FAQ Friday | How Much Are We Supposed to Give?

In this FAQ series, we will try to answer questions that will hopefully help us become more biblically informed and better equipped to live out our faith in community. To submit and vote on questions you would like to see answered here by our pastors, click here. To see other FAQ Friday posts, click here.



This week, Ed Sweeny, Pastor to Families, answered this question from Carored in Greenville.

Where do we get the 10% from in tithing? Is that biblically based or is that just a number that has been handed down generation to generation?

Great question! The concept of tithing (and the amount of 10%) is Biblical and, subsequently, is also a number that has been passed down from generation to generation...but donʼt stop reading. If you were to stop with that simple answer, you would miss out on the wonderful blessing that God offers His people when they give the way He intended for us to give.

The meaning of the word tithe is “a tenth part”. In the Old Testament, Godʼs people were commanded by God to give back to God a tithe (or a tenth) of all that He has already given them. The OT commandment to tithe was typically in the context of agriculture because that was the economy back then. When we ask these questions today, we must think in terms of our current economy. If you havenʼt noticed already, our modern global economy is teaching us that we canʼt trust in worldly wealth and accumulations. In the past three years, we have experienced an economic downturn second only to the Great Depression. And to add fuel to the issue at hand...dollar for dollar, Americans gave more during the Great Depression than we have given in the last decade. Really? Sadly and statistically, yes.

Americans gave more during the
Great Depression than we have given
in the last decade.

But I believe the best answers to your question come from asking a different question. Many people erroneously ask, “What amount of my income should I give to God?” This common question about tithing actually implies that your income is yours (wrong!), and that God wants us to offer some of it to Him. The real question we should be asking is not “How much should I give?”, but rather “Who actually owns all that I have?” Without the proper understanding that everything is Godʼs in the first place, we can never come to a full appreciation of how God wants us to view our possessions and wealth. Psalm 24:1 says “The earth is the Lordʼs, and everything in it.” Pretty simple, pretty clear, and pretty sweet if you ask me. I donʼt want the burden of being entirely responsible for what only God is equipped to handle...and I bet you donʼt either.

Thankfully, Christians are no longer bound to the Old Covenant of the Law but are now to live freely “in Christ”, by grace and through faith in the work of Jesus alone. Having been freed from the curse of the Law through Christʼs death, followers of Jesus are now free to give cheerfully, generously, boldly, and without the pressure of having to perform in our own strength. What a blessing!

In Leviticus 27:30, God says to His people (the Israelites), “One tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy.” In Malachi 3:10, God says, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you doʼ, says the Lord of Heavenʼs Armies, ʻI will open the windows of Heaven for you.” The Israelites actually had three tithes. One tithe supported the priests and their ministry (Numbers 18), another funded the sacred festivals (Deuteronomy 12), and the third supported the poor and the needy among the people (Deuteronomy 14). Most of these requirements of the Law were annual, but the third tithe was actually to be given every third year. So the original tithe for Godʼs people amounted to just over 23%. Can we pause for a moment here to thank God that we donʼt still live under the weight of the Law to have to perform perfectly in our own strength?!

Interestingly, the Biblical concept of tithing is much larger in context than the Mosaic Law. Tithing in the Bible actually preceded the giving of the Law. Abraham brought a tithe to Melchizedek the priest (Genesis 14) and Jacob promised a tithe to the Lord (Genesis 28). And since the fulfillment of the Law in Christ, the importance of tithing has continued. Irenaeus, a second century Christian church father, said that “the Jews were constrained to a regular payment of tithes; Christians, who have liberty, assign ALL their possessions to the Lord, since they have the hope of greater things.” Augustine, two centuries later, writes “Tithes are a matter of debt, and he who has been unwilling to give them has been guilty of robbery.” (see Malachi 3:6-12)

The real issue around the question of tithing is not one of amount, percent, or frequency, but one regarding the heart.

The real issue around the question of tithing is not one of amount, percent, or frequency, but one regarding the heart. The New Testament is clear on this; we are commanded to give. But in Christ, we are freed from the necessity to give and set free to be courageously generous with all that God has blessed us with. In the NT, we are told to give cheerfully, willingly, according to our means, in faith, with love, and in the right spirit.

When Christ returns and establishes the new earth, courageous generosity and selfless giving will flow naturally out of our original design. But what about today? As a follower of Jesus, and as one who has been saved by grace and freed from bondage and slavery to sin, the proper and natural heart response to Godʼs blessing in my life should look like this: Everything, even my very breath, is yours Lord. Thank you for all the blessing you have poured out on me. Show me how to give and share with others in the same way you have given and shared with me. If I really believe these simple truths, why is it so difficult to live them out? I would imagine that if this were my only prayer, I would likely live off of 10% of my income and give away the remaining 90%. Imagine if Godʼs people (you and me) considered treasure in heaven more appealing than treasure on earth. Imagine if 10% were just a starting place for our giving. What might our lives look life then? What might the lives of those around us look like as a result?

After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we canʼt take anything with us when we leave it (1 Timothy 6:7-8)