Tithing and Charities: My Response

Before I begin my response, let me begin with this: the responses averaged 491 words, so I will limit my response to the question in the same way that the authors were limited. And yes, the text below is exactly 491 words.

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The problem I have with answering this question is that it assumes a certain view of the tithe that I explicitly reject. I do not believe that 10 percent of income is a requirement for Christians. Therefore, the short answer would be: Christians can take the amount they have decided to give and split it between their local church and other charities without fear that they are robbing God … with one major caveat.

First, the definition of the tithe must be clear. The tithe in the Old Covenant refers to Israelites giving 10 percent from the increase of their crops or cattle. It was always connected to the land of Israel (crops from the land or cattle that fed off the land) and never referred to income in general. It definitely was not 10 percent of income. Let me illustrate.

Leviticus 27:32 says “Every tenth animal from the herd or flack, which passes under the shepherd’s rod, will be holy to the LORD” (HCSB). So, if someone has 10 cows, the 10^th cow that passed under the rod would be given as a tithe. 1 out of 10 is 10 percent. However, if they had nin9e cows, they would give 0, meaning 0 percent. If they had 19 cows, they would give 1, meaning about 5 percent. So, what percentage did they give? No one really knows because it was different for everyone. Also note that “money” is discussed numerous times in the first few books of the Bible before the tithing Law occurs in Leviticus 27. While Israel may have been primarily an agricultural society, that doesn’t mean that they didn’t have money or deal in money.

Second, I need to discuss the one caveat I referred to above. I do believe that Christian giving should place the highest priority on their local church. It’s not that other charities aren’t worthy, but verses like Galatians 6:6 lead me to believe that when one joins a local church, they should commit to supporting the ministries of that church. If your local church is struggling financially, trim down your giving in other areas and increase your giving their. We give over 75% of our giving to our local church. The remaining 25% goes to missionaries or other charities. However, if our church had a shortfall and needed more, we would probably sacrifice more and give to our local church, rather than take away from the missionaries we support. 

Conclusion: It is not “robbing God” to support charities, but your local church should not be suffering financially because of your support for those charities. My favorite quote about robbing God comes from John Piper: “My own conviction is that most middle and upper class Americans who merely tithe are robbing God.” The wealth of many (but not all) Americans means that the consistent application of the principles for giving explained in Scripture would result in giving that exceeded 10 percent of income.

Tithing and Charities

Three Christians were asked to answer the following question: “Is it stealing from God to split your tithe between the church and other charities?” This is a great question to ask and I’m glad Christianity Today has asked three people to respond to it. Here are the responses and my thoughts about their responses.

Gary Moore, Amie Streater, Douglas LeBlanc (from http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/october/split-tithe-between-church-charities.html?start=1)

Gary Moore’s answered puzzled me at many points. I’m not sure exactly what he was trying to say sometimes. For example, when he says “Neither did Malachi say to bring the full tithes for the operation of the temple. The storehouse was for the needy,” I’m puzzled at how he views the relationship between the Old Covenant institution of “temple” and the New Covenant “church.” While the three main tithes commanded in the Mosaic Law (Festival, Levitical, and Charity) were all related, on some level, to the needy or poor, the Levitical Tithe really shouldn’t be viewed as for the poor. The “storehouse” was simply the place where the tithes were stored.

I fully agree with his analysis of the Empty Tomb data, but I’m not sure how that relates to the actual question. I think he was trying to insert a motivation to give more (which I generally agree with).

His conclusion: “Should the church reassume more biblical responsibilities, it would be entitled to more of the biblical tithe.” Oh how I wish he had attempted to define the tithe! If he means “10% of income,” then I would need to disagree with that definition. I can only assume he means that since he gives no other definition, but that definition cannot be sustained from Scripture.

Amie Streater is very clear: if you give part of your tithe to some other charity besides your local church, you are disobedient. She claims that tithing “is not spoken of differently in the Old and New Testaments.” While I actually kind of agree with that statement, it really hurts the argument being made. Since there were multiple tithes in the Old Testament Law, and since it is claimed that the tithe is not “spoken of differently,” that means Christians better be giving at least 20% of their income (or should I say, at least 20% of the produce from their crops and cattle [at least, those that are from the land of Israel]).

She gives a clear definition: “Tithe means a tenth.” The dictionary might say that, but that does not define the tithe in Scripture. She utilizes Deuteronomy 26:1-4 to demonstrate that the tithe must go to “the local church.” She then cites Malachi 3:10  and the “storehouse,” calling it “the church.” On what basis is the temple of Deuteronomy 26 and the “storehouse” of Malachi 3 equal to the church?

