I have blogged about tithing before, but I wanted to look at it from a little different perspective. I have heard some people use the story of the widow and the two mites as a scriptural example showing that tithing is required of the New Testament church. Let me state here at the beginning that I believe in tithing, and I do believe that Christians must tithe, just as those living under Old Testament law must. Having said that, though, let’s examine the evidence for the widow’s story as proof of the requirement to tithe. Mark 12:41-44 says:
“41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.”
The same story in Luke reads almost exactly the same. The telling point is in verse 44, where Jesus told his disciples, “This poor widow hath done what was required of her, because she of her want did cast in one tenth of her living.” Only He didn’t. Please pardon my use of sarcasm, but I wanted to make the point: in neither account does it suggest that she was paying a tithe, or she was doing something that was required of her. If anything, the other people who were casting in “of their abundance” probably were tithing, since they were living under Old Testament law. She clearly, was making an offering, which is above and beyond a tithe, although, in her case, it wouldn’t seem to be very much. BTW—the term “mite” refers to something very small, in this case, coins of very little value; two mites (or a farthing) was still less than half of a penny. The point of the story is that she gave all she had, trusting that God would take care of her, while the others had plenty, but (probably) just put 10% into the treasury.
Now I said before that I believe in tithing; I just don’t believe that the story of the widow and the two mites is good evidence of the requirement to tithe. The first mention of tithing in the Bible was in Genesis: Abram was returning from ‘the slaughter of the kings’ and Melchizedek, priest of the most high God, met him, and gave him a blessing. Abram then gave Melchizedek tithes of all of the spoil from the war. Notice that I said the first mention of tithing. Nobody told Abram to tithe, but he knew to do it. Some would say that he did it because he was living under Old Testament law, but he wasn’t. The law hadn’t been given yet. He did it because he was led by the Spirit to do it. In Romans 4:10, Paul makes the point that Abraham was saved before even the commandment of circumcision. In Galatians 5:18, Paul tells us that if we are led by the Spirit, then we are not under the law—just as Abram was not under the law when he was led by the Spirit to pay tithes to Melchizedek.
Keep in mind that God loves a cheerful giver. I suspect that if you really allow yourself to be led by the Spirit, you will find yourself giving more than just a tithe.
BTW—there has been some discussion on the subject of ‘Baptist’ tithing versus ‘Methodist’ tithing (I’m not sure why those two philosophies have been tagged with the names of those two denominations): Baptist tithing is ten percent of your gross (before taxes) income; Methodist tithing is ten percent of your net (after taxes) income. My personal belief is that since the IRS lets you deduct your tithes and offerings from your taxable income, then you are actually paying taxes on your after-tithe income, so paying tithes on your after-tax income is paradoxical. Still, from what I understand, Methodist tithing doesn’t really let you off the hook, either, since you are still expected to give to some form of charity outside of your church, so that your total charitable donations are still at least ten percent of your gross income. All I can say is, allow yourself to be led by the Spirit: God knows where the money needs to go anyway.
“41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.”
The same story in Luke reads almost exactly the same. The telling point is in verse 44, where Jesus told his disciples, “This poor widow hath done what was required of her, because she of her want did cast in one tenth of her living.” Only He didn’t. Please pardon my use of sarcasm, but I wanted to make the point: in neither account does it suggest that she was paying a tithe, or she was doing something that was required of her. If anything, the other people who were casting in “of their abundance” probably were tithing, since they were living under Old Testament law. She clearly, was making an offering, which is above and beyond a tithe, although, in her case, it wouldn’t seem to be very much. BTW—the term “mite” refers to something very small, in this case, coins of very little value; two mites (or a farthing) was still less than half of a penny. The point of the story is that she gave all she had, trusting that God would take care of her, while the others had plenty, but (probably) just put 10% into the treasury.
Now I said before that I believe in tithing; I just don’t believe that the story of the widow and the two mites is good evidence of the requirement to tithe. The first mention of tithing in the Bible was in Genesis: Abram was returning from ‘the slaughter of the kings’ and Melchizedek, priest of the most high God, met him, and gave him a blessing. Abram then gave Melchizedek tithes of all of the spoil from the war. Notice that I said the first mention of tithing. Nobody told Abram to tithe, but he knew to do it. Some would say that he did it because he was living under Old Testament law, but he wasn’t. The law hadn’t been given yet. He did it because he was led by the Spirit to do it. In Romans 4:10, Paul makes the point that Abraham was saved before even the commandment of circumcision. In Galatians 5:18, Paul tells us that if we are led by the Spirit, then we are not under the law—just as Abram was not under the law when he was led by the Spirit to pay tithes to Melchizedek.
Keep in mind that God loves a cheerful giver. I suspect that if you really allow yourself to be led by the Spirit, you will find yourself giving more than just a tithe.
BTW—there has been some discussion on the subject of ‘Baptist’ tithing versus ‘Methodist’ tithing (I’m not sure why those two philosophies have been tagged with the names of those two denominations): Baptist tithing is ten percent of your gross (before taxes) income; Methodist tithing is ten percent of your net (after taxes) income. My personal belief is that since the IRS lets you deduct your tithes and offerings from your taxable income, then you are actually paying taxes on your after-tithe income, so paying tithes on your after-tax income is paradoxical. Still, from what I understand, Methodist tithing doesn’t really let you off the hook, either, since you are still expected to give to some form of charity outside of your church, so that your total charitable donations are still at least ten percent of your gross income. All I can say is, allow yourself to be led by the Spirit: God knows where the money needs to go anyway.
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