Tithe De-mystified

Tithe demystified

Introduction

In the book of Malachi 3:8-12 we read: 8Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 12And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. These are the common verses we read about the tithe and offerings from time to time. While the verses demand that we pay tithe and are used to encourage people to pay tithe they end with a positive note that talks about blessings that follow a faithful tithe. Most people do not really like the verses because they make as if we go to church so tithe can be demanded of us while in truth it is also a call to blessedness. I wish the last verses that talk about blessings could have been used to precede verse 8 which is a demanding verse. However the fact remains that this portion of scripture is God’s call for a remembrance of our duty as God’s people to shoulder our responsibility for His cause. It is also a dynamic call to blessedness and prosperity which is sought by all.

Leviticus 27:30, 32 affirms a tenth as being holy and belonging to God and Jesus seems to reaffirm the importance of returning the Tithe in Matt. 23:23. Paul also echoes the same sentiment in 1Cor. 9:13, 14. If returning the tithe is a holy act that brings about a blessing then why is it that our churches and conferences are struggling financially with only minorities returning the tithe? Is it because our people do not want to be blessed? Is it a total refusal to God’s call? Or is it because most of our people do not understand what the tithe is and how it is determined? It is the latter question that I seek to address in this piece of work and while it is not necessarily authoritative and exhaustive it may help to demystify the topic at hand or even lead to deeper studies and constructive debates.

If this article helps more and more people to return the tithe and support all lines of our work in the church, I will have achieved the objective of taking so much of my time to write in an effort to demystify the idea of giving as expressed in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy.
The Spirit of Prophecy says that it is our prerogative as members of the church to seek the prosperity of the church so that as we get closer to God we become more and more like Him by participating in the plan of Salvation with all our means – financial and otherwise. “Every believer should be wholehearted in his attachment to the church. Its prosperity should be his first interest…it is in the power of all to do something for the cause of God” (Counsels on Stewardship, p.42).

Definition

While the verses we have read state clearly that we have to return the tithe; that tithe is an obligation and they pronounce the blessings that accompany faithful tithing, they do not attempt to define clearly what it is and even how it is determined. The verses take it for granted that the reader knows about what the tithe is all about – it is the case with many other verses that we find on tithing. However there are a few verses that attempt to give us a definition of the tithe as it was understood in biblical times. I have discovered that many an Adventist does not really understand what tithe is and how it is determined. Many have been tithing without really knowing what it is and how it is done. Indeed I have come across a large number of people who have tithed for years without proper understanding and many were afraid to ask many questions lest they look like stingy people who do not want to advance the cause of God. I don’t think that people should just dish out money and resources without thoroughly investigating the facts and doing what they understand because while we may gain from others’ ignorance God does not gain anything from our ignorance. The fact of the matter is that we need to be clear on revealed matters and do what we can be able to teach our posterity without withholding the truth.

Encyclopedia Encarta defines tithe in this manner: “generally defined as the tenth part of fruits and profits justly acquired, owed to God in recognition of his supreme dominion, and paid to the ministers of religion”. In this sense tithe is not derived from anything but profits – that is ten percent of profits from any legitimate source. According to this understanding God expects only a tenth or ten percent of what we receive as profits from our efforts in different lines.
The SDA Logos Bible Dictionary says it’s The 10th part of one’s increase, which God claims as His. This definition is similar to the one we find in the Encarta but it takes us a step further by not only mentioning profits which are derived from the buying and selling of goods in a commercial sense but increase also includes profits from other forms of income from which one receives excess above what one had invested. I have identified four areas of income from which an increase is expected: Wages, Profits, Rent, and Interest – you may add more if possible!
1. Wages - for selling labour power.
2. Rent – for use of land.
3. Interest – return for use of Capital.
4. Profit – difference between buying and selling price.

So when God demands a tithe, He demands it not necessarily from the total income but from the increase or profits received or else he would be unfair to demand where you have not made any gain. Indeed He is not an unfair taskmaster who wants to reap where he has not sown. He blesses and asks only a tenth of His blessings to be returned for His cause. In other words no increase, no tithe; no profits no tithe; no blessing no tithe expected! Fair enough.

Can we support the idea of ten percent of an increase from the authority of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy?

