Wow… it seems that my recent post about tithing set off quite the discussion on Facebook (posts are imported into my wall). So much so, that I feel that some clarification is in order as my original post was more-or-less a comment on a recent NAE survey then a theological treatise.

In reading through the comments, I realized that the issue wasn’t so much about whether or not people should give of their funds (I think all those commenting would say, “yes, giving is a good thing”). It had to do with the question of whether or not a Christian is “required” to give.

Unfortunately, the use of that word brings in a ton more questions and baggage as one could rightly ask what else a Christian “required” to do is:

• Is a Believer required to keep the Sabbath day (i.e. do no work on Saturday)? (Ex 16:23, 20:8-10)
• Is a Christian required to be baptized? (Mk 16:16; Mt 28:19)
• Is a follower of Jesus required to celebrate the Jewish Feast Days outlined in the books of Moses?
• Is a Christian required to do anything other then believe that Jesus is Lord? (Rm 10:9)
• Is a Believer required to participate in the Eucharist? (Mt 26; Mk 14; Lk 22; 1 Cor 11)
• And so on and so on….

The simple fact is that Christians have debated all of these questions for centuries and, most likely, will continue to do for one’s answer depends heavily on where one starts.

The Place From Where I Start

I start from a view that Jesus is the King of Kings and that His rule and reign is Supreme. His Kingdom is breaking into this world today and will continue to break into it until the end of time when God will set all things right and He will dwell with His people on a new (or renewed) earth.

This Kingdom of God worldview impacts how I read the Bible and how I obey – or put into ‘shoe leather’ – the message of God.

Standing Before God vs. Kingdom Living

Furthermore, I see a difference – slight as it may be – between items that affect one’s standing before God and principles for living life in the Kingdom of God (i.e. under the rule of King Jesus).

Salvation, or one’s standing before God, is a matter of throwing yourself at the foot of the Cross and giving your life to Jesus.  It is an issue of believing God and taking Him at His word to forgive  you of your rebellious nature and to deliver you from the rule of darkness (Gn 15, Rm 4, Mt, Mk, Lk, Jn, Gal 3).

Yet, as James the Just said long along, after you have bowed your knees to the Lord, you must walk out your faith. To simply believe and not follow the King is akin to the demons who believe in God and yet continue to rebel against Him (James 2).

This, to me, means that a person who is delivered out of darkness needs to learn how to walk in the Kingdom of Light. Life as they know it is different – no longer can they follow their whims or engage in practices contrary to the nature of God. To quote James, who is, in turn, paraphrasing the Lord Jesus (Mt 7, Lk 6):

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.” –James 3:9-12

Tithing

By this time, some of you are probably wondering what all this has to do with tithing (i.e. the act of giving 10% of one’s income to the Lord). Well, I’m glad you hung in there because we have returned to the issue of money.

Jesus once told us that no one can serve both God and money (Lk 16:13, Mt 6:24).

This means that when you bow your knee to King Jesus, He becomes your master and not money. No longer should we be controlled by how much money we have or don’t have. If Jesus said to do it, to buy it, or to give it away – then we should obey Him as He is our only master.

And yes, this means that sometimes we must go against human logic as the things of the Spirit are not understand by human wisdom (James 3, 1 Cor 1-2, 2 Cor 1).

Tithing, therefore, becomes to me a way of breaking the hold that money has over our lives and declaring to God that He is the ruler over our lives. It is a physical act of an inward changing – a declaration of war against the forces of evil and greed.

This view of tithing means that I am not concerned with who actually receives the money. It could be the local church or a homeless man down the street – or someone working to spread the love of Jesus in the intercity or overseas.

The organization or the person who receives the money does not matter as much as whether or not the person giving the money is obeying Jesus. If they are giving the money to gain recognition before man or to receive something in return – then it is money that is still ruling their hearts for they are trying to buy recognition, favor, more money, etc.

The goal of Christian living is to learn to listen to God and obey His voice in all matters, great and small. Jesus said that He would send us (and He has) the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth (Jn 16:13) – let us listen to Him versus making hard and fast rules based upon human wisdom and logic.

And yes, I understand that the above comment is highly controversial as it seems to open Christianity up to all kinds of crazy and strange ideas and actions. However, I stand by it as the message to listen and follow God can be seen throughout the Bible. Besides, the Bible itself is full of strange and crazy folks: Isaiah walked around naked for 3 years (Isaiah 20), Ezekiel laid on his left side for a year then rolled over to his right side for another 40 days…oh and he baked bread on a fire of human excrement (Ezekiel 4).

God wants us to listen to Him and follow Him. This is the message of the Bible and it covers every area of our lives, including what we do with our money.

BTW – Jon Mark Ruthven is getting ready to publish a book entitled, “What’s Wrong with Protestant Theology?” that traces this message of God throughout the Bible and how it has been twisted to only mean written words. I have had the honor of meeting Jon and reading a draft copy of the book and it is quite good. As soon as it is out, I will let you all know. 🙂

In reading over this post, I am that I have answered some questions, raised others and touched on still more. Accordingly, I will be following this post up with a few others over the next week or so dealing with the below issues:

• The history and purpose of tithing
• Does it have to be 10% as the word ‘tithe’ seems to indicate?
• How do you calculate your tithe? Net or gross income? How about non-monetary items?
• Do you have to give your tithe to the local church?
• The spiritual principles of giving (i.e. sowing and reaping)

I welcome all who are willing to walk with me on this journey – for it is a journey as I do not have all the answers…I am just a man following the Wild Goose as best as he can.