Mutual Finance

Copyright 2006 Rod Rogers

I don’t believe that the new covenant believer is commanded anywhere in the Bible to give ten percent of his income to God. If, having read this article, you still believe the Bible specifically commands us to tithe, then you should practice and teach it. God will bless you and your church as result. However, I invite you to consider the following summary of the biblical teaching on tithing.

Tithing In the Old Testament

Before the establishment of the Mosaic law there are only two examples of the giving of a tenth. Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils he won in battle (Gen. 14:18-20; Heb. 7:4) and Jacob vowed to a give God a tenth of all he owned if God would protect him from his angry brother (Gen. 28:22).

While these examples of tithing are commendable, the Scriptures do not command us to follow them, nor should they be considered as establishing obligatory standards of giving for today. Dr. Charles Ryrie, with his trademark logical clarity, explains:

“The fact that something was done before the law which was later incorporated into the law does not necessarily make that thing a good example for today, especially if the New Testament gives further guidance on the matter. Not even the most ardent tither would say that the Sabbath should be observed today because it was observed before the law (Exodus 16:23-36), yet this is the very reasoning used in promoting tithing today. The New Testament teaches us about a new day of worship, and it also gives us new directions for giving.”1

When the Mosaic law was instituted, Israel was commanded to give three different tithes averaging twenty to twenty-three percent per year.2

Levitical Tithe: The first was a Levitical tithe in which ten percent of everything earned or grown was required to support the Levites and priests as they served in the tabernacle.

“And to the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting (Num. 18:21).”

This tithe was necessary because the Levites could not earn their own livelihood and work in the tabernacle at the same time. It was used to support the national priestly program.3

Festival Tithe: The second annual tithe required was a festival tithe in which ten percent of the remaining nine-tenths of one’s income was to be set apart and eaten at the yearly religious festivals in Jerusalem.

“You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. And you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the first-born of your herd and your flock, in order that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always (Deut. 14:22-23).”

This tithe was used to fund the national religious program.4

Welfare Tithe: The third tithe the law demanded was a welfare tithe in which, every third year, the second tithe, the festival tithe, was not taken to Jerusalem, but was kept at home to feed the Levites and the poor. This tithe was used to fund the national welfare program.

“At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do (Deut. 14:28, 29).”

Some scholars think this poor tithe was actually a third tithe required every three years. If so, it would average three and one-third percent per year and the average annual tithe required from an Israelite would be close to twenty-three percent each year! At the very least the yearly tithing requirement was two tithes amounting to twenty percent.5

In light of this, if someone wishes to argue for a percentage based on the Old Testament tithing laws, to be consistent he must not press for giving a mere ten percent, but for twenty to twenty-three percent.6

When I taught this to my congregation I always assured them that while we believed their interpretation was faulty, if they insisted on giving according to the Mosaic law of tithing they must give not ten, but at least twenty percentand we would be happy to receive it!

Tithing in the New Testament

When studying the concept of tithing in the New Testament you discover that the word is used only eight times, in the gospels and in the letter to the Hebrews. In the gospels it is used in connection with the tithing of the Pharisees who were fulfilling their obligation to the old covenant, codified in the Mosaic law, which had not yet been abrogated by the death of Christ (Matt. 23:23, Lk. 11:42; 18:12). In the book of Hebrews tithing is mentioned in the discussion about Abraham’s having paid tithes to Melchizedek (Heb. 7:5-9).

It is significant that nowhere in the New Testament is the new covenant believer commanded to tithe. As a matter of fact, there is no text in all of Scripture that commands God’s people to give a mere ten percent to God!

Tithing in Your Church

In light of what I’ve just written, you will probably be surprised to learn that I still believe in using the giving of a tithe as a guideline in leading God’s people into faithful stewardship. When preaching on stewardship in my church I taught that, while the giving of a tithe is not a biblical command, it is a helpful guideline to use in planning our giving. I showed them what the New Testament had to say about generous, sacrificial, and proportionate giving. I then told my people, “I’m convinced that American Christians are so prosperous that if we don’t start by giving a minimum of ten percent of our income to the Lord, we can’t possibly be fulfilling New Testament principles of giving.”

It made sense to them. Their giving soared, their personal finances improved, their faith grew, their joy expanded, and our offerings increased by 32% in one year!

Could you use a 32% increase in your offerings next year?

