Peter SmytheDecidedly Unprofessional

And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred, and pursued them far as Dan. And he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of the Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, at the vale of Shaveh (the same is the King’s Vale). And Melchizadek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was 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 which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him a tenth of all. Genesis 14:14-20

In defense of mandatory tithing, many preachers resort to Genesis 14:20 to show that tithing did not emanate from the Law and, therefore, it is proper New Testament doctrine. One preacher puts it this way:

“You cannot argue that tithing is just under the law because this [verses quoted above] happened four hundred years before the law. … [T]ithing didn’t begin with the law. The law only explained the tithe, gave it procedure, and demanded it.”

This minister, along with others, hold that since Abram (Abram’s name was changed to Abraham in Genesis 17:5) tithed before the Law, the ordinance of the tithe is some type of independent covenant that transcends the Law and continues through to the New Testament. That bit of reasoning is a logical fallacy for at least a few reasons:

1. As demonstrated in Genesis 14:20 and confirmed in Hebrews 7:4, Abraham did not tithe on everything he owned, but only on the “booty” or “spoils” of his engagement against the king of Sodom. Before meeting Melchizedek, Abraham (then “Abram”) was already “very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.” Genesis 13:2. Consequently, it’s a logical fallacy to say that the New Testament believer must tithe on everything he owns based on Abraham’s tithe. (There’s no record that Abraham tithed when he was called out of Ur, although I don’t know to whom he would have tithed.)

2. In Genesis 17:11-13, God commands Abraham to do the following to confirm His covenant:

“And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.”

This command of God, like Abraham’s tithing to Melchizedek, occurred several hundred years before Moses came down Mount Sinai with the Law. If we employed the same logic to these verses that is used to support mandatory tithing in the New Testament, we’d need to call a number of doctors to church every time men got saved. We’d also have to reformulate Paul’s revelation because of scriptures like these:

“For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” Galatians 6:15

“For he is a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter: whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Romans 2:28-29

In Romans 2:29, Paul actually presents the problem with mandatory tithing as New Testament doctrine; it is of the letter and not of the heart. And, ironically, Abraham’s tithing to Mechizedek stands as an object lesson for us, New Testament believers, because it wasn’t due to the letter. He simply sought to bless God by blessing His priest. This same kind of heart-attitude giving is reflected in the New Testament:

“What soldier ever serveth at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Do I speak these things after the manner of men? or saith not the law also the same? For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. … If we sowed unto you spiritual things, is it a great matter if we shall reap your carnal things? 2 Corinthians 9:7-11

In these verses and others, Paul makes it clear that the Body of Christ should support those who preach the Gospel. And while there is no New Testament scripture that supports mandatory tithing, that is not to say that Christians shouldn’t tithe. Giving is all about honoring the Lord and supporting the proclamation of the Gospel and the Body of Christ and tithing is not a bad benchmark (some Christians may go higher or lower depending upon their ability - see Acts 11:29). In my thinking, mandatory tithing has been preached because many Christians won’t otherwise give towards the Lord’s work.

Years ago, I attended a revival in a church that lasted seventy straight days. I don’t believe that I’ve ever personally witnessed such an outpouring of the Spirit. In one of the night services, while the preacher was preaching, there was a group of about 5 or 7 young people who entered through the back of the church and walked straight down to the platform. Just from the way they walked and looked around, you could tell that they had never been in a church before and they weren’t too sure of what they were doing. When they got to the platform, they just stood there, waiting for the minister to acknowledge them. He finally stopped preaching (looked to me that he thought they were a nuisance) and bent down and spoke with them a minute or two. He then turned to the rest of us and said, “These young folks were flipping channels at home and saw me preaching. Before they got to the next channel an angel appeared on the screen next to me and told them to come to this church to learn how to be saved. They are here to be saved.”

If we, as Christians, really understood the gravity of the preaching of the Gospel, there’d never be a problem with giving.