The Bible in the book of Proverbs 3:9, 10 says: “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: so shall all thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst with new wine”. The next one: “Thou shall truly tithe all the increase of thy seed”. Deut 14:22. These verses testify again that the tithe is determined from the increase and not necessarily from the total income unless the total income constitutes the increase, meaning that there has’nt been any costs incurred in the acquiring of the income. I read from the Spirit of prophecy that “A tithe of all our increase is the Lord’s. He has reserved it to Himself, to be employed for religious purposes. It is holy” (Counsels on Stewardship, p.670).
There we are! The witness of the Bible and the Sprit of Prophecy. We may still want to do our own thing? It is up to us, old habits die hard! Even if they are not scriptural.

How is the Tithe determined?

You see, the Lord increases and seeks to make prosperous according to Malachi 3:9-12 and since He is not a cheat he indicates how to determine the tithe – ten percent of your income from whatever source. If receive M1000 from growing and selling vegetables and your costs including seed, manure, tractor, insecticides, weeding, harvesting and sending to and from the market equals M650.00 then your increase is M350.00 and your tithe is M35.00, fair?
Another example: you buy oranges for M10 and your transport to town and back is M5. You sell the oranges for M20 minus your costs of M15 = M5. M5 is your profit and your tenth is M0.50.
Now a different example regarding interest: You invest M1000 in a fixed deposit account (taking for granted that it comes from your tithed income), and at the end of the term the bank gives you 13% interest which is M130.00. Tithe(10%) of your increase is M13.00. I hope it’s clear!

It’s like those who are in business do not find it difficult to determine their tithe but the cry comes from those who earn a salary monthly, weekly or fortnightly. And you ask why all the fuss? And why can’t you just forget about calculations and give God the whole salary’s tenth? Some people say even if you give God 30 percent as tithe it is ok. I personally have a problem with these questions and suggestions. Firstly God is concerned with calculations and exactness or else He could have said that ten percent is his threshold but he says: “The tenth shall be Holy unto the Lord” Lev. 27:30, 32. Do you think that God is shy to say He wants 15 percent and instead he says 10 so that you give Him 15? I don’t think God is a cheat that He will say something when he means something else. He does not want to send confusing signals at any cost. The issue of tithe has no catch even though some people want it to look as if there is a catch. After all if you give God 15 % of your increase, you cannot regard it as tithe because a tithe is only 10%, nothing less and nothing more. I repeat 15% is not God’s tithe; God’s tithe is 10% according to the scriptures. So you are not doing God any favor by giving Him more than He requires for His tithe as much as setting aside two days in a week as God’s Sabbath does not do God any favor for He has only blessed the seventh day (Saturday) as holy. So if you choose Sunday and Saturday as Sabbaths, only one remains Holy not two. Tithe which is 10% is holy and your addition is not made holy by wanting to pay more. The other issue is that some people say that strict determination is not necessary, in other words ten percent is just a guide. This is very wrong and unscriptural as God is specific that calculations are necessary for he specifies that a tenth is holy. How do you determine a tenth without doing proper calculations? 9% is not a tithe as much as 11% is not a tithe.

If you want to will in any case do your willing with free will offerings. With free will offerings you can allow your mind to run amok as you will as much as you can. With tithe it is God who wills and He wills that you pay 10% of your increase and nothing more or nothing less. God has already willed and made holy as far as tithing is concerned. If we were to will as we will in tithe, the poor would will 1% and the afluent could will up to 90% of their increase and that would cause huge disparities. Muslims pay 2% as tithe, and for those who think tithing is a matter of will it is ok but for those who think that God has already willed 10%, it is not right.

Gross or Net?

