tithes - 1cor 9

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Concerning 1 Cor. 9:7-13.

It has been brought up that somehow these verses are related to the
collection of tithe by the clergy, or at the very least support the
practice. In my opinion they do not do this in any fashion. What they do
support is that the clergy should be paid in some fashion. I prefer that
fashion to be a church board directed salary. If, as was stated, when
the church gets bigger and they have a larger load they would get an
automatic increase by way of tithe, then there is no control over mans'
greed. Even in the OT, a levite could not receive tithe on his own or
use it unilaterally without input from other levites.  Incidentally, the
levites for the privilege of getting the tithe, could not be landowners
on individual bases. I wonder what happened to that part of the
levitical tithe now days? Oh well, I was discussing 1 Cor. Let's see
what it says in the NIV;

1CO 9:7  Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a
vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not
drink of the milk?

No one is the right response to this rhetorical question

1CO 9:8  Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn't the
Law say the same thing?

The Law says people should get what they work for.

1CO 9:9  For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox
while it is treading out the grain." Is it about oxen that God is
concerned?

Of course the law was written to help man not the other way around.

1CO 9:10  Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written
for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they
ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.

I agree they should get something for their work

1CO 9:11  If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we
reap a material harvest from you?

It is absolutely ok for the clergy to get paid. It is interesting that
no amount is mentioned here. I can tell you the ox did not eat 10% of
the grain he treaded out or he would get sick. 

1CO 9:12  If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we
have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we
put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

The apostle is claiming a right to support - not tithe. Just for
arguments sake let's assume he was claiming a right to the tithe that
God commanded in the OT (which is not the case here), how could he
unilaterally say it was up to him to countermand this law of Gods' and
not take it. Wouldn't that put the tither in danger of robbing God? And
how would requiring support (tithe is your interpretation) hinder the
Gospel? It does because of the demand for compliance! When a preacher
demands a tithe from his congregation for himself, he may be actually
hindering the gospel! The apostle would never do that, so he must not be
talking about a tithe law, but about good old fashioned support given
willingly from the heart.

1CO 9:13  Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their
food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is
offered on the altar?

The apostle is talking about Jewish offerings here, not required tithes
that occurred once a year. If he wasn't, how would they preserve the
food for a year? Those that worked in the temple got to take of the
daily temple offerings, all the levites used the tithe. Not all the
levites worked in the temple. No money is talked about in this verse
which is also significant. What is being talked about for offerings is
food and animals. It should also be noted that the word share is used.
The levite didn't get it all, he got only a portion. The clergy should
be taken care of, by their church, through a board process, that
supplies their needs. Not all of the income goes to them alone, even if
it is mislabeled as tithe!

1CO 9:14  In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach
the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

No argument! The clergy should get support from the church in the SAME
way stated in verse 13, which is through offerings - not tithes.

These scriptures weaken the case for NT tithes even further. It just
wasn't a NT practice of the church to tithe.

Bruce HAnson
bruce.hanson@lmco.com