact, stumbled upon a Bible. They read it from cover to cover, accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. What would their meetings look like? Would they have one man in charge called a pastor? Would they require the tribe members to tithe? Come on folks, its that simple. These are easy answers. We have handed down man made traditions for centuries that have no basis in God’s word. Don’t you think its time to trust and let God’s people go?

For the past few weeks, my wife and I have been reading portions of Acts and Paul’s letter to the churches of Galatia.  During our reading, I’ve savored the freedom that we have in Jesus.  We can live a life free from a works mentality, released to simply come to God through faith.

I’ve also thought a lot about the institutionalized structure of modern-day Christianity.  As I continue on this journey in organic Christianity, I’m beginning to believe that the inorganic structure, made up of external rules and expectations, can cripple the Body of Christ.  In some ways, it appears to present, in Paul’s words, “a different gospel,” that delivers an inaccurate view of salvation and our relationship with God.

In Acts and Galatians, there are striking parallels between the state of modern-day Christianity and the early church.

A Different Gospel

Paul had recently returned from Galatia (located in modern-day Turkey) only to receive word that there was serious trouble among the new believers.  A group of Jewish men, called Judaizers, had entered the churches and begun teaching that the non-Jewish believers had to keep the Mosaic law in order to find approval from God.  Most notable, was the strict stance on male circumcision (ouch!).  To the Jews of that time, circumcision was a mark of superiority that proved (or so they thought) that they had a preferential relationship with God.

This contradicted to the message entrusted to Paul, which was based on faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ.  To Paul, there was no amount of good works that can gain favor with God.  Everyone stands absolutely condemned and incapable of “posting bail” on the account of “good behavior.”

“But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” – Galatians 5:22

To Paul, the Mosaic law served as a light to reveal the wickedness of the human heart.  It was never designed to be a code to follow.  By revealing the sin within our hearts, the Law shows us that we cannot measure up to God by our own good deeds.  Recognizing this shortfall, should be the first step in following Jesus.

The Jerusalem Council

The Galatians were receiving a counterfeit gospel that was enslaving them to external actions and lifeless ritual.  Paul was enraged, rising up like a father to their defense. He quickly went down to Jerusalem, the epicenter of Christianity, to talk with the believers there.

He brought his case before the entire church in Jerusalem.  To Paul, this was not an issue for some hierarchical elite; this was a disease that threatened to attack every member of the Body of Christ.  In response to that meeting, known as the Jerusalem Council, the entire church crafted a message to send out through the Roman world.  It was an memo of clarification for all the new believers scattered across the empire.

“Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas–Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren…

“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.” (Acts 15:22, 28-29)

To summarize, the only burden the apostles placed upon the non-Jewish believers was to avoid the following:

1. Meat sacrificed to idols
2. Blood from animals
3. Meat from animals that have been strangled
4. Sexual immorality

Preserving Unity

The first three commandments were made for the sake of the Jewish believers.  In their culture, sacrificial meat, blood, and strangled meat were strictly taboo.  It was unfamiliar to them.  If a gathering of non-Jewish believers served blood-sausage for dinner, the ethnically Jewish believers would not want to come.  Though the food was a non-issue to the Gentiles, it was a serious stumbling block for the Jews.  These first three commands were given for the sake of unity.  By serving “safe food,” Jewish brothers and sisters could join in gatherings without hesitation.

Let me paint a modern example.  You have just been invited to someone’s house for dinner on Friday night.  They are believers and you, being hungry for fellowship with other Christians, have been thinking about it all week.  The host family is from the Phillipines, a precious elderly couple.  The day before you arrive, however, you are told by a friend what kind of meal they served last week:

“They were serving soup that night.  I was excited because there’s nothing like a warm cup of soup on a cold Minnesota night.  Little did I know what was coming.  I asked them what kind of soup it was and they told me, ‘A Phillipino special: Soup No. 5.’  What’s in it, I asked?  They replied, ‘It’s a savory soup with bull’s rectum and testicles.  We also have coconut grubs and Betute Tugak, which is stuffed frog.’”

You feel your lunch begin traveling up your through in the wrong direction.  You gulp and exclaim: “Bull’s rectum and testicles, coconut grubs, and stuffed frog?  Ahh!!  I’m not going to go over there ever!!”

