Do I Have to Tithe?

1Cor 9.4-14 | Ps Alex Huggett | 12.10.2025

Part of a series on money

© Bentley Baptist Church Inc.
www.bentleybaptist.org

Transcript

So we're in a... series on money. And today I'm going to talk about Christians and tithing. Last week, if you were here, we had the kids in. 
It was kind of fun. Gave an overview of giving in the old testament, particularly not the sacrifices so much as the what we'd call just regular offerings and tithes, but didn't really apply it to us. It was just a bit of an overview. 
Today, I want to look at 1st Corinthians chapter 9. We'll begin in verse 4. And how giving tithing offerings relate to us and our part in that. 
So, First Corinthians 9, Verse 4. Don't we have the right to eat and drink? Don't we have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife, like the other apostles, Lord's brothers and Cephas? 
Or do only Barnabas and I have no right to refrain from working? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? 
Or whose shepherds a flock and does not drink milk from the flock? Am I saying this from a human perspective? Doesn't the law also say the same thing? 
For it is written in the law of Moses? Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain. Is God really concerned about oxen? 
Isn't he really saying it for our sake? Yes, this is written for our sake, because he who ploughs or to plough in hope, and he who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing the crop. If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? 
If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don't we even more? So Paul there is, he's writing to a church that he started, and evidently the church is giving to other people. And Paul is like, well, we began this church. 
We have a greater right. Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right. Instead, we endure everything so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ. 
Don't you know that those who perform the temple service, eat the food from the temple. And those who serve at the altar, share in the offerings from the altar. In the same way the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel. 
So, do I have to tithe? That's a question Christians often grapple with. On the one hand, we know that we're saved by grace. 
It's, The generosity of God to us in Jesus Christ that Jesus poured out his life on the cross for us, and when we trust in him, believe in him, we gain his Holy Spirit, we gain eternal life, we become part of the family of God. So our salvation is free based on grace. On the other hand, the Bible has a lot to say about money. 
In fact, they say Jesus spoke about money more than anything else. So it seems when we look at those different references to giving in the Bible as well, that there seems to be some sort of blessing attached to the way we use our money. And specifically, I think as Christians, we often get caught up with tithing. 
The Old Testament specify 10%. So Leviticus 27 versus 30 to 32 says every 10th of the land's produce, grain from the soil or fruit from the trees belongs to the Lord. It is holy to the Lord. 
Every 10th animal from the herd or flock will be holy to the Lord. And of course, this was written in an agrarian society where your wealth was counted by what you grew and by the herds of your flock. In our passage today, Paul's not directly addressing giving. 
He does that later on in his letter. What he addresses is the rights of Christian workers to receive an income from their ministry. But if workers have a right to receive income, then that necessarily raises the matter of giving. 
Where does that money come from? It's not coming from non-Christians, it's not coming from the government, although in some countries they do that, but not in ours, and I don't know that I'd really want them to, because it puts you under a bit of an obligation. But what is our obligation as Christians to give. 
And I put myself there as a pastor, although I am one of the beneficiaries of your giving, I also give to the church because Your tithes don't only pay for me and Fletcher. Now, Paul had planted, as I said, the church at Corinth, but he now found himself having to defend his authority there. And one of the reasons was because he didn't take any financial benefit from them. 
There were other apostles that the Corinthians were giving to. And we know that Paul had these struggles with sort of almost impostors who came in, claiming to be apostles, and this had thrown Corinth into confusion, and evidently they're taking payment from them, and Cephas, Peter, the great apostle, talked about Jesus brothers. So Jesus, literally, his brothers were involved in ministry. 
So these are all taking money. They're real apostles. What about you, Paul? 
Aren't you a real apostle then? And Paul argues that actually he has the right to the same privileges as the other apostles, but he just chooses not to exercise them. And he argues for this rice, right, based on 3 criterion as we look through. 
First was apostolic precedent. And he basically says, Peter and the other apostles are doing it. They're receiving gifts. 
They're travelling with a spouse. And that Paul and Barnabas had the same rights. Now, it's actually an open question whether Paul was married or not, but that's the point. 
Paul said, I have the right to all these things. You're already doing it for these other apostles. Second, he raises this issue of examples from everyday life. 
He says, well, soldiers, they get paid for being a soldier, farm labourers, shepherds, they get all get paid out of their labour, and by extension, so do other labourers. All of them have the right to be supported by their work. So do Christian workers, Christian ministers. 
It's just a matter of basic fairness and justice. And finally, he argues from scripture, specifically the Old Testament because that's all they had. The New Testament was still, well, Paul was still helping write it. 
