31st July, 2022
Paul Dada writes that Jesus knew about the tradition of payment of tithes, yet, he never established it as a church practice.
By Paul Dada
Mathew 23:23 says: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other.”
Any pastor who uses the above verse as a basis for insisting on the payment of tithes in the New Testament is either ignorant or fraudulent.
Many people have read this verse but they have never bothered to find out what mint, anise( dill) and Cummin are. These are all spicy herbs, which God did not even command the children of Israel to tithe.
In Lev 27:30, Moses as led by God only commanded tithes of ( edible) crops, fruits and livestock. Herbs were not part of it.
The Jewish religious leaders loved to do had added their ideas to tithing. It was not only to tithing that the Jews had added their traditions. But Jesus did not have a problem with the Jewish traditions so long they were not put on the same level as the commandments of God. He also had a problem with traditions that contradicted the law of God( Mathew 15:3).
Now in the case of Mathew 23: 23, Jesus says he did not have a problem with the Jews tithing mint, anise and Cummin ( a tradition formulated by the Jewish rabbis) so long they did not neglect the weightier matters of justice, mercy and faith.
In other words, the tithing of mint, anise and cummin, was an inconsequential affair but what mattered to God were His commandments on justice, mercy and faith.
It is important to know that Jesus as a Jew did not concern Himself with abolishing all the traditions of the Jews that didn’t clash with piety. But He didn’t insist the New Testament Church kept to them.
Jesus, when He cleansed 10 lepers( who were also Jews), asked them to show themselves to the priests by Mosaic demands. But did He establish this as a church practice? No. Jesus kept the Passover but never established it as a church practice.
Jesus knew about the tradition of payment of tithes of herbaceous plants but did not discourage the Jews from doing it. Yet, He never established it as a church practice.
Here are facts about Jesus’ Attitude to Tithing.
- When Jesus spoke about tithes, He was addressing only the Jews
- Jesus did not ask the Jews to stop giving tithes, including the ones they invented
- Jesus was more concerned about the spiritual or weightier matters than tithing
- Jesus frowned at Jews exalting their man-made traditions
- He didn’t ask the church leaders to collect tithes.
Here are other facts to note:
- None of the 12 apostles taught or collected tithes. Paul the Apostle, a front-line teacher who touched on every important doctrine in his epistles didn’t teach believers to tithe.
- Believers met the needs of the church via voluntary contributions.
- The pattern of giving as established in the New Testament is as follows:
(A) Cheerfully: 2 Corinthians 9:7
(b) Voluntarily: 2 Cor 9:7
(C) As determined by the giver: 2 Cor r 9:7
(D) According to the giver’s ability:- 2 Cor( 8:12
(E) Generously: 2 Cor 9:6
(F) Sacrificially:-
2 Cor 8:3
It must also be noted that giving in the New Testament is for the following:
- To help the poor and the needy saints in the church(Acts 11: 27-30, Gal 2:10, 1 Cor 16:1-3)
- To support ministers ( Philippians 4:10, I Tim 5:17-18)
- To help the needy outside the church ( charity work)- Gal 6:9-10
Giving is not for vainglorious church building/camp projects, multiple church programmes and ensuring the ostentatious lifestyle of carnal and sinful preachers.
If you are giving 10% of your income ( gross or net) as tithe every month, I am not compelling you to stop, I just want you to realise that you are not even giving that tithe as required by Moses.
Under Moses, there was a Levitical tithe. To be able to give it, you will need to be a food crop farmer( food crops like Cassava, yam, rice) or fruit farmer ( fruit like pineapple, orange, banana) or livestock farmer ( goat, cow, sheep, not pig o) and then give the tenth of your harvest to a Levite. You must find a real Levite o. Your pastor is not a Levite o( Leviticus 27:30-32, Numbers 18:21,24).
