The tithe is God's money, and He has first claims on this 10% of our increase. It is a statute, and why SDAs choose to emphasize the keeping of this statute, while ignoring others, is quite troubling, but the focus of this post is where should we Seventh-day Adventists send our tithe? Is it to only be sent to the local church, in accordance with church manual policy? Is that a biblical policy?
I still remember being quite surprised by a faithful minister in Malaysia who was disgusted with the wranglings over tithe in that country/conference/mission. He said he had to go to many meetings where they would discuss what percentage should go up to the Union and Division and General Conference, and then how much got sent back down. He said there was absolutely nothing involved in all that which had any relation at all to what was in the Bible. He was right. Our current system is not biblical, and is a man-made system. This was made abundantly clear around 10 years or so ago when someone tried to give tithe of over 100 million dollars, and instead of sending it to the local church, they wanted to send it straight to the GC, and even had the "money is power" mentality to tell the GC what they wanted that tithe used for! And yes, the GC acquiesced, showing that they are going directly contrary to James where he says:
2:2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 2:3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: 2:4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
Of course the Watson letter is very famous among those who have researched this subject out. Whole books based on that letter have been written, so I won't go into detail about it, but in it, Ellen White tells Watson, who was the Colorado conference president (I think) that he was in the wrong to speak ill of two sisters in Colorado who sent their tithe money to pastors working in the southern states in America. She also commended the two sisters. In that letter, she also makes clear that she didn't want to give this incident publicity, as others might do so, showing, I believe, that the ideal is to return tithes to the local church, but that if the situation calls for it, it is fine and even commendable to send tithes elsewhere - as long as it goes to the ones God has appointed to receive tithe (in other words, they are not to go nilly willy to just anyone doing a "good work").
In reading thru the Letters and Manuscripts of Ellen White, recently I came across Letter 81 from 1897:
(to Pacific Press manager C. H. Jones) "If you have more means than you need to settle with your ministers in a fair, liberal, Christian manner, there are other places where you can help, where there are but few people and poor, and the tithe is limited. Send the Lord's money to them. This I have been repeatedly shown is the way to do. "
To me, that seems very clear that sending your tithes to the local church is not compulsory.
Personally, I cannot in good conscience send tithe to the local church, because I know a part of it will go up to the General Conference, and support those who support killing Jesus in the person of the least of these my brethren. So I find pastors and evangelists in various places, and send the tithe and offerings directly to them.
I know this a very personal issue, yet very important too.
The tithe is God's money, and He has first claims on this 10% of our increase. It is a statute, and why SDAs choose to emphasize the keeping of this statute, while ignoring others, is quite troubling, but the focus of this post is where should we Seventh-day Adventists send our tithe?
For me it would be probably much easier to keep this statute according to the old covenant: find someone with the right pedigree (a Levite) and send him the tithe. But my problem is that I have to find someone belonging to the Melchizedek priesthood and here is where the trouble comes.
[10] Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it .