After explaining the typical view on tithing prevalent in churches today, she says: “As believers we can choose to bicker and nitpick about these Scriptures and search for evidence to give less. We have the freedom to do that.” Ouch. So, I guess that is a pre-emptive strike on those who disagree with her about tithing. Apparently they (including “me”) are trying to find ways to give less … I will respectfully disagree with that evaluation of the motivation of my heart.

Douglas LeBlanc explains that his Dad interpreted Malachi 3:10 to mean that Christians must tithe (“10% of income”?) to their place of worship. Then he states: “Whether my father’s exegesis would pass the muster of scholastic theologians does not matter to me.” Ouch (again!). What exactly does this mean? Is he saying: “whether or not the text actually meant/means what my father says, I will teach it to others”? … or maybe just that he disagrees with those “scholastic theologians”.

His answer to the question of the article is that splitting the tithe between a charity and our local church is not robbing God, but we “patronize God’ and we “distort tithing to mean something foreign to Scripture.” Interesting … so the meaning of Scripture does matter at this point. He never really defined “tithing” in Scripture, so I’m left to assume he believes it means “10% of income.” Again, we will disagree on this point.

So, I find zero satisfaction in all three of these answers, with the first being the closest to my view. What is my view? Well, you’ll have to come back tomorrow to find out!

Does Biblical Prophecy Fail? Video available

The video of Dr. Michael Grisanti's presentation at Liberty University in September is now available. At the end is the Q&A with Dr. Grisanti and Dr. Gary Yates (of Liberty's seminary).

The Name of God: Yahweh or LORD?

There is an interesting blog post by Jason Hood (at the Gospel Coalition) on translating the name of God. I like the way Hood proceeds to process through the issue. Translation is not just about accuracy, but about communication. Even that statement is problematic, for it assumes a certain definition of "accuracy" that is probably incorrect! Regardless, take a look at Hood's article. I think there are some interesting implications for Bible translations. Also, the HCSB would be the closest translation that follows what he says.

Mefferd recap and book give-away

Well, I did appear on the Janet Mefferd Show yesterday. Here is the link to the hour long interview. She is a very good interviewer, with rapids questions. I do believe the questions are carefully crafted, which didn't leave much wiggle room. She did stump me on one question. She asked why the ESV was called "essentially literal," emphasizing the "essentially." I said that there are times when it doesn't stay very "literal." She asked for an example ... I knew it was Ephesians 1 and I thought it was verse 13 ... but I just couldn't find it. So, here is the verse I was looking for (verse 14b):

Greek:    εἰς ἀπολύτρωσιν τῆς περιποιήσεως
Literal:    unto a redemption of the possession
NASB:   with a view to the redemption of God's own possession
ESV:       until we acquire possession of it

Even the NIV (2011) is more literal (remember: literal doesn't mean "better"):
NIV:   until the redemption of those who are God's possession

Also, Andy Naselli is giving away three copies of Which Bible Translation Should I Use? at his blog. If you don't already subscribe to his blog ... you should. I think all five of his "reflections" are very fair. So go there and enter the drawing!

Which Bible Translation Should I Use? and the Janet Mefferd Show

Next Monday a book I co-edited with Andreas Köstenberger will be released: Which Bible Translation Should I Use? A Comparison of 4 Major Recent Versions. Doug Moo (NIV), Wayne Grudem (ESV), Ray Clendenen (HCSB), and Philip Comfort (NLT) contributed chapters. Each chapter has an introduction explaining and defending the Bible translation philosophy used, followed by the discussion of sixteen of the same biblical texts. This provides readers with an opportunity to compare the translation principles and practices of each translation. Amazon.com has the book for sale for under $10 right now.

Today at 4pm EST, I will be interviewed on the Janet Mefferd Show about the book. I hope you find the time to tune in and listen as we discuss the Bible translations.

Update: Here is a link to the description of today's show.

Assembling the Responses to The Gospel of Jesus's Wife

Many have now responded to the Coptic fragment. Several of these responses are very well thought-out. Top of the line, I think, goes to Francis Watson, who compares this tiny fragment to certain sayings in the Gospel of Thomas and concludes that this text is probably a modern forgery of someone copying from the Gospel of Thomas. Peter Williams, a brilliant scholar, has also chimed in. Here are some links to others:
-Al Mohler
-Daniel Wallace
-Dirk Jongkind

Each of these make helpful contributions to this discussion.

Michael Kruger weighs in on the "Jesus' Wife" fragment

Michael Kruger, Professor of New Testament and Academic Dean with Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC, has weighed in on the Jesus' wife fragment. Dr. Kruger is an excellent scholar on issues related to canonicity and apocryphal writings.

