Do churches practice what they preach about the tithe?

Selection from Lessons In Faith—learned the hard way, by C. Aaron Russell, offering Free Ebook Weekend promotion, Sat. Aug. 16 – Sun. Aug. 17.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful.” The Good News is, even though we Christians are all sinners, God is full of grace and He forgives. In fact, the Bible says He will have mercy and abundantly pardon. The point is, though we should not take advantage of His grace, we can rest knowing that our sin debt was paid on the cross. That being said, we want mercy from God, but do we reflect that by showing mercy to others? Let’s use an example. We’re driving sixty-five mph in a fifty-five mph zone. Someone flies by driving eighty and we think, “What a maniac. Where are the cops when you need one so they can nail that guy and take away his license?” Truth be told, we judge others much more harshly than ourselves.

We’re all glad God has shown us mercy, but we are slow to give it and quick to judge others. Such as, we see an alcoholic or drug addict that can’t get cleaned up and say, “They don’t want to stop or they’re just too weak to quit.” Of the homeless we think, “Get a job.” We don’t like welfare because, “that single mom only has all those kids to get the government’s checks.” The point being made is not to advocate government assistance for those who are able to work. Rather, it is to demonstrate how we sometimes label people and lump them into a certain group or pattern of behavior without knowing the heart of the person. That’s prejudice and we’ve all done it. Only God knows the true heart of a person. The rest of us only like to assume we do. But our place is not to judge, only to give mercy. For those that do, Jesus says in the second half of the beatitude, “shall obtain mercy.” And let’s face it—we all need mercy in one way or another.

But how much do we really empathize with those who may be in need or are suffering? We may feel compassion but are we really doing anything about it? Or do most of us just assume our government and churches are taking care of them, yet rarely, if ever, get personally involved ourselves? Many believe we already give those in need too much with handouts, welfare and government programs. Many Christians question whether or not it’s the government’s place at all to care for the helpless and poor, believing that is the responsibility of the church, and trusting it more. So the vast majority of Christians reserve most or all of their giving for the church. Or do they?

In reality, giving today is at its lowest level since the Great Depression era. Only 5% of Americans pay any tithe at all to the church. Of those that do tithe, a 2011 report on the state of church giving showed that church members tithe an average of 2.3% of their income. Only 4% of Americans that attend church give the traditional 10% tithe. That same report found that the amount given by the church to benevolences outside of the church (purposes other than the local institutional church needs, such as missions) was 0.34%—that’s 1/3 of a penny of each dollar of income for giving to those in need. So, the average churchgoer isn’t giving much to the needy or to their church. The modern church has in large part forgotten the lost, hungry, and poor.

Most Christians give only to the church, which uses most of the tithe and offerings these days on church expenses, salaries, building expansions, production equipment, sports complexes, and so on. Any good church will give something back to the needy or missions, but it is seldom what it should be. Or the church itself, instead of giving from its own tithes and offerings received will make additional requests (asking for multiple offerings) from the congregation, above the tithe and offerings that have already been taken. We hear sermons often on what the congregation should be tithing and giving, but how often do we hear a message on how much the church institution should be tithing and giving to those in need?

So is each church itself (or church organization) supposed to tithe? In Numbers 18:26–28, the Lord, speaking to the priests through Moses, instructed them to give a tithe from the tithe they collect (not just a portion from each priest’s or minister’s salary). This was known as the Heave Offering. In addition, Deuteronomy 14:28–29 clearly states instructions to take the full tithe from all the land every third year (known as the Year of the Third Tithe) and divide it equally among the priests, the widows, orphans and sojourners. Could it even be fathomable, for the modern, corporate, business-model church, to take the full annual tithe received from its congregation every third year, and give almost all of it away to the poor? If you average it out, that would mean nearly one-third of all the funds received by a church should be given back to those less fortunate. In other words, almost one third of the church’s budget should be for missions and mercy projects.

“Well that’s Old Testament,” someone could argue. However, we still have the same God who doesn’t change. Though we have a new (better) Covenant, Christ over the blood of animals (sacrifices) to pay for our sins; it is fair to draw parallels between the Temple and the Church, just like we do the Hebrews and believers of today. Besides, almost every sermon we hear on tithing (many for most Christians) quotes the Old Testament in Malachi 3:10, which states, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse.” The teaching usually stops there, forgetting the next line, which holds the key and very reason to tithe, “that there may be food in my house.” If both the modern church member and the institutional church followed the biblical principles of tithing as it is taught in Scripture, Christians could feed the world! (It should be noted that “food” can represent spiritual nourishment as well, feeding all that hunger and thirst for righteousness.)

When asked about the Year of the Third Tithe, a pastor once said, “I wouldn’t be able to keep the church open if I did that.” Ministers teach, and rightly so, if we trust God with our tithes, He will bless and provide for us. That teaching should hold true for them and church organizations as well. Teaching that churches themselves should give a tithe from the tithe may not be popular doctrine; however, there is Scriptural basis. It is only brought up for the purpose that if ministers are going to teach congregations about tithing, which is a solid Bible principle that is important, the lesson should be balanced.

So then, how much should a church and each member tithe? Paul said, “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” In other words, how much we are to give depends on how much we want to be blessed. And don’t give because we have to, but give graciously and generously because God has given so much to us.

Selection from Lessons In Faith—learned the hard way, by C. Aaron Russell, offering Free Ebook Weekend promotion, Sat. Aug. 16 – Sun. Aug. 17.