28 Reasons why "Tithing" is NOT Mandatory

Disclaimer: Let it be known that the definition of "tithe" or "tithing" used in this article as in "I am not preaching against tithing. If you decided to tithe, then God will bless you. It is good to tithe" is actually referring to "giving" and NOT the Old Testament idea of giving crops and cattle by compulsion or by command of the Mosaic Law.

"I believe in supporting your local church. And if you can afford to tithe that's great. But tithing is not mandatory. God will bless any amount you can afford to give. We live under grace not the law. Read my 28 reasons. I think I explain it well.

If anyone needs Biblical and/or historical evidence for these 28 points, I can easily provide them. Tithing was part of the Law of Moses. But the Law of Moses has been gone since the time Jesus brought in the new covenant of grace, but preachers still demand tithes. Many will kick you out of their churches if you don’t tithe. Let’s look at this whole thing from a Biblical and historical perspective.

1. Jesus only mentions tithing once, and that was when he was pointing out how hypocritical the Pharisees were in keeping the Mosaic Law. In that statement Jesus says that tithing is part of the Mosaic Law.

- It is said that Jesus commended the Pharisees for tithing. Well, let's look at the passage: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”

- Saying "these you ought to have done" is not a commendation when in the previous sentence He says "woe". Why would He say "woe" if He is commending them? He's saying that they ought to have kept the tithe, but practiced justice and love as well. But He said this in reference to how they were keeping the Mosaic Law, which He nailed to His cross. The point of this passage is not to preach tithing, but to denounce hypocrisy. The lesson to the disciples is not to be hypocrites. Tithing is simply mentioned to illustrate how hypocritical the Pharisees were. In the gospel of Matthew Jesus tells the people to obey the Jewish leaders because they sit in the seat of Moses. This would have meant obeying the Old Testament Law. But considering that Jesus nailed the Law to his cross this saying by Jesus would have only been in effect till His crucifixion and the foundation of the Church. Once that happened the Old Law passed away. Just like His mention of tithing only referred to the Old Law and passed away when He was crucified.

- When Jesus says "woe" to someone it doesn't sound like a commendation to me. It's obvious what is going on here. Jesus was telling them that they were so hypocritical in keeping the Mosaic Law. Jesus even says “weightier matters of the law.” He’s talking about how the Pharisees kept the Mosaic Law like hypocrites. Jesus preached love and justice throughout the entire 4 Gospels, but only mentions tithing this one time to point out hypocrisy. Love and justice got transferred into the New Testament. Tithing didn’t. It couldn’t have been, because tithing revolves around farming in the land of Israel, and that land alone.

- Here is another way to explain it. The Law of Moses had two aspects to it. The moral aspects and the ceremonial aspects. The moral aspects were the parts of the law which dealt with moral issues, such as most of the 10 commandments, and ideas concerning justice and mercy. The ceremonial aspects dealt with issues such as keeping kosher, and animals sacrifices, and being ritually clean, and tithing. But Jesus nailed the ceremonial aspects of the Law of Moses to His cross, while He reiterated the moral aspects of the Law of Moses and transferred them into the Covenant of Grace. Therefore murder is still a sin, and justice and mercy have to be given by Christians, but we are not obligated to keep kosher, or tithing, which are ceremonial aspects of the law. When Jesus made this statement to the Pharisees he was telling them that in their keeping of the Law of Moses they should have kept both the moral aspects of the Law, as well as the ceremonial aspects, and not have been hypocrites by only obeying the ceremonial aspects, such as keeping the tithe meticulously, while at the same time they avoided justice and mercy. Those ceremonial aspects no longer apply to Christians, just like keeping kosher no longer applies, because Jesus nailed all of that to the cross. His reason for making this statement to the Pharisees was to point out their hypocrisy, and not to preach the ceremonial parts of the Law of Moses, such as tithing.

- If you don't think that tithing was part of the ceremonial aspect of the Law of Moses, but insist that it was part of the moral aspect, then answer me this, why don't Christians keep the festival tithe of the Law of Moses?

2. My yoke is easy, my burden is light.

-How can Jesus' yoke be easy and His burden light if you can't afford to tithe? It is a burden, because Paul says that he worked with his own hands to make a living, so as not to “burden” his new converts. Why did he call it a burden? How do you define a light burden? If tithing is such a blessing, then why does Paul call it a burden?

