Should Christians pay tithe?

INTRODUCTION

I have chosen to discuss this topic as a way of expressing my frustration in the Church in Ghana. (By Church I mean the entire Christian Church in Ghana although the Methodist Church Ghana has been cited for purposes of illustration). My frustration has to do with the many reports of corruption and immorality in the media against the Church which the Leadership is powerless to cope resulting in the Church being perceived as corrupt.

CORRUPTION

The Australian High Commission to Ghana, Andrew Barnes, an atheist was reported to have said that he was shocked at the level of corruption in Ghana, a nation dominated by Christians”. To Mr Barnes, corruption should not be an issue eating up a country in which Christians constitute approximately 71.2 percent of the entire population.

He went on to say that although he did not believe in the existence of God, he knew corruption was clearly against Christian teachings” (the Ghanaweb of 30 September 2019). This is a serious indictment and condemnation of the Church in Ghana and its Leadership by no mean a person but an atheist. How has this come about?

The argument is that if 71.2% of Ghanaians are Christians, then it is reasonable to assume that 71.2% of crimes and corruption in Ghana are committed by Christians. This is simple logic but a profound statement and an embarrassing perception of Christianity. The cause of this unfortunate humiliation of Christians, in my view, is the fact that the Church in Ghana is confused as to whether Christians belong to the Old Covenant or to the New Covenant or Grace.

The fact is that Tithing, which is the subject of this paper, is one of many doctrines that the Church in Ghana has adopted which have added to this confusion and the reason why the Church is unable to exert its influence on society. For instance, Christians are urged to give Tithe, not because of any scriptural or spiritual consideration but because Tithe has the capacity to generate considerable incomes for the Church and this is what has attracted charlatans and fraudsters into the Church.

These people have formed splinter and sole-proprietorship churches in the crannies of the whole country, creating havoc in the minds of the people, extorting money from innocent and gullible Ghanaians in the guise of Tithing. The Church, however, looks on unconcerned for which reason the Church is perceived as corrupt.

DEMOCRACY

The Church in Ghana is playing the ostrich under cover of democracy, freedom of association and religion, freedom of speech etc. Democracy does not mean that if someone is destroying your brand, you cannot defend your brand, portray the good side of your brand and allow society to judge. It is like the Church has opened the Pandora box and anybody, even crooks and quacks, have entered the church and using the “fear of God factor” to virtually extort money from innocent members in the name of God.

THE NEW COVENANT

The fact is that Tithing is an Old Testament Jewish Law. Christians of today are of the New Covenant are therefore not required to give Tithe as stated in the Mosaic Law. Our allegiance must be to the New Testament only and the only Tithe Christians must give is as Our Lord teaches in Matthew 23:23. St. Paul says that:

• “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:5-9)”

• He also said that “by calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and out-dated will soon disappear (Romans 8:13)

• “For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the Law, but under grace.”(Romans 6:14).

If the Law is obsolete and out-dated and would soon disappear, why do we hold on to it? As Christians, we are of the New Covenant and therefore we do not have to give Tithe as demanded in the Old Covenant. We have to give Tithe as demanded in the New Covenant (Matthew 23:23).

ADDENDUM

The issue is that the text and letter of the Law (the Old Covenant/Testament) has not changed. It is the Spirit of the Law that has changed with the advent of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ which is expressed in the New Testament.

Therefore the fact that the Old and New Testaments constitute the Holy Bible under one cover does not mean the allegiance of Christians or followers of Christ must be to the letter of the Old Testament. The New Testament is the authority on the life of Christians.

• Thus on vengeance, Christians we are not required to obey the Old Testament Law of, “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” (Exodus 21:24). We are required to submit to what Our Lord teaches in Matthew 5:39, “if anyone slaps you on one cheek, turn to him the other cheek also”.

• In the Old Covenant, every male must be circumcised in the flesh

(Genesis 17:10ff). In the New Covenant, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6).

The Old Testament can be regarded as an addendum to the New Testament which is the embodiment of the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament serves to give account of events in the Jewish period, explain, and bring meaning and life to the entire Holy Scriptures. For instance, if one wants to get the full weight of Stephen’s speech to the high Priest in Acts 7:17-53, and to understand and appreciate the power of God in the deliverance of His people from Egypt, then one has to read the Book of Exodus.

TITHING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Our Lord said in Matthew 23:23 that “You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the Law—justice, mercy and faithfulness”, that Tithing must be done with a deep concern for justice, mercy and faithfulness.

In the story of the Good Samaritan, assuming that all the three players, the Priest, the Levite and Samaritan, were going to the temple to give their Tithe, the Priest and the Levite would arrive with their Tithe intact. The Samaritan would have arrived late in the temple with no Tithe to give. He had used his good judgment to delay his trip in order to attend a child of God dying on the road; he had mercy on a dying child of God, and used the entire store for his trip to attend to a dying child of God. He had the faith that when in need during the trip, God would provide.

This is the Tithing the Church in Ghana must have subscribed to where our concern for justice, faith and mercy are more important than the 10% of our income and it leaves no room for fake men of God to operate.

