Tithing

Where did the idea of a Christian tithe come from?

  From the Old Testament and from early church tradition. The tithe shows up only rarely in the New Testament, but it receives frequent mention (at least 30 times) in the Old Testament. The early Christian church, which was at first almost entirely Jewish, understood the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus to be the fulfillment of God’s promises to his people Israel. For this reason they inherited and adopted the Jewish Scriptures as their own, which is why our Bibles today have an Old Testament. As a result, some parts of the church brought the teaching of the tithe along with them into the Christian era and attempted to apply it in various ways to the New Testament church. Early Christians and believers today almost always fail to apply the three tithes of the Old Testament in favor of one, whereas in the Old Testament tithers gave 23.3 percent of their annual income. However, the Bible itself never applies the tithe to Christians; rather, the New Testament models and commands what is often far greater and more sacrificial giving on the basis of Jesus’ radical giving and the promise of a future inheritance (Luke 3:7-14, 12:22-34; 1 John 3:16-19; 2 Corinthians 8:1-9).

  The word "tithe" comes from an Old English root meaning "one tenth." The tithe was an offering of one’s agricultural income to the Lord as an expression of thanks and dedication. In the Old Testament agricultural economy, tithes were paid not in cash, gold or goods but in crops or livestock, for only the agricultural fruit of the promised land was to be tithed not other forms of income. Although today we commonly think of the tithe as "10 percent" as a result, apparently there are three tithes in the Old Testament, two every year and a third every third year, or an average of 23.3 percent of one’s annual produce from the land. There was also provision for freewill offerings and personal giving above and beyond the tithe, so that the tithe never stood alone. Tithes were given by the patriarchs Abraham (Genesis 14:17-20) and Jacob (Genesis 28:22); a system of tithes was instituted in the law of God given through Moses (Deuteronomy 12; 14; 26); and the prophets rebuked the children of Israel for failing to give the tithe to God (Malachi 3:8). The idea of the tithe is still present in the New Testament (Matthew 23:23), but it is never explicitly applied to believers. Instead, almost all Christians are called to more extravagant freewill giving in response to the gospel of the Lord Jesus, based on faith in God as provider (2 Corinthians 9:6-10).