Giving & Tithing: Includes Serving and Stewardship (Resourceful Living)

Rating:
Summary: Proof-text tithe advocate.
Review: Giving and Tithing, Larry Burkett, 1991, 1998, 62 pages.

If you are a lay person with little depth of contextual Bible study, this book will be very appealing and a delight to read. Larry is a financial planner, not a theologian, and is more skillful in getting people to agree with him than instead of correctly teaching God's Word.

PLUS: (1) When New Covenant principles such as those in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 are discussed, the book has a lot of worthwhile comments, although they are still in proof-text style. (2) On pages 32-33 he correctly points out that the real biblical "tithe" was actually 23 per cent, although he does not go into embarrassing detail. (3) He correctly concludes that a great deal of the Old Covenant tithe went to the poor and needy in the community and even states the churches should give a portion of their "tithe" income to individuals or para-church organizations that are filling in the gap (page 35).

NEGATIVE: (1) Pages 14-15: While claiming to spend many hours studying the Bible in its context, Mr. Burkett does not show any knowledge about the correct definition, contents, covenant, limited purpose, or failure of tithing. (2) Page 29: In reality the tithe was always only food from landowners and herdsmen inside Israel and never applied to craftsmen or the poor. His definition of tithing ignores the food only contents of every legitimate tithing text after Moses. Although Abraham was before the Mosaic Law, he was obeying the Arab law which is clear by Genesis 14:21 in most commentaries. (3) Page 29: Burkett says "no punishment was indicated for not tithing." King Saul (1 Sam 8:14-17), David (1 Chron 23-27), Hezekiah (2 Chron 31), and Nehemiah (Neh 10-13) sent soldiers to collect tithe-taxes to support their Levitical government workers. (4) Page 30: Since tithes were collected and stored in the king's storehouses, it was not voluntary, as Burkett, and thus is disqualified under free-will principles of the newer and better covenant of grace. (5) Page 31: Burkett also missed the "purpose" of the tithe by ignoring its key chapter, Numbers 18. The tithe was a temporary replacement for the "priesthood of believers" and only its supported priests could draw near to God. When tithing ended at Calvary, Exodus 19:5-6 was fulfilled in 1 Peter 2:9-10. (6) Page 31: The wicked "they" were most likely the disobedient cursed priests from Malachi 1-3. (7) Page 32: Says that the tithe was considered a minimum without giving any supporting texts. This is not true. The poor gave what they could and were not covered by the definition of the tithe. (8) Page 34: "The priests and the tribe of Levi would be the equivalent of the pastors, church staff, missionaries, and evangelists today." This is also not true, because the believer-priest replaced the old priesthood and the pastor-teacher is a new entity comparable to the rabbi, who was usually self-supporting.

(9) Page 34: Says that the system of tithing was "kept nearly intact by the early church." Actually, while the earliest church was very strong on helping the needy, tithing was not reintroduced until Cyprian's time in the 3rd century. Tertullian, his teacher, taught otherwise. (10) Pages 16-17: Claims that Paul's "material suffering" following his great sacrifice was "unique" and, therefore, not the norm, which contradict his own survey found on page 16. (11) Page 17: The statement that "Paul amplifies" the statement that "those who give less than a tenth of their income limit what God can do for them" is absurd when compared to New Covenant principles found in 1 Tim. 5:8 and 2 Cor. 8:13-14. (12) Page 17+: While quoting Mal. 3:10-12 numerous times and 3:8 once, he does not quote the curse of 3:9 because it contradicts his statements about no "fear" of being "punished" on pages 22-23. The old covenant curse context of 3:5-7 from Neh. 10:29 and Deut. 27-28 is totally ignored. Actually, the priests in Malachi were cursed for keeping the best of the tithe for themselves and not giving it to the poor in verse 5. The curse of the law for not tithing does not apply to Christians, per Galatians 3:13. (13) Page 17: "A lack of giving is an external material indicator that spiritual changes need to be made" is an insult to the devout Christians in Judea who were being helped by the early church; and also to those today who are suffering under tremendous medical bills. Burkett sacrifices the love Jesus shows to the poor for his viewpoint of "weak and unprofitable" "abolished" principles of tithing (Heb 7:18).

Burkett might succeed as a family financial counselor, but he fails miserably as a theologian and church historian. When asked to speak for the church in such matters, he should defer the biblical application to those persons. Burkett is not inclined to dialogue with those who disagree with him. Since the book contains so many biblical errors, I do not recommend it at all.

Rating:
Summary: Proof-text tithe advocate.
Review: Giving and Tithing, Larry Burkett, 1991, 1998, 62 pages.

If you are a lay person with little depth of contextual Bible study, this book will be very appealing and a delight to read. Larry is a financial planner, not a theologian, and is more skillful in getting people to agree with him than instead of correctly teaching God's Word.

