Expert: Pastor Don Carpenter - 5/28/2007

Question
I am confused about tithing.  Does it mean we are to give the church 10 per cent?  Does the 10 percent include other charities and the Lords work?  Or does the church get the full 10 per cent?

Answer
Hi Josie,

Thanks for this great question.

Tithes are to be brought into God's storehouse.  The New Testament tells us that the Church is God's house.  Any charity that you wish to support should be given above the tithe.  Many churches use tithe money to support the causes that the church body decides to support.

Malachi 3:8-11
8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.  11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.  
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

1 Timothy 3:15
15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.  
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

I hope that this helps you.

In Christ
Pastor Don