Recently I received the following letter:
Dear Dr. Ollison,
"Thank you for the Cutting Edge daily devotional. They are truly life changing. Each day I look forward to finding them in my mail box. I duplicate them and give them to my friends. Several times you have had a word in season that has spoken to my heart and solved a problem that I had that very day. Sometimes it seemed as though you knew exactly what I was dealing with and I thank you for your dedication. Please keep them coming.
However, today, I have a slight problem with your devotional. Although I agree that Christians should give, I do not believe in tithing and the number one reason I do not believe in tithing is this: If tithing was really as important as you say that it is, then certainly Jesus, Himself, would have said something either for it or against it. But since Jesus never addressed tithing, not even once, then it’s not important to me.
I do not mean this to be offensive. I highly respect you and all that you teach. You are one of my favorite teachers and I trust your understanding of the Word.”
I appreciate all the letters that I get, even the letters that don’t agree with my teaching because when I am challenged, it forces me to examine what I teach. Such is the case with the previous letter.
His reasoning would be correct except for the fact that his facts are not true. Jesus didn’t ignore talking about the tithe. In fact, when speaking to the scribes and Pharisees, he clearly spoke about the tithe. He told the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23:23, “. . . 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. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” (NIV)
The man who wrote the letter said he did not tithe because Jesus never mentioned tithing. But as you can see, Jesus did. All too often people will take actions that can mean life or death based on an assumption that is not true. Jesus said in John 8:31,32 that the truth of His Word would set us free. Anything that does not align with the Word of God is false. The truth brings deliverance. Everything else brings destruction.
And the truth is this. There were things the religious leaders were not doing at the time of Jesus that they should have done. And Jesus corrected them on this, while at the same time reminding them to not neglect what they were already doing. He said very clearly that tithing was good and they should continue to do it.
So, with this in mind, using the same logic that was used in the letter to me, since Jesus did mention tithing and since He said it was a good thing to do and He told those He was talking to that they should continue to tithe, we should tithe.
What is a tithe? The word tithe means one-tenth. The tithe belongs to God. It is not ours. It never has been and it never will be. It should not be included in our budget, because it is not ours to decide what to do with it. To use the tithe for personal expenses is stealing from God and personally I don’t think that is a good thing to do.
"Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings." (Malachi 3:8)
So what is the bottom line? Jesus said we should tithe and the Bible says if we don’t we are stealing from God. If you are a tither, I thank you for being obedient to God. If you are not, see Malachi 3:9.
Devotion 0487
Dear Dr. Ollison,
"Thank you for the Cutting Edge daily devotional. They are truly life changing. Each day I look forward to finding them in my mail box. I duplicate them and give them to my friends. Several times you have had a word in season that has spoken to my heart and solved a problem that I had that very day. Sometimes it seemed as though you knew exactly what I was dealing with and I thank you for your dedication. Please keep them coming.
However, today, I have a slight problem with your devotional. Although I agree that Christians should give, I do not believe in tithing and the number one reason I do not believe in tithing is this: If tithing was really as important as you say that it is, then certainly Jesus, Himself, would have said something either for it or against it. But since Jesus never addressed tithing, not even once, then it’s not important to me.
I do not mean this to be offensive. I highly respect you and all that you teach. You are one of my favorite teachers and I trust your understanding of the Word.”
I appreciate all the letters that I get, even the letters that don’t agree with my teaching because when I am challenged, it forces me to examine what I teach. Such is the case with the previous letter.
His reasoning would be correct except for the fact that his facts are not true. Jesus didn’t ignore talking about the tithe. In fact, when speaking to the scribes and Pharisees, he clearly spoke about the tithe. He told the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23:23, “. . . 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. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” (NIV)
The man who wrote the letter said he did not tithe because Jesus never mentioned tithing. But as you can see, Jesus did. All too often people will take actions that can mean life or death based on an assumption that is not true. Jesus said in John 8:31,32 that the truth of His Word would set us free. Anything that does not align with the Word of God is false. The truth brings deliverance. Everything else brings destruction.
And the truth is this. There were things the religious leaders were not doing at the time of Jesus that they should have done. And Jesus corrected them on this, while at the same time reminding them to not neglect what they were already doing. He said very clearly that tithing was good and they should continue to do it.
So, with this in mind, using the same logic that was used in the letter to me, since Jesus did mention tithing and since He said it was a good thing to do and He told those He was talking to that they should continue to tithe, we should tithe.
What is a tithe? The word tithe means one-tenth. The tithe belongs to God. It is not ours. It never has been and it never will be. It should not be included in our budget, because it is not ours to decide what to do with it. To use the tithe for personal expenses is stealing from God and personally I don’t think that is a good thing to do.
"Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings." (Malachi 3:8)
So what is the bottom line? Jesus said we should tithe and the Bible says if we don’t we are stealing from God. If you are a tither, I thank you for being obedient to God. If you are not, see Malachi 3:9.
Devotion 0487