When faith wanes, when commitment to God wanes, tithing wanes. That is what happened in the time of Malachi. The people’s neglect of tithing was a serious problem because tithing was central to God’s purpose. The tithes created a common fund which maintained the temple ministries and provided for the poor (Deuteronomy 14:22-29). But this was not the main purpose of tithing. The main purpose of tithing was to create true ‘fellowship’. It was designed to create a common purse to create a common life. Tithing is different to ‘charity’ because tithing isn’t about giving anything ‘away’ as such. According to Deuteronomy 14:26 the tithes were to be consumed by the people in a community context. The purpose of the tithe was to create a community space and mechanism that they could all share in. In the book of Acts, Luke wants to show that this ideal of a sharing community was finally realised in the church. It says about the church that, “All the believers were together and had everything in common” (Acts 2:44) and, “No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had” (Acts 4:32). The Greek word translated as ‘fellowship’ in Acts 2:42 (Koinonia), is related to the word ‘to share’ (Koina). Without sharing there is no genuine fellowship. A group of people who don’t share are just a crowd. When we share, we become a ‘fellowship’. This is a crucial aspect, therefore, of creating the church. A church is a fellowship of people who share a portion of their income (at least ten percent) to create a common life with a common cause.
Commit yourself to tithing at least ten percent of your income into your church.
Read Malachi 3:6-15