Darrell Bock responds to the "Jesus's Wife" fragment

New Testament scholar Darrell Bock has responded to the fragment that (supposedly) says that Jesus had a wife. Dr. Bock is a wonderful scholar and has some great initial thoughts on this small fragment.

Did Jesus have a wife?

The Gospel of Jesus's Wife fragment

A newly discovered papyrus quotes Jesus as referring to his own wife. The line is translated from Sahidic Coptic as: "Jesus said to them, 'My wife ...'" Dr. Karen King, professor of divinity at Harvard Divinity School, calls the papyrus "The Gospel of Jesus's Wife." This is the earliest statement (4th century) referring to Jesus having a wife that is known to exist. Dr. King says that it proves that there was an "active discussion among early Christians about whether Jesus was celibate or married." The papyrologists and Coptic linguists to whom she has shown the manuscript are all convinced that it is genuine and not a forgery. The papyrus is only 4 by 8 centimeters, smaller than a business card. According to the article in the New York Times, King cautioned that this was not proof that Jesus was married.


I have already been asked by students for my thoughts on this. First, I don't know Sahidic Coptic and probably never will. Second, I'm not a papyrologist. However, if the translation is accurate (and I have no reason to doubt it) and the dating is accurate (and dating these papyri can be controversial, but again, I have no reason to doubt it), then I still have some questions.

1) Why call a 4 by 8 centimeter fragment "The Gospel of Jesus's Wife"? The fragment is probably part of a larger manuscript that might have virtually nothing to do with this one line. The title of the fragment suggests that there is a whole narrative built around Jesus' wife.
2) Can this one tiny fragment bear the weight of the claim that there was an "active discussion" about Jesus' marital status? One fragment in the 4th century does not equal an "active discussion."
3) All we have so far is Jesus saying "My wife" but no verb and no object. Some might say that the most likely assumption was that Jesus (in the fragment) was referring to a literal wife. I ask this: could the Jesus figure in the fragment have been referring to a "spiritual" wife? Is it even possible that the Jesus figure in that fragment said, "My wife is the church and I am her groom"? Maybe something like that could be possible. When two words of a sentence are present, is that enough to make such wide sweeping claims. For example, what if we found a fragment that said: "Jesus said, 'I am a liar ...' People would then bring up the issue of whether Jesus sinned or not and say this was a widespread debate. However, maybe the sentence would finish with "I am a liar if I tell you I was not sent by the Father." These two words are not enough.
4) Finally, there were lots of heresies by the fourth century: Sabellianism (aka, modalism; ca. 3rd century), Docetism (rejected in 4th century), Apollinarianism (4th century), and Arianism (late 3rd century). Just because someone believed something in the fourth century, doesn't make it historically true about Jesus. Dr. King states this herself.

This fragment should not concern anyone in the Christian faith. It might make big headlines, but a 4th century fragment is no reason to allow your faith in God and His Holy Word to be shaken. The picture we have of Jesus in the four Gospels is reliable and accurate.

LU Biblical Studies Symposium

For those of you who will be watching the Symposium online tonight (www.liberty.edu/religion) at 7:30pm, if you'd like to tweet in a question, use: #LibertyProphecy.

Does Biblical Prophecy Fail? Jonah prophesied that  "In 40 days Ninevah will be demolished." But it wasn't demolished in 40 days ... so did his prophecy fail? Was Jonah a false prophet? Get some answers tonight!

Liberty University Biblical Studies Symposium

I would like to invite you to take part in our semi-annual Biblical Studies Symposium, this Monday evening from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. in the Towns Alumni Lecture Hall. Dr. Michael Grisanti - Professor of Old Testament at The Master's Seminary and co-author of "The World and the Word" - will be speaking on the topic "Does  Biblical Prophecy Fail?"

If you are local to Lynchburg, Virginia, I encourage you to attend physically, but those of you not located in Central Virginia are invited to join us through a webcast that will stream through the School of Religion's home page. The live stream will be made available shortly before the event's start at 7:30. On the day of the event, a banner will be displayed on the SOR homepage to allow you to join us during this exciting event. We will also provide an opportunity for you to tweet your questions for Dr. Grisanti during the event. We hope to see you all there, in some fashion or another!

http://www.liberty.edu/religion

Moo's review of Kingdom through Covenant

The Gospel Coalition has posted the first of (at least) three reviews on Kingdom through Covenant by Gentry and Wellum. In this volume, they attempt a middle ground between covenant theology and dispensationalism. This review is by Doug Moo. I highly recommend it. I look forward to reading the reviews by Darrell Bock and Michael Horton as well!

