Giving: Tithing

This is arguably one of the most abused, mis-taught, and misunderstood topics in the body of Christ. It is because when taught, it is usually taught with selfish motives, or taught without understanding of how the OT and the law interacts with grace in the NT, or taught with bias, picking some scriptures in exclusion of others. Today we want to sit at a level ground and learn about giving, from the scriptures. I would urge you to listen with fresh ears, assuming you do not know anything about giving. That will help you get the most out of this teaching, as the Spirit teaches us on giving.

What is giving?

According to the Oxford Dictionary, to give is to “freely transfer the possession of; cause to receive or have. Communicate or impart (a message). Commit, consign, or entrust. Cause to experience or suffer…” From the definition, we see that giving is letting go of something for the benefit of another. This dispels the idea that giving is equivalent to lending. When you give, you cease to have control of that thing anymore, and you transfer possession of that thing to someone else, for good. Lending, on the other hand, is letting go of something, expecting to get it back.

There are many things that we can give, but today I want us to focus on giving money. Money is a very interesting and touching topic that Jesus taught on more than He taught on any other subject, except the Kingdom of God. Money matters are sensitive as money is the product of one’s sweat, energy and time, in this world and even throughout time. In the Western culture, they even have the phrase “time is money,” as they have equated time with money. Money is not evil; the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Tim 6:10). That being said, let us take a look in to the types of giving.

Types of giving

1. Tithes: A tithe is simply a tenth of an earning, or a specified thing. The first time tithe was mentioned was in the story of Abraham:

Genesis 14:18-20
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tithe of all.

This is the story of Abraham, when Lot had been captured and he gathered 318 trained servants from his household and pursued the 4 kings with their armies. By the help of the Lord, Abraham and his men fought the 4 kings with their armies and defeated them, taking back what was theirs, plus plunders. On his way home, Abraham met the King of Sodom, then the king of Salem, Melchizedek, the priest. He was so grateful at what God had done for him that he gave a tenth of all he had. After this he gave the king of Sodom everything else, he only retained what his servants had eaten and a portion for the men who had gone with him.

We can draw many lessons from this, but let us pick a few.

• Abraham came before the law, and he still gave a tithe. He did not give it under any obligation, as he had an option not to give the tithe. He gave it out of a heart of thanksgiving. This is very important as it goes against what many people do today. Abraham was not under the Law of Moses. When we accepted Christ, we came out of the law, and were divorced from the law, having died to the law with Christ (Romans 7:4-6, 6:14, 8:2). Many have thought that since we are not under the law any more, we should do away with tithing. Tithing existed before the law, as we have seen, and Jacob himself, who was not under the law, also observed tithing (Gen. 28:22). Since we are children of Abraham, and have been made his seed and his heirs by Christ (Gal 3:113-14, 29), we should do what he showed us to do. He gave the tithe out of a heart of thanksgiving as opposed to obligation, but I’m convinced that it was God who told him to give, otherwise how did he know about tithing? This tells us why we should give, and how. Give in obedience to God’s word, as He’s told us to give, and we know His will towards us. Give also not out of compulsion but gratitude, considering what God has done for you. The reason why you are in a position to tithe is because God put you in that position. If you were not in a position to, you would have nothing to tithe, and you would not be obligated to tithe. Abraham did not give a tithe of what he did not have; he gave a tithe of what he had, what God had given him. A tithe is a tenth of your earning, of what you have received. In the New Testament, we see the believers giving up to all of their belongings, so God can lead you to give more than 10%, in the new dispensation. The point is, giving under the leading of the Spirit, giving cheerfully (2 Cor. 9:7), and understanding what purpose the tithe was meant to serve, so that even in giving the tithe is aligned to God's purposes. Hebrews 7:1-10 emphasizes on the story of Abraham and tithes, finishing by saying that even today here on earth mortal men receive tithes, but there, in heaven, he (Melchizedek, an imagery of Christ), receives them. It doesn’t say received indicating that tithing ceased to exist, but rather receives, present continuous tense. So tithing is still a modern day practice, for us.

• Abraham did not become blessed after tithing; he was already blessed. God blessed him (Gen. 12:1-3). He already had the blessing upon him, that is why the previous chapter, Gen. 13:2), says that he was very rich in livestock, silver and gold. Yet, he knew that his tithing would pave way for more, as he told the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, "that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich…’” The next chapter, Gen 15, begins by saying, “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."
  
  So even though Abraham did not give to be blessed as he knew he was already blessed, and he did not give to get anything from God, he still knew that by giving he would get something from God. Do not tithe to be blessed; know that you are already blessed, irregardless of what you see in the natural. As long as your faith is in Christ, you are blessed (Eph. 1:3, Gal. 3:13-14). The blessing is not material possession, it is the empowerment to prosper (Deut. 8:18). Joseph was a slave in Potiphar’s house, yet we are told that he was successful and blessed, as the blessing was upon him (Gen. 39:1-5). If a houseboy today told you that he was blessed and that his boss was being blessed because the blessing was upon the houseboy, would you believe him? Hardly, because we have been led to believe that the blessing is something we can see. The blessing is an empowerment or anointing to prosper, and it is what ultimately brings blessings, things that we can now see. It took Joseph about 13 years before the blessing brought along what could be seen, riches and a position as a governor. You are blessed by virtue of being in Christ and an heir of Abraham. Tithe, not to be blessed, but because you are already blessed.
  
