TITHE - LUKE 11:42
"But how terrible it will be for you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you completely forget about justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things.NLT
Here we see the Apostle Luke’s description of the words of Christ Jesus when correcting the Pharisees. Jesus is the wisest man (person) to ever walk the face of this earth. As a wise man Jesus observed people’s habits before He offered correction or counsel. In this case notice that Jesus started by stating what the Pharisees were doing by the statement, “For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income”. This is one of many references to “tithing” as a viable part of the Law of Moses. Tithing was not a suggestion by The Law but rather a requirement of The Law. If you bore the Name of a Pharisees you were publicly stating that you are one of the strictest religious organizations (denominations) of that day. Not only did you believe in God but you have dedicated your whole life to serving His causes while seeking His perfect will for yourself and all mankind. This is why Jesus had some issues with the Pharisees because clearly by the demonstration of their paying the “tithe” they understood the context of The Law. However, the Lord Jesus reveals the great contrast of their actions toward people. This reminds us that many religious leaders will pride themselves on faithfully serving God but ignore the commandment to serve others. Serving God can be done rigorously if you have an unchanged book of instructions interpreted by unchanged mind of legalism. The problem of serving people with various levels of dynamics and complications is all together a more challenging task than following a pattern of good works unto God. Notice Jesus said, “you completely forget about justice and the love of God” which means He (Jesus) did not forget about justice and the love of God. The justice of God includes helping people to make injustices right and that can be done on several levels. Legally if someone is taking unfair advantage of you, God’s judgment is set in place to stop such actions. The justice of God was also established to stop and punish the wicked. Every society has a certain part of the population who desires to do evil. These cancers to the community should be cast out and severely disciplined when exposed as practitioners of evil. The justice of God encompasses the all-important task of expressing the divine thoughts of God, like the “Ten Commandments” of the Law. Therefore the justice of God or we could say the “Justness of God” includes all the things in Heaven and Earth that God has spoke about or unto. The Justness of God could be considered synonymous with the Word of God. We should not limit the justice of God to a verdict of guilty because that would be wrong due to the fact that many blessings are contained inside of God’s Justice. Remember that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins so that we didn’t have to, showing us His divine justice and mercy. The justice of God is simply speaking God’s Word, His judgments, for the entire world to hear and obey. However we must interject that speaking God’s Words without having God’s Heart will only produce death through religious bondage. The Pharisees were living examples of men being trusted with God’s ordinances without having God’s compassion to help others. It is never a good ideal to speak about God to a person without sharing the true intentions that God has for the person listening. No one can faithfully represent the accurate testimony of another unless they have walked in their exact shoes. It would be like a man trying to explain to his wife what it felt like to have a baby. Although the wife would not desire to be rude she would know in her heart that her husband really does know what he is talking about. There is no way a ten-year-old child can accurately explain the manhood of raising a family without living through such an ordeal. Likewise, only those who have God’s true heart can accurately reflect God’s true nature of Love. This is the reason Jesus said the Pharisees you must focus on God’s Love toward people. People have been made to respond favorably to compassion and when compassion is not present they know it. Jesus corrects the Pharisees with a higher revelation of truth after He gives them some positive reinforcement on one of their correct practices of “tithing”. The words from Jesus that, “you should tithe, yes” answers the question for many Christian today. There are those who wonder if whether or not “tithing” is for the church of today. Since Jesus the Head of Church clearly states that, “You should tithe”. Yes, I think we should take His word for it. I know some will say that Jesus was telling that specifically to the Pharisees and we (IHLCC) would agree. However, since Jesus told them (Pharisees) under the Old Covenant to show God’s justice and love those same words still apply to us today in the New Covenant of Christ. Jesus openly endorsed the things of God that were apart of the New Testament by encouraging His disciples to continue in the established truths of God’s Word. God’s justice and love did not stop with the Old Covenant but continued today, tomorrow and forever. So to imply that tithing ceased with Jesus is neither scriptural nor practical. The people in the world system do not tithe and the principle of tithing was established before the law according to Hebrews 7:1-4. Knowing that tithing was established to provide for the minister of God only solidifies the fact that God’s desire for the “tithe” is to bless His servants who are wholly committed to His Plan. It is worth commenting here that if the religious leaders were required to tithe how much more are the religious followers of God expected to tithe. Not because of The Law on paper or etched in stone but rather due to the Law of Love in our heart. The Lord Jesus concludes His correction with the words, “you should not leave undone the more important things” which puts a definite priority on God’s justice and love. We have spoken about the importance of knowing God’s justness, His Word, before you speak to a person about God. Knowing that a conversation about God should never take place with another without an outward demonstration of His Love shown toward that same person. The word of God repeatedly states that people will know we are Christians because we love one another which means we must love others to make Christ known in this earth. Therefore, the practice of God’s justice in the spirit of His Love is our most important function upon this earth. We are commanded to share this divine truth with all mankind as ministers of the Gospel of Jesus. This is one reason we deeply love God’s ministers who convey that message of love and we choose to tithe keeping that minister properly housed, clothed and fed (provided for). Thus, our compassion for people prevails to help the plan of God prosper through tithing unto Jesus Christ in Heaven for the Family of God upon the earth. Amen!
In His Love, Eric & Angela Foster