What Does The Bible Say About Tithing?

Malachi 3:8-11, “Will a man rob God?  Yet ye have robbed me.  But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee?  In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring 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.  And 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.” 2nd Corinthians 9:7, "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."

Boy, that passage from Malachi 3:8-11 is the GO TO passage for every covetous pastor in the world. Well over 95% of Baptist preachers abuse this Scripture passage! Folks, RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS! There's not a better example of bad Bible interpretation than what nearly all Baptist preachers do to butcher this passage from Malachi 3:8-11. Will a man rob God? Boy, that sure will preach, won't it? The big problem is that tithing is not for today!

The word "tithe" means "one tenth." It was a Jewish custom in the Old Testament, instituted by God to support the priestly tribe of the Levites. Hence, tithing is NOT a New Testament command for Christians. Certainly, God loveth a cheerful giver. 2nd Corinthians 9:7, "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." There's the key... as every man has PURPOSED IN HIS HEART. Giving is a personal matter, of which we all must choose as individuals. It is very wrong for pastors to browbeat their people, threatening them with God's wrath if they don't give tithes & offerings.

In Malachi 3:8 God was upset with the Jews for not tithing. Their own homes were well taken care of, while the Temple of God had become dilapidated and broken down over the past 19 years. Strangers passing through Israel saw the neglected Temple, which brought shame on God's people. But things are different in modern times. We are not obligated to give a certain amount to God. Nor are we obligated to give to a certain church, ministry, nor to a certain pastor. I have heard countless pastors preach that people are "robbing God" based upon Malachi 3:8, by not giving both "tithes and offerings."

Kindly said, when I was still a teenager, my pastor used to teach that by tithing 10% we hadn't given God anything yet, we simply handed over what we owed Him. The pastor insisted that we must give MORE (5% being the usual suggested amount). We had it engrained into our minds that you were commanded by God to donate both tithes AND offerings!!! And if you didn't, you were a dirty thief who is robbing God almighty!

None of this tommyrot is Biblical. Yet, millions of believers out of a misguided sense of guilty donate tithes & offerings. And also, most preachers teach that we must give tithes & offerings of our Gross Income (what we earn before taxes are removed). Again, that is balderdash! That is false teaching. If a man or woman is wealthy, they should give God more. Dr. Russell Anderson grew up in eastern Kentucky, working in the coal mines. In time he got involved in the construction business, worked hard, and started investing in rental properties and real estate. Dr. Anderson (now 92 years old) amassed a fortune of $100,000,000.

He has given at least $50,000,000 to the work of Jesus Christ. Dr. Anderson gave $35,000,000 to Hyles-Anderson College, where I attended and graduated (1985-1993). Dr. Anderson also gave another $8,000,000 to the First Baptist Church Of Hammond, Indiana to build their new church building. Sadly, the church and college CHANGED their position on the Holy Bible in 2008, publicly denying the inspiration of the King James Bible. Dr. Anderson rightly withdrew his support of FBCH and HAC, humbling requesting in 2015 that Pastor John Wilkerson please remove his name from the college after whom he is co-named. They refused to do so, dishonoring Dr. Anderson.

Of course, Brother Anderson gave all that money to Jesus Christ, and he hasn't lost any rewards for cheerfully giving to God's work. The blood is upon the incompetent hands of their new leaders at FBCH (which controls HAC). It is all so tragic and sad. Dr. Russell Anderson deserves so much better than to be mistreated, ignored and humiliated by a small group of arrogant wicked men who have hi-jacked FBCH and HAC. It blows my mind that they no longer believe we have God's inspired Words today! Anyway, I mentioned Dr. Anderson as one example of someone who became rich and gave MUCH MORE than 10% to God.

So in summary, God clearly wants every believer in the churches to financially support the work of God. 1st Corinthians 16:2, "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." The Bible says to give according to how much God has PROSPERED us, not according to how much the pastor threatens us to give, or else our house will burn down and our kids will get sick and die. I have actually heard pastors teach that horrible kind of stuff! 