Children and Baptism

There has been a moderate amount of blog dialogue on the issue of baptizing children, which needs to be distinguished from baptizing infants. The question is not whether God can save young children or whether God does save young children, but whether or not a response of immediate baptism is necessitated by Scripture and whether or not it is wise to do so (once the previous question has been answered). Tim Challies has chimed in (again) on this topic. I've appreciated what he has said previously, and he continues on his same course from previous posts. I think Challies is pretty clear (despite the comments from some readers) that God absolutely can save young children. However, Challies gives an example of a two-year old answering his father's questions with a "yes". I think that is a pretty good example to process through: if you say that you wouldn't baptize that 2 year-old, then what makes you more comfortable baptizing a 5 or 6 or 9 year-old? What are the principles you would use to distinguish between saying "no" to baptizing a 2 year-old but yes to someone who is 6?

Christianity Today on the "Sinner's Prayer"

There is an editorial on Christianity Today's website about the "sinner's prayer." There has been some debate recently on the use (or, misuse) of this recent Evangelical evangelistic device. The subtitle of the article refers to this device as a "work of genius." The author apparently considers the sinner's prayer as part of "the faith once delivered to the saints" (unless that was sarcasm ... I couldn't tell). There was an interesting line near the end referring to those who have recently critiqued the sinner's prayer: "But we have to do better than theological snobbery or spiritual self-righteousness." 

So, what do you think of this article?

My Trip to the Grand Canyon

         Answers in Genesis, Master’s Seminary, and Canyon Ministries have provided an opportunity for Christian educators and influential pastors to travel down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Their purpose is to equip those leaders with a more intimate understanding of Noah’s worldwide flood through hands-on lessons in geology, paleontology, and Scripture to better grasp the age of the earth.

This year marked their fifth trip and is by invitation only. Master’s sent an Old Testament scholar, Dr. Bill Barrick, Answers in Genesis sent Dr. Terry Mortenson and Dr. Andrew Snelling, and Canyon Ministries sent Tom Vail. The trip is a ministry to Christian leaders and is nearly fully funded through scholarships.  Several School of Religion faculty members from Liberty University have gone in the past few years. The group this year had ministers from the United States, Russia, Romania, and Australia, with various views on the age of the earth represented. This led to many stimulating conversations about creation between the leaders and participants of the trip as we wrestled with God’s truths and science together. I had never been to the Grand Canyon. It was breathtaking. I found myself constantly singing songs of praise and adoration as I delighted in the majestic hues and the colossal cliffs that engulfed me.

The leaders of the trip defended a worldwide flood and creation from a young earth perspective. Evidence of animals being buried in a manner completely inconsistent with the secular perspective on the Grand Canyon was very compelling as I actually saw it with my own eyes. My soul will never forget that time meditating on Genesis 1 while quietly floating down the river with the splendor of the Grand Canyon surrounding me. One of the most indelible moments was when we were shown “creation rock,” which was explained to us as the rock God spoke into existence at the beginning of creation.  In the quietness of the canyon we broke out in song, all of the men singing How Great Thou Art and O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing.

The rapids were a blast! The hot weather exceeded 120 degrees at times, which was a sharp contrast to the cold canyon waters which were about 50 degrees. At times the rapids were intense. The waters claimed hats, glasses, and slippers. It was not partial to any particular clothing.

We mostly slept on cots under the stars, and at times my cot was only five feet from the Colorado River. One night we were awoken from our slumber as it began to rain on us. I was thoroughly soaked! It drizzled through the morning and culminated in a downpour at lunchtime.  As miserable as that might sound, one of the most glorious sites I have ever seen in nature resulted from it. As we floated down the river we spotted waterfalls–not just a couple, but dozens upon dozens decorating the canyon walls on either side of us; some were falling over half a mile down the sides of the cliffs! We endeavored to count them, but soon realized that it was useless to even attempt–there were too many!  Someone’s camera was destroyed in attempt to capture the grandeur, yet a picture could never encapsulate the magnificence of what we saw. We were awestruck at the site.

I wish I could truly share how incredible this experience was but words fall short of adequate expression. These ministries teamed up to provide an edifying experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. I am confident that the friendships forged in the Grand Canyon will last for years to come, as will the lessons learned.

My Trip to Africa

KENYA/TANZANIA 2012

In the Kibera slum

This summer the Lord allowed my wife and I to participate in a Short Term Missions Trip with Heritage Baptist Church. We went to Kenya and Tanzania with a group of almost 30 people from our church for about two weeks. We spent one day in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya, we travelled down to Arusha, Tanzania. We ministered to a Maasai village school and church and then I did some training with Tanzanian pastors who came from around the country.