PLUS: (1) When New Covenant principles such as those in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 are discussed, the book has a lot of worthwhile comments, although they are still in proof-text style. (2) On pages 32-33 he correctly points out that the real biblical "tithe" was actually 23 per cent, although he does not go into embarrassing detail. (3) He correctly concludes that a great deal of the Old Covenant tithe went to the poor and needy in the community and even states the churches should give a portion of their "tithe" income to individuals or para-church organizations that are filling in the gap (page 35).

NEGATIVE: (1) Pages 14-15: While claiming to spend many hours studying the Bible in its context, Mr. Burkett does not show any knowledge about the correct definition, contents, covenant, limited purpose, or failure of tithing. (2) Page 29: In reality the tithe was always only food from landowners and herdsmen inside Israel and never applied to craftsmen or the poor. His definition of tithing ignores the food only contents of every legitimate tithing text after Moses. Although Abraham was before the Mosaic Law, he was obeying the Arab law which is clear by Genesis 14:21 in most commentaries. (3) Page 29: Burkett says "no punishment was indicated for not tithing." King Saul (1 Sam 8:14-17), David (1 Chron 23-27), Hezekiah (2 Chron 31), and Nehemiah (Neh 10-13) sent soldiers to collect tithe-taxes to support their Levitical government workers. (4) Page 30: Since tithes were collected and stored in the king's storehouses, it was not voluntary, as Burkett, and thus is disqualified under free-will principles of the newer and better covenant of grace. (5) Page 31: Burkett also missed the "purpose" of the tithe by ignoring its key chapter, Numbers 18. The tithe was a temporary replacement for the "priesthood of believers" and only its supported priests could draw near to God. When tithing ended at Calvary, Exodus 19:5-6 was fulfilled in 1 Peter 2:9-10. (6) Page 31: The wicked "they" were most likely the disobedient cursed priests from Malachi 1-3. (7) Page 32: Says that the tithe was considered a minimum without giving any supporting texts. This is not true. The poor gave what they could and were not covered by the definition of the tithe. (8) Page 34: "The priests and the tribe of Levi would be the equivalent of the pastors, church staff, missionaries, and evangelists today." This is also not true, because the believer-priest replaced the old priesthood and the pastor-teacher is a new entity comparable to the rabbi, who was usually self-supporting.

(9) Page 34: Says that the system of tithing was "kept nearly intact by the early church." Actually, while the earliest church was very strong on helping the needy, tithing was not reintroduced until Cyprian's time in the 3rd century. Tertullian, his teacher, taught otherwise. (10) Pages 16-17: Claims that Paul's "material suffering" following his great sacrifice was "unique" and, therefore, not the norm, which contradict his own survey found on page 16. (11) Page 17: The statement that "Paul amplifies" the statement that "those who give less than a tenth of their income limit what God can do for them" is absurd when compared to New Covenant principles found in 1 Tim. 5:8 and 2 Cor. 8:13-14. (12) Page 17+: While quoting Mal. 3:10-12 numerous times and 3:8 once, he does not quote the curse of 3:9 because it contradicts his statements about no "fear" of being "punished" on pages 22-23. The old covenant curse context of 3:5-7 from Neh. 10:29 and Deut. 27-28 is totally ignored. Actually, the priests in Malachi were cursed for keeping the best of the tithe for themselves and not giving it to the poor in verse 5. The curse of the law for not tithing does not apply to Christians, per Galatians 3:13. (13) Page 17: "A lack of giving is an external material indicator that spiritual changes need to be made" is an insult to the devout Christians in Judea who were being helped by the early church; and also to those today who are suffering under tremendous medical bills. Burkett sacrifices the love Jesus shows to the poor for his viewpoint of "weak and unprofitable" "abolished" principles of tithing (Heb 7:18).

Burkett might succeed as a family financial counselor, but he fails miserably as a theologian and church historian. When asked to speak for the church in such matters, he should defer the biblical application to those persons. Burkett is not inclined to dialogue with those who disagree with him. Since the book contains so many biblical errors, I do not recommend it at all.

Rating:
Summary: "Close, but no cigar," as they say.
Review: Regretfully, Mr. Burkett has fallen short. Yes, we are to give and do so with the proper motivation; but that is only half the story. Missing is a distinction between tithes and offerings and their proper uses. In short, tithes are for people, and ONLY for people, to meet peoples' PERSONAL needs. In other words, no where scripturally will you find tithe money being used to finance church buildings and the like (as we usually do). Freewill offerings can be used for anything, but it should be noted that of the two, only freewill offerings were used to build and/or maintain church buildings (shocking, I know!). Hence, the biblical definition of the storehouse becomes not so much the place, but from WHO you are spiritually fed. For those interested, Numbers 18:19- sets the tone. We cannot simply give to God without taking some vested interest in how these funds are spent according to their scriptural intent. The only REAL church building is the person who has accepted Christ. Is God against church buildings? No! But he is particular in how we construct them. And it is for this reason why I gave this book a low rating - it didn't present in any real terms the full teaching of the tithe. It failed to emphasize the difference between tithes and offerings and their scripturally permitted uses. A teaching for which we have sinned greatly by avoiding.

