The Short Answer: Yes
Of every topic in this series, tithing tends to be the biggest stumbling block for people — and the honest, direct answer is that tithing is necessary. It’s not a suggestion or a cultural relic; it’s a non-negotiable part of walking faithfully with God. Everything a person has — income included — ultimately belongs to God in the first place, which makes giving back a portion of it less an obligation and more a simple act of acknowledging where it actually came from.
Tithing Predates the Law
A common objection is that tithing was strictly an Old Testament, Mosaic Law requirement. But the pattern of tithing actually predates the Law entirely. Abraham tithed ten percent to Melchizedek, king of Salem, after returning from battle (Genesis 14:20) — long before the Law was given. Jacob made a similar commitment after his personal encounter with God, vowing to give a tenth of everything he received (Genesis 28:22). Even earlier, in Genesis 4, Cain and Abel brought offerings from what they had, though that specific offering is more accurately described as “firstfruits” rather than a formal tithe. Together, these examples show tithing as a consistent thread running through Scripture, not a temporary legal requirement tied only to Israel under the Law.
What Reluctance to Tithe Actually Reveals
There’s a deeper layer underneath the question of “how much.” When someone resists giving, or negotiates internally about the amount, it’s often a sign that money still holds a grip that hasn’t fully been surrendered. There’s a simple picture that captures this: you can’t receive something new in a hand that’s still clenched around something else — the grip has to open before anything else can be placed there. For many believers, money is exactly that closed fist — something held onto out of a sense of ownership (“I earned this, why should I give it away”) rather than stewardship.
Money as a Competing God
Jesus was blunt about this tension: no one can serve two masters — you cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). One practical way to test which one you’re actually serving is to notice how you relate to your own money. Do you feel a need to control exactly how it’s used, exactly where it goes, and get frustrated when it isn’t handled your way? That instinct to control is often a sign that money — not God — is still functioning as the authority being obeyed.
Fear Is Often the Real Root
For many people, resistance to tithing isn’t really about greed — it’s fear. Fear of not having enough, especially during genuinely tight financial seasons, or simply a habit of being unwise with money more broadly. That fear is worth naming honestly, because Scripture consistently frames tithing as an act of trust, not a transaction contingent on having “enough” first.
Who the Tithe Actually Goes To
Tithing isn’t just a private act of generosity to any cause of your choosing — Scripture is specific that it goes to the place where you are being spiritually fed, which functions as your local representation of God’s provision. In the Old Testament, the tithe had to be brought to Jerusalem — there was a specific, designated place it belonged. Today, that place is the local church body you’re actually part of and being fed by. Choosing to redirect that tithe elsewhere — to a cause you personally prefer, even a good one like caring for orphans — isn’t wrong as an act of generosity, but it isn’t a substitute for the tithe itself; that kind of giving is better understood as an additional offering, given on top of the tithe, not instead of it.
Ten Percent Is a Floor, Not a Ceiling
Ten percent is the minimum expectation, not a cap. If you feel led to give more — to your own church, or beyond it to other ministries, causes, or people in need — that additional generosity is a genuine blessing, and Scripture describes these kinds of gifts as thanksgiving offerings, distinct from the tithe itself. But this generosity is meant to flow from a foundation of first giving your tithe faithfully, not as a replacement for it.
The Deeper Challenge
For anyone tempted to dismiss tithing entirely as “only Old Testament,” it’s worth sitting with the New Testament standard instead — where believers in Acts sold what they had and laid it at the feet of the apostles for the sake of the community. Measured against that standard, a tithe of ten percent is, if anything, the easier and more modest ask. Ultimately, tithing isn’t primarily about the money itself — it’s a tangible, repeated act of trust that says God is worth prioritizing above financial control.
This is part five of five of our series “What does it mean to be part of a church?”