Granted, there wouldn't be any missionaries without donations to churches. Someone's got to pay the bills. I think it is fine for pastors to ask their church members if they will please consider giving 10%, or whatever, BUT it is SINFUL to require a 10% tithe which God does NOT require. It is wicked to tell people that they are robbing God by not giving 10%, and that they must give offerings above and beyond their 10% tithe. None of that is Biblical. So I am not against giving to the work of God, we all should give to God's work as God has prospered us, using sound wisdom; but how much we give and whether we personally choose to give SACRIFICIALLY is completely up to us, not by commandment of God.

I could write a book on tithing. I am so disgusted with lying pastors. Dr. Jack Hyles didn't believe in giving money to parachurch ministries. He believed that it funneled much needed resources away from New Testament churches. But Dr. John R. Rice (who was Dr. Hyles' mentor and 31 years older than him) taught that believers can give money wherever they want, not just to a church, which doesn't surprise me because Brother Rice ran a parachurch ministry (i.e., The Sword Of The Lord, founded in 1934). So we see how each man's ministry situation influenced their doctrinal views...lol.

I tend to agree with Pastor Hyles. Way too much money is being foolishly given to idiots like Pat Robertson (The 700 Club). Pat Robertson and company take in about $650,000,000 each year! They lie to people, promising divine healing through their TV set in exchange for donations. That is so wrong on multiple levels. Ray Comfort is a religious clown, who never gets anybody saved with his Lordship Salvation heresy. Mr. Comfort takes in about $3,500,000 per year!

And Ken Ham makes me vomit, taking in about $37,000,000 a year. Mr. Ham falsely requires people to repent "of your sin" to be saved, which is KEEPING THE LAW. That is another gospel. Sadly, Pastor Clarence Sexton 100% supports Ken Ham. So also does Pensacola Christian College, helping to make Mr. Ham even more filthy rich. The churches are deprived of all that money! Ken Ham takes in 222 times each year what the average church receives in annual donations (about $90,000). That bothers me immensely! Why does Ken Ham need all that cheddar? I mean, filthy lucre?

I believe that Christians need to re-think where we give our money. Our money is actually God's money, all of it. We have been bought with a price (1st Corinthians 6:20). That price is the precious blood of Jesus (1st Peter 1:18-19). The moment we got saved, everything we own became God's. Having said all that. I think we should help to support our local church, according to their needs, not wants. I have a hard time donating God's money, which He has entrusted to me, to a church whose pastors take bi-annual trips to the Holy Land.

The now spiritually defunct Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, used to do that for many years, taking dozens of church members on bi-annual trips to Israel. Their incompetent senior pastor Marty Herron was living large, flying all around the world, having a good time. Meanwhile from the pulpit they pressured their congregation to "give sacrificially until it hurts." What hypocrisy! I know because I was there for the years of 2013-2014.

It immensely bothers me that of all the resources people have to offer God (time, talent, skills, et cetera), the one thing that pastors want the most is MONEY! Comedian George Carlin used to say that God is omnibenevolent, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent; but He seems to have a problem with His finances because He is always broke and needs money! I thought that was funny. Sad but true, Christianity has been turned into a BUSINESS in America!

So I think we should give to our local church, but cautiously, not blindly. We ought not help bad churches spread a false gospel of Lordship Salvation, misunderstood repentance or Calvinism. We ought not give money to bad pastors who merely collect a salary and the church is nothing more than a glorified social club with four walls and a roof. I think we should give to a soulwinning work.

The Baptist church I am now attending is struggling. They don't have any organized time to go soulwinning. I handed the senior pastor a hardcopy of the helpful book: "I Never Knew You," last month by Michael P. Bowen. He thanked me and that was the end of the matter. I didn't ask him what he thought of the book, nor did he tell me. It was simply F.Y.I. to help him, so now he has no excuse on Judgment Day if he embellishes the Gospel and misleads people. I believe the pastor is saved, but he irritates me by continually teaching people to "have a relationship with Jesus" to get to Heaven.

