3817.—What Shall Be Tithed?
By Editor
Please give a fuller explanation of what should be tithed. Does it mean that only net profit should be tithed, and this applied to any business? What about living expenses of home, etc.? T. The basic text of the tithing system is expressed in Lev. 27:30: "And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's: it is holy unto the Lord." The Jews had become very punctilious over this, until they made tithing, even as the Sabbath, almost a burden; and yet our Lord does not take away from them the obligation of tithing. He declares in Matthew the 23d chapter and 23d verse: "Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." Yet there are modifications concerning this law which common sense and absolute justice and rectitude would recognize. For instance, here is a man who has possession of a farm worth $10,000. He has paid $5,000 on that farm, and some one holds a mortgage for the $5,000 unpaid. It seems clearly evident and just that from the income of that farm there should be taken the interest on that mortgage and paid to the one who holds the mortgage. He, of course, would tithe that part of the income of the farm. The man who worked the farm would tithe the income less the interest on that mortgage. If he were able to carry on that farm with his own labor and that of his own family, and the farm were paid for, he would tithe all the income. But if it were necessary for him to employ other labor, it would be manifestly proper for him to deduct from the income the amount paid for that extra labor. For instance, if he hired a man to run that farm, and paid him $100, he would not tithe that $100. It would be the duty of the man who did his part in the working of that farm to tithe that amount. We do not know why the same principle would not hold good in the working of a farm as does in the receiving of wages. For instance, in our publishing work here there is a certain wage per week paid to all the employees. They do not take out their living expenses and then tithe the balance. They tithe the wages just as they are received. That is the common custom among them. There is no rule, no demand, nothing of that kind. The only obligation resting upon them is the obligation which they owe to God, but the whole income is tithed. Therefore, to state it briefly, what is a man's own personal income ought to be tithed, whether it be received from wages, interest on money, the working of land, or the carrying on of any other kind of business. What expense is necessary in the working of that business, outside of himself or his own immediate family who live upon that income, should be deducted from the amount of the income before it is tithed. This, in a brief way, covers the principle, and illustrations of that principle. We have not space to enter into it more fully in the "Question Corner." We would commend to our inquirer and others some good work on tithing. This can be secured by writing to the secretary of the California Conference, 2201 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, Cal.