by Arthur L. White
by Robert W. Olson
by Arthur L. White
The Use of the Tithe, by Ellen G. White
Gospel Finance: Pulling Together, by Frank B. Holbrook
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by Arthur L. White
Systematic benevolence, as first proposed and adopted by the Sabbathkeeping
Adventists in 1859, comprised a systematic plan of giving not
only on a percentage basis, but also free-will offerings.
The following plan was recommended at the January 1859
meeting in Battle Creek:
"1. Let each brother from 18 to 60 years of age lay by him in store
on the first day of each week from five to 25 cents.
"2. Each sister from 18 to 60 years of age lay by her in store on
the first day of each week from two to ten cents.
"3. Also, let each brother and sister lay by him or her in store on
the first day of each week from one to five cents on each and every $100 of
property they possess ....
"The lowest sums stated are so very small that those in the poorest
circumstances (with very few exceptions of some widows, infirm, and aged) can
act upon this plan; while those in better circumstances are left to act in the
fear of God in the performance of their stewardship, to give all the way up to
the highest sums stated, or even more, as they see it their duty to do."-RH
February 3, 1859, p. 84
With only slight modification, this plan was adopted at the
General Conference session, June 4, 1859. Reported in RH June 9, 1859, p. 20.
As churches began to respond to the plan adopted at Battle
Creek, a question arose as to the use of the money thus raised. James White, in
the Review of March 3, 1859, answers the question:
"Brother I. C. Vaughn writes from Hillsdale, Michigan, that the
church in that place 'are acting on the Systematic Benevolence plan, and like
it much,' and inquires, 'What is to be done with the money at the end of the
month?'
"We suggest that each church keep at least $5 in the treasury to
help those preachers who occasionally visit them, and labor among them. This
seems necessary. Such is the scarcity of money that our good brethren very
seldom are prepared to help a messenger on his journey. Let there be a few
dollars in every church treasury. Beyond this, the debt on the tent enterprise,
etc., claims the proceeds of Systematic Benevolence in this State [Michigan]."
And on January 29, 1861, White could report of the Battle
Creek church:
"As the result of strictly carrying out Heaven's plan, there is now
in our treasury (B.C.) $150 waiting for some worthy object which will really
advance the cause of truth."--RH January 29, 1861.
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The same month he referred to the Systematic Benevolence as
the tithe, he wrote:
"We propose that the friends give a tithe, or a tenth of their
income, estimating their income at ten percent on what they possess."--Good
Samaritan, No. 5, January, 1861.
Shortly thereafter he explained the plan further:
"We meant just what the churches are adopting in Michigan
(referring to his statement published in Good Samaritan, No. 5), viz.,
they regard the use of their property worth the same as money at ten percent.
This ten percent they regard as the increase of their property. A tithe of this
would be one percent, and would be nearly two cents per week on each one
hundred dollars, which our brethren, for convenience sake, are unanimous in
putting down ....
"Next comes the personal donations. Let the young men who
have no taxable property come up nobly here, also the young women."-James
White, RH April 9, 1861, p. 164.
While the term "tithe" does not often occur in the
presentations of the plans for systematic benevolence, full documentation would
indicate that the main and strongest phase of this plan was definitely based
upon the tithing principle, and that the steps taken two decades later were
merely refinements and extensions of what was adopted in 1859. They were not
two separate and distinct plans.
Why did the term "tithe" not appear more prominently at the
onset? When the pioneers moved into the consideration of organization in the
1850s, it was in the setting of "gospel order." They looked to the
New Testament for the pattern. They found this
largely in the appointment of the seven deacons and not in the appointment by
Moses of the 70 elders. Mrs. White in 1854 opens her first full article on this
subject with these words: "The Lord has shown that gospel order has been too
much feared and neglected" (EW 97).
James White, in 1853 in his first appeal to the
Sabbathkeeping Adventists for financial support for the ministry, presents it
under the title Gospel Order. He draws on the New Testament for support.
Later statements, which argue for the continuation of the tithing obligation
beyond the cross, imply that at first it was generally assumed that the tithe
responsibility ceased with the death of Christ, and therefore Malachi 3 placed
no binding claims upon the believers of our day. (See J. N. Andrews in RH May
18, 1869.)
In 1875, in pressing the matter of a tithe of one-tenth of
the increase (see 3T 395), Ellen White recognized that "Some will pronounce
this one of the rigorous laws binding upon the Hebrews."-3T 396. And she
declares:
"The special system of tithing was founded upon a principle which
is as enduring as the law of God. This system of tithing was a blessing to the
Jews, else God would not have given it them. So also will it be a blessing to
those who carry it out to the end of time. Our heavenly Father did not
originate the plan of systematic benevolence to enrich Himself, but to be a
great blessing to man. He saw that this system of beneficence was just what man
needed."-3T 404, 405.
Consequently, the strength of argument for the support of
the work of God came at first from the New Testament, but in reckoning
the obligations of the
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believer, the principle of the tithe was employed. It
should be noted that while systematic benevolence adopted by our forefathers
was broader than the tithe, it embodied the tithe.
Ellen G. White early linked the tithe with "Systematic
Benevolence." First she assured the church in June 1859: "The plan of
systematic benevolence is pleasing to God" (1T 190). And then in January, 1861,
in an article entitled "Systematic Benevolence," she wrote: "Rob not God by
withholding from Him your tithes and offerings." The article closed with
Malachi 3:8-11 quoted in full (1T 221, 222).