________________

1 Ryrie, Charles Caldwell. Balancing the Christian Life. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1969.

2 Allis, Oswald T. God Spake By Moses. Nutley, NJ: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1951, p. 143.

3 Orr, James., ed. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Vol. 5, s.v. “Tithe”. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1939, p. 2987.

4 Unger, Merrill F. “Tithe.” Unger’s Bible Dictionary. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1957, p. 1103.

5 Allis, Ibid., p. 143; Friesen, Gary. Decision Making and the Will of God: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View. Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1980, p. 357; Orr, Ibid., p. 2988; Unger, Ibid. p. 1103; Ryrie, Ibid., p. 89.

6 MacArthur, John. Giving: God’s Way. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1978, pp. 63,64.

Rod Rogers, D.Min., is a stewardship consultant, speaker, and author of Pastor Driven Stewardship: 10 Steps to Lead Your Church to Biblical Giving. His ten-step Dynamic Giving System

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“We first think in terms of success before we manifest success,” is the first motto I wrote after learning the influence of mind over matter.

The entire purpose of this article is to impress upon you the fact that all achievement begins with thought. But, knowing this is not enough, we should learn how to build a success consciousness.

As a very simple illustration, let us think of a delicious cake. The layers, the frosting on top, the filling all taste so delicious that much culinary skill must be required to produce it.

But if you study the recipe and see that you take so many cupfuls of this, a tablespoon of that, etc., you find that, by carefully following instructions, there is no mystery about it at all.

A genuine success consciousness does not mean that you might succeed; it is a definite promise of success.

A success consciousness is that state of mind in which you cannot see yourself as anything but a success.

Remember this! Know it to be true, because it is true, as the following story will show:

A friend of mine frequently spent time with me in my hobby shop. He constantly reminded me that he was not a bit handy with tools and that he would find it impossible to build the things he had seen me build.

One day I took the time to prove to him how wrong he was. I took the plans of a cabinet and literally dissected them. “This plan calls for six pieces of lumber 30 inches long, 12 inches wide and 1 inch thick. Could you take a board and cut it according to those dimensions?” I asked. Without hesitancy he admitted that he could. Then I mentioned the size of other members of the cabinet and asked him if he could cut those according to size. He said he could. On and on I went through each step, and he agreed that each would not be difficult.

The outcome of this experiment was that he went home and built a really good cabinet. Now his hobby shop is replete with power tools and his home shows evidence of his handiwork in every room. As soon as he gained a success consciousness regarding woodworking, he became proficient.

A success consciousness will lead you to success in any direction. If your desires include the building of an estate and financial security, a success consciousness will lead you right there.

FREE step-by-step instructions on how to train your mind to gather all the riches in life you desire — money, friends, happiness, business — all while you sleep. It’s FREE! Click here: http://www.GrowingRichWhileYouSleep.com

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The question of how to manage and measure suppliers can be complex. An effective supplier can positively influence your bottom line whilst a bad supplier can cause manufacturing delays, impact on the customer and ultimately effect revenues. Supplier measurement doesn’t have to be difficult. By basing measurement around three basic principles businesses can begin to analyze their supplier base and begin to identify poorly performing suppliers that negatively impact their business. These measures are Quality, Cost and Delivery.

Quality.

Measuring the quality of a supplier refers to the quality of the goods or services supplied. For example how many rejections of products appear at goods receipt - are their consistent poor quality products received. Is the technical specification of your orders not met? Quality problems may be categorized depending on the nature of the problem, for example is the nature of the problem the goods themselves or accompanying paperwork?

Cost

Do your suppliers constantly increase their prices - are they inline with the volume of goods purchased. Are there any discounts received. How do their costs relate to the marketplace. Monitoring cost can be difficult - for example lots or batches purchased may vary, services may be subtly different. Monitoring costs however, is an important indicator of supplier performance.

Delivery

Do the suppliers always deliver on time - are you always having to hasten delivery? One quick way of measuring suppliers is to review their Delivery Schedule Adherence. Divide the number of on-time deliveries by the total number of deliveries in a period to obtain the Delivery Schedule Adherence percentage. Analyzing this figure across your supply chain will give you an average figure - how do individual suppliers compare - who are the worst suppliers? How can they be improved?

These are three simple ways to measure suppliers. Monitoring these elements over time will enable you to form a basic supplier measurement system that overtime will produce trends. Different organizations may apply different weighting to each measure - no business is the same but these three areas should form the basis for most supplier measurement systems.

Bizbodz.com provides articles, resources and tools to help your business. From General Management to Supply Chain bizbodz is there to help. Business Best Practice at your fingertips.

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