The Biblical Inaccuracy of Tithing

God Wants You!

"What a weariness this is," you say, and you sniff at me, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD. (Malachi 1:13, NRSV)


Today’s is an often ignored verse in this widely quoted prophetic book. It’s a verse that colors the rest of what Malachi has to say to us even today. It is speaking to what we, as believers, offer to God. What do we offer to our Savior? Do we offer our best? Or do we offer something less than our best? Best what? The best of everything we have been given by our Lord, our gifts and talents, especially.

It’s interesting to me that offering to many, many Christians means money. Rarely do we see money being asked for by our Lord, however. Look for yourself; especially in Leviticus and Numbers (the citations that could be listed would probably fill this page). On the contrary, the Lord asks us to offer Him the means He has given us to make money. To a largely agrarian society like the Israelites, that meant livestock and produce. Money is only accepted if a person wished to “redeem” and offering to the Lord and when this occurred, an additional one-fifth of the offering’s value was required by God (c.f. Leviticus 27: 13, 15, 27, 31). When we do the math, we see that an acceptable monetary tithe is 12% and not 10% at all. The point is, however, that such an offering is not what God wants in the first place. God wants you!

I’ll repeat that because it is so very important. God wants you! He has bestowed upon you, various gifts and the circumstances to use these gifts. God has given you talents and provided you with ways to develop them. In short, God created you for a purpose and He wants you to fulfill that purpose. He wants you to become the person that… well…He wants you to be. He wants you to live your life to its utmost for Him. No matter where your life takes you, no matter what job and/or vocation you have, God wants you to offer that to Him by doing your very best there. You belong to Him. You represent Him everywhere you go and in everything you do.

Does this mean that you should not give to your church? Absolutely not. What it does mean is that you should first try your best to offer your gifts and your talents to your church community. That has to be your first priority in this matter. Remember God firstly wants you to serve Him with these gifts and talents. That’s why He gave them to you. Then, of course, do not ignore the offering plate. Your pastor needs to make a living too and there would be no place to meet without your financial support on top of your time and effort.

Lord, bless us and keep us. Lord, help us be the true people of God that You created us to be all the days of our lives. In Jesus’ Name we pray. AMEN.