How should I decide how much to tithe?

It is strongly recommended, therefore, that whenever our income comes in, a proportion be put aside, and that whenever our income rises to let the first part of that increase go for the Lord's service. Those who have tried it can testify how helpful this plan is, how there is no bondage connected with it, and how greatly their powers of giving have been increased thereby.

If it be asked what the proportion should be, the answer is, "Every man as he hath purposed in his heart." (2 Cor. 9:7.) Nothing can be laid down, but it will be found that the pleasure and luxury of giving increases with the giving, and, as again and again we wait on the Lord about the matter, which we are bound to do under these conditions, we long to give more and more; so that we have heard of a case where one who began by giving a tenth ended by giving nine-tenths.

However, while the occasion of laying by in store comes round regularly once a week, it is not expected that the same fixed sum should always be reserved. The amount is to be regulated by your prosperity. It is well to see that the Lord has not laid down the proportion to be set by. He has not asked you to give half of your goods to the poor as Zacchaeus was in the habit of doing, nor a tenth as in the case of Israel. But it appears to me from the word — "every one of you" — that each, however poor, is bound to give something. How much that is you must each settle for yourselves before the Lord. Only be sure to be before the Lord about it. Say plainly, "Here is my sixpence, Lord; it is all I can spare Thee this week;" and then wait to see whether conscience cries, "Shame" at you or not.

Of course it should be borne in mind that if you purpose to give a shilling there is nothing to hinder you increasing your donation to two, if you feel moved to do so. But it is a serious thing to reduce it without adequate reason. You must remember there is such a thing as robbing God (Mal. 3) of which you must beware.

Whatever our possessions are, our first thought should be as to how to honor the Lord in the use of them. For all that we have comes from Him, and in regard to the first fruits of crops, our first thought is to be of Christ, the Giver. We do not need to wait for the proceeds of all our labor for the year, then give a tenth. Rather, though we are not commanded (as Israel was) to give one-tenth of our income to God, yet we are encouraged in 1 Corinthians 16:2, "on the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper." No exact amount is even suggested, but "as he may prosper" leaves this to the individual's faith. Yet, 2 Corinthians 9:6 tells us, "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, but he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." This beautifully confirms the fact that believers are not under law, but under grace. This is individual too in Proverbs 3:10.

In New Testament times many were punctilious in paying tithes of small things, while they neglected the weightier matters of the law — judgement, mercy, and faith. Matt. 23:23. A definite tenth or fifth is not enforced in the N.T., but liberality is enjoined. "God loveth a cheerful giver:" he that soweth sparingly will reap sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully will reap bountifully: "he that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord." Paul told the saints to lay by for the special collection he was making for the poor 'as God had prospered' each. God required of them according to what they had, and not according to what they had not. The poor widow who cast in the two mites cast in more than the rich, for it was her whole living. At the commencement of the church many gave up their possessions and the saints had 'all things common;' but failure soon came in, and we may learn from the general tenour of the epistles that such a state of things would not continue, though the principle abides that we do not call any of the things we possess our own.

And each is called upon to purpose in his own heart as to the amount he gives. If Paul presses upon them to give from a right and godly motive, willingly; yet absolutely no pressure must be used in reference to the amount given. What one can give totally ungrudgingly, let him give, not because he feels it incumbent, but rejoicingly. For God loves a cheerful giver. Indeed, this is God's own character.

THE LAST DIRECTION of the Apostle in this epistle concerns the special collection being made at that time for poor saints in Judaea. Today in many religious circles money is so often the first topic. Here it is the last. Still it comes in, and instructions of abiding value are given. In verse 2 systematic giving is advocated as opposed to haphazard. Proportionate giving is also what God expects — in proportion to the prosperity which God Himself may have given. In Jewish days God fixed the proportion at one tenth. He has not fixed any proportion for us who are under grace; but depend upon it we shall hear something pretty serious at the judgment seat if we fall below the standard set by the law. If all believers practised giving which is both proportionate and systematic, there would be no money problem in connection with the work of the Lord. The chapter division perhaps leads us to miss the connection between 1 Cor. 15:58, and 1 Cor. 16:2.

We are not under law, but under grace, and we therefore have no such prescriptions as to what we are to give to the Lord; but may there not be some most valuable instruction for us in these solemn words? Nay, is it not true that now all that we are and have belong to Him who has redeemed us through His precious blood? Much more, then, should we enter into' such a word as this, "Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase," if we have understood at all the responsibilities of grace, the grace which has been displayed in our redemption through God's unspeakable gift. Or if any have failed to apprehend the bearing of this truth, let them read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the teaching of the apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 8, 9. And with these chapters before us, let us be candid with ourselves, and solemnly interrogate our hearts in the presence of God, to learn whether we have risen to the height of our privilege in this respect, in honouring the Lord with our substance, in devoting the first-fruits of our increase to His service. Let us not be afraid even of figures, asking ourselves, if need be, "How much have we given of our income for the Lord's use?" or, "What proportion have our gifts borne to what we have. received?" Ah! beloved, if we thus examined ourselves on this subject, would not many of us have to own that the Lord might also have a controversy with us, and truly say, "Ye have robbed God"? Or else how comes it to pass that almost in every place the saints have to be reminded, again and again, that there is not enough money in the Lord's treasury for even necessary uses, and that collections, private and public, are continually being made to conceal our shortcomings, and to provide means for the sustenance both of the Lord's poor and the Lord's work? All this only reveals the fact how feebly grace is operative in our hearts, and how unlike we are to the giving-God, by whose bounty it is that we have been set in the possession of such priceless blessings. And may we not ask also, whether our own barrenness, and whether the lack of blessing among the Lord's people — in their meetings for praise and edification — may not be traced to our own narrowness of heart, to our withholding from God of the substance, small or great, which He has entrusted to our stewardship? (See 2 Cor. 9:8-15.) For here the Lord expressly connects His blessing His people with their faithfulness to Himself in the matter of tithes. "Bring ye," he says, "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." (v. 10.)

