Tithing: Some Considerations

Asher Chee |

Tithing is the biblical practice of giving a tenth of the produce of the land or livestock to God. Indeed, the word “tithe” means “a tenth part”.

Today, many Christians practice tithing by giving a tenth of their incomes to their local churches. However, is this a biblical practice? Here are some biblical considerations:

The Tithe was Never Money

According to the Bible, tithes should be given only from the produce of the land or livestock (Lev. 27:30–32; Deut. 14:22). The Bible does not indicate that tithes could be in the form of money.

Leviticus 27:31 contains a provision which allows a tither to redeem his tithe:

If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. (ESV)

Instead of giving his tithe, a tither could give money amounting to one fifth more than the value of the tithe. Notably, the “tithe” is not the money. Rather, the tithe is being redeemed with money. The money is paid in place of the tithe, and is not the tithe itself. This provision also implies that the tithe could not have been money, since it would not make sense that a tithe of money could be redeemed by paying one fifth more money.

There were Several Kinds of Tithes

Christians are generally most familiar with the gift tithe, whereby a tither gives a tenth of the produce of the land or livestock to the Levites, who then gave a tenth of what they received to the priests (Num. 18:21–28; Heb. 7:5). Based on this gift tithe, it is taught that Christians should give a tenth of their income to their local churches. However, there are actually other kinds of tithes in the Bible!

One other kind of biblical tithe involves the pilgrimage feasts. For the pilgrimage feasts, tithers would bring their tithes to Jerusalem (Deut. 14:22). They did not give their tithes to a “local church” organization. Rather, they were supposed to eat their tithes with their families during the feast in Jerusalem (v. 23)! This command to eat the tithe implies that the tithe could not have been money, since money cannot be eaten!

If a tither lived too far away from Jerusalem, then he could convert his tithe into money, and bring that money to Jerusalem (vv. 24–25). However, the tither did not give that money to a “local church” organization. Rather, once he had arrived in Jerusalem, he was supposed to use that money to buy food and drink to be eaten during the feast (v. 26).

Yet another kind of biblical tithe involved giving one’s tithe directly to less-advantaged people (Deut. 14:28–29; 26:12).

None of the tithes in the Bible involved giving a tenth of one’s income to or through a local church organization.

There are No Biblical Priests or Levites Today

According to the Bible, only priests and Levites were authorized to receive gift tithes (Num. 18:21–32; Heb. 7:5). When the Temple was destroyed in the year 70 CE, the Old Covenant priesthood also passed away (Heb. 7:12; 8:18). Thus, there are no priests or Levites today who are authorized to receive gift tithes according to the Bible.

It is sometimes argued that pastors and elders are priests and Levites in the New Covenant, and are therefore authorized to receive tithes. However, the Bible makes it clear that in the New Covenant, every believer in Jesus Christ is a priest (1 Pet. 2:4–5, 9; Rev. 5:10), and Jesus himself is our high priest (Heb. 4:14; 9:11). Pastors and elders are not priests in some special sense that other believers are not.

The First Christians Did Not Practice Income-Tithing

There is no biblical evidence that the first Christians practiced tithing by giving a tenth of their income to their local churches—even if we ignore for now that according to the Bible, tithes were never money.

There are certainly passages in the New Testament which teach that Christians should

However, none of these passages suggests that Christians must give a tenth of their incomes to their local churches.

Conclusion

Christians are not sinning or disobeying God if they give less than a tenth of their incomes to their local churches. Rather, each Christian should give according to his ability and conviction (Rom. 12:8; 1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor. 8:12; 9:7). Of course, there is nothing wrong if a Christian decides to give a tenth of his income to his local church. However, that is not tithing by biblical definition.