Tithing Hermeneutics No. 3
The lack of explicit NT teaching on tithing presses us to look for other principles of giving that Jesus and the apostles put a greater emphasis on. To the question, "What did Jesus teach explicitly?" we can answer with passages like Luke 6.38, and the agrapha of Acts 20.35:Give, and it will be given to you ... with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.With such explicit teaching we can begin to formulate the NT Principle of Generosity. Then we must answer the question "To whom should we give generously?"
It is more blessed to give than to receive.
To that question we can answer from explicit texts:
(1) To Jesus (Mat 25.40)Finally, the practical question, "How much should we give?"
(2) To the poor (Gal 2.10)
(3) To those who minister to us (1Co 9.7-14)
Kaj answered this question in his mini-sermon on "Giving Ourselves to the King." The Lord will tell us how much to give once we give Him what He demands, namely all that we have (Luk 14.33)! Once we put ourselves and all our possessions under Christ's Lordship as the Corinthians did (2Co 8.5), He will tell us how much to distribute to whom, and it will probably be much more than 10%.
posted by Roderick of TMin @ 6:13 PM
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