Stop Paying 10% Out of Guilt: The Truth About Tithing
My brothers and sisters, today we come not to tickle ears, not to comfort tradition, and certainly not to appease a system that has drifted far from scripture. We’re here to open the word of God and let it speak plainly, clearly, and truthfully. There’s a teaching that’s been repeated from pulpits so often that people have come to believe it without ever searching the scriptures.
That teaching is about tithing. Let me say this upfront. Many churches have misused this teaching. They’ve turned it into a tool for manipulation, not ministry. A system of guilt, not grace. And today, we’re going to tear down the lies so that the truth can set the people of God free. Tithing, the practice of giving 10% of one’s income, is often preached today as a mandatory act of obedience for Christians.
But this idea, though well-meaning in many churches, has no command or foundation in the teachings of the New Testament for the church. The tithe was a specific requirement given under the Mosaic law designed for the nation of Israel. It was never given as a universal law for all believers across all ages.
When we study the word carefully, it becomes clear that imposing the tithe on the New Testament church is a theological error that confuses covenants and misapplies scripture. In the Old Testament, the tithe served a very distinct purpose. It was part of the civil and ceremonial structure of Israel. It supported the Levitical priesthood who had no land inheritance like the other tribes.
Numbers 18:21. It also supplied the needs of the temple and sustained national religious festivals. In some cases, there were actually three separate tithes. One every year and another every third year, meaning that Israelites gave closer to 20 30% of their increase, not a flat 10%. But again, all of this was designed for a theocratic nation under a covenant that has now been fulfilled in Christ.
The book of Hebrews tells us explicitly that the old covenant is obsolete and has been replaced by a better one. Hebrews 8:13, Christ is our high priest. The Levitical system is no longer in effect. There is no physical temple in Jerusalem where sacrifices are made. The priesthood has changed and with it so has the law. Hebrews 7:12.
The church is not ancient Israel. It is a new people from every tribe, tongue, and nation built on the foundation of grace, not law. Trying to reapply the tithe as a binding rule on the church is to mix the old covenant with the new. And that’s not just bad theology, it’s harmful to the spiritual growth of believers.
