Why I Tithe...the portion

Over the next eight weeks, I am sharing eight reasons why our family (Me, Vannessa, and our three children) practices tithing. I am teaching these eight at our Newport News Campus on Saturday nights so if you would like to listen, here is the link (October 11 sermon) to last Saturday.

I covered two in this sermon and will be writing on one of them today. These messages are part of a sermon series entitled #projecthope where we are following the word hope throughout Scripture. In my study, I wanted to see where "hope" appeared first in the Old/New Testaments, last in the Old/New Testaments, how often throughout Scripture, how many words in the original languages, any identifiable trends, and etc. These next eight blogs and next few sermons are inspired from the last mention of "hope" in the Old Testament which is Zachariah 9:12 during which God makes this amazing promise of repaying two blessings for every one trouble we endure. In reading that verse, I felt like the Holy Spirit gave me this truth: God has a Kingdom economy for us, one that is governed by His Scripture and never transcended by our conclusions. Tithing is a Kingdom economy concept. Tithing transcends human understanding...how can I end up with more by choosing to have less? So much of the Kingdom of Heaven is counter, opposite, backwards...relative to the rules that govern this temporal world. When my human understanding brings me to conclusions that contradict Scripture, I choose Scripture, the transcendent truth!

I tithe because I believe a certain portion matters to God, one that He calls a tenth part.

We find the first mention of tithing in Genesis. Abram (God has not yet changed his name) returns from rescuing his nephew Lot, defeated kings and armies in the process, was now in possession of the spoils of war and he gives a tenth, a tithe (which literally means a tenth part) to Melchizedek who was a priest and king (a prophetic picture of Jesus). This verse is important to me because this practice of tithing pre-dates the Mosaic Law. Biblical principles that pre-date the Mosaic Law are an important consideration. The Apostle Paul talks of faith, being justified by faith, teaches about Abraham being justified by faith, that being justified by faith pre-dates the Mosaic Law, observable through the study of the life of Abraham and his relationship with God. Tithing pre-dates the Mosaic Law. This is important because we know from studying the Pauline epistles we are no longer bound to the ceremonial and civil aspects of the Mosaic Law. Yes, tithing is taught in the Mosaic Law, but as a continuation of something that God had already established therefore it is not set aside like so much of the Mosaic Law.

The next mention of tithing that is profoundly instructive to me is found in Matthew 23:23. Anyone who says Jesus never talked about tithing may not have actually read the Bible! Here Jesus rebukes some religious leaders but in the text, He clearly affirms the practice of tithing. He actually says, "...you should tithe..." and that is a direct quote from Jesus given to us by the Holy Spirit through the gospel writer Matthew. So, these two verse are bookends for me. Genesis on one side and Matthew on the other. I believe this is intentional by God so we would not fall into the trap that some have laid for us that tithing is a part of the Mosaic Law that we as Christians should not now be expected to practice. Now I have heard some people acknowledge this text but in doing so point out this was a very specific conversation that Jesus had with a very specific group of people. I agree with that. However, I cannot agree that every time Jesus has a very specific conversation with a very specific group of people we should corral those teachings, separate them, and exclude them from Christian doctrine. If we did that, we would be setting aside a frightening measure of the total of Jesus' teachings... Christianity would then be reduced to a mere handful of precepts. All of what Jesus says should matter deeply to us all!

The Bible should never be leveraged to justify living less. Scripture is given to us to find a deeper way in...not an easier way out! The portion matters to God.

Next week I will share about the consequence...but if you can't wait, check out #projecthope in the link above or come visit us in Newport News on Saturday nights at 5pm or Sunday morning in Williamsburg at 10am (www.citylifeva.com).

Pastor Fred