Preaching in Tanzania

The missionaries in Tanzania have planted many churches over the past two decades and have started a regular pastor’s conference and a Bible institute. Almost twenty pastors attended as I lectured on the reliability of the New Testament and the historicity of the resurrection (utilizing Gary Habermas’ “Minimal Facts” argument). That was followed by a Q&A time with Dr. Jerry Kroll and I. The following day I was given the opportunity to go with the puppet and drama teams into the public and private schools of Arusha to do gospel presentations. That day the Lord brought about 700 children to our program to hear the gospel and have an opportunity to respond. In our first weekend there, the students in the Bible institute came from around the country (about thirty in all) and I trained them in some basic principles in biblical interpretation. My translator was a Liberty graduate who has sent two of his daughters to Liberty University. On Sunday morning, I had the opportunity to preach at the English service. I preached on “The Transforming Power of the Gospel” out of Ephesians 2:1–10.

With a local church leader

The second week began with us leading a retreat for many of the Bible Baptist Fellowship missionaries in Tanzania. We ministered to their children by playing games and having fun with them. My role was partly with the children and partly with the missionaries. I was blessed to lead the missionaries in worship through music and to give a devotion on struggling with doubt. We spend a couple days on Safari; we got to see elephants, zebras, giraffes, hippopotamus’, rhino’s, wildebeests, baboons, monkeys, lions, and a cheetah. Our last day there was spent ministering to the children that attend the Christian school started by the missionaries.

With my wife on the rim
of the Ngorongoro Crater

The Lord was so gracious to bless our time in Africa. About 80% of the people in our group came down with an illness, but the Lord spared me and about 4 others. The sense of fellowship and unity with the believer’s in Tanzania was incredible, as was their dedication to serve our Lord. Thank you so much for your prayer and financial support. While I am confident that the people we ministered to felt loved and grew in the Lord, I also know that God used this trip to help me grow in my perspective on the body of Christ.

More Carson quotes

From The God Who Is There, chapter 12: The God Who Gathers and Transforms His People.

"There must be transformation, for this is God's very purpose in salvation, in his 'handiwork'" (page 190).


"where no transformation at all is evident, there is scant reason for thinking the person is a Christian" (page 198).


"Listen: The God who is there, the God who has named himself supremely in Jesus, gathers and transforms his people. Without this transformation so-called Christianity is no Christianity at all. For this God gathers and transforms his people" (page 200).

Carson on John 3:8

John 3:8 (ESV): "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

“You may not be able to give a detailed breakdown of the mechanics of “new birth,” but you can’t deny the effect.”

God “pours out His Spirit so that people are transformed. And even if you don’t understand the mechanics, you can’t deny the effect. So if there are in churches in America lots and lots of people who claim to be ‘born again,’ because they’ve signed a card or gone forward or whatever they’ve done, they’ve been processed, but their lives are indistinguishable from the lives of people who aren’t Christians all around in terms of their vocabulary, their use of time, their goals, what they think about, what they dream about, what they look for in a mate, what they want to do with their pocketbook, they’re indistinguishable from any friendly neighborhood pagan, but they’ve been ‘born again,’ then I have to tell them … they haven’t been. Because this text says the new birth is so transforming that you see the effects even if you can’t explain the mechanics. ‘So it is with everyone who is born again’ Jesus says.”

You can listen or watch the whole sermon here.

The Sinner's Prayer

Some interesting debates have been occurring recently regarding the "Sinner's Prayer," specifically among Southern Baptist's. Christianity Today has an article summarizing some of the recent thoughts.

Some might think of it as the "ask Jesus into your heart" controversy ... but here are some links for your consideration:

David Platt clip

Steve Gaines’ response

Trevin Wax’s thoughts 

J. D. Greear’s thougths

                - his forthcoming book

Peter Lumpkin’s thoughts

So, what are YOUR thoughts ...

Up For Debate

I was on Moody Radio's "Up For Debate" program last Saturday with Julie Roys. I debated Chuck Bentley on the issue of tithing. Chuck is the CEO of Crown Financial Ministries.

Here's the link to listen. I'll try to post some follow-up comments in the coming days regarding the program.

Which Bible Translation Should I Use?

I just finished reading through the page-proofs for the final time for Which Bible Translation Should I Use ... due out this Fall with B&H. I'm excited that this resource will truly help people to have more trust in Scripture and be more discerning in their use of translations.

Saw this article this week on the upcoming release of the book.