Should a Christian Tithe?

[Jethro Bodine]

Matthew 6:33 is the key to life!

It really is.

Everything else works when you put the things of God first. God's promise.

 

[Deborah13]

I agree. And to maintain the blessing.

To not consume, and share what you have been blessed with is to risk losing what you have been blessed with. Consume and share what you have been blessed with and it will increase.

I agree.
The Lord blesses us to share with others. If one is faithful with what He has given they are more likely to receive more to give.
However, they may be blessed in other ways for them to share the gospel and to help the widow and the orphan, that is what we are blessed for. I think that the money is there but there are not enough workers maybe.
I think the food and drink tithe of the OT represented the Bread and Wine of the gospel, the Messiah and His work. There is no monetary value that can be placed on that work.

 

[jasonc]

But all surely had something. If you have nothing, then you owe nothing. Ten percent of nothing is still nothing. But ten percent of something is still ten percent of something.



You sure about that?

malachi each offering was also eaten by the priests, and read ruth, it mentions that part, she was a widow and met boaz that way. she was gleaning the fields.

it just says meat in the house not what was done with it? did the levites have land at times? sure they did, but they had to get that animal from somewhere.

 

[Deborah13]

Agricultural wealth converted to silver and gold was accepted as tithe. With it they bought food and drink to consume in the presence of the Lord, and share with the alien, the Levite, the orphan, and the widow.

They were allowed to convert their food tithe into money Only if it was to far to bring it to Jerusalem. Once there they Had to convert it back to food. Silver and gold was never accepted as a tithe to the Levites or anyone else.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

malachi each offering was also eaten by the priests, and read ruth, it mentions that part, she was a widow and met boaz that way. she was gleaning the fields.

it just says meat in the house not what was done with it? did the levites have land at times? sure they did, but they had to get that animal from somewhere.

This is my take on the widow/orphan part:

"28 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town.29 The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied" (Deuteronomy 14:28-29 NASB)

 

[Jethro Bodine]

They were allowed to convert their food tithe into money Only if it was to far to bring it to Jerusalem. Once there they Had to convert it back to food. Silver and gold was never accepted as a tithe to the Levites or anyone else.

Yes, as I say, with it "they bought food and drink to consume in the presence of the Lord".

 

[jasonc]

This is my take on the widow/orphan part:

"28 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town.29 The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied" (Deuteronomy 14:28-29 NASB)

theres another part about those with land that aren't to glean the corners. perhaps its both. remember that a farm was on the way to the village,likely, and easier to get food that way. either phtttttt. lol Leviticus is before deuteromony and also so was exodus.

Leviticus 23:22

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

Should a Christian tithe?
Only if they want to.
Whatever is in your heart.
My problem was with the church using all the money for heavy administrative costs, and nothing left over for the poor.
They take in a ton of money, then ask for more because the food pantry is running short.

I learned to give differently and God blesses me richly.
I give a donation to the church.
When a missionary writes to us of a special need, I have money to give.
When a person in church is hurting, I have money to give.
When a neighbor has a great need, though they are not saved, I help.

I have been blessed far more this way than any other.

The church?
If they run out of money, they can cut back on expenses just like the rest of us.
Maybe they'll learn the truth of giving.

 

[Deborah13]

Should a Christian tithe?
Only if they want to.
Whatever is in your heart.
My problem was with the church using all the money for heavy administrative costs, and nothing left over for the poor.
They take in a ton of money, then ask for more because the food pantry is running short.

I learned to give differently and God blesses me richly.
I give a donation to the church.
When a missionary writes to us of a special need, I have money to give.
When a person in church is hurting, I have money to give.
When a neighbor has a great need, though they are not saved, I help.

I have been blessed far more this way than any other.

The church?
If they run out of money, they can cut back on expenses just like the rest of us.
Maybe they'll learn the truth of giving.

:nod :amen

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Should a Christian tithe?
Only if they want to.
Whatever is in your heart.
My problem was with the church using all the money for heavy administrative costs, and nothing left over for the poor.
They take in a ton of money, then ask for more because the food pantry is running short.

I learned to give differently and God blesses me richly.
I give a donation to the church.
When a missionary writes to us of a special need, I have money to give.
When a person in church is hurting, I have money to give.
When a neighbor has a great need, though they are not saved, I help.

I have been blessed far more this way than any other.

The church?
If they run out of money, they can cut back on expenses just like the rest of us.
Maybe they'll learn the truth of giving.

This is where I'm at with this whole matter of giving.

I don't believe God intended our giving to support the excesses of the ministry.

The only thing I would add to your post is if 'whatever is in your heart' is nothing then we can prime the pump by giving something anyway.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Leviticus 23:22

God's Great Welfare Reform Program.

Johnson, eat your heart out!

 

[Willie T]

Agreed.


And do it the way the law says to do it. For some reason pastors leave the part about eating your own tithe out, lol.


But how else are we to keep the 'business' of the church going?

I suppose the fear that leaving giving up to the will of the person as they are blessed by a ministry is that the ministry might starve. How ironic it is that many who teach faith don't have the faith to let God bless their ministries without making tithing a matter of law.

Very truthfully...... We are not a large congregation, and not many of us have a lot of money.
If we only "legally tithed", instead of giving freely, the church probably would have gone belly-up, years ago.

 

[JLB]

Very truthfully...... We are not a large congregation, and not many of us have a lot of money.
If we only "legally tithed", instead of giving freely, the church probably would have gone belly-up, years ago.

 

[iLOVE]

No one robs God and gets away with it!

 

[Deborah13]

No one robs God and gets away with it!

Did the man who had 9 lambs tithe?

 

[Jethro Bodine]

No one robs God and gets away with it!

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." (Galatians 6:7-10 NIV)

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

Did the man who had 9 lambs tithe?

No

 

[phil marriner]

whatever you do , do it for Gods Glory. Your sacrifice of praise and worship and living a life of justice and mercy to others is a tithe.

Ask yourself does God want new carpets for a church or or some shoes for a child that does not have any

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Did the man who had 9 lambs tithe?

A prosperity teacher would tell you that even though he didn't have the tenth lamb to pass under the staff to give to the Lord that he gave by faith anyway trusting that God would then provide the tenth lamb, and more, as a reward for his faith. I don't question the doctrine. These days I question the motive for teaching it.

 

[TOG]

Did the man who had 9 lambs tithe?

And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman's staff, shall be holy to the Lord. (Le. 27:32 ESV)​

It depends on how you interpret "every tenth animal". It doesn't seem to be just counting the total and dividing by ten. The animals seem to have been made to pass under a staff in single file, and every tenth animal belonged to God. The way I understand it, the tenth animal is the one that comes after the ninth, so if there are only 9, then there is no tenth animal that passes under the rod, and therefore no tithe. The same principal would apply if there were 59 or 109 or some other number of animals that was not evenly divisible by 10. There would be no tenth animal in the last group, and therefore no tithe of those animals. That's the way I understand it, but some others might say that the first lamb belonged to God and then every tenth animal after that. In that case, a person with 9 lambs would tithe.

The TOG​