Statistics show that 60 percent of Adventists pay their tithe from their gross salaries. I don’t know what that means but I want us to look closely at these gross and net debates. But again why all the fuss? The Spirit of Prophecy says: “God desires all His Stewards to be exact in following divine arrangements” (Counsels on Stewardship, p.102 emphasis mine). We cannot afford to be negligent on this matter. According to the scriptures God expects a tithe of all your increase from your income (mark my wording) which is due to you from various sources of income. Now if gross means your income untaxed as is the case with those earning below the tax threshhold or those who do not pay income tax, your tithe is determined from your gross income (total income) minus the overheads you incured to your place of work i.e transport cost and lunch if you pay for lunch. In this case you tithe on gross. To some people gross means total income including tax, in this case you deduct tax which is not your income at all and you calculate your overheads and remain with your increase which is the tithe. You say why deduct tax? Tax does not belong to you at all and if you dont pay tax you are defrauding the state. Tax belongs to Caeser and not you – it is not your income but income to the state. Christ set a good example here when he extracted tax from a fish and did not calculate God’s tithe before submitting it to Caeser.

Some people’s gross includes pension fund, insurance and medical aid apart from tax. Pension, insurance and medical aid constitute your increase which incur liability to tithe (your employer might have contributed also). I see two options here: the first is to tithe your income right way which is easy to determine – the rationale is that you may reap the benefits of these investments when you are dead and not able really to do the tithing. The second option is to tithe later on when your income comes back to you with interest and this is not easy with medical aid – here you will be tithing all your capital plus what has acrued from it. As I have said if one understands the principles of tithing there are a number of approaches here and all of them demand understanding along with a lot of calculations because of the many variables involved. I suggest that medical aid be tithed right from the beginning because it is money that hardly comes back in cash or you may tithe it accordingly each time you receive some benefit from it. If you decide to tithe insurance and pension later on when you may be dead, you could include God’s tithe in your will(legal) so that your children will be forced to tithe when you are gone.

“Let God’s portion be first set apart. We are not to consecrate to Him what remains of our income after all our real or imaginary wants are satisfied; or before any portion is consumed, we should set apart that which God has specified as His” (CS. P.81). This quotation has been understood as saying we have to tithe on gross and not on net but that does not seem to be the leaning of the author. The idea expressed is still that after what belongs to you has been determined, think of God first and then consume your portion of the increase according to your demands and dues.

Do I return the Lord’s tithe from a loan?

Scripturally no! Only an increase is tithed because the Lord has increased you but a loan is a liability and therefore you are decreased and not increased. God’s tithe is calculated on an increase according to the scriptures not on a decrease. The bible does not require a tithe from liabilities. In fact debt is one good reason not to tithe though debt does not exempt one from freewill offerings. Read Counsels on Stewadship p.93 under the subheading ‘The true reason for withholding’. Does this surprise you? You see God is not even interested in us getting into debt. Living in liabilities is not in His plan; for those who walk with the Lord and are blessed by Him will not be indebted – they can only be creditors and not debtors. Deut. 28:1-13 and Mal.3:12. You see, when you take any loan you are not sure if you will ever make any increase out of it until you have actually managed to repay it. Most loans will pull you deeper and deeper into debt through interest and sometimes compounded, and tithing it is illogical scripturally because it does the opposite of what God wants to do through the tithing system – which is to bless you – to increase rather than decrease.

“There must be a strict regard to economy or a heavy debt will be incurred. Keep within bounds. Shun the incurring of debts as you would shun leprosy.”Counsels on Stewardship. P.272).

How about freewill offerings from loans?

If you will to get into debt for the lord, let thy will be done – that is what freewill offerings are about. You may be thanking the Lord that He made it possible for you to receive that loan – It may be a business start-up or a loan for you to go to school and pay later when you qualify or succeed in business. But remember it is not an obligation (tithe) but a heartfelt way of saying ‘thank you Lord.’ But hang on! What if you end up failing to return the loan? Will you not have placed God in a compromising situation? This is yours to answer. Jacob when he was a wanderer without any penny, all he could do was make a promise to pay his tithe once the Lord had increased him rather than borrow to pay his dues. In fact he did not have any dues because the Lord had not yet blessed him materially. God has an obligation to bless us first before he requires a tithe or expects a freewill offering. What a God!! Like Jacob, challenge God to bless you and promise to pay your revenge for His goodness by returning His tithe and giving freely later on. If God has not yet blessed you like Jacob a pledge or a promise which you will definately keep is enough. Remember that a pledge is just as binding because it is a contract with God and not man.

Can one be compelled to tithe?

