Saturday, October 2, 2010

Is giving tithing still required in this age?


There are many issues related to tithing. However, I am not going to dig up all things. I would like to focus on whether this law is valid.

There are many examples of people in the Old Testament giving tithes. However, in the context, it says that every tenth of the land’s produce, animal from the herd of flock, and grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord (Lev 27:30). There are any comments about the tenth of the sea’s produce or money from commercial business. If we apply this verse literally, it must not mean only a tenth of money. In addition, tithing was continued to the New Testament. Christ did not abolish tithing and offerings. Actually, he did not clearly say anything about tithing. Yet, He regarded that tithing was not weighty matter like Pharisees did. He pointed out that the Pharisees were tithing incorrectly; however, he did not comment on the law itself.

So, how can we apply this law to us? The initial audience of the Mosaic Law was Israelites at that time. Since Jesus came, the form of the tabernacle and priests has been changed. It is same concept but different style. Because of that, people shared their whole of property in the early church instead of paying tithes. Also, church in modern society is different from early church. Therefore, it is not so suitable to insist to apply tithes in modern society. In this context, we do not need to keep the law of tithing. We should give offerings, but not the tithe. Offering should depend on the church like what early church did. It can be affected by many factors like population, building, and purpose. In my opinion, offering should be considered by individual Christians who are moved by Holy Spirit.

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