So the Torah says, even cattle have the right to eat the grain they're treading at harvest time. It says, if God cares for cattle, how much more does he care for people? So Paul has biblically mandated right to receive material benefit from the spiritual seed that he sowed into the Corinthians. 
So 3 arguments there, the one from apostolic precedent. The apostles are doing it. They have set this. 
Examples from everyday life and from scripture. And in fact, Paul extends this argument from scripture. He refers to this temple system and in verse 13. 
He says, don't you know that those who perform the temple services eat from the temple. So when the Torah, priests and Levites, and Levites were sort of the assistants to the priests, they were to receive a living from the offerings that the Israelites brought. And this included the tithes. 
And in the same way, Paul says, those who preach the gospel should learn their living, earned their living from the gospel. And so this established a god ordained principle. that ministry is supported by the community that it serves. We should also note, what about Jesus? 
Well, in Luke 10, verse 7, Jesus told the disciples. He sends them out 2 by 2 and he says, when you enter a house, whatever they serve you, eat it. He says, because the worker is worthy of his wages. 
Okay, so the worker is worthy of his wages. Where does he get that? Well, he, you know, in the case of the priest. 
He got it from the temple in the case of the apostles. They received it from the churches. So then, what about us? 
Does that mean we have an obligation to give as Christians? Do I have to tithe? Well, what do we actually mean by have to? 
What's my obligation here? Do we need to do it to keep our salvation? Well, clearly not. 
We're saved by God's grace when we trust in Christ. Refraining from giving, refraining from tithing, Won't rob you of your salvation. That's the good news. 
God won't love you any less because you don't tithe. Okay, then, well, do I have to tithe to receive God's favour and his blessing? Well, we have to be careful here because giving is not some kind of bargain that we make with God. 
We can't say, well, I tithed God, so now you have to bless me. actually doesn't work that way. But we do at the same time need to walk faithfully with God in all sorts of ways, not just in giving, in order to receive the fulness of his blessing. Which kind of makes sense, doesn't it? 
When we're in relationship with someone, if we want to be blessed by that relationship, we've got a social contract, with friends, just in all sorts of spheres of life, and we walk and live, according to those sometimes unspoken rules. Because here's the thing. Generosity is part of how God blesses. 
We often think, if I give God, you've got to bless me. But what actually, if your giving is the way God wants to bless other people. You know, in ancient Israel, it was through the generosity of each person giving, because the giving didn't only go to the priest. 
It went to the poor as well. And in that way, the whole community was going to live in peace. In the salam, the fulness, the wholeness of God. 
When people lived according to God's ways, including giving, but not only giving, then the community was blessed. They could walk in God's blessing, God could pour out their blessing when they didn't, suddenly they're withdrawing themselves from God's blessing. So do we have to tithe to receive God's favour? 
Well, it's not a tit for tat? It's not a slot machine that we put money in and get something out. But there is a principle here of walking in God's blessing. 
What about duty? Do I just have this duty? This is where this idea that somehow I need to tie to fulfil some sort of obligation or duty I have. 
We have what we call moral duties, you know, we have a duty as Christians to love one another. Um, we have uh, these duties in society that are just on us and we just understand these are things we are meant to do because they're good or right or just the way the world works. Do I have a duty in that sense? 
Not because I'm going to get anything out of it, but just because I should. Well, Jesus just gives us 2 duties, really. I mean, he says the law and the prophets are summed up in this. 
Love the Lord your God. And love your neighbour. As yourself. 
But the command to love your Lord, your God is with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And when the Bible talks about loving God with all our strength. That includes our material goods. 
To love God with our heart, mind, soul, and strength is just the way of saying to love God with the totality of who we are. With our whole lives. And that includes our material possessions and our wealth. 
And so put it this way. What are the ways that we can withhold our love from God? If the command is to love God with our heart, mind, soul, and strength? 
What does it look like if I'm withholding love with from God with my heart? I'm not giving him all my affection or my loyalty? Or my obedience? 
With our mind, when we go off and give our attention to other things in an ungodly way. Well, in the same way, if we withhold any part of our lives from God, including our material resources, are we withholding our love from God? We're not loving him with our whole selves. 
So do we have a duty? to give. Let me give you my hot take and we'll see if anyone comes back to church next week. 
I think actually, yes, we do have an obligation to give. to give to God and to give to people. But how much? Well, we're not under the law and we're not in an agrarian society. 
But here's here's something. Do you know tithing actually predates the law? The 1st reference to tithing we have is in Genesis chapter 14, verse 20, where it tells us that Abraham gave to Melchizedek, priest of God most high? 
And actually, when you read Hebrews, the letter that Hebrews sees this is really significant. And that actually, because Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek. So when Abraham is giving to Melchizedek. 