  Tithing paves the way for you to receive more from God. As we have seen, Abraham was already rich, yet he knew that is tithing paved the way for him to become richer. That’s why as we’ve seen God visited him and told him that He was his shield and exceedingly great reward, and gave him the promise of having an heir and so on. It was God’s plan all along to give Abraham an heir, so it’s not Abraham’s tithe that made God come up with the idea. Abraham’s tithing positioned him to be visited by God and receive the promise. In short, his tithe and obedience and trust in God aligned him to God’s purpose and promise. Tithing is more than just giving money away. It is an indication of your trust in God. Abraham was so confident in God being His Source that he not only gave the tithe away, but everything else he had brought back from the battle! The one thing that keeps us from tithing is fear that we will not have enough when we have given away what we have. Fear, as I have once said, cripples faith.
  
  God is more than able and more than willing to sustain you. He gave you what you have in the first place, didn’t He? If it was not for God, you would not be having something to debate about tithing in the first place. You may say that you worked for it on your own strength, and God did not have anything to do with it. He gave you health, didn’t He? What about life? Energy? A job/ business/ parents/ sponsor or whichever avenue you received it from? If He gave you the 100%, and is only asking for 10%, can’t He give you another 100%? Reward should not be our motive for giving; it should only help us get rid of the fear of letting go.

• By Abraham tithing, he was indicating his trust is in God, and at the same time appreciating God for what He gave him. Later on, God made tithing a law to help the children of Israel to receive from Him, to be positioned to receive from Him. In a nutshell, tithing is for our benefit, so God gave a law to help the children of Israel benefit from the principle. Remember, they were like children in understanding, not having the understanding that we received when we accepted Christ, and the Spirit of God living in us to lead us into all truth (John 16:13, 1 John 5:20). So if God told them that tithing would help them receive this and that, the hardness of their hearts would not have allowed them to understand this. As a loving Father, because He wanted them to receive the benefits of tithing, he took the principle that Abraham introduced and made it a law. If you want your child to benefit from studies and pass exams, you establish laws for them, such as limiting time for watching TV, setting time for them to study and so on. At this point, the child may consider the laws as punishment and as unfair, as they are short-sighted. However, when they pass their exams and later on in life look back at how the laws helped them, they are grateful to you for establishing the laws for them. However, when they reach high school or university, you do not set these laws for them anymore, as they now understand why you were setting the laws, and they study out of their own will, and stay away from TV and other distractions.
  
  The children of Israel could not understand how tithing works, as they were babies in understanding, and so were we, before we got born again (Gal. 4:1-3). When Christ came, He redeemed us from the law and made us sons and heirs, with an understanding (Gal. 4:4-9, 1 John 5:20). Now we understand that tithing is not a punishment, but a setup for greater benefits, and also an opportunity for us to be positioned in God have will and purpose for us. We understand that tithing does not make us blessed; we are blessed, and give because we are blessed, out of gratitude. We understand that tithing helps us exercise and indicate our trust in God, when we give and believe Him to take care of us.
  
  I believe that after tithing and giving the rest of what he got to the king of Sodom, Abraham must have been afraid. The reason I say this is because in the next chapter, the Bible says, "After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." Genesis 15:1 (Emphasis mine). The Bible talks of "after these things", meaning after what Abraham did, shortly after his giving and expression of faith in God to prosper Him. Why would God tell Abraham not to be afraid, if he wasn't afraid? There is always a fear attached with giving, as the human nature is selfish and wants to keep all it gets, to take care of itself. Giving says, "I trust God." It does not make sense for you to get like a million shillings, then give it all away, or even give a portion of it away, knowing very well you need every shilling there. The only way this can happen is if it is an investment or a loan, where you believe you will get it back, or you truly believe God will take care of you. Tithing is a way to express one's faith in God as their Source and Reward, and get fight the fear of giving. This is why God, when He appeared to Abraham, identified Himself as His shield, and His exceedingly great reward. We can say all day long that we trust God to take care of us, but if we don't give, putting our money where our mouth is, then our faith is as good as dead. Faith without works is dead (Jas. 2:26). 

Next we'll learn about the other benefits of tithing, and critically look at Malachi 3:8-12, see what God exactly meant by saying that, and how this applies to us, if it does.  

Amen. 


-- Sam Gitonga. 


(10/08/14 Sunday Service Sermon, Teaching Transformation Ministry.)

Brother Sam Gitonga is a Youth Leader at Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.