Where Should You Tithe?
Where should you Tithe?
Answer: Your local church
Biblical Reason: First 1 Cor 9:13-14 “13 Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar?
14 Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.”
This text puts a context around tithing and giving. If your minister (at your local church) is supposed to live from that which is given, then if you do not tithe at your local church then he is not fed. In modern terms, he has no income to support his daily needs.
Furthermore, let’s look at the beginnings of tithing in the Old Testament to see the parallel between the nation of Israel and today’s church.
Numbers 18:21: “Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting.”
First of all, the Lord says that He has given the children of Levi all the tithes. The children of Levi where the priests. Today it would be the pastor and the leaders of the church. The Levites were part of the governing body of the Iraelites. Today each local church is its own governing body.
The Levites worked for God to minister to the people. The parallel today is the pastor of the local church and the leaders that work for God to take care of the local assembly or local church.
You might be saying, “Where does it say local church?” It doesn’t… but you can glean it in principle. In the above verse it says, “the tabernacle of meeting” this is the place where the spirit of God dwelled also called “sanctuary” and a place we the children of Israel could come close to the presence of the Lord. They could sacrifice for their sins which was atonement (Unfortunately it was temporary not permanent but that’s another story).
Here the Levites served the High Priest and the congregation of Israelites. Numbers 3:6-, “Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. And they shall perform the duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle.”
So who attends to your needs today? Who attends to the needs of your local church building and facilities? Your pastor and the ministeral staff. So you are to give your tithe to your local church in which you are a member so that your local church can minister to you.