February 22: Disciplined Giving

Wiley Richards is a retired professor of theology and philosophy at The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville.

To explain the New Testament doctrine of tithing, remember three principles. First, Abraham paid tithes to Melchidsedek, some 400 years prior to the giving of the Law. Second, Jesus approved it (Matt. 23:23). Third, the Bible mandates the support of the Christian ministry by the same method as Israel supported the Levites, that is, by the tithe (1 Cor. 9:13-14).

• To begin, disciplined giving involves a specified percentage (Mal. 3:6-9). God commanded Israel to set aside an annual tithe of their goods because it was the Lord’s (Lev. 27:30). To protect against greed, if a man should be tempted to juggle his animals to prevent a choice one being set aside, he was to devote both animals to God (v. 33). Also, a tithe was used to support the Levites and a second tithe to care for the orphans, widows, and strangers (Deut. 14:28-29).

By Malachi’s time, about 400 B.C., the Jewish religion had hardened into ritualism. They prided themselves on how well they obeyed God. They almost taunted God’s prophet by asking him to name a way they denied God. He cited their lack of tithing, equating it with robbing God of what is rightfully His.

• The Bible cites another characteristic of disciplined giving, the requirement to place the tithed goods in a specified place (vv. 10-12). When God gave the plans for the temple and its surroundings, chambers were set aside to hold the goods (Neh. 10:38, 39). When goods were in danger of spoiling, they were to be sold and the money brought to the treasury (Deut. 14:25). Tithing, therefore, evidenced a life-long trust in the promises of God. He promised to open the windows of heaven for those directing their financial resources according to His principles. Everyone who practices tithing receives the spiritual reward coming to those who put God first.

We Baptists have promoted "storehouse" giving as close to the spirit of the biblical principle. We put our funds in the storehouse, the church treasury.

• At this point, we observe another principle of biblical support of God’s program, bringing the tithe on a specified day (1 Cor. 16:1-2). In the case of the Corinthian Christians, they were to gather funds on the first day of the week for the saints (believers) in Jerusalem. Other texts, such as Romans 15:26, hint at how desperate was their condition.

But why specify the first day of the week? We know that by 55 A.D., believers had abandoned the Jewish Sabbath as their day of worship (Acts 20:7) and honored the first day because Jesus arose on the first day of the week. Further the Holy Spirit revealed the Book of Revelation as John worshiped on the first day of the week (Rev. 1:10).

• We highlight another principle of a disciplined giving as shown in the policy of a specified control (vv. 3-4). We should not read too much in the text at this point, but the fund-raising was obviously a joint enterprise in which the gifts were deposited in a central location and put in control of a dedicated team. Paul undoubtedly enlisted guards to accompany him to Jerusalem. The Bible does not say who distributed the funds to the needy, but Paul probably placed the money under the control of church leaders in Jerusalem.

In application, Southern Baptists tried several ways to raise money for missionary enterprises, including vice-presidents for canvassing assigned states. In 1925, we adopted the Cooperative Program in which all the churches funnel their money through a central dispensing agency. It has proved to be a most effective and efficient method for undergirding outreach.