“No one is compelled to present his tithe or his gifts and offerings to the Lord. But just as surely as God’s word is given to us, just so surely will He require His own with usury at the hand of every human being. If men are unfaithful in rendering to God His own, if they disregard God’s charge to His stewards, they will not long have the blessing of that which the Lord have entrusted to them…” (CS, p.83)

What if I don’t agree with the way tithe money Managed?

“Some have been dissatisfied, and have said, “I will not longer pay my tithe; for I have no confidence in the way things are managed at the heart of the work.” But will you rob God because you think the management of the work is not right? Make your complaint, plainly and openly, in the right spirit, to the proper ones. Send your petitions for things to be adjusted and set in order; but do not withdraw from the work of God, and prove unfaithful, because others are not doing right”. (9T 249)

Can tithe be used to help poor people and other lines of God’s work?

“The tithe is the Lord’s, and those who meddle with it will be punished with the loss of their heavenly treasure unless they repent. Let the work no longer be hedged up because the tithe has been diverted into various channels other than the one to which the Lord has said it should go. Provisions should be made for these other lines of work. They are to be sustained, but not from the tithe. God has not changed; the tithe is still to be used for the support of the ministry” (9T 2470-250).

“The tithe is set apart for a special use. It is not to be regarded as a poor fund. It is to be especially devoted to the support of those who are bearing God’s message to the world; and it should not be diverted from this purpose” (R. & H. Supplement, Dec. 1, 1896).

Freewill Offerings

According to the Bible in Malachi 3:8-12 and Proverbs 11:24, 25 giving is a pre-requisite for receiving. In other words if you want to increase your wealth you have to give. Giving is like a seed planted in the soil – it goes alone into the soil but it comes out in droves. This principle found in nature works the same in the spiritual world. The more you sow is the more you reap. Freewill offerings are just that, freewill offerings. Nobody determines how much you give and who you give – no percentage determined. Since offerings are a matter of will, you can withhold as you will if you are not satisfied with how your offerings are used. In offerings you can will as you will for the Lord has given you lordship on how you give.

It is in this area where our churches were supposed to benefit even more. But alas! There is always more tithe than freewill offerings. Typically in my church tithe is 1000% percent more than freewill offerings. Any explanations? Tithe money is specifically for taking care of the clergy but freewill offerings do more for the local church followed by the conference. Why is it that we pay less of what has to do more? Is it because people return the tithe because they have to do it and neglect giving offerings because they are not willing. My suspicion is that some if not most people do not understand the tithing system and how it works – meaning we have more work to clarify Adventist system of giving to encourage more participation in this area.

Is money the only area of giving expected?

Some have thought that there is nothing they are expected to do in God’s field because they do not have money and are not earning any regular income in monetary form. This is wrong; God has given us so much to thank Him for. God demands that we give Him back anything that has increased from the field (crop farming) or anything that passes under the rod (Stock farming). If any of the above has multiplied, you need to tithe it as income. You can convert it into monetary form or send it as it is to the God’s treasury. The Lord also expects you to reciprocate His generosity by freely giving in an attitude of gratitude.

We can also set time apart from our busy schedule to do good in the cause of God. God’s field does not need only monetary and material resources but we can be resourceful in so many ways using our time, knowledge, talents, gifts, education, and genius. Did you think you do not have much to do in the church and as a result you were just a back-bencher? It is time you stopped warming the pews and getting you hands soiled. It is usually people who do nothing who complain and criticize endlessly. Please get yourself busy and you will be surprised how much you will develop and enjoy yourself in the process of saving your fellow men.

Conclusion

This work is attempted from the premise that if people understand the reasons for tithing and how tithe is determined as well as what freewill offerings feature in the whole picture we can see an upsurge in the number of people tithing and therefore an increase in the treasury to support the ministry. At the same time we will see more churches being financially independent as freewill offerings increase to support local churches to reach out in immediate communities
Some ideas expressed may be seen as encouraging people to reduce the tithe they have been made to pay in the past as a result of misunderstanding the system but to a degree benefiting the treasury. But on the contrary more people will tithe if they understand what they are doing. Using people’s ignorance to fill the treasury is like defrauding them and it is contrary to God’s Modus operandi of fairness and truth. Let the truth be unfolded and the rest falls into place like the domino principle.