Where Does the Tithe Go?

A few weeks ago, a reader asked what I thought about where the tithe should be given. In other words, he wanted to know if it has to be given to a church or can be given anywhere.

Well, if you're going to accept the principle of the tithe (and I know that's a big "if" for some readers here, but I'm assuming it for this post), then you need to look at where the Bible says to give the tithe in context of when it says to tithe. So, back to Malachi 3:10 we go:

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."

So, the Bible says the tithe should go to the "storehouse." That begs the question: "What's the modern-day equivalent of the storehouse?"

Crown Financial Ministries lists three specific functions the Bible gives for the storehouse. They are (in today's terms):

• Provide for pastors and other church staff, evangelists, and missionaries today.
• To feed the widows and orphans being served in a local church.
• To feed the unsaved people in the community surrounding a local church.

Some of these (especially #1) are covered by churches today. However, many churches don't cover one or more of these. Here's what Crown has to say on the issue:

Larry never counseled people to redirect their tithe away from their church completely, but he did say that the church of today, as a whole, is not carrying out all the responsibilities that God set forth for His storehouse. That is not to say, however, that all churches are neglecting this work.

Since the tithe is recognition of our obedience and submission to God and is given in thanksgiving for His faithfulness in providing, there should not be any legalism as to how we direct the money He has entrusted to our care. If people feel the need, and God’s direction, to help other ministries outside their churches and they have no other funds than the tithe, it would be hard to tell them they are disobeying God’s Word in that area.

If you want a bit more detail on the issue, you can also see this PDF from Crown.

They also advise the following -- something I felt was necessary to share in this conversation:

We caution people against letting this become an area of contention between them and their pastor, and we encourage them to seek direction for their giving from the Lord. As He gives peace about where to direct His resources, one should act in humility and meekness toward those who might disagree.

So they are saying that the church is the closest thing to the storehouse today and that if your church is fulfilling the three functions of the storehouse, your tithe should go there. If not, you can then feel free to give part to your local church and part to ministries/charities that fulfill the purpose of the storehouse.

Here's what we do:

1. We give 10% to our church. I can't honestly say that our church does a great job of #2 and #3 noted above, though we do have a food bank and financial assistance programs for people in need. That said, we still give our whole tithe to the local church, thinking it will make up for most of the people who give very little.

2. We then give offerings (more than our tithe in total dollars) to all sorts of ministries that help people with various needs (food, clothing, shelter, disaster relief, etc.) In the end, it all works out that at least 10% is going towards the purposes of the storehouse, though it's accomplished through a few different organizations.

Before I close, let me say that I've ignored the "but we 'give' today through our taxes to help the poor" argument. As someone commented here recently, taxes are paid, they aren't gifts. That said, I may cover the issue sometime in the future.

Those of you who tithe/give, let me know what you do and how you decide where to give your gifts.

Comments

[Lynnae (Being Frugal)]

I appreciate your insight on this. I never really thought about the 3 functions of the storehouse, and I've always just given my 10% to the church. Fortunately our church does a great job in all of those functions. But that's something to keep in mind, should we ever move and have to switch churches.

[Russell Earl Kelly PHD]

Evrey aspect of your answer is wrong. (1) The first Levitical tithe went to the Levitical cities where the Levites and priests lived and needed the tithe to survive (Neh 10:37b) (2) The second feast tithe went to the streets of Jerusalem and was eaten (Deu 12:6-7; 14:23). (3) The third poor tithe was kept in the homes of individual Israelites for distribution to the poor (Deu 14:28-29;26:12-13). (4) The only portion of the tithe which went to the Temple storehouse was that very small amount which the Levites and priests brought with them when they took their rotation of one week out of 24 (Neh 10:38-39). (5) In the context of Neh 10:37-39 Malachi 3:10 can only logically refer to priests being told to bring back the tithe they had stolen from the storehouse from Malachi 1:13-14 and Neh 13:5-10. Every priest in the nation had robbed God and had been cursed four times prior to chapter 3 in 1:14 and 2:2.(6) There is absoluely no biblical grounds to call the NT church a storehouse because the church did not even own buildings for over 200 years after the NT was written. (6) The physical Temple of God has been replaced by the physical body of the believer and there is no grounds for placing a storehouse inside the new temple of the beleiver. (7) Teh OT storehouse was only two large rooms and could not have possible held all of the tithe for the nation (Neh 13:5).

