Expert: Australian International Evangelist Matthew Starrs - 1/9/2009

Question
My father has to live with us. He does not pay his bills, eat,bath,or take medicine on his own as he should. We get $400 a month from him. Should we tithe on his "room and board"? Should we tithe on "room" only? Please give advice. Is the tithe $40 or $20?         -THANKS-

Answer
Hi Frank,

You should not tithe anything unless you are a Jew living under the Mosaic Law. If you are such a Jew you should only tithe what the Law requires, which is 10% of your agricultural produce. If your sheep or cattle only had 9 offspring this year you don't tithe anything. It is only every tenth one that you take to the Levitical priests in Jerusalem. I suggest that you save hard because transporting them live to Jerusalem will be expensive.

There is nowhere in the Bible that Christians are told to tithe.

Tithing is under the old testament law, and according to the Word of God if you trust in the Law for your righteousness you have fallen from God's grace.

Some will try to argue that tithing is not under the Law as Abraham tithed to King Melchizedech 400 years before Moses penned the Law. However Abraham also instituted circumcision and according to the Apostle Paul in Galatians this was clearly under the Law and Christians must not practice the Mosaic Law as a religion. Also Abraham only gave 10% to Melchizedech but he gave the other 90% to the king of Sodom. He kept none of the bounty from that battle. This is the only time in Abraham's life that he ever tithed. He did not ever give 10% of his annual income.

You may have heard preaching on Malachi 3 saying that you are cursed if you don't tithe. This was true for Old Testament Jews, but it is an abomination for those who are in Christ as Christ took every curse for us and there is nothing left for you to do except trust in Him and walk in love.

In the last century tithing was introduced in the Pentecostal Church for 3 reasons:
1. People are naturally religious and want to be under a law so that when they fulfill it they can feel self righteous.
2. People are naturally stingy and introducing tithing meant that many people would give more rather than selfishly hang on to it.
3. Pastors can budget better and achieve financial security if they teach their people to tithe.

Please do NOT tithe as it will only serve to deplete your resources and it sounds like you have more important financial responsibilities. If you really want to fulfill scripture stop accepting money from your father for caring for him. Make it your labor of love. Then you will be fulfilling the Law of Christ.

Blessings!

Matthew.