3. Freely you have received, freely give.

-When Jesus said: freely you have received, freely give, He was talking to the Apostles. That means he was talking to preachers. They are the ones who this is being addressed to. They are to give freely if they have received freely.

4. Blessed are the poor (Gospel of Luke - Sermon on the Plain).

- In Luke's gospel Jesus said blessed are the poor (not poor in spirit). You can't bless a poor man if you take what he needs to live.

5. Jesus was a poor man. He had no where to lay His head. If the blessing for tithing is always financial, and always to the individual, and if Jesus tithed, then why was this the case? Peter had no silver or gold to give the lame beggar. How can this be if God blessed him for being a tither? If John the Baptist was a tithing believer, then why was he so poor? If the poor widow who gave the mite was a tither then why was she so poor? Yet even though she was poor Jesus praised her.

6. Paul said to give as the Lord has prospered you and as you have decided in your heart, not out of necessity, not grudgingly, because the Lord loves a cheerful giver. It's hard to believe that Paul would not have preached tithing if it was mandatory.

7. Paul said that those who sow sparingly will reap sparingly, that means that you're allowed to sow sparingly if you wish. You might not get the best blessing, but you will still get a blessing nonetheless. It means that God blesses any amount you give and therefore tithing cannot be mandatory for Christians. God does not curse Christians for not tithing, and you're allowed to give any amount you see fit, without disobeying God. Paul's statement in itself shows that tithing is not a command for Christians.

8. The percentage and/or the amount that some people give may be little, but due to their income it is a bigger sacrifice than others who give more than a tithe. The widow who gave two mites to the Temple gave more than the rich men who gave a lot, because she was poor. She gave all she had left, after she had spent the rest, and even though she had less than a penny left it meant more than the riches the rich men gave.

9. Abraham is recorded as only having tithed once, and it was on war booty, not income, and it was voluntary. If it was voluntary and on war booty and only once, how can some preachers say that tithing precedes the Law of Moses and therefore transcends it. If that is the case then circumcision also transcends the Mosaic Law because Abraham practiced it too. And circumcision was definitely a command, while Abraham tithed that one time voluntarily.

10. Jacob tithed, but it was only voluntarily, and he made all these conditions for God. And we don't know where his tithe went. There were no Jewish churches back then with a staff that needed to be paid. So he either burned it up in sacrifice, or gave it to the poor, or both.

11. Tithing under the Law of Moses was only to be given to the tribe of Levi because they inherited no land. The Levites shared it with the poor. Modern day pastors are not Levites who don't get to inherit land.

12. Tithing in the Law of Moses was tied to the land of Israel. When the land was not farmed in the Sabbath and Jubilee years, so there was to be no tithing. But the Israelites had other jobs in the Sabbath year. They worked all the time, except for the Sabbath day. The entire nation didn’t just stand still every 7 years and stop working completely. There was no tithing in the Sabbath years because there was no farming. The land had a rest, but only the land. The Israelite nation didn’t stand still for an entire year. The land was not farmed in the Sabbath year so that the land could have a rest. Farm animals were born in the Sabbath years, but they were not tithed on because there was no farming in those years. Tithing was tied to the land and to farming in Israel, and that land alone. Christians are not Jewish farmers living in Israel.

13. Modern day Jews in the USA don't tithe because there is no Temple, and most of them are not farmers in Israel. No modern day Synagogue asks for a Tithe, which is an Old Testament thing which Christian religious leaders ask for, not Jewish religious leaders.

14. Tithing was only on farm products, if you were a carpenter, like Jesus, you had no farm products to tithe, so Jesus didn't tithe. Look it up in your Bible. No where does it say to tithe on anything but farm products, such as food and livestock. I looks evident that the reason is because God wanted the Levites to eat, but did not intend for them to get rich. And if it the tithe was on more than just farm products why was there no tithe in the Sabbath year? People worked in that year and had incomes, they just didn’t tithe?

15. Jesus never collected any tithes to fund His own ministry. Never. If Jesus never collected any tithes, then it seems impossible that His ministers should have the nerve to demand tithes under His name.

