If today’s presidential candidates were living in olden times they would all have trouble with the law’s demand for charitable giving.
According to Henry Lansdell in his book “The Tithe in Scripture,” “before the Bible was written, and apart therefrom, it was an almost universal practice among civilized nations for people to pay tithes to their gods.”
What is not known is when, where and why the practice of tithing started. We know only that it was the practice of most places.
In Jewish life, the first reference to the tithe is found in Genesis 14:18. Abram meets Melchizedek who is a priest of “The Most High God” and gives the priest 10 percent of the bounty just won in battle (v. 20). From there the practice of tithing grew until Jews paid about one quarter of their annual income in three different tithes.
It is generally accepted that the first tithe was “the Lord’s tithe” described in Leviticus 27:30–33. This tithe was given to the Levites who shared it with the priests (Num. 18:25–29). This tithe supported those who worked in the tabernacle.
A second annual tithe related to the festivals (Deut. 14:22–26). The third tithe was a charity tithe to care for “the aliens, the fatherless and the widows.” This tithe was given every three years and stored to meet needs which might arise (Deut. 14:28–29).
Today’s presidential candidates
Against the Old Testament law, today’s presidential candidates would be found wanting.
An April 17 Religion News Service article by Charles Camosy, associate professor of theology and social ethics at Fordham University in Bronx, New York, pointed out that John Kasich gives the most to charitable causes on the Republican side.
But his giving is less than 2 percent. Ted Cruz gives less than 1 percent.
Of Donald Trump, Camosy wrote, he gives “only a tiny percentage relying on outside donations given in his name.”
On the Democratic side the writer points out that when President Barack Obama was a presidential candidate in 2008, he was roundly criticized for giving less than 2 percent to charity.
Today Hillary Clinton reports the highest percentage but much of it, adds Camosy, is to her own foundation.
Bernie Sanders’ charitable giving is reported at 4 percent.
If these candidates lived in ancient Egypt, Babylon or Israel they would all have trouble with the law’s demand related to an annual tithe to help others.
But Christians no longer live under the law, one might argue. Today we live under grace. So what did Jesus say about giving?
As a starting point we might remember our Lord’s words in Matthew 5:20 when He said, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
A Pharisee could not take the vow of purity without first pledging to pay all his tithes (the whole 25 percent or so of his income). If that were the starting point of the Pharisee, what might Christ expect from those who call Him Lord?
In Matthew 23:23, Jesus condemns the Pharisees for concentrating so much on tithing that they leave the “weightier matters of the law” undone. Jesus did not condemn tithing.
In fact, He said, “These you ought to have done.” What Jesus condemned was the neglect of judgment, mercy and faith.
Jesus recognized paying a tithe as God’s laws for the Jews and seems to imply that His followers will at least begin with a tithe and go beyond it with mercy and faith.
Specific Scriptural teachings make that point. In Luke 3:11, Jesus says if one has two coats, one of the coats should be shared with a person who has none.
The same verse makes the same point about sharing food.
Matthew 5:42 records Jesus’ teaching to give to the one who asks of you and not to turn away one who wants to borrow from you.
In Luke 14:13–14, Jesus illustrated the role of faith and mercy through the analogy of a banquet. He urged believers to invite “the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind.” Such guests may not enhance one’s reputation on earth but it will be remembered in heaven, He said.
Also, Jesus said when you minister to “one of the least of these” you minister unto Me (Matt. 25:40).
“Freely you have received,” Jesus said in Matthew 10:8. Therefore, Christians should “freely give.”
What is your motive?
The apostle Paul urged the church at Ephesus to “remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35).
The emphasis is never on perfunctory giving. The concern is for the motive that results in giving. That is why the apostle John asks how the love of God can be in anyone who has material wealth and “sees his brother in need but has no pity upon him” (1 John 3:17).
Against these teachings of our Lord, the tendency might be to say the presidential candidates would have trouble with this test as well.
But what about us? According to the Center for Charitable Statistics, Americans gave on average 2.9 percent of their taxable income to charitable causes of all types for the last year of record. As small as that number is, it is an increase compared to recent years.
Faithful use of all
How can we talk about the charitable giving of any public figure when those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ fail to meet the letter of the Jewish law, let alone surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees and teachers of the law?
The goal of Christian stewardship is the faithful use of all one has for the glory of God. We cannot learn to use all that we have for the glory of God until we first master the faithful stewardship of the first 10 percent through tithing.
Remember that according to what Jesus taught, tithing is not the goal line outlined by law. Tithing is the starting line marked by mercy and faith.
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