Rating:
Summary: Larry's Right On Track Again !
Review: This is another wonderful book from Christian finanical expert Larry Burkett. It's short and to the point. It lets its readers go through the biblical truths of giving and tithing in easy to understand language. With topics like: Bad and Good reasons for giving, Does God need your money? What is a tithe? Should you tithe from your net or your gross ? How can you know which organization to support? Setting up a benevolence ministry in your church. Larry also covers how to improve giving and the history of welfare. This book is a must for any believer's library.

Rating:
Summary: A grand disappointment in light of Scripture!
Review: Though Larry is often heralded as one of the most popular Christian authors on financial matters (which I would have to agree that financial advice is his strong suit and I know people who have benefitted from his books), this book is a grand disappointment, to say the least. This book proves that Larry is typically influenced with the traditional mindset on tithing but is less than able to present any valid biblical reason for his direction to tithe. As Russell Kelly, PhD. put it, "Larry is a financial planner, not a theologian..."

Larry builds his entire foundation on the modern traditional teaching of tithing rather than building it on the Word of God. While Scripture is referenced, it is most often far removed from its proper context and Larry relies on his personal opinion often to enforce points.

Larry seems to be ignorant of the mountain of evidence included in early Church history that reveals the Church was big on giving out of love, but was not impressed with those who imposed Old Covenant mandates on the Church. In fact, several of the Church Fathers from the second century specifically spoke out against tithing (to be used as an example, guideline or motivation for Christian giving). And despite the fact that there is not one New Testament passage that teaches the Church to use the Old Covenant tithe of food as an example to motivate giving money for the purpose of maintaining building programs and staffed ministers, still Larry insists that tithing is very much a New Covenant principle! Amazing!

Another problem is that Larry only seems to quote certain passages of Scripture where it supports the point he is making. That wouldn't be a problem if it weren't that he continually misapplies passages by removing them from their proper context and then only quoting the part of the passage that suits his view. Other passages that should also be included to bring clarity to the complete biblical picture are left out entirely, and understandably so as they would cause his misuse of other passages (whether deliberate or from ignorance) to be more evident. His puzzle wouldn't fit together if Scripture was visited in its proper context.

This is sad and unfortunate. Even more unfortunate is the reality that there will be some Christians who just bite and swallow these teachings without examining the Word fully for themselves.

I am not suggesting that Larry is deliberately trying to deceive people. I'm sure he is probably thoroughly convinced of his view as are so many believers today who follow the modern concept of tithing money to churches. I know that Larry is a skilled teacher in the area of financial management and I thank God for the help he has provided to people needing assistance in this area of their lives. There is much good to be said about brother Larry's work in this field. I cannot, however, speak so positively about his handling of this subject of tithing because, quite honestly, this book is a miserable examination of the topic and it is misleading to the body of Christ when it encourages Christians to just accept that tithing money to a church is a biblical mandate. It is not. Not even close. This is also not to say that Christians should not support those programs that they receive benefit from, but all I am suggesting is that to call something biblical and present it as a mandate of Scripture when it is not Scriptural at all is just not biblically honest and I don't see how the Holy Spirit can ever bless such teaching.

I hope by sharing these comments that, if someone does happen to purchase Larry's booklet on tithing, they will be wise to thoroughly examine the Word on their own and not just take this brother's word for it. Anyone can build a doctrine by piecing verses together here and there. It is another thing to honestly examine Scripture in its full and complete context.

While there is much encouragement in the New Testament towards giving from love and obedience to the internal leading of God's Spirit, and that giving is to be actuated from free will WITHOUT COMPULSION or because of NECESSITY (2 Corinthians 9:7), any mandate to tithe money to a local church ...is just absolutely absent from Scripture! After studying the topic myself for more than 4 years now, I am thoroughly convinced it is a doctrine of man and not at all of Scripture.

For a real study on tithing, that goes far far far beyond just one guy's opinion, prooftexted with a small handful of verses, I strongly encourage you to get your hands on a copy of Russell Earl Kelly's book on tithing. It's called, "Should The Church Teach Tithing: A Theologian's Conclusions About A Taboo Doctrine." This book is remarkable! Every passage on tithing in the entire Bible is dealt with thoroughly, in context. There is no proof texting in this study... it's just strait up, honest Bible! Where opinion is offered, Russell states such and does not ever expect the reader to just take his word of opinion for something. In other words, Russell does not teach his opinions as being the Bible. He teaches the Bible. And his book includes all the source references used in his study so the reader can check him out completely if they choose to. That's why I loved his book and so highly recommend it - it nails it on the head when it comes to "getting biblical" about this topic. No stone is left unturned!

Just about every other pro-tithe book I've read lacks substance and usually these books are very thin, scantly clad with Scripture. Russell's book is crammed thick with the Word of God and loaded with resource study material, including an examination of early Church history - post Calvary! Good stuff! Excellent!... If you want to get honest about what biblical tithing is, I strongly recommend Russ' book!...