He's not just giving to this guy we know nothing else about. He just appears here and nowhere else in scripture, but there is something deeper going on there. And this, God hasn't even made his covenant with Abraham yet. when this 1st tithe is mentioned. 
So tithing, you know, we often say, oh, we're not under the law. We don't have to type, well, you're not under law, but tithing isn't just a matter of law. The 2nd reference to tithing is in Genesis 28, 22. 
So now God has made his covenant with Abraham and his descendants. Interesting thing about the covenant God makes with Abraham. He puts no conditions on Abraham. 
He just says, Abraham. This is what this is what I'm going to do for you. That's it. 
Doesn't say, Abraham, you have to do X, Y, and Z. It's just like, I'm going to do this for you. It's in that context. Jacob comes along, he's fleeing his brother, Esau, having robbed him of his birthright. 
God meets him at this place called Bethel. And Jacob sets up this, there's rock as a, a sort of shrine and says to God, if you look after me, I will give you, you will be my God. I worship you only, and I'll give you a 10th of everything that you give to me. 
Jacob enters into this covenant with God. Again, this isn't about law. This is about relationship. 
It's covenant. And friends, we're spiritual heirs as Christians in Christ. We are spiritual heirs to these patriarchs. 
It's not just a matter of law. So here's the thing. I don't think the New Testament, so much commands us, about giving, and it'd be so much easier if it did, wouldn't it? 
We wouldn't sit here and have these arguments and wonder and I wouldn't have to give this elaborate discussion and just be like, here's the verse that says the tithe. But the New Testament doesn't. But here's what the New Testament does do, I think. 
It just assumes that you're giving. It's just sort of part of the Of course you give. That's what God's people do. 
You know, whenever we see giving in the New Testament. It's not commanders. It's just a joyful response to what God is doing. 
On the day of Pentecost. People come to faith and in the weeks following, we just see this massive outpouring. of generosity. Paul here, it says to the Corinthians, the Corinthians, he's not telling them to give. 
He's just arguing about who gets the money. Jesus didn't command giving. He said when you give. 
He just assumes that you're going to be giving because these people's lives were still based in the scriptures. So think of it like this. If being a Christian means giving our all to Jesus, What part of my life can I actually withhold from him? 
You know, tithing isn't a matter of law. It's a matter of discipleship. So you don't have to follow the Old Testament laws rigidly. 
But if you follow Jesus, then yes, we have an obligation to give to him in some way. And in the same way we have other obligations, you know, we have obligations, if you've got ageing parents, you may be looking after, I know, some of you look after ageing parents, and that can be hard work, and we do it because we just have this sense of obligation, it is the right thing to do. It's also a good response. 
Uh, hopefully to love they showed us. when they were raising us. Perhaps you have a friend who's going through a hard time and you just know that you have this obligation to care for them. Here's the thing with those obligations. 
You're not breaking the law. If you don't follow those obligations, right? No one's coming to arrest you. 
But you might be breaking something much deeper if you don't do it. It's part of the fabric of life. So the Old Testament laws on tithing do give us 3 helpful principles. 
We don't have to follow rigidly necessarily, but they do give us 3 helpful principles for discipleship. Firstly, and whenever we see this, giving is a joyful, heartfelt response to God. It's not about law, it's about love and gratitude. 
Secondly, 10% is a flaw, not a ceiling. For the, for the Israelite, 10% was the minimum they could give, but they could actually give as much as they wanted above that. And thirdly, giving is proportional. 
The thing about 10% is the actual amount will depend on what you earn. So those who have more, give more, and those who have less give lesson, we see this as a principle repeated in the New Testament. And elsewhere, Paul will say, look, it's actually the size of the heart that counts, not the size of the gift. 
Jesus says, you know, if you know the stories coming to the temple and all these people are putting their donations for the temple, which was a specific thing for maintaining the temple and all the money bags were coming along. And they had these big metal tubes that people would put them in and they'd make a huge racket when the coins went in. So, you know, all the money bags come in and that sounds really impressive. 
And then this little widow comes, who's got nothing and puts just a few cents in there. And Jesus says she's given more than all the rest because it came from the fulness of her heart. So let's do a heart check. 
Friends, if giving is not a joy for you, Why? What's going on? And this isn't about condemning anyone. 
This is about, let's check in. Because in Christ, this is something that's joyful. I love giving. 
So one, is it because of fear and insecurity. Now it's a natural response. If you've been through some sort of trauma, maybe you grew up in a situation where you didn't have much and we sort of see this interesting thing for the generation that grew up during the, um, the Depression, I know there's not too many left, but they had a really interesting relationship with money and position, possessions. 
