Must Christians tithe?

What the Bible says

"Tithe" simply means "a tenth." In the Old Testament, Israel set apart a tenth of the land's produce for God.

Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.

Lev 27:30

The tithe first supported the Levites, who served at the tabernacle and temple and had no land of their own (Num 18:21). But it was not only for the priests. Every third year the tithe was kept in the towns for others.

Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied.

Deut 14:29

So the tithe was both worship and a safety net. Before the law, Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything (Gen 14:20), and Jacob vowed at Bethel to give God a tenth (Gen 28:22). Some scholars think the law in fact asked for more than one tenth in some years; others read these passages as one tithe applied in different ways.

Malachi rebukes a people who had stopped.

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure.

Mal 3:10

This was spoken to Israel as a covenant nation, and the blessing promised belongs to that covenant.

Jesus did not abolish the tithe. He rebuked the Pharisees for tithing even their garden herbs while neglecting what mattered more.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Matt 23:23

Jesus affirms the tithe and puts justice, mercy and faithfulness first. Those who hold that the tithe still binds stress this affirmation; others note that he spoke before the cross, to people under the law.

The New Testament letters nowhere command Christians to give a tenth. Instead Paul, collecting for the poor believers in Jerusalem, teaches the spirit of giving.

Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.

2 Cor 9:7

The Macedonian churches gave "according to their ability and even beyond it" out of "deep poverty" (2 Cor 8:2-3). And Paul sets the standard.

For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

2 Cor 8:12

He asks each believer to "set aside a portion of his income" every week (1 Cor 16:2), and says that those who preach the gospel should live by it (1 Cor 9:14).

The church's witness

The church has not answered this question with one voice. Most historians think the first Christians supported their communities by voluntary gifts and care for the poor, and that giving a regular tenth of income became a church custom and rule only gradually. In the medieval West the tithe became a tax-like levy. Today the Catholic Church teaches that the faithful must provide for the church's material needs without prescribing a percentage, while many Reformed and evangelical churches teach the tithe, some as a duty and some as a recommended standard.

The Fathers found a balance in Matthew 23:23. Pseudo-Chrysostom explains what the tithe was for: "the payment of tithes He established for the support of the Priests, so that the Priests should minister to the people in spiritual things, and the people supply the Priests with carnal things" Pseudo-Chrysostom. Origen notes that some, hearing Jesus, might neglect tithes of small things, so "He prudently adds" that these should not be left undone Origen.

Matthew Henry says what the tithe confessed: by it Israel acknowledged "God to be the Owner of their land, the Giver of its fruits, and themselves to be his tenants, and dependants upon him" Matthew Henry. On 2 Corinthians 9:7 he writes: "Help should be given freely, be it more or less; not grudgingly, but cheerfully" Matthew Henry.

In the original languages

The Hebrew word for tithe, maaser (מַעֲשֵׂר), comes from the word for "ten." In the Greek New Testament the verb for paying a tithe is apodekatoō (ἀποδεκατόω). It appears of the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23, Luke 11:42 and 18:12, and of the Levites in Hebrews 7:5. It is never used as a command to Christians. Some conclude that the New Testament leaves the tithe with the law. Others reply that Jesus did not reject it and that its principle carries on.

In 2 Corinthians 9:7 the "cheerful" giver is hilaros (ἱλαρός), "joyful, glad," the root of our word hilarious. Paul also uses charis (χάρις), "grace," for the collection (2 Cor 8:1, 9). Giving is the answer of people who have first received grace.

Common objections

"Malachi 3 says that withholding the tithe is robbing God and brings a curse." The passage is strong, and many believers testify that they have found blessing in obeying it. But notice the setting. It was addressed to Israel under the covenant, and the tithe was the system that kept up the temple and fed the Levite and the poor. Some hold that the principle still stands, while others hold that this rule was fulfilled in Christ (Heb 7:12). Either way, reading it as a deal in which God sells blessings does not fit the gospel of grace. God is not a trading partner. He is the one who gave first (2 Cor 8:9).

"The tithe is law, so it has nothing to do with me. I can give what I like." There is truth here. The New Testament does not command a tenth, and Paul does not want some eased while others are burdened (2 Cor 8:13). Yet its freedom points toward generosity, not away from it. The poor widow put in "all she had to live on," and Jesus honoured her heart, not the size of her gift (Luke 21:1-4). Many Christians treat the tenth as a starting point, not a ceiling; others give a different proportion as their situation allows. What matters to God is a willing heart.

"Churches pressure people to give and are not open about their money." This criticism, often heard in Korea and elsewhere, deserves a hearing. To tie the tithe to office or membership, to press people to give in order to be blessed, or to rank givers above those who cannot give, goes against "not out of regret or compulsion." Peter told Ananias that the land was his own before and after the sale (Acts 5:4). Giving is free. A church owes its people openness about its accounts and faithfulness in caring for the poor. This is not an attack on giving but part of building a healthy church.

Going further

Everything belongs to God, and we give as people who have received: gladly, regularly, in proportion to what we have, and remembering the poor. Christians differ on whether a tenth is a signpost on that road or an earlier standard under the law, but they agree that salvation does not depend on the tithe and that giving is a fruit of love. James asks what good it does to say kind words to someone without clothes or food but give nothing for his needs (James 2:15-16).

You might ask yourself: When I give, do I feel joy, or fear and burden? How much of what I give reaches a neighbour in need? How do I tell the difference between keeping a fixed percentage and giving my heart?

To read further, see How should I think about money? and Do Christians have to keep the Old Testament law?.