You Aren’t Limited To Giving
Only A Tithe
But You Should Know How To Calculate It
Although many practice tithing, they don’t all agree on how to calculate the tithe, or more specifically, on what portion of their income should be included in the calculation.
- Some give a tithe (ten percent) of their gross income (pre tax).
- Some pay tithes only on net income (after tax).
- Some exclude more than taxes, e.g. pension contributions, before calculating their tithe.
I tithe on my net income. Read on and you’ll see why.
In thinking through the issues, it’s important that we try and avoid emotional arguments. Any idea that punches in the gut is probably not a good one.
- Those who tithe on their gross income do so either casually, “just because” (glib), or adamantly for unstated reasons (legalistic), and both justify the practice with emotional arguments: “do you want God to bless all your income or just part of it.”
They also point to people who are extraordinarily endowed with the gift of giving, such as Randy Alcorn who gives far more than a tithe, to make their argument.
These examples, however, if not correctly represented, argue against tithing and suggest we should give much more, although we can’t be sure exactly how much.
Truth? If the millions of Christians in the world who don’t fit the “Randy Alcorn” mold would simply tithe, the impact would be much greater than that caused by the excessive giving of a few Alcorn types.
No disrespect intended toward Randy. We applaud the Randy’s of the world but realistically can’t expect everyone to follow suit.
- Personally, I tithe on net rather than gross because many of the services provided by the Levites are covered by taxes today.
The Levites provided judicial services. They were the judges, lawyers, law enforcement agents, and even managed the penal system. They also provided educational services throughout Israel and organized all the festivals (which were religious in nature but nationally observed).
They even took care of medical services. For that reason, I also deduct medical expenses (insurance, consultation fees, medical procedures, and prescriptions) before paying tithes.
One person might break it down a little differently than the next but these guidelines provide a rational framework for calculating your tithe.
- Those who exclude retirement investments plan to tithe on it later.
That makes sense but you still need to keep track of the contributions you make, how much the investment grows, and how you manage disbursements. That isn’t impossible to do but it is something to keep in mind.
- Some people exclude tithing altogether.
And that’s OK if they would at least give the practical rationale behind what they do. Do they give at all? If so, how often do they give? Do they calculate it at the end of the month or at the beginning? What do they exclude? Where do they give, how much do they give, and more?
These are reasonable questions.
Be Thoughtful
What is sometimes lost in the discussion is the fact that money comes with no instructions and requires detailed management. We work hard to earn it and then work hard to manage it. The management part doesn’t come naturally to every person. Even balancing a checkbook can be a source of blood-pressure-raising frustration for some.
The multiple approaches to tithing reinforce the idea that we must be thoughtful. If you aren’t deliberate with your money, you may or may not be right.
The problem is, all these different approaches also create confusion for those starting out and generate arguments among tithers. Anti-tithers freely use the disagreement to fuel the debate over the relevancy of tithing for the New Testament.
For this reason, tithing is not an issue about which we can be superficial or casual.
That doesn’t mean we must be overly rigid but it shouldn’t be sloppy either. It must be defined with enough clarity and flexibility to be applied to every person’s financial situation.
The important thing to remember is that Tithing is the right thing to do but it doesn’t need to be legalistically observed. If we’re trying to do the right thing, God will bless the effort.
THINK!AboutIt
Recommended Reading
In Tithing: Test Me In This (Ancient Practices), Douglas Leblanc provides much more than a narrow discussion on a traditional issue. He doesn’t present the same old arguments, the same boringly technical way.
Instead, and probably because he claims to be “no theologian or exegetical writer,” Douglas has found an intriguing way to cut to the real heart of the issue. He shares the experiences of eleven different couples and one lone Monsignor, all of whom practice tithing for a very similar reason: selflessness.
about tithing, many opinions are brought up so much that I am a bit confusses.
