Pastor Ethan sat at his kitchen table on a Tuesday evening, the envelope from the church office still unopened in front of him. The monthly paycheck had arrived that afternoon, and for the first time in his twelve years of ministry, he didn’t feel the usual quiet gratitude. He felt something closer to guilt.
Sarah, his wife, was loading the dishwasher. She glanced over. “You’ve been staring at that envelope for twenty minutes. Is everything okay?”
Ethan rubbed his forehead. “I’m trying to decide whether I should tithe from it.”
Sarah paused, a plate in her hand. “Tithe from your own salary?”
He nodded slowly. “The church pays me $4,200 a month after taxes. If I tithe ten percent, that’s $420 going right back into the offering. It feels like giving them their own money.”
The next morning Ethan met with two of the elders for their usual monthly breakfast. He didn’t plan to bring it up, but halfway through his eggs, the words came out anyway.
“Gentlemen, I’ve been wrestling with something. Should I be tithing from my salary back to the church?”
Elder Ron, a retired accountant, set down his coffee. “Ethan, the church gives you that money so you can focus on ministry. If you tithe from it, you’re really just reducing your own take-home pay. That doesn’t seem right.”
Elder Mark, younger and more direct, shook his head. “I disagree. Tithing isn’t about where the money came from. It’s about honoring God with the first portion of whatever He’s entrusted to you.”
Ethan looked between them. “What if I give the money quietly to missions or to families in need? Would that be the same thing?”
Mark shrugged. “That’s generous, but it’s not tithing to the local church. People look to you as the example.”
The New Testament does not answer this question. However, Numbers 18 makes it clear that the Levites were to tithe a portion of their tithe. While this doesn’t give us direction for the church age, it does establish that it is not inappropriate for a paid pastor to give a portion of his pay back to the church.
The first half of Numbers 18 listed the portion of the offerings that were to go to the priests and Levites and serve as their income for their tabernacle service.
Num. 18:25 ¶ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Num. 18:26 “Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall raise up a contribution offering from it to Yahweh, a tithe of the tithe.
Notice the phrase “a tithe of the tithe”. The Levites received a portion of the sacrifices as their pay. However, they were to take a portion of their pay and give it back to Yahweh.
Num. 18:27 And your contribution offering shall be reckoned to you as the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat.
Num. 18:28 So you shall also raise up a contribution offering to Yahweh from all your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the contribution offering of Yahweh to Aaron the priest.
Aaron already received a portion from the sacrifices, but the Levites were directed to give Aaron a portion of their pay as well.
Num. 18:29 Out of all your gifts you shall raise up every contribution offering due to Yahweh, from all the best of them, the sacred part from them.’
Take note of the word “best”. The Levites were to give the best back to Yahweh.
Num. 18:30 And you shall say to them, ‘When you have raised up from it the best of it, then the rest shall be accounted to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor and as the product of the wine vat.
Once again we see the word “best”. Out of all the grain, wine, and oil the Levites received, they had to give the best back to Yahweh.
Num. 18:31 And you may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting.
Num. 18:32 And you will bear no sin by reason of it when you have raised up the best of it. But you shall not profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, so that you will not die.’”
The New Testament does not tell us whether or not paid Christian workers should donate part of their income back to the church. However, since the Levites were required to tithe a portion of the tithe that was given to them, it is not wrong for people who are employed by their church to give a portion of their pay back to the church.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”