TITHING AND THE NEW COVENANT FAITH

As I have become aware of in the last few months, controversy has arisen in the Good News Baptist Church in Kaunas, Leituva, over required tithing on the part of the church membership, and the church leadership's discipline of those members who fail or refuse to give to the regular offerings of the church. The issue has divided the church membership and leadership with, I believe, sincere and godly people taking both sides of the issue.

Having read letters from both sides expressing deep concern about this issue and the broader implications of it (i.e., Law versus Grace), I believe the tithing controversy exists because of the a doctrinally flawed Church Covenant (a duplicate English version has been supplied to me by beloved Brother Arnold Cibas, pastor of the Good News Baptist Church of Justice, Illinois, and evangelist and church planter to Lithuania) that reads in part, "We engage therefore . . . to submit to its [the church's] discipline and to contribute weekly with tithes and offerings to its support" (Good News Baptist Church, CONSTITUTION (BYLAWS), Article IV, Church Covenant).

Relevant also to the controversy is the Church Membership Application which all prospective members must sign, an application that reads, "Realizing that the church covenant includes regular attendance at the three weekly services of the church, contributing weekly to the support of the church, etc., and that I will be disciplined according to Article VI of the constitution if I fail to keep any part of the covenant without a completely adequate and reasonable excuse I here sign that I agree to abide by the covenant of this church."

Based upon the Church Covenant and the signing of the Church Membership Application by prospective members, church leadership finds both the authority and the necessity to enforce tithing, and to discipline members who are either negligent or belligerent thereto.

Legitimate concerns and questions with regards to this disciplinary issue do, however, emerge. In the light of the Holy Scriptures, is mandated tithing right? Are both the Church Covenant and the Church Membership Application in harmony with the clear teaching of the New Testament?

The answer to these questions has lamentably divided missionary-pastor Vytautas Cibas, other American missionaries, and the church leadership in Kaunas' Good News Baptist Church, with some of the church leaders refusing to submit to a church constitution that demands and monitors tithing to the local church.

The application of discipline upon some members of the Kaunas church for their failure to "pay tithes" has raised a question in the mind and heart of beloved Brother and missionary-pastor, Stasys, who lives in Veisiejai, Lietuva. The question arose because of the application of discipline by beloved Brother and Pastor Leonas who reportedly has said that, "the church members must be voted out in case they don't pay the tithe."

Many leaders have questioned the validity of exercising church discipline in the case of members who don't pay tithes, and specifically, Brother Stasys has asked me for my beliefs with regards to the matter (personal letter postmarked December 11, 1994). So in this writing, I set forth my Biblical convictions regarding stewardship.

To begin with, and by way of background, let it be said that generous giving lies at the very heart of the Christian faith, giving that encompasses one's time, gifts, talents and resources. Most of the examples and stories cited by and spoken from the lips Jesus Christ bear witness to this truth (See Luke 3:10; 6:38; 12:33-34; 21:1-4.). Christians, as is their God, should be a giving people. God "so loved that He gave", and so should we (John 3:16). The Apostle Paul also has much to say about Christian giving and the support of local church ministry by its members (See 1 Corinthians 16:1-3; 2 Corinthians 8:1-9:16.). In other words, "Christian giving is to be an essential part of Christian living."

But believers are not without clear biblical guidance in the crucial area of stewardship, a ministry that greatly impacts the spiritual life of both individual believers and the local church. From the New Testament we can discern that no Christian with the means to do so is exempted by God from involving himself in this spiritual ministry. Yet as with most matters that concern Christian living, the motive for giving becomes very important.

At this point a word of caution is in order. In America and in the minds of many, money and the church have become a "stumbling block" and a "turn-off" to effective gospel ministry. To the extent that any church publicly emphasizes money, some Americans excuse their rejection of the church with the excuse, "I want nothing to do with the church because all it wants is my money!" The church must therefore, be careful to avoid any appearance of avarice or greed, both of which characterize the ministry of false teachers (1 Timothy 6:5, 9-10; 2 Peter 2:1-3; 14-15; Jude 16).

I remain convinced that, for this reason, Paul made no direct personal monetary demands upon the churches he founded, even if it meant on his part the pursuance of a "tent making" ministry thereby avoiding the need for direct personal support from the local church (1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Corinthians 11:9; Acts 18:3).

Now let us turn directly to the issue in question. Constitutionally "enforced or monitored tithing" fails to pass the test of Holy Scripture on two counts: First, it confuses and mixes the mandatory tithe for the nation of Israel with the New Testament teaching of voluntary and cheerful giving to the church. Second, it does not cultivate a believer's personal spirit of cheerful grace that should characterize all New Covenant giving.

The following arguments provide evidence for the reasons cited above: 1. The use of the word "tithe" in the Church Constitution is unfortunate. The word means "tenth," and there is no New Covenant giving guideline that caps the giving of Christians at 10 percent (In America, we tip waiters and waitresses 15 percent!). If the local work of God is to prosper, then giving must often be above and go beyond a tenth of one's income, and the church needs to quit "tipping God" less than a waitress. As will be shown, the New Testament pattern of stewardship sometimes involves sacrificial giving, and most often needs to be in accordance with how much God prospers (1 Corinthians 16:2). 2. Though the Lord gave to Paul the full disclosure concerning the organism, order and organization of the local church--the revelation of the mystery (Ephesians 3:1-7)--a search of any concordance will show that the Apostle never used the word "tithe" when he discussed giving, even though he gave more attention to giving than any other New Testament writer.