16. In Deuteronomy Moses clarifies tithing by saying that "the year of tithing" to the Levites was only once every 3rd year, in a 7 year cycle. It says "the year of tithing", not "the year of secondary tithing", so this is the same tithe as the one mentioned in Leviticus and Numbers, it's just clarified. It is not a secondary tithe.

17. There was only one tithe, not 3 tithes, in the Mosaic Law. It says that a "tenth is holy to the Lord", not "23% is holy to the Lord". So the festival tithe, and the Levite tithe, and the tithe mentioned in Leviticus and Numbers are all one tithe. In the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th years the tithe was the festival tithe. On the 3rd and 6th years it was given to the Levites who shared it with the poor. It says in Deuteronomy 14 that every year you shall tithe to the Lord, and then goes on to explain how it was to be done. First the festival tithe, then on the 3rd year the Levite tithe. But just one tithe each year. Yet only every 3rd year did the Levites get a tithe.

- The third year is called the year of tithing because it was that year that the tithe was given away. In the other years the families separated a tithe, but kept it in their own families for the festivals.

- Modern day preachers will not allow Christians to have a Sabbath year from tithing, nor a Jubilee year from tithing. And modern day preachers often have other sources of income which include owning land and inheriting land, while the Levites were given the tithe because they neither inherited land nor owned it.

18. The prophet Daniel never tithed. Neither did Queen Esther or Mordecai. They were not farmers in the land of Israel, and at that time there was no Temple to upkeep. Also the Levites were often forbidden to preach during the exile. So they were forbidden to do the work of preaching. They had other jobs to occupy them and support them during the exile. But during the exile there was no tithing, just like there were no animal sacrifices during that time period.

19. After the Babylonian captivity, under Ezra and Nehemiah, the Jews created man made laws for themselves, one of which was to tithe every year to the Levites, and another was to give a temple tax. Jesus said that the sons of the kingdom are free from paying the temple tax when Peter was asked by the Pharisees if Jesus pays the tax. So after the captivity tithing to the Levites was yearly, but it being a yearly thing was a man made law, just like the Temple tax. Yearly tithing to the Levites was not a divine law, only tithing once every 3 years in a 7 year cycle was mandatory, and that was only in the Mosaic Law. It seems clear that the yearly tithe was established after the exile because there were fewer people to support the Temple, and the work of the Levites, due the exile which had just ended. Jesus said that these man made laws need not be followed anymore, since he told Peter that the sons are free from paying the Temple tax, which was one of the man made laws created in the time of Nehemiah.

20. Malachi 3 is addressed to the nation of Israel as a whole, during the time when the Law of Moses was still in effect. Malachi 3 is not addressed to individuals. It says that if the nation returns to God then the land of Israel will be a pleasant land. The whole land, not just the land of the tithers. God would either bless the whole nation or curse the whole nation, depending on if they obeyed Him. Just like God punished the whole nation with captivity in Babylon. Jesus said that the blessings of God rain down on the good and the bad. When rain falls and waters crops, the rainfall does not stop at the border of the land which belongs to the man who does not tithe. The whole nation is watered.

21. The Levites had other sources of income. They had 13 cities, with pasture lands. Levites also collected fines and free will offerings. Levites were only one tribe out of 12. They only made up about 6%-8% of the population. Even if they received a tithe only once every 3 years, in a 7 year cycle, they still had plenty, since in addition to the free will offerings and fines they collected, the Israelites were to voluntarily share some of their food with the Levites during the years of the festival tithe. And let us not forget that the Levites also received the first fruits, but no percentage is given for how much that was.

22. So even in the Mosaic Law the tithe to the Levites was not every year. The Mosaic tithe was tied to farming and farm products in the land of Israel. And only in the land of Israel. If you're not an Israeli farmer, you don't tithe.

23. The tithe does not predate the Law, because Jacob tithed voluntarily, not under command. And Abraham only voluntarily tithed once, and it was on war booty, not income.

24. Jesus nailed the Mosaic Law to His cross. We are no longer under the Law, but under grace. We are free under Christ. Christ set us at liberty from the law. Paul calls the law a curse. No Christian is under any curse. Paul says we are free from the curse of the law. Christians cannot be cursed for not tithing, because Christians are freed from the curse of the Law.

