This article is not intended to be an exhaustive study on the subject of tithing, and neither will it address every issue. Many excellent papers have already been written on this topic, including documents from the Ellen White Estate. The purpose of this article aims to address the topic of tithing from the perspective that the local Conference is the Lord’s Treasury where tithes are to be brought in through the local church, as understood and agreed collectively by the organized Adventist church. This is the method God designed for the financial support of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist church. - Deyvy
Discussions among Seventh-day Adventists regarding the paying of tithes have become more frequent. To tithe or not to tithe is not the question, but rather where to tithe. And because there are those who believe there is apostasy in the church, some suggest the option of sending their tithe elsewhere other than the Conference or Union in “apostasy.”
Generally, those options are sending tithes to other countries to support individuals or goodwill causes. Another option is sending it to independent or self-supporting ministries that promote “present-truth,” or simply random donor discretion, also believed by some as an “impression” wherever the Holy Spirit leads. Has God left the subject of tithing to the conscience of the individual to select the “storehouse” of their choice? Should the people of God use their tithe as hostage to negotiate with the organized church that is in apparent apostasy? With so many independent ministries out there open for donations, where should one send their tithe?
Where is the Storehouse?
The command in Malachi 3:10 is to “bring all the tithes into the storehouse.” The people of God understood the storehouse to be the sanctuary that eventually became the permanent temple of Jerusalem. The purpose of tithing was for sustaining the sanctuary services and all who ministered for it, namely the Levites and priests. There is no question that the theology of tithing is a biblical mandate, and as for the storehouse, the Adventist Church defines it to be the local church within its structure, where tithes are eventually remitted to the conference and partially flow all the way to the General Conference.
In a careful study of the Spirit of Prophecy, when Ellen White uses the words “the storehouse,” “the treasury,” “His treasury,” “the treasure house,” “the treasure house of God,” or “the Lord’s treasury,” not only were they used in a singular tense, but in context were also synonymous with the denominational treasury, whether it was at the local church, conference, union, or the General Conference level. Freewill offerings, separate from sacred tithes, are allowed by God to be used outside the treasury with donor discretion “as he is able” (Deut. 16:17). As for those offerings, God permits us to decide how much, when, and where to give these gifts.
Pay Tithe Wherever the Holy Spirit Leads?
The suggestion by some in the church to “pray about it” so that “the Holy Spirit impresses” one to know as to where they should pay tithe sounds like the freedom to make personal judgments rather than to obey the command of God according to the Bible or Spirit of Prophecy. Yet, God’s counsel is clear:
“Let none feel at liberty to retain their tithe, to use according to their own judgment. They are not to use it for themselves in an emergency, not to apply it as they see fit, even in what they may regard as the Lord’s work…Tithes are to be placed in His treasury.”[1]
Those who promote the idea of diverting tithes from the treasury to independent ministries that claim to have “zero tolerance for open sin,” generally have a displeasure in church leadership or the current direction of the church. “Why should I pay my tithe to a church that I believe is in apostasy?” is often asked. Yet, there’s a difference between “apostasy in the church” and “a church in apostasy.”
Anyone who studies the history of church, even as far as the early church of the apostles, will agree that apostasy has always existed. Judas Iscariot, who was among the twelve, betrayed Jesus, Ananias and Saphira lied to the Holy Spirit, Simon the sorcerer attempted to bribe the apostles, and of course, the religious leaders who crucified Jesus are among a few examples.
Likewise since the inception of the Adventist church, apostasy has existed, and will always exist, even more in greater intensity as probation closes. That is not to say that when things are going wrong at leadership levels, God’s people are to remain silent on issues. We have a duty to speak out “plainly and openly, in the right spirit, and to the proper ones.”[2] But nowhere in Scripture or Spirit of Prophecy are we counseled to hijack God’s sacred tithe from His treasury and use it as hostage against the church in order that we may assist God to pull the tares away from the wheat. Tithes are God’s, and so is the church.
Financial Misappropriation from Church Funds
First, our obligation is to be faithful to God in accordance to His command in Malachi even when there is dissatisfaction in church leadership:
“Some have been dissatisfied and have said, ‘I will no longer pay my tithe [into His treasury]; for I have no confidence in the way things are managed at the heart of the work.’ But will you rob God because you think the management of the work is not right? Make your complaint…send in your petitions for things to be adjusted and set in order; but do not withdraw from the work of God, and prove unfaithful, because others are not doing right.”[3]
Jesus commended the widow for her sacrificial offering of two mites placed into the same treasury that provided the thirty pieces of silver used to finance His death. And that’s the second point, God will hold us individually accountable in accordance with our works, whether good or evil. The “widow’s act was to be a monument to her memory through all time,”[4] while Caiaphas and those who pierced Him will be a memory to be forgotten for eternity. Remember, we are all but dust, and our days are few. Leaders come and go, but the church marches on. Therefore,
“If the Conference business is not managed according to the order of the Lord, that is the sin of the erring ones. The Lord will not hold you responsible for it, if you do what you can to correct the evil. But do not commit sin yourselves by withholding from God His own property.”[5]
The purpose of the organized church is to proclaim the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ in the context of the Three Angels' Messages, and by using the system of benevolence wisely designed by God, the Adventist church is able to accomplish this through the unity of its committed members and its financial resources. Our tithes are the financial heartbeat of the church, and if each member is at liberty to define the storehouse according to their own judgment, a treasure house divided against itself will not stand.
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Deyvy Rodriguez lives with his wife and son in Texas. He enjoys felling trees and splitting wood in his backyard. He’s a qualified candidate for the CPA exam. They are expecting a baby any moment.