TITHE AND OFFERING

The Leadership of the Church in Ghana is oblivious of the fact that:

a) Tithing and Offering in the church are two separate events. Tithing is limited in scope as to who can give, receive and by what means it can be given or received. Offering is open; anybody can give and receive in any amount and by any means, even in cash or in kind. So Tithing and Offering in the Church are not the same.

b) Again, Tithe means 10% of agricultural produce and nothing else; the 10% of cash emoluments as Tithe we give today is a creation of the Church in Ghana. It is a corruption of the Law and it is not in the scriptures. Deuteronomy 12:17 says, “Tithe of your grain” and Deuteronomy 14:23ff also says, “Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. Throughout the Holy Bible, the emphasis on giving Tithe has been agricultural products.

c) This also implies that only people in agricultural production (farmers) must pay Tithe according to the Law.

The Church in Ghana therefore has unequivocally altered the commandment of God to suit its own whims. This is undoubtedly blasphemous and sacrilegious because the Holy Bible says that “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, (Deuteronomy 4:2ff). It also says, “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; (Revelation 22:18)

TITHE IS A CONTRADICTION TO NEW TESTAMENT TEACHING ON GIVING

Tithing is illogical and contradicts the teachings of Our Lord on giving. This is because Tithing was fixed at 10% of one’s agricultural produce. Today it is fixed at 10% of every member’s cash emolument.

On the other hand, the New Testament teaching has been that Christians must give voluntarily, from their heart and without any compulsion. “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”(2 Corinthians 9:7), “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.”(Colossians 3:23)

In Tithing today, we are under compulsion to give because what we give is recorded and there are certain facilities which as members of the church we would not enjoy if we are not current in the giving of Tithe.

OUR LORD DID NOT GIVE TITHE

a) It is strange that throughout His life on earth, Our Lord mentioned the term “Tithe” only once in the Holy Bible and that was in Matthew 23:23-24 and Luke 11:42 when He reprimanded the Pharisees and Scribes, calling them hypocrites, for corrupting and polluting the Laws, including the Law on Tithe. If really Tithing is a Christian duty, as we have been made to believe, then we should expect that Tithing would have featured strongly in Our Lord’s teachings.

b) The Pharisees and the Scribes engaged Our Lord on many occasions on the issue of payment of taxes. He paid his taxes (Matthew 17:27) and in Matthew 22:21, He told the Pharisees to “give unto Caesar what belonged to Caesar and to God what belonged to God”. However, on no occasion did the Pharisees and the Scribes engage Him on the payment of His Tithe.

Surely, the Pharisees knew He and His disciples were not engaged in any farming activity for a living and therefore they were not bound by Law to pay Tithe. How come that today the same Pharisees are compelling every member of the Church, including urban workers who are not engaged in agricultural production to pay Tithe which is not in the Law?

c) Tithing was instituted for the Levites as their inheritance for their work in the temple and on condition that they would have no other inheritance (Numbers18:24). Who in Ghana today can claim to be a Levite, a Jew of the tribe of Levi and therefore qualifies to receive Tithe? Which Osofo in Ghana today can claim he has no properties of his own which he will one day bequeath to his children? Is it not greed for Osofoi and “men of God” in Ghana to claim to be Levites (when they are not) and therefore entitled to receive Tithe?

It is clear from the arguments above that Tithing as we practice it today has changed so significantly from the Law that it has become Tithe in name. It is no longer the Tithe as instituted in the Mosaic Law. If the conditions underlying the institution of the Tithe have changed, let us retire the Law. We are in the age of the New Normal. We cannot afford to do things in the old ways, else we shall perish.

MALACHI 3:8

The popular Bible verses church leaders use to induce members to pay Tithe is Malachi 3:6-10, “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, „How are we robbing you?‟ “In Tithes and offerings. Leaders of the Church know that the whole book of Malachi was about the despicable practices of the Jewish Priests. In the introduction to the book, Malachi 1:6-8, this is what the Prophet says, “But you ask, „How have we shown contempt for your name?‟ 7 “By offering defiled food on my altar”.

But you ask, „How have we defiled you?‟ “It is you Priests who show contempt for my name. So, it was not the mass of the people who had robbed God, it was the Priests themselves. They were either not giving their Tithe of Tithes or sending unwholesome items to the High Priest.

It is misleading for the Church Leaders of today to redirect Malachi’s reprimand of the Priests to the people to create the impression that Malachi was talking to the people. It is the Priests who were robbing God and not the generality of the people.

CONCLUSION

Not all churches in Ghana pay Tithe; Catholics and some other churches do not pay Tithe. Incidentally, it was not until the 1980s that the Methodist Church began paying Tithe suggesting that the colonial Methodist missionaries did not carry Tithing in their luggage when they landed in the then Gold Coast.

Revs John and Charles Wesley were reputable scholars of religion who had personal encounter with the Holy Spirit. Surely, there must be compelling reasons why they did not introduce Tithing into the church they founded. It is therefore inappropriate that the Methodist Church Ghana has sacrificed the views and thoughts of the Founders on Tithing on the altar of increased income for the church.