A few years ago, a major researcher reported that 94% of those who claim to be Christians do not tithe. Of course, this means that only 6% of Christians tithe. What do Christians actually give? These researchers indicated that the congregation tithes or donates only 2%-3% of their income to the church. How should we think about giving to local churches?

Well, welcome to the Church and Family Life podcast. Church and Family Life exists to proclaim the sufficiency of Scripture, and today we'd like to talk about what the Bible says about giving and even the subject of tithing and it's a subject that you should really pay attention to because the Bible has quite a bit to say about it. And I remember a few years ago, a major researcher reported that 94% of people who claim to be Christians don't give. They don't give anything. And that means that 6% of Christians are giving in the form of a tithe.

And these researchers said that the average person in a congregation donates between two and three percent of their income to the church. So how should we think about tithing? I think we'll use the word tithing because it's such a common term. Let's begin with that. So Jason, we're going to talk about tithing.

A lot of people hate it when preachers talk about giving. I know they do. And that's why we brought Mike Davenport in here. Mike, I'm so glad you're able to join us. Mike and I are fellow pastors at Hope Baptist Church, and so this is a subject that's on our minds.

I think we feel like we don't talk enough about this subject, and we were just talking about we might need to revisit how we do this. So anyway, thanks for joining us. Good to be here. Thanks for having me. So what does the Bible say about tithing?

Deuteronomy 14 is one of the critical Old Testament texts, and you have these words, you shall truly tithe. You know, they were fighting words, you know, for a lot of evangelicals. And you know, in the Old Testament, you had three tithes that added up to around 23 percent, you know, you had the Levitical tithe to allow the Levites to do their work in the sacrificial system, you had the festival tithe, and this was given to the to the Levites and they were these tithes were used to celebrate and the people of God were able to participate in that And then you had the poor tithe or the welfare tithe. So you had tithes and offerings brought into the storehouse and that they were distributed to various needs. So are we obligated to tithe like that?

Is 23% what we ought to do now? So let me push off that question for a minute. And here's where I want to start with my comments. And it's in Exodus 36, because Exodus 36 really gives us the ideal. I think it helps to just back up and say, hey, what are we shooting for?

If we had just the right thing, what would we have? And I think Exodus 36 gives us what we would have. So this is Exodus 36, 2 through 7. Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab and every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred to come and do the work. They received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary.

So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came each from the work that he was doing and they spoke to Moses saying, the people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded us to do. So Moses gave a commandment and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp saying, let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. And the people were restrained from bringing for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done. Indeed, too much." So what pastors since then has had that problem and had to issue a command.

What you have here is a people who have just been brought out of their captivity, and they're really happy in God. And so their resources are free flowing, nobody's clinging to resources, and they're actually bringing more than is needed and they have to restrain them from giving. That's what we want, is people who have been brought out of captivity, who are happy in Jesus and they're not clinging to resources. That's where you get the right level of giving from for sure. Wow, that's an illustration of God loves a cheerful giver.

Yeah, yeah, exactly, yeah. Because actually God is at the heart of the cheerful giver. He has made the giver cheerful. Yeah. Yeah, There's Charles Bridges in his commentary on Proverbs, commenting on chapter 3 verses 9 and 10, which say, honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the first fruits of all your increase, so your barns will be filled with plenty and your baths will overflow with new wine.

Ridges wrote, this rule of sacrifice is a costly preset to the worldly and the formalist, but to the servant of God is it not a privilege to lay aside a portion of substance with this sacred stamp? This is for God." And then he says, the first words, the increase for the acknowledgement of redemption from Egypt. We go back into Exodus and Deuteronomy, where there Jason was just born and now in that text, how these people were getting freely, having been brought out of captivity. But he says, Bridges does. And shall we, redeemed from sin, safe from death, and found denied to claim?

Well, may we think our substance do, where we owe ourselves. And so when we think about that, and these people who many of us are hearted, when Israel, the Lord had not always changed their hearts, yet they did give willingly how much so us who had brought out greater captivity. It reminds me of Ecclesiastes 5.18-20, Mike, where We read, God gives you money to enjoy it. And the enjoyment is with the people of God, the strengthening of the church, the people of God. And then of course, God's people are allowed to keep an enormous amount.

I heard one guy say one time, you know, my boss lets me keep 90% of what I make. Yeah, if you look at Psalm 50, God says, if I were hungry, I would not tell you. Meaning, Our giving isn't to enrich God, he's not resource constrained. He's actually the one who gives to us and then a sliver of what he gives us is given back. And why is that?

Not because he needs a portion of it back, but because it breaks our idolatries. People love money. This helps you break your love of money. And it's an act of worship. It is an opportunity to worship God with the resources that He's given you.

Yeah. I like how you said that, you know, God is so kind to help us with something that we can't help ourselves with very well. He puts a drain plug on our greed. He actually commands us to do something that drains some of the greed out of our souls, so that we spread blessing out. And there's this statement in 1 Corinthians 9, he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully.

