Does God actually require 10% of your income — or did the church invent a financial system and put God's name on it?

• A2

  Avery 216d ago

  I sat through twenty years of tithing sermons. My family gave faithfully every single week, even when we were behind on rent. I'm not bitter, but I will say this: the day I actually read the tithing passages in context — all of them, not just Malachi 3:10 — was the day something broke inside me. The tithe was FOOD. It was eaten at a festival. It supported a priestly tribe that had no land inheritance. None of that maps onto a suburban megachurch with a $4 million campus. None of it. I still give generously, more than 10% some months, but now I give because I want to, not because I'm afraid God will curse my finances if I don't.

  187Reply
• M

  Maya5d ago

  I was a pastor for 11 years. I preached tithing. I believed it. Then I spent a summer really working through the texts in Greek and Hebrew and the historical context and I had to go back to my congregation and say — I've been teaching this wrong. That was one of the hardest sermons I've ever preached. Half the deacons were furious. But I wasn't going to keep standing behind a pulpit and misapplying Scripture because it was financially convenient for the institution.

  171Reply
• MB

  Maya B.6d ago

  My grandmother never had much. Kept giving her 10% to a church that preached the Malachi blessing guarantee. Died still waiting on that financial breakthrough. I'm not saying God doesn't provide but I am done with pastors who essentially sell a prosperity formula wrapped in Moses.

  156Reply
• I_

  Iris _x6d ago

  2 Corinthians 9:7. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion. Paul literally says DON'T give under compulsion. If your church is using Malachi 3:10 to pressure you into a specific percentage, they are directly contradicting the New Testament. That's not a minor issue. That's a pastor choosing an Old Covenant legal threat over explicit apostolic instruction.

  143Reply
• Q

  Quinn5d ago

  what gets me is the CURSE language. pastors standing up there telling people they're under a curse if they don't give 10%. you know what that is? that's manipulating vulnerable people using fear. i've seen single moms skip groceries to make tithe. that is not the kingdom of god. i don't care what your proof text is.

  134Reply
• C

  Casey5d ago

  If you genuinely disagree with the idea that God requires exactly 10%, explain why you're okay with watching your pastor stand up every week and tell your neighbors that God will curse them if they don't hit that number. Because that's what's actually happening in thousands of churches right now. That's not a theological abstraction. That's real people in real financial fear, and someone put them there on purpose.

  122Reply
• L

  Leo6d ago

  ^^ That argument literally proves the point. If the only reason people would give is fear of breaking a rule, you don't have generous disciples, you have reluctant taxpayers. Jesus never held a congregation hostage with 'give or I curse you.' That's not the gospel. That's a protection racket with scripture verses.

  112Reply
• A

  Alex6d ago

  Matthew 23:23 — 'You tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others.' Jesus is speaking to Pharisees, under the Mosaic covenant, about Mosaic covenant obligations, before the cross. Using this as a universal tithing mandate for Gentile Christians in 2024 requires you to explain why we're not also obligated to tithe our herb gardens. The 'Jesus affirmed tithing' argument cuts both ways.

  104Reply
• T_

  Theo _x6d ago

  There are actually THREE tithes in the Old Testament law. Most pastors only preach the one. There's the Levitical tithe (Numbers 18), the festival tithe (Deuteronomy 14:22-26 — and they literally used it to buy wine and strong drink for a party, look it up), and the poor tithe every third year (Deuteronomy 14:28-29). Combined that's closer to 23% of agricultural produce every year, not 10% of your paycheck. If we're going to enforce Old Covenant tithing, let's actually enforce it — all of it. The selective application is intellectually dishonest.

  98Reply
• M

  Marco5d ago

  That's actually a fine challenge to someone's lifestyle and priorities, but you just made the exact argument Paul makes — it's about the heart and sacrificial love, not a legal percentage. Congrats, you've arrived at the non-tithe position by accident.

  91Reply
• R

  Ravi6d ago

  The Abraham-Melchizedek argument is fascinating until you notice that Abraham gave a tithe of WAR SPOILS, one time, voluntarily, and kept nothing else for himself (Genesis 14:22-23). He didn't tithe his regular income. If that's your model for mandatory weekly tithing of all earnings, you're doing some serious interpretive gymnastics.

  89Reply
• AR

  Alex R.5d ago

  Genuine question for those who say tithing is mandatory: mandatory to whom? The tithe system in Numbers goes to the Levites who serve the tabernacle. There is no temple. There is no Levitical priesthood. Every Christian is a priest (1 Peter 2:9). The institutional scaffolding the tithe was designed to support literally no longer exists. What exactly are we re-creating here?

  83Reply
• A2

  Alex 216d ago

  The 2% statistic actually proves you shouldn't use guilt and law to motivate giving, because it hasn't worked. People giving 2% under the tithe system just means the law-based approach failed at producing generosity anyway. The solution isn't to double down on the same pressure. It's to make the case for grace-motivated, love-driven generosity that Paul actually taught.

  78Reply
• L

  Liam5d ago

  If you can afford a streaming service, new shoes, and eating out twice a week but 'can't afford' to give to your church, the problem isn't bad theology about tithing. The problem is priorities. I'm sorry, I don't care how sophisticated your hermeneutics are.

  66Reply
• RS

  Ravi S.6d ago

  I grew up in a tradition that treated the tithe as the absolute baseline floor of Christian generosity. And honestly? It gave me a framework. I knew what I was supposed to do. There's something to be said for a concrete practice that stops people from just indefinitely 'giving when they feel led' which in practice often means giving almost nothing. Messy theology, maybe. But it produced more actual generosity than 'just follow your heart' tends to.

  61Reply
• DT

  Diego T.6d ago

  THIS. thank you. everyone in this thread is so busy being theologically correct they forgot that the average american christian gives about 2% of their income to church or charity. 2%. the tithe pushed people to give more. maybe the mechanism was imperfect but the outcome was real generosity. throw out the tithe and watch those numbers crater even further.

  55Reply
• A

  Alex5d ago

  Look I'm not interested in the scholarly debate anymore. My church does real things in my community. Feeds families, runs a recovery program, keeps the lights on for grief counseling. That takes money. I give because I love what my church does with it. If calling it a tithe gets more people to give and fund that work, I'll take the imprecise theology over the empty offering plate.

  48Reply
• F

  Feli6d ago

  Hebrews 7 actually references Abraham tithing to Melchizedek BEFORE the Mosaic law, which shows tithing predates the law and carries into the New Covenant era. This is why serious theologians don't just dismiss the practice. The principle of giving a portion back to God is woven through all of Scripture, not just Leviticus.

  47Reply
• N

  Noah6d ago

  ok but if everyone stopped tithing tomorrow half the churches in america would shut down in six months. is that what yall want. who pays the electric bill. who pays the pastor. this is just people looking for a theological excuse to keep more money for themselves

  34Reply
• Y

  Yuki6d ago

  Nope. The tithe is pre-law, in the law, affirmed in Malachi, and Jesus mentions it in Matthew 23:23 without condemning it. You people will twist anything to justify keeping your money. Cheerful giver doesn't mean SMALL giver.

  19Reply

More debates people can't stop arguing about