[tlange]

We give our tithe (not exactly 10% but above that) to our local church, we also as funds are available give an offering to our local church (deacons fund, building fund, other needs that may arise) then we will give to other charities that we have a relationship with.

Our local church comes first!

[MoneyChangesThings]

We give our tithe to a huge variety of philanthropies.
We also invest 1% of our net worth in community investment and lending to the poor through microfinance. Maimonides teaches that the highest level of Tsedakah (the Jewish concept similar to charity) is to help people help themselves, and microfinance does that brilliantly. Someday I hope to increase the percentage we have invested in such funds. The returns are less (3-4% or so), but the impacts are much greater than if we donated the difference.

[James]

freemoneyfinance has an article today about "where does the tithe goes?"

It is as much a responsilibity to give as well as to give it to the right place or organization. I think if you are going go a local church, the tithe should go there. As you submit to the leadership and the vision of the church. If not, then why are you there? Granted, there is no perfect church. If you feel your local church is not doing as much to extend the kingdom, then, perhaps you can try to get on board the leadership team to suggest changes.

Even then, after you have brought in the tithe to the local church, it is the responsibility of the church to manage those funds according to the God's call to the church. If they don't do it well, then they would be answerable to God as stewards.

ed

[R Hudson]

Until I started attending a local church, I gave to ministries I felt were doing the Lords work. These included bible-based television ministries, Feed the Children, BOND, Thru the Bible Radio. Now that I've been attending a local church, I give my tithe there, and extra income goes to the aforementioned ministries.

[plonkee]

I happen to think that no.s 2 and 3 are more important than no.1 (which does not mean that I think no.1 is unimportant).

And I completely agree that taxes can't be considered because they are not a gift - you don't pay taxes because you want to, you pay them because you have to. If you enjoy paying them (!) consider that a bonus.

[Olga]

I wonder what you think of church tax. It exists is some European countries and is usually levied on those who belong to some church, the money goes to the religious communities according to taxpayers' affiliation.

In Germany, as Wikipedia says, people pay from 8% to 9% of their income. That's a considerable sum. It looks like tithing, just made on a more regular basis. On the other hand, it may be argued whether this money is "paid" or "given".

[Olga]

I'm sorry, I've made a mistake in my previous comment. In Germany Christians pay 8-9% of their income tax, not income. Well, this is not much.

[FMF]

Olga --

Still, it's an interesting issue. I'll do a bit more research and maybe write on it in the future.

[crossn81]

We have something like 12% of our income directly deposited into a separate bank account each paycheck. We call this God's money and use it to support our local church, other ministries, and other mission oriented endeavors/philanthropic ideas. We "invest" the money in our church, friends who are missionaries, and organizations we feel share similar missions as ours.

[Bruce]

I agree with much of your posting but I believe that tithing is such an issue today has more to do with the meaning of tithe than if it is a New Testament concept or where it is to be paid. The issue should be stewardship and not tithe. The concept of stewardship started in the Garden Of Eden and continues to this day as a way of showing the Lordship of God/Jesus. By honoring the Lord with not eating from the Tree of the Knowledge Good and Evil or giving Him 10% of our increase is all the same. If time and space permitted I could show you the ribbon that runs through the whole Bible. May God bless your ministry.

[Donna]

I have struggled with where to give the tithe. I do not attend a church, but rather a Bible study fellowship where the Holy Spirit really moves. Anyway, it's not a conventional organization. I give where I feel my heart is being moved to give. There is a Christian orphanage in Africa that I enjoy giving to, and I give anonymously to saints I know who sometime need help in paying their house payments or food supplies, etc. - sometimes to ministries on TV that are a blessing.