Although every child of God has a RELATIONSHIP as God's adopted child (Romans 8:15), there is no mention of starting a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus to get saved. When asked how to be saved, Paul and Silas told the Roman jailor in Acts 16:31, "BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST." I don't like when preachers use unbiblical terms, like having a "relationship" with Jesus to get to Heaven. Judas had a relationship with Jesus, but he had a devil in him (John 6:70). The pastor of the church I am attending makes it clear that we cannot save ourselves, Jesus paid it all on the cross.

So I do believe that he is saved, but he has been trained poorly in my humble opinion. I just keep my mouth shut, take the good and leave the bad. That is all I can do, without losing another church family. I have already handed the pastor THE TRUTH. I have done my part. Now I will continue to pray for him. I love the church, I just get frustrated hearing a shallow Gospel presentation. The Gospel (or Good News) is three things: Jesus DIED on the cross for our sins; He was BURIED; and He RESURRECTED three days later physically (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). That is "THE GOSPEL," not pursuing a "relationship" with Jesus. Arrggh! Preachers... gotta love 'em!

I do believe in giving to God's work, cheerfully so, to a worthy ministry that is fulfilling The Great Commission (Matthew 18:19-20). But donating money to a parachurch charity, like the Salvation Army, is not the same as giving to a soulwinning local church. The Salvation Army preaches Calvinism (point 9 in their statement of faith). They teach that salvation is a "state" which can be forfeited by unfaithfulness. That is NOT a free grace Gospel. As Dr. Hyles says: "The 'Salvation Army' today is more ARMY than SALVATION!" They pay their CEO a compensation package of about $300,000 a year! Not bad for "serving" God as a so-called non-profit charity.

I won't give money to ANY group that pays a 6-digit salary to anyone! That is disgusting. Just because that is the way things are in the United States doesn't mean it is ethical or that I have to accept it. The average American's annual salary today is about $50,000 a year. I have a problem with the leaders of a "charity" getting paid $450,000 a year! The Bible teaches us to "give alms" to the poor. I would rather just give it directly to the poor, and eliminate the middle guy who is making $175,000 a year salary.

Tithing is NOT for today! It was a Jewish practice under Old Testament ceremonial law, which were all nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14-16). We ought to give cheerfully. I honestly think that the Lord doesn't want our money if we have reservations about giving it to Him. One of the big problems is that too many pastors have a bunch of projects that they are working on, like king Solomon, expecting their people to pay for it all. So many churches create a bunch of unnecessary expenditures.

When I attended Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College last summer, they spent $10,000 to replace the carpeting in one of their buildings which they use for banquets and a dining hall. The former red carpeting looked very nice in my humble opinion. They replaced it with puke green, which looks awful. It used to look bright and cheerful, but now it looks so dreary and depressing! What a big waste of the Lord's money!

Also, I don't think anybody should ever give money to a church on credit. God doesn't want us to go into debt for our church, while our pastor doesn't. I hate when pastors do that. When normal people need more money, we have to sign up to work overtime; but when pastors need more money, they just browbeat and pressure people from the pulpit. Since people love their pastors and God, they almost always succumb to such pressure. That has always bothered me, that some pastors take advantage of their people financially. The Bible says that if a man doesn't take care of his own family, he is worse than an infidel (a Christ rejecter).

I heard Pastor Hyles say in a sermon last night called: "The Most Important Preparation For A Happy Old Age," that the saying "Charity starts at home," is false. Dr. Hyles says we ought to give charity to everybody. I humbly disagree with him, and so does the Bible. 1st Timothy 5:8, "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." So charity does indeed start at home, where it should! 

When I attended Bible college, we had some male students who would buy shoes for their bus kids, while their own biological children needed new shoes! That is wrong! Some of those men would spend all day Saturday on their bus route ministry labouring to fill a bus on Sunday, but didn't spend time with their own family. So I am a firm believer that charity starts at home!

The bottom line is that everyone has a right to their own OPINION, but no one has a right to their own FACTS! The fact of the matter is that tithing was a Jewish custom for Old Testament saints only, not for New Testament Christians today. Whether we should give donations to local churches is irrelevant to the question of whether tithing is valid today or not. No, it is not! I believe we definitely should give financially to support God's work, diligently so; but we must give responsibly, not out of fear, obligation or high-pressure tactics from the pulpit.