How Much Should Christians Give?

When my wife and I were newlyweds, we were part of a church that occasionally included a bulletin insert called “The Church around the World.” It included news snippets about God’s people, the church, in various countries, including the U.S. One news item that caught my eye was the percentage of income given by American Christians. I was shocked to read that the average was only 3%.

This recently came to mind again because of a conversation centered on giving that came up in my Sunday-school class. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may have noticed that I like referring to statistics, particularly percentages. While they don’t tell a complete story, they can be very illuminating. Thus, you probably won’t be surprised that I decided to research the percentage of giving by American Christians now. Two different websites gave the same figure: a paltry 2.5%. In other words, over the last 35 years, giving has decreased by 17%; this dovetails precisely with another statement about giving, which is that 17% of American families have reduced the amount that they give to their local church. (The time frame was not specified.) Lest we think that our giving somehow correlates with financially hard times, think again: during the Great Depression, the figure was 3.3%.

When some American churchgoers talk about giving, they mention tithing, which means giving 10%; this is because the leadership of some churches teach that we ought to tithe. As always, we need to examine Scripture for ourselves to see what it teaches. In the Old Testament, tithing was mandatory for the Israelites, but is it mandatory for us in the New Testament? As a support for continued tithing, some have referred to Matthew 23:23, where Jesus says, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” Jesus says the same thing in Luke 11:42. Speaking to the Jewish leaders, Jesus affirmed the OT law of tithing, but He said that there were other matters of the law that were more important. There is one other New Testament book, Hebrews, where tithing is mentioned, but there is nowhere in the New Testament where God’s people, the church, are commanded to tithe. Why? Because we are not under the Old Testament law, which is emphasized especially, but not only, in the book of Romans. I refer you here to an excellent, more detailed post about tithing by a brother in Christ who goes by the name Sola Scriptura: https://followingjesuschrist3.com/2017/09/03/tithing-and-the-new-testament-church/comment-page-1/#respond I also refer you here to a post I wrote about Christians and the Old Testament law, which briefly mentions tithing but is focused on the Ten Commandments: https://keithpetersenblog.com/2020/10/29/are-christians-obligated-to-obey-the-old-testament-law/

If Christians are not obligated to tithe, then how much should we give? I believe that 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 answers this question, but not with a percentage: “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” These are wonderful verses! They encourage us to give generously and cheerfully. And let me repeat from verse 7: we should give what we have decided in our hearts, not reluctantly or under compulsion.

Less than a year after I got married, my wife and I went to a Third World country to teach English under the auspices of a Christian educational organization; we were generously supported with both money and prayer by many brothers and sisters back home. When we returned to the U.S. after three years, we didn’t have much at first, but we were determined to give generously (and cheerfully!) anyway, just as we had been given to while we were overseas. After another three years, we moved to the city where we were teaching. The pastor of the church we joined there taught that we should tithe. While I disagreed that tithing was an obligation, my wife and I decided to tithe to our church and then also to give to other charitable organizations, including ones that people we knew were working for/through. And sometimes, albeit less often, we would give money directly to an individual brother or sister. Frankly, it wasn’t much different from what we had been doing the previous three years anyway. (We have continued something close to that at our current church as well.)

One thing I liked that our pastor way back then said was that tithing was like “training wheels;” in other words, start with that and then give even more. Interestingly, I came across this statistic: 77% of Americans who tithe give 11%–20% or more of their income, which I suppose might support the training wheels analogy. I believe that pastor honestly thought tithing was obligatory for the New Testament church; in other words, I don’t believe that he was teaching it just to “get money” (including his salary). At the same time, I believe he was wrong.

I should add that some might ask something like, “I don’t feel cheerful about giving; should I do it anyway?” I would say, if you’re a believer and you’re not giving yet, start with something, no matter what the amount may be; if you’re already giving, then keep doing it. Either way, I believe the cheerfulness will come, and you will have the desire to give more. Maybe the lack of cheerfulness is because you’ve been feeling the compulsion of having to give a set percentage, which is not what the New Testament teaches.

Let me close with Psalm 125:5-6, another pair of my favorite verses. Notice again the words “sow” and “reap:” “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.” When I think of these verses, I think of godly pastors, missionaries, and others who spread the Gospel; financial giving is one of the things that helps make it possible. May our financial giving be both generous and cheerful, not because we feel under compulsion, but because it is a means to strengthen God’s people and to help draw others to faith in Jesus Christ.