Presbyterian on tithing

John Ortberg is pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California. A reader somewhat recently sent me an article he wrote on tithing. Here are some excerpts:

One of the things Jesus never actually said was, “By the way, now that I’ve introduced grace into the equation, no one needs to worry about tithing anymore.”

Tithing is considerably less popular than words like generosity or sharing. Among lay people the most common question associated with tithing is: “Am I supposed to base it on net income or gross?” Among pastors the question is: “Isn’t tithing an Old Testament concept? Aren’t we under grace now?”

This question more or less assumes that it was only post-Pentecost that the church discovered that God is the owner and that people are stewards. It implies that legalistic old Israel thought all they had to do was check the “I tithed” box and then got to spend the rest however they wanted (ignoring biblical statements like “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof”).

Worse—a certain looseness of thought about grace sometimes becomes a rationale for not giving at all. A friend of mine made the case: “If my kids are really the Lord’s, then I can count the money I spend on their food and clothing and college tuition as falling into the ‘good steward’ category. If I use my home for hospitality and hosting small group, then the same goes for furniture acquisition and home makeovers. I use my computer for Bible study and my phone to store worship songs, so those items are stewardologically deductible.” This type of “all-grace giving” where we give “everything” to God looks suspiciously similar to giving nothing to God.

What if tithing is actually one of God’s great gifts to us? What if tithing isn’t opposed to grace, but is actually a vehicle of it?…

There were three “tithes” collected from Israel—one to support priests and Levites (Num. 18:21); another for a sacred celebration (Deut. 14:23); and a third—collected only once every three years—to support the poor, orphans, and widows (Deut. 14:28-29; 26:12-13). So the actual income percentage given was closer to 23 than 10…

Some people argue that since tithing is found in the Old Testament we can discard the whole concept. Jesus, however, was quite clear that he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. In the early church, no one’s attitude was “Thank goodness grace takes us out from under the Law—now we don’t have to tithe anymore! We can give far less than 10 percent!” The early church was so overwhelmed by God’s grace and generosity, it went far beyond the tithe. http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2013/spring/tithing-law-or-grace.html

While I am not certain that the early church always went ‘far beyond the tithe,’ tithing was a practice of early Christians.

One of the reasons probably was Jesus statement that tithing was still to be done, as well as the statement in Hebrews showing that tithing switched from the Levitical priesthood to the Christian leadership.

I plan to do a sermon on tithing in the future and it was interesting to see this Presbyterian minister’s perspective.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Tithing Questions and Some Answers Addresses some non-biblical arguments against tithing. Should people tithe?
Ending Your FINANCIAL WORRIES How can people help themselves and others financially? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject.
Is Third Tithe Still Valid Today? Some in the COGs no longer teach payment of third tithe, is this biblically correct?
Living as a Christian: How and Why? In what ways do Christians live differently than others. What about praying, fasting, tithing, holy days, and the world? There is also a YouTube video related to that also called: Living as a Christian: How and Why?