And that's completely understandable. So what's the antidote to fear then? Is it faith? 
It's faith. When we're afraid of something, we need to step out in faith and see what God does. No less with our finances. 
But sometimes people don't give out of greed, honestly, and selfishness. And if that's the case, then it's not just starting with a little like, if I'm afraid to start little, take baby steps, see what God does. It's why if it's greed and selfishness, the response isn't to give a little, it's to repent and give a lot. 
A rich young ruler comes along to Jesus and he's obeying everything in the law and he says, Jesus, what do I have? He knows there's something missing. And Jesus looks at him and loves him and said, here's your problem. 
To paraphrase, you love money more than God. Go give it all away. And he goes away sad because he loves his money more than God. 
So if greed is holding you back from being generous, generous, it's actually also holding you back from God's blessing. Do something radical. Really, do something that hurts. 
I'll say a little bit more about that in a moment, but Conversely, sometimes people give out a guilt. It's not out of joy, that sort of they look generous, but it's out of guilt. It's not from faith. 
And look, if it's not from faith and if it's not from joy. Actually, you may be better off not doing it. But actually better off to figure out what's going in your heart. 
Some people give, and I've heard of this. I haven't met anyone. They give to the point of going into debt and it just seems to be a question that comes up from time to time. 
And I just say, absolutely do not ever go into debt. to make a donation. The only times you should be going into debt are, um, you know, something big like a house or if you need it to produce an income. I went into debt to buy my car because I really needed it for my job. 
Certainly not to give money away. The principle is to give from what we have, not what we don't. And sometimes we will give sacrificially, and it will hurt. 
That's the nature of sacrifice. But don't go into debt for it. And you know, we have to be responsible. 
So ultimately, Giving isn't so much about, what do I have to do? How can I sort of work around the rules so that I sort of stay within the boundaries, but I don't have to give too much? It's, it's, Oh, God, you're awesome. 
What a wonderful God. How can I respond to this? How can I express my love to you for your generosity to me? 
And look, this is an area we can all grow in. So, What are some, what are some things you can do? Look, if you don't give anything regularly to God at the moment? 
Which is normally through the church, but not only, you know, when we give to charities, I give to a few Christian organisations in addition to what I give to the church, that is an offering to the Lord. So I'm not saying give the church all your money. I am saying give God all your money. and see what that looks like. 
But if you don't give anything regularly at the moment, why not start, just start somewhere. Start tithing something? It doesn't have to be 10%. 
I mean, honestly, maybe for you, 2%. is a big deal. Why don't you start at 2%? regularly. 
Set it up in the bank or make a deal with yourself to bring the cash to church or whatever. And see what happens. If you give already, But you're not giving much, maybe you can up it. 
If you give 2%, can you go to 4% or even 5%? With the goal of getting to 10% or even beyond that. And as I said, this isn't just about tithing to the church. 
Although, friends, if you're part of this church is, I think you have an obligation to give to this church, but it's also about facilitating the wider ministry. So we take up our kingdom builders offering. so that we can facilitate together ministry in the wider world. Can you sponsor a child? 
Is there a charity? You know, one of the things on my heart is for the persecuted church. I give to an organisation that supports them. 
Can you support a missionary? These are all acts of giving to God as well. So, we do have an obligation to give, but it's not meant to be a chore. 
And if it is a chore, the 1st thing to do is to check in, God, what's going on, change my heart. Let the Holy Spirit into work to do that work of transformation in you. It's meant to be something joyful that releases God's life giving purposes in the world, and that is meant to be life giving for us as well. 
So let's commit to honouring God, with our finances, along with everything else, not as an act of duty, but as an act of faith and of love to Jesus. Let's pray and then I'll ask the team to come up and then we'll talk about our special offering in a moment. Father, we thank you for all that you have given for us. 
A little bit confronting talking about money. It's so private to us. But Lord, I pray that you will speak to each of us individually. about where we're at. 
Father, I pray for those who don't have much this morning. And it's certainly, I'm always aware. I don't want anyone to come away feeling pressured or inadequate. 
And Father, I pray for those who may wish they could give more. Um, and I know there are some here who really are constrained. Lord, I pray their step of faith will be to look to you for supply. 
I just want to say to you, again, no pressure, no guilt. But Father, I pray for those of us who have something that we will seek to walk obediently with you and all of us will seek to be generous towards you, not just with our finances, Lord, but with our hearts, our time, our energy as well. Lord, maybe we be channels of your blessing in the world. 
In Jesus' name. Amen. I'll get the team up to lead our next song and then we'll talk about the special offering. 
Thank you.