Are We Still Required To Tithe To The Church?

What this episode covers

Are We Still Required to Tithe to the Church? (Nehemiah 10:37-39) Are we obligated to tithe in the new covenant? Let me set you all at ease. I have no intentions of sending the offering bags around a second time after this sermon. R.C. Sproul does not mince words when discussing the tithe. In his book, 5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow, Sproul writes: A poll of people claiming to be evangelical Christians indicated that only 4 percent of them tithe. A similar poll indicated that the average percentage of income evangelical Christians give to God’s work is less than 2.5 percent. If the tithe principle is still in effect and the polls are accurate, then 96 percent of professing evangelical Christians are systematically robbing God. Many presbyterian ministers follow in his train of thought. When I went to seminary, I assumed the ongoing validity of the tithe was standard practice in presbyterian churches. My experience in the only two PCA churches that I had been a member used the language of “Tithes and offerings”. The implication was that we remain obligated to give a tithe (10%) and we are occasionally encouraged to give an offering that goes above and beyond the tithe. Last week, I mentioned that this passage teaches us some principles of giving. We learn to make a commitment to give money regularly, generously, and proportionally. It is this third point that I want to focus our attention on this morning. What would a survey of your expenses reveal about the things your heart treasures? Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). Our modern obligation seems to boil down to this: Christians should give generously, joyfully, and voluntarily. Read Nehemiah 10:32-39 A Commitment to Give Money Proportionally Derek Kidner reflects upon the temptations of the covenant community regarding the Temple before and after exile. Before the exile, the Temple had too often been a mere talisman, and its well-patronized activities a sedative for the conscience (see, above all, Jer. 7). Now the temptation was the opposite: to grudge the effort and expense of it all. Before the exile, the people gave to God so that they might live as they pleased. For instance, they assumed that their gift gave them the license to disobey God’s Law and worship other gods. Since returning from the exile, their temptation is to desire the blessings of the covenant without the cost. We can relate to both tendencies today. Those who have grown up in the church, or at least with some recognition of the obligation to give, may use their gift as a bribe or penance for their sin. They give to improve their odds when they pray and shake their magic 8-ball. They think, “If I give this money, God will give me what I want.” The other tendency is to abandon the obligation altogether. To avoid turning God into our personal lucky charm, we deconsecrate our wallet. Our spending looks no different from the secular world, who cares nothing about God’s Kingdom. We want to approach our giving much differently. And I think we can learn some important principles from this passage and others, to correct our hearts. The Moral Obligation of the Tithe in the Old Covenant The covenant renewal included instructions to give and receive tithes (37-39). The Hebrew word translated “tithes” literally means “tenth”. They were obligated to bring a tenth of the production of their ground to the Levites. That would include their vegetables, fruit, grain, wine, and oil. They brought a tenth of whatever they earned from their labors. The agreement ensured that no one complained when the Levites collected the funds, but even the collection was supervised. The rules minimized opportunity for rogue Levites to take advantage of the people (or to run off with temple funds). The Levites were not exempt from giving a tithe. Out of the portion they collected, they gave a tithe to the priests. When Moses origina

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