Tithing is an Old Covenant mandate that amounted to a tax upon the citizens of the ancient nation of Israel (And we must be aware that such a tax during the Old Testament dispensation totaled about 23 percent of a citizen's yearly income, over twice the amount of the tithe!). We can only conclude that tithing was only relevant to the ancient nation of Israel, and is not to be a part of church life for the church is distinct from Israel (1 Corinthians 10:32; Romans 9:1-5; 11:1). In that it was a part of Israel's national law, tithing in this dispensation makes no more sense than that of a believer bringing an animal to church for sacrifice (see Colossians 2:16-17).

NOTE: Between the Law of Moses and the New Covenant pattern of giving, the words of the Lord in Matthew 23:23 ("Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law . . . "; see also Luke 11:42) do not make a bridge over which the concept of tithing can then walk into the church. Why do not Christ's words provide linkage between the church and the Old Testament?

First, the context of Christ's words are condemnatory of the religious mentality of the scribes and Pharisees. To say that in these words Christ authorized tithing in the church is to turn what is obviously a negative condemnation of pharisaism into a positive admonition for the church. Such an application is not legitimate.

Second, by His reference to the tithing of "mint and anise and cummin," the Lord Jesus was perhaps illustrating the way in which the rabbis applied the Mosaic law to Jewish life as recorded in the Talmud. Such an application of the tithe to seasonings was not wrong per se, but when a preoccupation with such tithing minutiae, observing the letter of the law, obscured obedience to the more important matters of the law -- judgment, mercy, and faith -- it showed the failure of wrong priorities among the religious leaders of Jesus' day. God does not want us to tithe "table seasonings" on the one hand to the neglect of loving of our neighbor on the other hand (see Luke 10:27-28).

To deduce from this one verse that the Lord authorized tithing for the local church divorces its meaning from its clear historical intent -- that is, that people can become so obsessed with the practice of religious minutiae that they will then fail to do what more deeply matters to God.

Some words of the Apostle Paul can here be appropriately quoted. He wrote that, "our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Corinthians 3:5b-6, NASB).

3. With regards to the spirit of New Covenant giving and the issue facing the Kaunas church, the following verse is most important: "Every man as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7)

The phrase "of necessity" (* ******) is instructive with regards to the issue. The phrase means literally, "from pressure" or "under compulsion." The word describes the "necessity" that Paul felt to preach the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9:16-17). Paul also uses the word to declare his intent not to force any favors from Philemon on his or Onesimus' behalf (Philemon 14). Whatever good that Philemon would do for Onesimus, Paul did not want him to do it "of necessity, but willingly." The point? Under the New Covenant, God wants the believer to give not because he "has to," but rather because he "wants to."

The enforced giving model as mandated by The Church Constitution And Covenant of the Good News Baptist Church clearly violates the spirit of giving that Paul commends in this verse. In violation of Paul's clear teaching, forced tithing makes giving "of necessity," and further introduces an element of grief into the whole stewardship process, for few would say that mandated tithes would be paid "cheerfully." We should give because of blessing, not because of billing.

4. Giving is a very private and confidential matter. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus instructed that with regards to "alms . . . the left hand" should not be aware of what the "right hand" is doing (Matthew 6:1-4). Monitoring the giving of the church membership by the church leadership and pursuance of public church discipline for any failure to tithe, makes an unseemly public spectacle of what should be a private giving grace (see 1 Corinthians 16:2).

5. Monitored tithing further forces church elders into a wrong leadership posture, that of appearing as what in America we know as "IRS agents." Leaders are to shepherd the flock of God, "not for filthy lucre . . . Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:2-3). To the extent that local church leadership forces the membership to tithe, they give the appearance of being the church's "bill collectors," and they potentially introduce into the congregation's consciousness the wrong idea that they may be serving the Lord for "filthy lucre."

Elders are to "feed [not 'fleece'!] the flock of God," and when the feeding is properly done, "The sheep," as one old pastor told me, "will willingly yield their wool!" As an application of this text, the elders should by example be the givers, thus avoiding any appearance of being "the takers." If the leadership gives, so also will the membership be burdened to give as the Holy Spirit provides the prompting to individual believers.

6. A further question may arise with regards to tithing. What relationship does the tithing of Abraham to Melchizedek have to this issue (Genesis 14:17-20; Hebrews 7:1-10)? In that Abraham tithed to the King of Salem before the Mosaic Law was given, does this suggest that the law of tithing transcends the Mosaic Law and is therefore applicable to Christian giving during the church age?

Regarding Abraham's tithe to Melchizedek, there is one major difference between it and the Torah tithing mandated by God through Moses: In the Genesis account there is no recorded demand that Abraham tithe to Melchizedek. He simply gave to the Jerusalem king, whom I believe to have been Christ before His incarnation, a tenth of the spoils of victory from his military victory over the allied kings of the Sodom and Gomorrah plain. There is no evidence that suggests that Melchizedek mandated or forced Abraham to tithe to him. To the contrary, it was voluntary on his part, and as such, Abraham's example of giving more clearly aligns with the New Covenant model of giving encouraged by the Apostle Paul than it does with Torah tithing that the prophets called Israel to obey (Malachi 3:7-12).

After a review of the written materials pertaining to the issue and with a knowledge of the division existing in the church in Kaunas and between Brother Arnold Cibas and the American missionaries currently ministering there, I have come to the painful conclusion that The Church Covenant and Constitution of the Good News Baptist Church is biblically and theologically at variance with the grace teaching of the apostolic and New Testament faith, and that the sincere, albeit misguided, enforcement of tithing, among other issues, lies at the root of the controversy among the Lithuanian faithful. The "mandatory tithing issue" has served it seems to me, as a "lightening rod" or "flash point," for doctrinal confusion and controversy.

In conclusion, it is clear to me that The Constitution of the Good News Baptist Church of Kaunas, should be changed to conform to the stewardship guidelines of the New Testament, and fellowship be restored between any offended parties as all of us acknowledge our faults before the Lord and each other (Galatians 6:1).