If you say you are a tither and do not reside in Israel or give your agricultural (crops or livestock) tithe to the Levite priests, then you are not in compliance with the Biblical tithe. The Biblical tithe is not for the Gentile believer who is no longer under the Levital Law. Last time I checked, the Bible says we have been saved by the Grace of God, not by works, and definitely not by the Law.
If one chooses to give generously to support a certain cause, that person should feel free to do so. But if one is giving out of a sense of mandate, then that is not in keeping with New Testament Christian giving. One can quote Deuteronomy and Malachi as well as Jesus' exchange with the Pharisees all day, but I can likewise point out that the tithe of the Old Testament was ALWAYS agricultural products, never money, and that no where in the Bible does that change to one's earned income. In fact, I attended church in Africa and the preacher spoke the entire time about people giving him ransom for their lives and of course, monetary tithes. When he asked if anyone had any questions at the end, I proceeded to read the entirety of Deuteronomy 14, and pointed out that the instruction for the worshipper in that case who had to travel too far a distance to be able to carry his agricultural tithe to exchange it for money, the scripture right away instructed that worshipper to use that money to buy whatever his heart desired at the market near the place he was to worship and to consume his tithe in the presence of the LORD. Of course, the preacher tried to interject that that occurred after he had given a portion of the money to the church, but I held firm and replied that that is not what the scripture says happened. People need to read the Bible in full and in context for themselves or else these false prophets will have you believing anything.
So when I win, no I will not be tithing. Will I be a giver? Yes. Those are two totally different things. The tithe was required of the Jews living under the law in the Promised Land. Since we are not Jews and do not live in Israel in a Levitical district, there is no requirement for present day Christians to pay a tithe. If one insists on paying a tithe (which is non-Biblical since money was never tithed), then you might as well prepare to follow the laws about putting lambs blood on your doorpost to ward off the plague of death, keep you woman folk separate from the men during that time of the month, marry your late brother's widow even if you are already married, and observe all of the other laws laid out in the Old Testament.
By the way, the Biblical tithe was upwards of 23 percent of the farmers/shepard's increase since there were different tithes that were observed in a 7 year span. Of course, there was also a year in which no tithe at all was required. So you can see that present day teaching of tithing is way off base.
Just be a cheerful giver and do not utter the word "tithe". It is not required and God will not judge you on it. If you say, "Well what about Malachi 3:7? My response is to read the entire Book of Malachi and note to whom the writer is talking about in the first chapter (hint: it is aimed at the priest). Also, remember that the tithe was agricultural and it was put in the storehouse by the priests for provision for the priests, Levites, widows and orphans.
People mention that their church has school(s), but what does it do for local people or even attendees at the church that fall upon hard times? All too often, I hear that the down and out member is judged and hardly ever assisted.
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The Old Testament speaks of tithing (10%) and the New Testament speaks of gifting. At the end of the day, whatever your decision is, give it in love, because God loves a cheerful giver.
