The Biblical Tithe Is Not a Flat 10% Fee
Sean McDowell calculates that the tithe in ancient Israel reached 23% a year and challenges the teaching of 10%.
In 2024, apologist Sean McDowell posted a video on Instagram about the biblical tithe: by his calculation, the tithing system of ancient Israel came to about 23% a year. ChurchLeaders picked up his argument and the voices responding to it.
What McDowell Is Questioning
McDowell is no random name: he is an associate professor in the Christian Apologetics program at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, and he tends to wade into uncomfortable topics. What he questions is not that giving is bad, but that a number has become a rule.
"Despite what you may have heard your whole life, the Bible does not teach that Christians must tithe 10%," he said in the video (translation by Sígueme). His math points the same way: the tithe in ancient Israel came to about 23% a year, a number he traces to the Law of Moses.
«The question is not what the minimum is, but whose everything is.»
The go-to passage is Malachi 3. God accuses his people of robbing him by withholding tithes and offerings, and invites them to bring it all into the storehouse and test him. McDowell points out a detail that many sermons skip: at that time, those tithes and offerings supported the priests and religious leaders who served the people.
And the matter is not settled. ChurchLeaders also included the response of a New Testament scholar, a Barna survey of pastors, and the argument from the other side.
What the New Testament Does Teach
When Paul organizes a collection, he does not set percentages. He sets the heart: "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7, ESV). The question is not what the minimum is, but whose everything is.
And the measure is not a chart, it is a person: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9, ESV). The One who gave the most did not hand over a percentage: he gave himself.
That puts everything else in order. Christian giving is voluntary, proportional to what each person has received, and directed toward real needs: the church that teaches, the brother who is going hungry, the neighbor without work. It is not a fee or an insurance policy against a rough patch.
Nor is it a machine. Giving does not guarantee that things will go better at work or that God owes you a promotion. If someone promises a return on what you put in the offering plate, they are selling something else.
Giving Without Being Billed
The call of Malachi 3:10 is still in the Bible: "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need" (ESV).
That call was born in an agrarian economy and under the covenant with Israel. What carries over into the New Testament is not the number, but the God who invites us to trust him with what we have.
Before deciding how much, decide who is in charge. Write down your income for the month, set aside what you are going to give before the money arrives, and give it calmly, not whatever is left over at the end. If your situation has changed (a new job, a move, a debt), adjust the amount without guilt and without ceasing to give.
It is also worth asking your church how funds are used. That is not distrust; it is stewardship. And if the 10% had you counting every peso in fear, the gospel offers you something harder and more freeing: to give as someone who has already received everything.
This week, do just one thing: review your budget and decide before God how much you will give, to whom, and why. What were you taught about the tithe?
