11—Giving (Part Three: How Much and Where to Give)
This can be one of the more confusing aspects of giving
Is tithing an Old or New Testament thing? Should I tithe, or shouldn’t I? Is it before taxes or after? How much should I tithe—what if I can’t afford ten percent? These are common and understandable questions.
When discussing giving, most people think of the “tithe.” Tithing in the Old Testament was like an income tax; the Lord set apart a tenth of your income. In ancient Israel, three different tithes were collected, totaling between 20 and 25 percent (not just the 10 you usually hear about today, which was the “temple tax.”) That’s a lot of shekels!
However, the 10% tithe Abraham gave to Melchizedek and Jacob promised to God seems to set the biblical precedent, echoed in the Old and the New Testaments.
But set aside the tithe as a strict percentage question and look at Proverbs 3:9-10: “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce, (and listen to this second part) then your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will be bursting with wine” (ESV).
First of all, this isn’t an ironclad guarantee. It’s not cause and effect: input/seed money, output/prosperity. But there it is in the Bible, which tells us how things usually work in God’s economy: Honor God, give him your first fruits (as we’ve discussed—“off the top” before you do anything else), and see what happens. It sounds a lot like a tithe, doesn’t it?
So, there seems to be this “first fruits” principle, but nowhere in the New Testament are Christians commanded to give 10%—neither Jesus, Paul, or any other Apostles specifically repudiate or command a tithe. (Though well-intentioned Christians, theologians, and scholars have some disagreement here.)
Some verses suggest that the tithe, or something comparable, was very much alive in the New Testament Church, especially concerning the financial support of the under-shepherds of Christ—see 2 Corinthians 11:8-9 and 1 Corinthians 9:6-18.
In any case, the core message of the New Testament seems to be that rather than following a strict legal formula, Christian giving should exhibit a set of qualitative traits that honor and exalt God’s character. The Bible offers blessings to those who do; again, this is an offer, a possibility (and maybe even a probability), but not a contractual guarantee.
You may wonder, “How much money should I give the church?” What about missions and giving to the poor? Sorry, I can’t answer those questions, but it’s possibly more than you do today; the New Testament norm seems to be lavish generosity to the work of your local church and beyond.
With generosity as the “first principle,” the Bible teaches first fruits and sacrificial giving (we give up something when we give—we “feel” it) and proportionality (someone who makes $30K a year may give 3%, whereas some earning $100K may give 10% or more—see Luke 12:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8:1-3; and 1 Corinthians 16:2).
So, to summarize, are you breaking God’s law if you don’t give 10% of your income to the Lord? Not necessarily. For some, God is very pleased with their 2, 3, 4, or 5 percent (remember the widow’s coin—Luke 12:1-4). But for some people, given how God has blessed them financially, they may disobey God if they don’t give 20, 30, 40, or 50% of their income away.
Our responsibility isn’t to meet a particular percentage (although I think a target of 10% is a great place to start—a “first principle,” if you will) but to give whatever we’re able, sacrificially and in proportion to how God has blessed us. And then work to increase it over time.
You may also hear the phrase “tithes and offerings.” Generally, this refers to money given to the church (tithe) and money provided for other purposes (offerings), which can be to the church or elsewhere (outreach, mercy ministries, missions, etc.). Looking through all these verses, you’ll see biblical support for both, but I think Matthew 22:37b-39 addresses it well.
We must avoid prosperity gospel theology. This came up earlier, but I will keep beating this drum. The prosperity gospel crowd uses most of the verses I listed in the “Why Give” article to make their case. And you may be thinking, “Well, they sure sound like prosperity gospel to me.” Yes, taken on their own, totally out of any other biblical or theological context, they do. But it’s hard to take any of them and get “Give to God, and he’ll fill your garage with Teslas.”
We can’t take a few promises from the Mosaic covenant, the promise from Malachi about bringing in your tithes and the storehouses will be full, and verses like that from Proverbs. Or even Jesus’ statements, “Don’t you receive whatever you ask in faith,” taking some things without their proper context and mashing them together to develop a cohesive prosperity theology. “Just give some seed money, you’re gonna be rich, you’re gonna be blessed.”
There’s a significant danger here: It’s a false gospel that offers false hope. We know God is sovereign. We know that generous people face hardship and pain. Some generous people will have financial difficulty. You can’t reconcile prosperity gospel theology with that.
I’m being repetitive, but these verses (and others like them) are biblical wisdom—principles, not ironclad guarantees. There are some conditional promises in the Bible and some unconditional ones. Then, some principles aren’t absolutes; they’re not “formulas for financial success.” Input/seed money, output/health, and wealth—nope, it doesn’t work that way. These principles are in the Bible to tell us the way things usually work; they don’t obligate God to do anything in particular. He does as he pleases.
So, love and honor God, give him the first fruits of your labor, bless others, and you’ll probably (almost certainly) be blessed. You will probably prosper, but you may not. And even if you don’t, you will be blessed in non-monetary ways. That’s the way God’s economy works. Like I said, God is sovereign. He does what he wants.
Do you want to make progress with your finances? Do you want your career or business to prosper? Listen to what Paul wrote, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” (2 Corinthians 9:6, ESV).
This timeless principle applies to almost everything God creates and initiates. And guess what? Paul wasn’t giving us a farming lesson. In this context, he was specifically talking about giving. Paul made it plain and simple for us: we reap what we sow with our giving.
It is, however, a farming truism—if you plant just a little, you won’t get a large harvest. God loves it when we take “righteous risks” and bet fully on him by giving generously. Liberality should mark every Christian; we live with generous hearts and lives, including our money. We should give generously to support our local church, to support missions, to help our neighbors in need, to love our families, and to help encourage our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
The more money you have, the more you can do. That’s the good side of wealth. I don’t claim any exceptionalism here, but I can tell you this: When you get to the point where you have something to give, and giving is joyous, you’re where God wants you to be. (“God loves a cheerful giver,” 2 Corinthians 9:8, ESV.)
As you prosper (and I believe you will), your giving should (and will likely) change as you transition from one financial (condition) to another. You may currently be giving and saving very little. Even so, if you’re doing it cheerfully, you’re right where God wants you to be. But I hope that over time, as your income grows and you manage your money wisely, you’ll give a more significant portion of it to the Lord and save more, bringing greater joy.
So, the big question is this: If I’ve convinced you that giving is a top priority, and you understand how it fits in your total financial life equation, and that stewardship is all about building our heavenly ”net-worth” while also increasing our financial net worth while we’re on earth, how can you do both?
Well, I’m glad you asked. (You didn’t actually; I did, but I asked it for you.) It all starts with your income and your ability to increase it over time. We’ll pick that up in my next article.
For reflection: Do you have a systematic plan for giving with priorities and amounts? If not, why not? How do you view giving to your local church versus other ministries? Search the scriptures and ask God’s help as you grapple with these challenging decisions.
Verse: “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come” (1 Corinthians 16:2, ESV).