Part of being a good steward (manager) of what God has provided is to give a portion back to Him. We pay the tithe, or 10 percent, of whatever we receive from Him. That tithe should be paid on our gross salary. It’s not that God needs our money; rather, giving serves as an external, material testimony that God owns both the material and spiritual things of our lives.¹

The tithe is an indicator of obedience to all of God’s laws. He is looking for the right attitude in our giving. If there isn’t a willingness to give back to the Lord a portion of what He has entrusted to us, then giving tithes upon tithes will not make a difference.

Many people give above 10 percent and have much more to give, but their hearts are not right (1 Corinthians 13:3). Then there are people who cannot give that much but their hearts are dedicated to God (Mark 12:42-44). This is what God is looking for, regardless of the amount you give.

In the Old Testament book of Malachi we’re told that God wants us to direct our entire tithe into the storehouse. A storehouse in the Old Testament had four functions. It was used to feed (1) the tribe of Levi and the priests of Aaron, (2) the prophets, (3) the Hebrew widows and orphans living within the city, and (4) the widows and orphans of the Gentiles who were living in and around the Hebrew city.

However, the equivalent of the Old Testament storehouse in the New Testament, as well as in our present day society, is the local church. God’s Word tells us to bring our tithes into the storehouse (Malachi 3:10). When we obey Him and pay our tithes to the church, God holds the leaders of the church responsible for the distribution of the tithes (Nehemiah 12:44-45, 13:5,13). If we associate the functions of the Old Testament storehouse to the New Testament and current local church, its fourfold function would be to provide for the needs of (1) the pastor and staff, (2) missionaries and evangelists, (3) widows, orphans, single parents, and invalids in the local church, and (4) the unsaved who surround the local church.²

Some churches in America are faithful in serving the Lord through the fourfold function, but many do not. If a local church is not accepting the responsibility of the fourfold function, then believers need to ensure that the function is being accomplished through other means. The church of today is representative of the whole brotherhood of believers, not the individual church on the street corner. When God speaks of His church, it is the corporate body of Christ. When we give to the church, it is to every part of the body, not just the denominational portions.

Although no one should be encouraged to redirect their tithe from their local church completely, since the tithe is a recognition of our obedience and submission to God and is given in thanksgiving for His faithfulness in providing, our giving should not be legalistic. So, if your church is not fulfilling the fourfold function mandated by God’s Word, and if you feel God’s direction to help others outside your local church and you have no funds other than the tithe, then who is to say that you are disobeying God’s Word if you give as the Lord directs you.

Give Tithes to Help Family Members

In the Ten Commandments there is an admonition to “honor your father and mother,” but nothing is said about giving to God. Therefore, honoring and helping father and mother, as well as other needy family members, is a direct commandment. In Matthew 15:5-6, Christ confronted the Pharisees with their hypocrisy, saying that they say that they could not help their parents because they had committed the funds to God and the funds could not be redirected. He implied that their parents were just as much a part of the kingdom of God as the storehouse. So, if your parents or other immediate family members (such as spouse or children) have needs and you have no additional money other than the tithe to meet that need, they should be your first priority. However, Malachi 3:10 tells us that if we rob God of tithes and offerings, He will simply allow the devourer to come in and take it away from us anyway, so be sure you have sacrificed your portion of all funds available before you decide to give to others what belongs to God. Otherwise you could be robbing God in order to maintain a lifestyle.³

Give Tithes to Pay for Christian Education

The tithe belongs to God. It’s our material testimony that God owns everything in our lives. When we take a portion of our tithe and divert it to keep our children in Christian schools, it’s really a gift in self-interest. Educational costs are your normal responsibility. Therefore, if God wants your children to attend private school He will provide the funds without your having to divert His tithe for that purpose.

Give tithes to secular humanitarian organizations

Because our tithes are given as a testimony in His name, the ministries that serve in God’s name should be the recipients of our tithes. Therefore, the tithe should not be used to support secular organizations. However, that doesn’t mean that there are not worthy organizations to which you can give. It simply means that the tithe—the first 10 percent of your gross income—should not be used to support secular organizations.⁴

Tithe while in debt

A farmer always keeps a portion of each harvest as seed stock to be planted next season. If he didn’t, he could never grow another crop. As Christians, our tithes are our seed stock (2 Corinthians 9:10). Proverbs 3:9-10 says that we are to honor God with the firstfruits of all that we receive. It doesn’t belong to anyone else, not even creditors.⁵ Nevertheless, we must remain true to biblical principles. So, if you have made a prior vow (in the form of taking on a debt) to someone, God directs that vow to be maintained in order to present a good witness (Proverbs 22:1). In this case, the tithe should be paid on money not already pledged to the creditors but available to disperse at your will. However, this would only be true if the vow was made before pledging to tithe. A commitment to give to God always takes precedence over any payments or commitments to creditors for debts that were contracted after a pledge to tithe.

Because tithing is a matter of the heart, we should be looking for reasons to give rather than looking for ways not to give. Perhaps those in debt could start with a smaller amount than 10 percent and remain faithful to that commitment, increasing it as God provides. Or perhaps their giving could be some sort of volunteer service to the church or to people in need within the body of Christ.

Conclusion

Tithing is a principle. God is looking for the right attitude in our giving. If there is not a willingness to give back to the Lord a portion of what He has entrusted to us, then giving tithes upon tithes will accomplish nothing. Because God is concerned more with the attitude in our giving than the actual gift or designation of it, we need to ask God what to do with the money we are returning to Him.

¹ Larry Burkett, “Giving and Tithing,” Christian Financial Concepts, 1996, p. 3.

² Larry Burkett, Answers to Your Family’s Financial Questions, Living Books, 1998, pp. 160-161.

³ Larry Burkett, Answers to Your Family’s Financial Questions, Living Books, 1998, p. 165.

⁴ Larry Burkett, “Giving and Tithing,” Christian Financial Concepts, 1996, p. 9.