You must also give the festival tithe which God commanded the children of Israel to do annually. You see, for that one, you will have to take the 10 % of your agricultural produce to Jerusalem, not your church headquarters o. Or you can convert the tithe into money. So when you get to Jerusalem, you must eat your tithe. Festival tithe was eaten by the children of Israel. If you have converted your own into money. You must use it to buy food and drinks in Jerusalem and ” chop” everything(Deut 14:22-27).
You must also give another kind of tithe every three years. You and others in your community must gather your tithes. Then you will give them to orphans, foreigners, widows and Levites( real Levites). (Deut 24:28-29).
Again, I do not force you to stop paying the 10% of your income, I am only saying that you are not doing it “Mosaically” and there is no scriptural ground for your tithe.
If you are giving 10% of your income ( gross or net) as tithe every month, I am not compelling you to stop, I just want you to realise that you are not even giving that tithe as required by Moses.
Under Moses, there was a Levitical tithe. To be able to give it, you will need to be a food crop farmer( food crops like Cassava, yam, rice) or fruit farmer ( fruit like pineapple, orange, banana) or livestock farmer ( goat, cow, sheep, not pig o) and then give the tenth of your harvest to a Levite. You must find a real Levite o. Your pastor is not a Levite o( Leviticus 27:30-32, Numbers 18:21,24).
You must also give the festival tithe which God commanded the children of Israel to do annually. You see, for that one, you will have to take the 10 % of your agricultural produce to Jerusalem, not your church headquarters o. Or you can convert the tithe into money. So when you get to Jerusalem, you must eat your tithe. Festival tithe was eaten by the children of Israel. If you have converted your own into money. You must use it to buy food and drinks in Jerusalem and ” chop” everything(Deut 14:22-27).
You must also give another kind of tithe every three years. You and others in your community must gather your tithes. Then you will give them to orphans, foreigners, widows and Levites( real Levites). (Deut 24:28-29).
Again, I do not force you to stop paying the 10% of your income, I am only saying that you are not doing it “Mosaically” and there is no scriptural ground for your tithe.
How to Give Tithe like Abraham
Perhaps, the most ridiculous and weakest case made for the anti-New Testament tithing system is a reference to what Abraham did.
Read the story in Genesis 14:8-20. Some kings and their armies attacked Sodom and Gomorrah and despoiled them. Alongside others, they captured Lot, Abraham’s nephew who was living in Sodom. Upon hearing the news, Abraham armed his servants, and went after the enemy kings, fighting and overcoming them. Abraham recovered all they took. He also despoiled them.
A mystery king-priest, Melchizedek( you can read more about him in Hebrews 7) met Abraham and blessed him. Abraham then gave him tithes from the spoils( the looted goods of the enemy).
This story is what some people ridiculously put up as a justification for tithing in the church.
Well, let me get ridiculous with them.
If you want to truly tithe like Abraham, the following are what must happen:
Take note that I deliberately left gaps in some words, so Zucker bobo does not misunderstand my intent and lock me in FB cell.
- Your relative or family member with his neighbours must first be att-locked and kind-pped, say by Boko Haram, ISWAP or any bandit or terrorist group
- You must arm your friends, households, or church members. Make sure you get sophis–cated we-pons. You can’t confront those people with “sakabula.”
- You would have to win the battle and recover your abducted kinsman. Then you will need to despoil the enemy. Make sure you l–t their goods o.
- Then Melchizedek must meet you. It has to be Melchizedek. Your pastor is not Melchizedek. He was a king-priest whose origins were shrouded in mystery. So, you must find him. I don’t know where you will get him. But that is not my problem. Na you wan give tithe like Abraham.
- King Melchizedek must bless you first. Then you would give him a tithe of the spoils of war. The tithe can’t come from your salary or your business profit.
If all of the aforementioned is impossible for you, then your tithing system has no basis. Stop talking about Papa Abraham’s tithe
* Paul Dada, journalist, Gospel singer, church critic and former member of staff of TheNEWS/PMNEWS, writes from Lagos