Most modern day preachers deliberately attempt to avoid making tithing sound like an obligation (that is NOT Biblical and to be condemned because it preaches disobdience to the Word, or it preaches that the Old Testament is no longer part of the Bible!). I have even heard preachers making disclaimers at the pulpit so as not to offend their listeners (which is an UNBiblical attitude for someone tasked with preaching the God's Word correctly and without apologies!). Ironically, even if tithe literally means 10% in the original Hebrew language, many otherwise evangelical or fundamentalist preachers all of a sudden become revisionists in their preaching, even deliberately attempting to make the tithe sound like it has to come from a willingness of heart like an offering with the amount dependent only on what you can afford to give (Nothing could be farther from the Truth, may the Lord forgive these preachers if they are still within forgiving distance! [I meant that as an exaggeration of the gravity of their perspective]).
One must realize that the tithe was at the core of much of the declarations of blessing and curses from God toward the last chapters of Deuteronomy. Curses result from deliberate disobedience to the models and principles prescribed by God.
Now I do not for a moment disagree with the hermeutic principle which essentially proposes that principles that has been specifically explained, clarified, negated or superceded by the New Testament no longer holds for the Christian or the Christian obeys the command in a different yet Biblical way. That is a correct principle.
However, the payment of the tithe has never been rescinded as much as any part of the Ten Commandments. Yes, even the "principle of the Sabbath" still holds for the Christian. And there are so many curses related to both breaking the Sabbath and witholding the tithe that one who ignores them has no fear of God and will ultimately suffer loss.
Again, here is where Relational Theology brings in a perspective that is so common sense and Biblical that one wonders why so many people miss the point. It is amazing that a difference of perspective may even mean the difference between life and death (or eternal life and eternal death for that matter!)
The TITHE is a tax on God's people, not just the Jews! Hence, it is an obligation by anyone who claims to be a citizen of heaven or a child of God, in very much the same way that good American citizens have to pay their taxes ON TIME, with the CORRECT amount or percentage, and as an obligation whose violation has corresponding penalties.
The tithe literally means 10 percent. It would do justice to the teaching of the tithe, to substitute 10% for every occurrence of the word, tithe in Scripture. Do that and many times without further explanation from any commentary or preacher, one begins to see the point of it all.
An obligation has to be paid whether or not one feels like paying or not! A tax has to be paid whether or not actually HAS THE MONEY to pay it! We pay tax even if we are NOT in the mood to pay it! If we are afraid of the IRS or the Feds for non-payment of tax, we should be more fearful of God for non-payment of the tithe! Tax payment is NOT an OPTION. It is an OBLIGATION. So is the tithe. Hebrews 10:31 says, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
Malachi 3:8-12 calls anyone guilty of non-payment of the tithe, a thief! No more, no less. There are so many thieves attending churches in this present age. That is why so many churches are cursed and they become dead churches, at least this is one of the reasons why so.
At CrossCulture, we teach every Sunday when we collect the tithes and offerings that the tithe is given to recognize that God is ALWAYS our primary business partner in all our financial affairs and income-generating activities and it is common sense to believe that our financial partner must always get his fair share of our income. God asks for only 10%.
We also explain that the offering is ALWAYS given only when one gives above the 10% (and NEVER below it, mind you). The offering is always an expression of thanksgiving for God blessing us with so much, undeserving as we are. This is the one where the amount is optional depending on how much God has blessed us or how thankful we are. Note that the offering itself is NOT optional (can you tell me WHY based on what we just stated?), but the amount is optional.
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