25. Justin Martyr lived in the 2nd century, and Tertullian lived in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. They preached free will giving. The founders of the Baptist Church, John Smyth, Thomas Helwys, Roger Williams, all preached free will giving. The Baptist Church didn't start preaching tithing till after the Civil War because missionary societies needed funding. Martin Luther preached at least one sermon on how tithing was not a command for Christians.

26. God did not create a burden or a stumbling block for His people, whom His Son died for. We are under grace, not law. Grace means "God's Riches at Christ's Expense." Jesus has paid everything we owe. He never collected tithes for His own ministry, and told his apostles that they have received freely, so they should give freely. Mark 10:29-31 has nothing to do with tithing, and no where in there is anything mandatory mentioned. The New Testament model is free-will giving. And even the Old Testament model was tithing to the Levites only once every 3 years, in a 7 year cycle. If you chose to give more in a free will offering, that was up to you.

27. Even if you don't agree with my interpretation of Luke's passage, as described in #1, and you want to preach Old Testament tithing, you still have to contend with the fact that "the year of tithing" to the Levites in Deuteronomy was only once every 3 years, in a 7 year cycle. And during the Sabbath and Jubilee years there was no farming and therefore NO TITHING, and this proves that it was tied to the land of Israel, especially since people had other jobs in Israel outside of farming, even in the Sabbath years. People worked during the Sabbath years, just not in farming, and not on the Sabbath day, yet in those years they did not tithe. Do you get what I'm saying? Some people have a hard time understanding something, even if it's said over and over again, because they are so set in their ways.

28. I believe that God wanted the Levites to be provided for, not to be made rich. If you believe in how most preachers interpret the Old Testament system of tithing, then 6%-8% of the population received 10% of all food in the country, plus free will offerings, plus collected fines, plus first fruits, plus food from sacrifices, plus some of the supposed "secondary tithe" of Deuteronomy, plus some of the festival tithes, plus they got to live in 13 cities of their own, where they had pasture lands. If you believe this then it means that God created one tribe of wealthy people, who did no physical labor. Considering that they made up 6%-8% of the population it meant that there was one family of Levite preachers for every 13 to 17 people. That's if you believe that Levites only taught and preached, and basically accept the interpretation of most modern day preachers. That's extremely unrealistic. These people had other jobs, if they didn't then why did they have 13 cities of their own which had pasture lands? I don't believe that it was God's intent to create one wealthy tribe, while the rest had to toil in the land under the hot sun for one third the income of an average Levite family, who according to most preachers, only taught, and did no physical labor, in a time when most people worked hard jobs on a farm. I remember reading that God has no favorites, so why would the tribe of Levi be more favorably blessed in finances than all the other tribes? Is God an elitist? Were the Levites supposed to be a tribe of elite noblemen? I think not.

- But no matter how you slice it, all the laws for mandatory tithing come from the Law of Moses. It was that same Law which Jesus nailed to His cross. Modern day pastors are not Levites. And we live under grace.

I am not preaching against tithing. If you decided to tithe, then God will bless you. It is good to tithe. My argument is against people saying that it is mandatory. It is not mandatory!!! If you cannot afford to tithe because God has not prospered you enough, then you are free not to tithe. God is not a taskmaster demanding a percentage out of you or else. He's not holding a baseball bat over your head demanding that you tithe. God does not curse Christians. God loves us, and we have liberty and are free in Christ. And God will bless any amount you give, and not only a tithe. Yet your blessing might not be a financial one. It's really up to God how He will bless you. And remember, the blessings of God rain down on both the good and the bad. So don't think that you are special just because you might be a tither. And again, it is good to tithe, but it is not mandatory!!!!!"

(Let it be known that the definition of "tithe" or "tithing" used in this article as in "I am not preaching against tithing. If you decided to tithe, then God will bless you. It is good to tithe" is actually referring to "giving" and NOT the Old Testament idea of giving crops and cattle by compulsion or by command of the Mosaic Law.)

*This is a note from a special friend who asked to remain anonymous, thank you friend!

The Ministry of Music

Ministry - The etymology (the study of the origins of words or parts of words and how they have arrived at their current form and meaning) of the English word “ministry” derives from the 14th century via Old French, which was conceived from Latin ministerial = minister or "servant."

How is music considered a ministry?

Since being a servant, comes from something or one who serves, then by definition the music “serves” a purpose.

According to Encarta Dictionary, music can “serve” more than one purpose and fits several definitions of the word “serve.”