So it's a double, you know, you've got a drain plug on your greed and you also reap bountifully when you give bountifully, like your illustration at the beginning. Yeah, when you think about the idolatry of money, you're often thinking about the guy who is looking for the next nicer car, the next bigger house. But this idolatry can be as simple as worrying about provision. If you look at what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 6, He says, don't worry about what you'll eat, don't worry about what you're going to wear. God takes care of the flowers of the field, the spares of the air, and then He ends that section by saying, seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.

So this is really about where your heart, what your heart is pointed at. Is it pointed at the kingdom of God, or is it kind of, or you self-absorbed, and it's reflected in your resources? And you know, Mike is doing a bunch of study on the 10th commandment on coveting. Mike, what is just based on what you've been thinking about covetousness? How does this relate to covetousness?

Well, I think it's at the very heart of it, just what Jason was mentioning right there in terms of where your heart is, there's where your treasure is going to be. And so how we spend our money actually reveals our heart and what things are important to us, what things we concentrate on. And so when we see that we are not giving to God's work and we are giving to our own needs and our own delights and pleasures, it gives us a sense of where our heart really is. And so I think that's an indication of covetousness, because as Paul talks about covetousness is idolatry. And so how we spend our money is a revealer of our hearts.

And how we give to the Lord, or if we give to the Lord, reveals the state of our hearts as well. Are we inclined to God, to this Scott and Mike, I think there's a mindset that cripples some Christians, and it's that their finances is a zero-sum game. What does that mean? Well, a zero-sum game is where there's fixed resources. Not one thing will be added, not one thing will be taken away.

It is this fixed amount. And if you think that way, so this fixed amount is allocated to you, and if you think that way, the minute you give, you're diminished, like You're losing by giving. But the Bible teaches that actually God could double your resources overnight, or He could cut them in half overnight. It's not a fixed sum that's been allocated to you. God actually distributes resources as he sees fit, and once you embrace that you'll never think that you're losing by giving again.

No, that's really helpful. Hey, Let's loop back to this question about the tithe. Is the tithe obligatory for today? Yeah, I mean, it's a good question. I was mentioning Bridges earlier, and he goes on to talk about the fact that, hey, the law dealt with us as children as requiring these things.

But he goes on to say that the gospel treats us as men. And so with the new covenant and the church, that will all be written on our hearts, we should be liked. We should be liked to be able to give. We shouldn't have to be restrained or commanded to give a certain amount out of the abundance of our heart. We should be willing to do that.

And, you know, God told Israel about a country, hey, you brought me, you've stored up for yourselves, but my storehouse is empty. And test me, test me, see if you put my kingdom first, if you invest in me, see if I will open the windows of heaven and give to you more than what you need. But we're so unwilling to do that because it's a matter of faith. It's a matter of trusting God. And if we can trust Him with our souls, How much more does it take for us to entrust Him with our daily needs, our daily bread, and the money that we need for our needs?

So I do think the New Testament believers should give a tenth of their gross income. So I'm convinced of the case for the New Testament believer to do that. But let's just... Let's say I'm wrong and the people who don't believe that are right. What are you left with?

Well, you're left with the New Testament clearly teaching that giving cheerfully and giving sacrificially is required. So, like, what does that save you? Yeah, I'm giving sacrificially, but it's 2%. Wow. That's an odd definition for sacrificial giving.

Yeah, and I would just add to it, you know all three of us we embrace the 1689 London Baptist Confession and In the section on the law There's a term that's used that I that I've always thought was helpful and that's general equity What is the general equity of the law? Maybe we're not required to do every one of these tithes. I don't believe we are required to do every one of these tithes, but the general equity of the law teaches us that that's a good thing. You know, God has established a way to think about the various categories of needs. And so, my position is like yours.

I think the tithe is critical to preserve, and then beyond that, as much as the Lord would move a person's heart to give cheerfully or I bless them abundantly to give more. So I don't know, Mike, you know, is that your position? Yes. Yes, it is. And, you know, And I think that's what, I think that's what many commentators who look home to that would say, you know, as new fellow believers who have been blessed with so much, why would we even want to question whether we should give 10%.

We should be so willing to give back to God because He's done so much for us. You know, Jesus, when he was sitting with the disciples by the temple, was watching people and their giving and how they were giving. And you have a widow who came and gave us two months. It's like a quarter of a penny. That's how much she gave.

And yet his comment was that she actually gave more because all of these others gave out of their abundance, she gave out of her poverty. And so she was sacrificing and doing more and giving what she had. And so often we're stingy with that and we're not considering what God has done for us and we're not thankful and that can cut off and make us want to say, how far is enough instead of saying freely, how much can I give for it? I want to give so much because it always does for me. Well, the word of God actually doesn't just give us a range of amounts.

He tells us how to feel about it. That's what you're talking about. He actually tells us how to feel about giving, and that is cheerfully. He wants his people to feel a certain way when they give, not grudgingly, but cheerfully. It's so interesting to me how many places in the Word of God we're called out of sort of our natural being into something so much greater, something so much more blessed.

