Not long ago, after the second service ended and I was finished greeting people at the door, one of our members approached me. He wanted to ask a question about the message. It had been on faith, had gotten him thinking, and he wanted my input. He went on to say that for some years now he had been giving only a portion of his tithe to the church, dividing the rest among a variety of radio and para-church ministries. He wanted to know how I felt about this.

My answer of course was that how I feel is of little consequence. What really matters is what the scripture says.

In the Old Testament, in Malachi 3:10, scripture clearly says, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.”

In the New Testament, Paul instructed the church at Corinth (I Corinthians 16:2) to give each week on the first day of the week, and they were to give at their local church.

While para-church ministries may have many wonderful aspects they cannot and should not be expected to replace the local church. It is the local church that reaches people. It is the local church that assimilates them into community groups, bible studies and into the fellowship. When people need someone to visit them in the hospital, to bury their loved one or to walk with them through a difficult time in life, they turn to the local church. While the teaching and preaching of para-church organizations may be wonderful, you cannot find one of them in scripture; in scripture what you will find is ministry being done by and through the local church.

There are many reasons people would rather give to things other than their local church. Perhaps chief among them is the element of control they feel when they give ‘their’ money where ‘they’ want to give it. When they begin to see it as God’s money they will have no problem giving according to a biblical model - tithing through their local church.

As I told the brother who asked the question, my understanding of scripture leads me to the firm conviction that the Lord has already told me where my tithe belongs. My tithe belongs to my local church. Anything above and beyond that I feel free to give elsewhere if so led by the Lord.

May God give you the faith to trust Him in this area of giving and the understanding of His word which will help you see this issue more biblically.

Blessings, Pastor Calvin