By Charlie Wallace@http://fromthepulpit.blogspot.com
It seems most every Christian has an opinion (usually a highly emotional one) on the issue of tithing. The New Testament never explicitly commands tithing (the practice of giving 10% of one's income to God) as was the case in the Old Testament. Scripture does state that,
"Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7, ESV).
The practice of tithing, however, still remains a good "starting point" on giving to the Lord's church. The controversy remains, however, whether one should tithe on one's gross total income before taxes are taken out, or should one tithe after the taxes are taken out of one's income and given to the government?
Dr. Mark Coppenger has an insightful view on this issue. You may read the article in its entirety here. Coppenger says:
"By my light, if we net-tithe, then we give the government the "first fruit" of our increase, and then the church gets a cut of the leftovers. But when you tithe the gross, you say, in effect, to the state, "Whatever you do, I’m giving first to the Lord, and then you can do as you wish to what remains. If that puts me in a bind, so be it, but your tax policies will not determine my manner of churchmanship."
Tithing as a manner of churchmanship is a good idea. Likewise, continuing with the rest of 2 Corinthians 9, verse 8-9 state, "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, 'He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.'" (ESV)
Therefore, how much should one tithe? One should tithe as much as one wants to be blessed by God. And by using the terminology, blessed, I am not referring to exlusive financial blessings. God blesses in more ways then purely monatarily. So, brothers and sisters in Christ, give abundantly and freely because God loves and blesses the cheeful giver with what is sufficient through His grace.
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