Can we ever spend the Lord's tithe on ourselves?
Ah yes, it's Sunday evening - I've had a long and fruitful day of worship and ministry, and what better way to cap it off than with a little heresy. Yep, I'm feeling a little heretical tonight, won't you join me, and if you can't join me, you can begin lighting the fires upon which I am to be burned.
Seriously though, in our small group tonight we had a good discussion on an interesting passage that deals with the question I asked in the title - is it ever ok to spend the Lord's tithes on yourself? I think most of us would be shocked, shocked I say - at the thought. And I think you can imagine how I as a preacher might feel about such a thing - after all, my livelihood depends on your obedience to giving the Lord His tithes. OK, I mean it depends on the members of my church tithing, but hey, if God directs you to divert some of your tithes my way, who am I to argue - e-mail me and I'll send you my address. While your thinking about that, take a look at Deuteronomy 14:22-27:
22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 23 Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always. 24 But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the Lord your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the Lord will choose to put his Name is so far away), 25 then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose. 26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice. 27 And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.
In his book, Heaven is not My Home, Paul Marshall says this about that:
Let's be clear about what is happening here. If it was too far to the place of sacrifice, so that it would be hard for people to bring all their goats and sheep and chickens and crops over the mountain or across the desert, they were simply to sell the animals and crops and bring the money along (it was never easy to carry). Then, at the place of sacrifice, they were to buy whatever they wanted of food and drink, and then celebrate (and share with the Levites, v. 27). In short, God's people were to have a party, to take their tithe money and use it to eat drink and be merry (and share with those in need). Tithe time was party time (today's deacons try to keep this a secret)!
If I'm being flippant, I'm also being truthful. Every third year the tithes were to be consumed in a bang-up feast. Feast! That's a word that occurs a lot in the Bible, but somehow we miss out on its meaning. They had feasts - the feast of weeks, the feast of tabernacles, the feast of firstfruits.
Somehow, we don't connect the Bible word feast. Is this because we still think the Bible is all about another "spiritual" world not the one we live in? But on days of the Lord's feasts, Israel ate and drank a lot, having been commanded to eat and drink a lot.
Marshall goes no to say that not all of life was a feast - frugality and sharing with the poor were the norm. But sometimes the very money that had been set aside for the Lord was to be used on oneself and sometimes the money that was set aside for the Lord was to be used for partying.
I also think this is a good little point to make in our discussions on tithing and giving so that we don't become more strict than the Bible. Ordinarily all of the tithe was to go to the Lord, but there were times when God allowed that giving of the tithe could create a hardship on the family and said it was ok to take care of the needs of the family.
I understand the dangers of such words. Some could take these words to mean that it is ok to hold back some of the tithe to meet their necessities when meeting necessities includes bigger and more luxurious homes and cars and vacations and clothing and so on and so on. But when I think of single moms and those who have lost their jobs or are underemployed or have health crises and other situations like that, I think we ought not to add to their burden by being ultra strict on the tithe issue. I would always want to encourage people to give some, but this passage indicates that when it is too hard, you can spend it on yourselves.
OK - that's my take - what's yours? Am I a wise and compassionate sage or heretic fit only for the flames?
Related Tags: Religion, Theology, Christian, Christianity, Church, Giving, Tithing
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