To me my tithe is on my gross slary not including my daily transport fare to work and other daily expenses but i believe that I can never really thank God enough though I am careful not to cheat on him rather than cheatinh myself too. In a nutsell, giving more than my tithe require is of more blessings to me because what he has been doing for me, my tithe the rest of my life can not be compare to them
As far as how much to give based of monthly income, I am still confused on how to calculate the tithing. Do I subtract all the real expenses: (Rent, groceries, utilities, kids college funds and etc) before I determine how much to tithe? My question revolves around the fact that if I tithe 10% of my total income I may end up finding myself short the monthly bills?
Hey Gustavo,
I talk more about it in the book, but you can start by subtracting your taxes, educational expenses and medical expenses, since those expenses were covered by the tithe in the OT.
Hey Sepilai,
Thanks for the visit.
Regarding your question, I would say no. A loan isn’t really income since you must pay it back. No need to tithe on that.
The comments are good. What about money you receive as a loan?
Hey Tshidiso,
Tithing on gross or net income is really a decision that only you can make. For me, the question is simple. The ten percent given to the Levites covered some expenses that taxes cover today so I deduct taxes and any other expenses, like education and medical, that Levites took care of. I tithe on the remaining amount. Some people won’t agree with that but, as I said, it’s your decision.
The difficulty is not in making the decision, one way or the other, but in being gracious toward those who disagree.
please help me out..I have been calculating my tithe from my basic salary.so according to my understanding here I must take the tenth out of my nett salary not basic or gross.please help me im confused and I want to do the right thing.
I can see how that might come across as personal. It wasn’t intended that way but my question is fair.
If someone asks you how much to give, what advice do you offer?
Wow EnnisP, it didn’t take long for you to admit I was right on the facts.
When you can’t disprove the message, discredit the messenger.
Was I right on the facts? Did the Jewish farmer/carpenter only tithe on part of his income? If so, then how does this affect decisions today to tithe (not give, but tithe–they are not synonyms) based on income?
That, after all, was the subject of the article: do you tithe off gross or net income?
Thanks for the visit and the comment Who.
I’m assuming you don’t give anything but if you do, it would be great if you told us how you determined when and how much to give.
That would be useful information.
The question isn’t gross vs. net, but why base it on income?
Consider the Israelite who grew wheat and who earned wages as a carpenter, so his income at the end of the year was:
* 100 bushels of wheat
* 100 shekels earned as a carpenter
Of his income, he would have tithed:
* 10 bushels of wheat
* 0 shekels
That’s right, 0 shekels. Not only was he not required to tithe on his income from carpentry, he was actually prohibited from tithing from it. Tithes were restricted to crops and herd animals the tither raised himself.
When you think about it, there are actually no examples of anyone in the Bible tithing based on their income.
* Abraham tithed war spoils (other people’s things), not his income.
* Israelites (like the one above) tithed their increase of crops and herd animals, but not their total income.
* The Pharisees Jesus talked to did not tithe on their income; like the example above they only tithed on the crops they grew or animals they raised (Jesus mentions garden herbs).
Why get stuck on the question of whether to give 10% of your gross or net income, when there literally isn’t an example int he Bible of anyone giving 10% of their income?
I agree that tithing on income is not supported in the Bible, but I still tithe out of tradition because my congregation still needs funding of some sort. But because there is no Bible requirement to tithe from one’s income, one cannot insist that it be based on gross pay.
The original poster says that there is no good argument to tithe from net income, but I disagree. For example, a farmer back in Bible times will tithe on their net harvest. He will not include the crops that were eaten by locusts or subject to spoilage. I don’t see why taxes can’t be treated the same way.
Another problem is in some parts of the world such as Europe and other places where a person is taxed 60% or more of their income. Tithing from gross income would be impractical or outright impossible.
Surveys have shown that only a small fraction of church members tithe on a regular basis, so even the regular net thither is doing more than most people are in financial contributions.
Perhaps the churches should simply charge a monthly membership fee like the Jewish synagogue congregations do. What do you all think of that idea?
