Your thoughts echo what I wrote in this article:  http://www.providentplan.com/1112/new-covenant-giving-guidelines-for-christians/

I agree with what you’ve said.  I hope you’ll be around to comment more in the future!

 I have been telling folks to look at Deuteronomy 14 when discussing the tithe for over 20 years.  So many Christians have come under bondage to this heretical tithing that is preached today, it makes the heart sad. The tithe as taught today is a far heavier weight than the Hewbrews bore themselves.  What happened to the Lord Jesus’ burden being “light” and the Lord giving us “rest”?  Do tithe advocating Christians believe we are free from the ceremonial laws or not?  I echo Paul who said of the Judaizers advocating circumcision; ” I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!” (Gal 5:12)

When I bring out the fact that Christians are not bound by the Mosaic Law on tithing, I am often told that Christians are following Abrahams example of tithing to Melchizedeck.  If that were truly the model that Christians are supposed to follow, then we should only tithe upon the successful completion of battle to liberate our lost family members and their households and we should only do so after our private army has been sustained by bread and wine by the recipient of the tithe.  Abraham did this exactly once.  Do tithing advocates REALLY want to use that as the pattern for New Testament Christian giving?  (I say this in this fashion because I have been under heated reproach from some for daring to actually read the Scriptures and think  about what God is actually saying to us through them.)

Should Christians give?  ABSOLUTELY.  First and foremost, Christians should give to their family.  “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1Tim 5:8) They should give to support their Church and its ministers.  ““Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.”” (1Tim 5:18).  Both we individually and corporately as the Church (and ministers) should give to help the poor.

But how much should a Christian give?

First, a Christian should only give (to the Church and those outside his/her own family) as much as they can give CHEERFULLY (and responsibly- they must still provide for their own family and they must still pay obligated debts and they must still pay their taxes).

Second, they should give in accordance with their means.  They should not go in to debt to give (no cheating with credit cards or 2nd mortgages).

Third, they should be honest about how much they are giving (when asked) but they should not trumpet their giving or make a big show of how much they give.

Finally, they should not ”give until it hurts”.  God, according to the apostle Paul, does not want us to give so much that we are “hard pressed”.  If you are struggling to pay your mortgage and put groceries on the table, it is absolutely shameful for a “minister” to guilt you into paying a “tithe”.

Open your hearts, give out of love for God and man, and give responsibly.  Don’t feel guilty if you do not have much to give, but do look for ways to improve your lot and expand your giving to others.

Sorry for the lengthy comment, but my heart is full.

God bless you all,
George 

This passage especially shows that those who teach tithing are not teaching it “Biblically” even though they claim to do so. You won’t hear anyone saying you should have a party with your tithe. If they have to skip over some of the key passages in tithing to make it suit their purposes, we should be very wary of the teaching. Blessings to you.

I have been studying the tithe on my own as I have been in several churches that taught it is required. I am a retired person currently in debt due to unforseen factors and have been trying to pay off but the money just isn’t there each month, although I am sure the Lord has a plan and will help me out of this hole eventually.

People would tell me that if I just paid the tithe to the church, God would bless me with enough and I did this at two different churches only to find myself deeper in debt as the Lord chose not to supply enough extra funds each month and instead I was confronted with necessary extra expenses. However, he has clearly told me to use my tithe for my own needs (although I give to the poor here and there) and this is helping me to get out of debt.

I found your website by accident while I was looking for critical reviews of the World English Version of the Bible and was amazed to see a link on your site entitled “Eating your tithe.” I had been studying the same scriptiures in Deuteronomy and had come to the same conclusions. It was such a confirmation to me that someone else had also come to these conclusions. Thank you.

Addie

Solomon

Like I’ve said before, the New Testament has a much higher standard for giving than the Old. And our motivation to give is much better. We give out of response to God’s love and the gift of His Son. We don’t need a law to tell us we should give or how much. Jesus made it clear that we should be extremely generous.

If you’d like to hear a sermon about tithing that discusses all the tithes, I recommend Bill Mounce’s sermon on tithing.