I mean, Would you rather walk around grudgingly or would you rather walk around cheerfully? So I want to ask us to engage in a thought experiment here it is are you ready? So would you go to a church that your level of giving would afford? So you don't give very much, let's say everybody else is just, they match your level of giving. You don't give very much, either percentage or however you want to factor it.

Nobody else gives very much. Would you want to meet in the building that afford? Would you want to hear from the pastor that that affords? Would you want to go to a church with the amount of outreach or the amount of engagement and international missions that that affords? Most people would say if they're not giving very much, yeah, I wouldn't want to go to that church.

Well, what does that mean? I mean, that means you're relying on the giving of your brothers and sisters in Christ to afford for you the type of church that you're not willing to give towards. Wow, you know, just this last weekend we had a church camp. It was so much fun. We don't do hardly anything at this church camp except fellowship and eat.

The deacons, but they spent a lot of money on it. And I'm so glad, I'm glad you said that because I'm glad that I go to a church where the deacons are willing to throw it down and buy more food than we need and make it really lavish. It's the festival time. It's the festival time, absolutely. I don't think churches, you know, feast enough.

I think that's probably a fair statement. But churches should take some of their resources just for the enjoyment of the body together. That's what we did this last weekend. It was really nice. Sweet.

Yeah. So we're taught how to feel about giving. Now I heard someone recently say that if you have debt you shouldn't be giving until you pay off your debt because that money belongs to the bank. That money belongs to that lender and you shouldn't be taking that. So what are your thoughts about that?

If you have debt, should you be giving? I think if most people embrace that principle, they would never give. If you look at average church members, they have a level of debt. If you waited until they owned their house free and clear, every car free and clear, no consumer debt, I mean, we would all commend and recommend all of those things, but if you waited till then, no one would ever give. So I don't know where...

Give me a chapter and verse for that. You'd be hard-pressed to do it. I think that probably is financial genius, but actually not financial genius, because it's contradicting what the Word of God would have us do, which is not financial genius. Because again, God has an infinite abundance out of which to give you. Robbing from God is not the solution to your debt problems.

Right. I think too, I would almost turn that question on its head and say, hey, I agree wholeheartedly, but are you not as a Christian in great debt to God for all of His mercies, His covenant mercies that He's poured out upon you? Does that mean nothing to you? So I think our debt to God is so much greater. When the person came and brought the coin to Jesus, they used the scripture in his own there, Jesus says, and he said, the season will render the season things that are seasons and to God the things that are God's.

The things that belong to God with his kingdom and this is how his kingdom operates in this world and we have a great debt to God for all these things for us. Amen. So when you go through hard times, should you lower your giving or eliminate your giving? I think it's really hard. I think you have to be careful because of the mindset that it gives you.

If you're to lower it, You know, I can, I can understand that pressure, but, but it's, it's a slippery slope that I think we get used to it? And we began to withhold them in our hearts or are deceitful about all things. I think we have to be careful. Now, would I say that soon? No, there may be people who have enough self discipline that as soon as that is over, they really do go back to increasing their giving.

But knowing my own heart, I would not want to go down that path knowing that I would probably get too easy with doing that and stay when that deep drinks the load for longer than relationship. So I almost hate to give my our personal family testimony on this because it makes me sound like a prosperity gospel preacher Hopefully our anyone who's watching this would would know better But Malachi to preacher yeah Malachi to preacher Test me in this and see if I won't open up heaven, you know, and give you resources. Janet, my wife, came out of a family where they gave first, they gave generously. I came out of a similar family, so when we got married, we never really had a discussion about this thing. It was just a presumption from both of our backgrounds.

And so, I mean, we've been a giving family from the start, and we've always felt like we received resources from the Lord that were disproportionate to credentials, background, things like that. God has given us resources we had no expectation of receiving. And we would track a lot of that back to, hey, God gave us parents that taught us to give, and we've been giving, and He always outgave us. Amen. So I would be really reluctant not to give when I got in the hole to think, hey, this might be the fastest way out of the hole is to continue to honor the Lord with our substance.

Amen. Amen. And I would just say some of those difficult situations can easily be collaborated with pastors where you can really understand the situation that family is in and you might there might be different decisions about that based on the severity of it. Right. So, well guys, thank you so much.

I'm going to close with a statement by A.W. Pink. Okay, are you ready? There are few subjects on which the Lord's own people are more astray than on the subject of giving. They profess to take the Bible as their own rule of faith and practice, and yet, in the matter of Christian finance, the vast majority have utterly ignored its plain teachings and have tried every substitute the carnal mind could devise.

Therefore it is no wonder that the majority of Christian enterprises in the world today are handicapped and crippled through the lack of funds. And then he says this, is our giving to be regulated by sentiment and impulse or by principle and conscience? That is the only, that is another way of asking, does God leave us to the spirit of gratitude and generosity or has he definitely specified his own mind and particularized what portion of his gifts to us are due to him in return? Wow. Wow, isn't that great?

So praise the Lord. Guys, thank you so much for joining me on this subject And thank you for joining us on the Church and Family Life podcast, and we really hope to see you next time. Thanks for listening to the Church and Family Life podcast. We have thousands of resources on our website, announcements of conferences coming up. Hope you can join us.

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