Get the picture?  The taboo food became a stumbling block for the non-Phillipino brother.  Something as simple as dinner prevented unity.  (Note: Although I’ve never eaten the aforementioned items, I can say that the Phillipino food that my wife’s aunt makes is incredible.)

The last command they give concerns sexual immorality (i.e. fornication).  When most people read this they falsely assume this means sexual intercourse outside of marriage.  Both Jew and Gentile believers understood that the concept that sex was a gift to be exercised only within the covenant of marriage.

Instead, they were directing these Gentiles living in such close fellowship with the Jewish believers to observe the specific marriage regulations required by Leviticus 18, which prohibited marriages between most family relations. This was something that Jews would abhor, but most Gentiles would think little of.

Gentile Christians had the “right” to eat meat sacrificed to idols, to continue their marriage practices, and to eat food without a kosher bleeding, because these were aspects of the Mosaic law they definitely were not under. However, they are encouraged (demanded?) to law down their “rights” in these matters as a display of love to their Jewish brethren.

All four of the requested abstentions related to ceremonial laws laid down in Leviticus 17 and 18, and three of them concerned dietary matters which could inhibit Jewish-Gentile common meals.

No Greater Burden

When the  question regarding church practice was brought up, there were only four requests that the Jerusalem church laid upon the Gentile believers.  Of all the issues they could have addressed, they chose four that touched on diet and relationships.  There was no mention of consistent tithing, church attendance, church membership, appropriate “spiritual covering,” or signed statements of faith.

Yet, in spite of this clear scriptural truth, we can add additional requirements in an attempt to validate one’s relationship with God.

I think we would have more people walking in freedom and wholeheartedness if we kept the main thing, namely, Jesus Christ, the main thing.  Let the pure and unadulterated simplicty of following Jesus be the only requirement for being a “Christian.”  Let’s not load extra burdens on people needlessly.

May the Lord help me to add “no greater burden” to those He brings into my life.

When I say “illegal,” I certainly do not mean from the government’s point of view. The American federal government has been extremely generous in allowing religious organizations almost free hands in their money raising endeavors, even to the point of giving them many kinds of tax advantages. By illegal, I mean that God never authorized Christian leaders to take a tithe from God’s people. One will not find the modern church tithe authorized in the Old Covenant, nor in the New Covenant. Certainly, church historians are in agreement, when they say that tithing was not practiced by the early believers.

The tithe is a subject that is very dear to most church leaders. Those denominations that can get their members to actually bring in a full 10% of gross income can create very powerful forces far beyond their strength in numbers. The leading “tithing” sects according to an article in Christian Ministry, are interestingly what Evangelicals would term “cults.” The Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and the World Wide Church of God are the leading givers. The fourth is the Assemblies of God. Recently, the World Wide Church of God abandoned the tithe as un-Scriptural. Donations dropped 30 per cent in the first year. (While the article in Christian Ministry lists the Jehovah’s Witnesses among leading tithing denominations, I’ve since been informed by that organization that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not practice tithing.)

According to Newsweek, most church members give far less than 10%, most giving under 2 per cent. Not surprising is the fact that the poor give a far greater portion of their income than the rich. USA Today (Oct. 25, 1990) tells us that families earning less than $10,000 give 5.5 per cent of their income to charity (not necessarily to church). Families earning between $50,000 and $60,000 give only 1.7% of their earnings.

We hope to show in this book that while many church fund-raising organizations and Christian financial counseling ministries tell us that not paying “the tithe” is robbing God, the actual Biblical facts are that those who teach tithing as a Christian doctrine are, in fact, the ones who are “robbing God.” As we go through this article, keep in mind the above statistic that the poor far out-give the rich percentage-wise.

I am going to make a statement that will probably shock many Christians who have been in church for a long period of time and feel they know the Bible pretty well. I hope this statement encourages the reader to “see for themselves” that this statement is 100 per cent Biblically true. My hope is that when we see how far off Scriptural ground we have come in such basic Christian teachings as giving, we will renew our desire to study to “show ourselves approved.” Here is the statement: The tithe as taught by most Christian denominations as being 10 per cent of gross or net income is not contained on the pages of the Bible!

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Source: Gary Amirault
Though Mr. Amirault adheres to the doctrinal of universal salvation (that every human being receives salvation at the end of the age) this booklet contains a powerful and relevant message. For me, it brought about freedom from lifeless obligation and catapulted me into a joyful lifestyle of extravagant giving.