But this scripture demands a still closer examination. Remark, first, that the Lord desires the tithes to be brought that there way be meat in His house; i.e., that those whose office it was to attend to the service of the sanctuary might be properly cared for and sustained. (See on this subject Neh. 10:32-39, Neh. 13:4-10.) For it was a grievous thing in the eyes of Jehovah that the Levites and priests should be neglected. Moreover the Lord. condescends to say, 'Prove me now herewith, and I on my part will bestow abundant blessing upon you.' it is not, it will be observed, "PRAY, and I will open the windows of heaven," but, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse." It would be well if this passage were sometimes read and explained at meetings for prayer, as it might be used to remind us of the real hindrances to blessing. To pray is always well, but to pray while we are withholding from God, and without self-judgment on this account, is useless. Our prayers may be enlightened and fervent, and may commend themselves to the children of God; but let us not forget that He is the heart-knowing God, and may therefore be keeping back the answers to our petitions because we are not practically responding to the "grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich." (2 Cor. 8:9.)

Still further blessing is promised, if they are but faithful in bringing the tithes. "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. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts." (vv. 11, 12.) These promises are on the principle which obtains everywhere in the Old Testament; viz., that of blessing on the condition of obedience. This was in fact the very essence of the Mosaic economy. (See, for example, Deut. 28) Their continued possession of the land, their freedom from disease, earthly blessing of every shape and form, were all made dependent upon their walking according to the statutes and ordinances which they had received. So in this scripture. Let the people but return to obedience to the law, and they should receive blessing without stint or limit, their land should again become fruitful, and so manifestly should the favour of God rest upon them that all the nations around would call them blessed. It would be seen that theirs was "a land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year." (Deut. 11:12.)

Proverbs 3:9 says, ‘Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase’. This is a principle which many particularly older ones obey. From whatever source their income is derived, they are careful to see that at least one tenth goes to the Lord. And whenever there has been an increase, whether in salary, or as a result of an award, the first of such an increase has been given to the Lord. It has been well said that if under the law one tenth must be given to God, if less than that is given under grace then that is a disgrace!

When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians about laying by in store as the Lord has prospered (1 Cor. 16:2), he connected it with the first day of the week, the Lord’s day, when they came together to remember Him in the breaking of bread. As the great truth of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus who gave Himself for them on the cross came before them, it would surely lead them to yield in fullest measure of their substance to Him for His work, His servants and His saints in need. The remembrances of the Lord’s surrender and yielding up entirely to God for our sins should lead us to give abundantly for the sake of Him who has done so much for us.

A similar thought comes out in Deuteronomy 26. There, the tithe was to be brought to the place where the Lord had put His name among them. They were to give also to ‘the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow’. One has written, ‘The rich tide of God’s grace and provision had flowed to them, and then it was to flow through them out to the servants of the Lord and the needy.’ This is the outcome of the work of grace in our hearts. Giving as the Lord had commanded was an evidence not only of material prosperity, but of soul prosperity as well. The two should go together and be evidenced before the Lord.

A legal requirement of the whole then would have been unavailing, and a mere bondage. "Not grudgingly, or of necessity," is, as we have seen, the Scripture-rule. But that does not at all mean what people characterize as "cheap religion." It does not mean that God will accept the "mites" of the niggard as the Lord did those of the woman in the Gospels. Christ does not say now, Give as much or as little as you please it is all one. No: He expects intelligent, free surrender of all to Him, as on the part of one who recognizes that all is really His.

Years ago when horse-cabs were the custom in Canada, it was usual to give the cabman a tip of 25 cents. The story is told of one of Canada's richest men who drove home one night in a cab. When he got out he handed the cabby the correct fare and a 25 cent tip. The cabby turned it over in his hand, and said, "You know, Sir, when I drive your son home, he always gives me half a dollar tip." "Yes," the wealthy man replied, "But he has a rich father." The son was giving in some measure "according to his wealth." I regret to say the father was not doing so: but our 'rich Father' will never treat us so: He gives "according to His wealth." And we might bear in mind that our 'rich Father' has said, "Freely ye have received, freely give." "Love ever gives, forgives, outlives; And ever stands with open hands, And while it lives it gives. For this is Love's prerogative — To give, and give, and give." (From, 'Straight Talks')