1. The music and lyrics can “be used for something: to be useful for a particular purpose.”

* A box with a piece of wood on top served as a table.

* It serves no purpose at all.

2. The music and lyrics can “have a particular effect: to have a particular effect or result.”

* This letter will serve to remind you of our appointment.

3. The music and lyrics can “assist somebody in particular way: to assist or help somebody in a particular way, either well or badly.”

* His previous experience served him well.

4. The music and lyrics can “provide customers with goods: to attend to customers, especially in a store, and provide them with goods, supplies, or services.”

* Are you being served, madam?

5. The music and lyrics can “worship somebody or something: to admire or follow somebody or something worshipfully (formal).”

* They serve only the Son of God.

Synonyms of the word “ministry” - function, work, operate, act, perform, behave

supply, dish up, serve up, hand out, hand round, give out, dole out (informal), provide, distribute.

Does the style of music matter? Does the genre of the music matter?

No, the style or genre of the music is totally irrelevant. It’s the message of the lyrics that are most important and the kind of people who are behind the music. Do the musicians who create the music lead honorable and respectable lives? Do they honor God with their music, lyrics and lives?

If the message is directed towards positive things that are “true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable” and “about things that are excellent and worthy of praise,” then any music can be used for ministry, regardless of the style or genre (Philippians 4:8).

Therefore, just because the music is considered screamo, metalcore, heavy metal, country, folk, gospel, soul or punk, doesn’t mean that the lyrics cannot be directed towards serving others, in grief or in happiness. Just because the musicians wear studded belts, boots, leather, ripped jeans and have long hair doesn’t mean that they cannot lead godly and honorable lives. Just because the venues that the bands play are dirty, run down, secular and includes a mosh pit doesn’t mean that the musicians cannot pray for the audience before they go on stage, speak good things to the concert goers, tell others in personal conversation about the gospel after the show or be a witness for Christ to those fans who want to know why the band is not like the other bands.

1 Corinthians 9:22-23 “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings (NIV).”

John 7:24 - “Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.”

The Principles of Grace Giving

[Biblical principles taken directly from God's Word in the New Testament books of 2 Corinthians 8 and 9]

Principle #1 (8:1-4) - Outward circumstances and difficulties should not inhibit generosity in giving.
*The Macedonian churches were not giving out of their abundance; rather, they were giving generously out of their poverty.
*They gave, not because they had to give, but because they wanted to give.
*Their giving far exceeded their financial ability.
*They viewed this special offering as a privilege, not as an obligation.
*Giving is viewed as a Christian “grace.”
*Joy and generosity are twins - they accompany one another.

Principle #2 (8:5) - All financial giving should be preceeded by self-giving.
*They first gave themselves to the Lord.

Principle #3 (8:6, 7) - Believers should seek to excel in the grace of giving.

Principle #4 (8:6, 10, 11; 9:5) - Worthy stewardship goals should be brought to completion.
*Finish what you begin.
*In spiritual things, there is value in completing what you start.

Principle #5 (8:8, 9, 24) - Generous giving gives evidence of one’s sincerity of one’s love
*One’s motivation for giving should always be love for the Savior and the saints.

Principle #6 (8:8, 9) - There is a connecting link between “the grace of God” and the “grace of giving.”
*The grace of God becomes the supreme motivating factor in true Christian stewardship.
*Our giving should be rooted in His giving.

Principle #7 (8:12) - A willingness to give is more important than the amount given.

Principle #8 (8:13-15) - In the economy of God, the sufficiency of some ministers is for the deficiency of others.

Principle #9 (8:16-21) - The expenditure of God’s money should be done judiciously.
*To honor the Lord
*To do vital ministry
*To avoid any type of criticism.

Principle #10 (9:1-2) - Generous, spiritual giving will have a positive influence on other’s giving.

Principle #11 (9:5-7) - The attitude in which a gift is given is of utmost importance to God- give cheerfully and willingly, not grudgingly.

Principle #12 (9:8-11) - Generosity moves the heart of God to supply more seed and meet all needs.
*All grace
*Always
*All sufficiency
*All things

Principle #13 (9:11-14) - Generosity will result in praise and thanksgiving to God.

Principle #14 (9:15) - Generous giving is the natural response to God’s indescribable gift.

Galatians 4:16 "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?"