People need to understand the tithe has been twisted. It was never money. The high priests were ripping God off with poor sacrifices and today’s leadership is even worse with highjacking Malachi (Bible) with deception for money. The modern day priests have so misallocated money that the Church is highly lacking in so many other areas. https://pinterest.com/omega40/bible-untwisted-tithing-is-not-required-for-obedie/ Shame on the leaders for distorting free-willed noncompulsory unextorted giving. – Godaddicts everywhere!
You’re absolutely right Jan. God’s blessing is attached to many different things and tithing alone will never merit a material increase.
I have actually made that point in a previous post, “Tithing Is No Quick Fix.” If you’re interested you can read it later. There are a few other posts that speak to that issue also.
But, of all the commands God gave, tithing (or giving) is the one that is dropped first and the last one to be engaged so it deserves special attention.
In fact, if a person is tithing they are usually trying to obey the other commands also. Many people are already obeying many of the commands before they become a Christian: don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t lie, etc. If they aren’t they’re in trouble with the law so we needn’t focus on that.
We agree on the poor as well. As I mentioned in my post, a third of the tithe was allocated for the poor and instead of giving the money to the Temple (church) and the Temple dispersing it to the poor the Israelites were required to present these offerings directly to the poor individually. The Jewish communities still practice this today.
Testing is an issue that deserves a separate write up but briefly speaking it is something about which we must be very careful. We are repeatedly told not to test the Lord throughout the OT and Jesus agreed with that sentiment in the New.
The only issue with which the word “test” is directly associated is tithing. That is the reason I wrote this post. We can’t actually do the test if we don’t know exactly what we are doing.
Thanks for the visit and the comment. Hope to see you again on the blog.
““It has a promise attached to it” and ‘It is the only area in which we are allowed to test God”
I do not really get this in the way you present this.
In Dt. 28 we can read:
1 If you fully obey … carefully follow all his commands…you will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country,… the fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks…..a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to… will bless you in the land he is giving you.
In Mal. 3 tithing seems to be singled out as an issue that had to be dealt with at that specific time. We cannot conclude from this that tithing was for this reason more important than other matters of the law in granting blessings in case the people obeyed. What God said in Dt. 28 wasn’t repealed and still the blessings were granted only if the whole law was obeyed.
Do you really believe that the people were only allowed to test God by tithing and not by obeying other aspects of the law to see if God was true to His words and give them the promised blessings?
One such other law could be this one:
…do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother…………….10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you (= law) to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.(Dt. 15)
In the way I understand what you wrote, it looks like you are saying that the people were not allowed to test God. for instance by giving to the poor and see if God was true to His Word. But maybe I get you wrong.
The testing of God that was forbidden was to engage into actions that God didn’t ask of a person that put yourself in harm’s way trying to get God to perform some miracle. It has nothing to do with doing what God has told you to do and see what blessing will follow.
It looks like Jesus was putting much more importance on this giving to the poor than on tithing. He never encouraged people to tithe but only to give to the poor.
In the following passage He seems to set these two laws(tithing vs. giving to the poor) next to each other and declare giving to the poor as much more important:
be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. 42 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
This “justice” and the “love of God” points back to this giving to the poor as the most important matter because it “will make everything clean” In the parallel part in Mt. 23:24 He compares their value as the weight of a camel as compared to that of a gnat. Their tithing being the gnat and giving to the poor (as showing mercy) being the camel.
This is wholly in line with what Jesus said that loving your neighbor as yourself is the second greatest commandment. Whoever loves people takes care of the poor. On the other hand it is perfectly possible to faithfully tithe without having any love in your heart and caring for those in need.
Coming back to the beginning: Is it exegetical justified to claim that the promise of material blessing is a formula that is solely based on tithing and not on obeying the whole law and is it justified to say that this testing may only be done in the area of tithing? Is it justified as well to claim that tithing is the most important area of giving and neglect that part of the law that speaks of giving to the poor?