Every
year you shall set aside the tithes of all your fruits that the earth
brings forth, And you shall eat before the Lord your God in the place
which he shall choose, that his name may be called upon therein, the
tithe of your corn, and your wine, and your oil, and the firstborn of
your herds and your sheep: that you may learn to fear the Lord your
God at all times.
Deuteronomy 13:22-23
Deuteronomy 13:22-23
Tithing has been
mentioned even in Genesis when Abraham gave the priest Melchizedek
one tenth of all his possession. When Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, he
did not tell them to stop giving tithes. He told them to practice
justice and love of God without neglecting tithes.
Why give tithes?
As the passage in Deuteronomy says, “that
you may learn to fear the Lord your God at all times”.
When we tithe, we tell the Lord that we are offering
back to him what he has given us. It is a sacrifice to him.
Sacrifice here
means an offering to the Lord. By tithing, we tell the Lord that he
is the source of everything we have and by giving part of it back to
him, we also tell him that we trust that he will provide for all our
needs. We also tell him that he has given us at least 10 percent more
than what we need.
Where do we give
our tithes? The Old Testament tells us that tithes are to be slain in
the temple and eaten in the temple in the presence of the Lord at the
place he will choose. What this means is that giving tithes is a
celebration. We celebrate God's abundant gift to us. Some pastors
recommend that entire tithes should go to support the church.
If you look at
churches in North America, you will see that they are in desperate
need of financial support. Some congregations had to merge and share
one church to save money. If such is the case, maybe the entire tithe
should support the church.
But if the church
is blessed with an abundance of money, I think tithes can be used for
other purposes. One thing that comes to mind is what the Lord has
repeatedly said in the Old Testament: look after orphans, widows and
foreigner in the land.
However, before we
try to find the fortunate orphan, widow or foreigner, we should look
within our own family. I am not thinking of our immediate family
(children and spouses). If we give tithes to others and our parents
are starving, there is something wrong. The Lord who commands us to
tithe also commands us to honor our parents. We should look for other
people to help only after we have looked after our parents.
Being expatriates,
our tithes can be used to help the poor in our host countries. We can
also offer our tithes to our countrymen who are in need of financial
help. But whatever and wherever we discern to use it, the tithe is
the Lord's and it should be used according to his will. It should not
be used personally, not even for our children or spouses. Because
tithes are to be used for others.
Financial tithes
are just part of the story. We also have to tithe our time and
talent. Giving time for the Lord each day is a form of tithing our
time. Giving time to serve others is also a form of tithing. Tithing
is a serious matter and is needed for our growth.
Shall
a man afflict God? For you afflict me. And you have said, “Wherein
do we afflict you?” “In tithes and in firstfruits. And you are
cursed with want, and you afflict me, even the whole nation of you.
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in
my house, and try me in this”, says the Lord, “if I open not to
you the floodgates of heaven, and pour you out a blessing even to
abundance.”
Malachi 3:8-10
Malachi 3:8-10
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