The issues of the Review and Herald through the 1860s
carried scores of articles making reference to systematic benevolence,
reporting on the success of the plan and giving counsel concerning its
operation.
James White restated the plan in November 1864, and in so
doing tied it very closely with the tithe:
"The children of Israel were required to give a tithe, or tenth, of
all their increase .... And it cannot be supposed that the Lord requires less
of His people when time is emphatically short, and a great work is to be
accomplished in the use of their means in giving the last merciful message to
the world. Says the prophet: [Malachi 3:810, quoted].
"If the prophet
Malachi is not here teaching the carrying out of the Israelitish system of
tithing, he is certainly enforcing a duty of the same nature, and his words may
come home to us with full force, and the principle be carried out by obedience
to the language of Paul--'Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you
lay by him in store,' etc. Says our Lord, 'But woe unto you, Pharisees for ye
tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love
of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone'" (Luke
11:42).
"How may we reduce to practice these excellent suggestions? We
recommend the following plan, which all, with very few exceptions, can adopt:
"If the brethren give a tithe, or tenth, of their income, estimating
their income at ten percent on what they possess, it will amount to about two
cents weekly on each $100 of property. Besides this, let all who are able so to
do, give a personal donation for each week, more or less, according to their
ability. This is necessary to include those who have but little or no property,
yet have ability to earn, and should give a share of their earnings. While some
widows, or aged and infirm, should be excused from personal, the young and
active who have but little or no property, should put down a liberal weekly
personal donation ....
"Those whose income is more than ten percent on
their property can pay higher in proportion to the amount of their income. A
tithe, or tenth of their increase is just exactly one-tenth of the increase of
their property. Has a brother or sister increased his or her property during
1864 [by] the sum of $1,000, a tithe would be just $100." -Review & Herald,
November 29, 1864.
With the tithing system, as with several other lines of
truth which became fundamental Adventist doctrine, our pioneers did not see it
in all its beauty and completeness at the very outset. They were endeavoring to
find a system of finance which harmonized with Gospel Order. The Lord led them
only as fast as they could see, accept, and follow unfolding Bible-based truth.
There was a gradual development in both the basis
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for ascertaining the
obligations of the believer and the precise use to which this revenue of the
gospel should be put. The large need was the support of the ministry, and the
funds yielded by systematic benevolence, which included both tithes and
offerings, were channeled almost exclusively toward ministerial support. Except
for publishing house employees, and after 1866, sanitarium workers, who were
supported from the incomes of the institutions, all was in ministerial lines.
There were many references to systematic benevolence and the
tithe through the late 1860s and the 1870s. Ellen White, in Testimony
No. 24, written in 1874 and published in January 1875, devotes 28 pages to
"Tithes and Offerings," followed by five pages under the title of "Systematic
Benevolence." (3T 381-413.)
In 1876 the conviction came to leading brethren that there
were defects in the plan, especially in the basis on which the tithe was
reckoned. The following comes from a special session of the General Conference
held early that year:
"Remarks were then made by Brother Canright on the subject of
systematic benevolence. Taking certain well-ascer-tained facts as a basis, he
showed that if all would come up to the Bible plan of S.B., the amount within
our ranks would reach the sum of $150,000 yearly, instead of about $40,000 as
it now is. The Lord says, 'Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,' and
until this is done, the Lord will not be 'proved,' to see whether He will not
pour out a blessing so that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Brother White followed with lengthy and stirring remarks on the same subject.
"Brother Canright offered the following resolutions on the subject of
systematic benevolence, which were unanimously adopted by the conference and
congregation:
"Resolved, That we believe it to be the duty of
all our brethren and sisters, whether connected with churches or living alone,
under ordinary circumstances, to devote one-tenth of all their income from
whatever source, to the cause of God. And further
"Resolved,
That we call the attention of all our ministers to their duty in this important
matter to set it plainly and faithfully before all their brethren and urge them
to come up to the requirements of the Lord in this thing.
"Moved and
carried that the chairman appoint a committee of three, himself to be one
of that committee, to prepare a tract upon the subject of systematic
benevolence. The Chair appointed D. M. Canright and U. Smith to act with him as
that committee."--Minutes of the Special Session of the General Conference,
published in RH April 6, 1876, p. 108.
By the year 1878 a change had been made in the plan of
figuring the percentage of giving or tithe, shifting from approximately one
percent per year to the total valuation of property to ten percent of the
actual income. The former plan was found to be defective. In one case on the
old plan the tithe amounted to $10 per month, while under the new plan of an
actual ten percent of income, the tithe amounted to $36 per month.
According to conference action the perfected plan was set
before the believers in a pamphlet significantly bearing the title
Systematic Benevolence or the Bible Plan of Supporting the Ministry. It was
but a refinement with a better way of figuring the tithe and the presentation
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made under the familiar title of "Systematic Benevolence." In the introductory
statement in the pamphlet we read:
"The subject of Systematic Benevolence has been under practical
consideration by Seventh-day Adventists for a period of twenty years or more.
And no material changes from the system first adopted were seen necessary until
two years since. The reasons for these changes are given in the pages that
follow.
"'How much ought I to give for the support of the gospel?' After
carefully viewing the subject from all points, we answer, 'A tithe of all our
income.'
"This does not mean a tenth of our annual increase of property
after the cost of food and clothing, and other expenses, are paid, but that
nine parts of our income are to meet all these expenses, while a tithe of our
income is the Lord's, to be sacredly devoted to the support of the ministry. We
regard the plan of pledging a sum equal to one percent annually on our property
defective in several respects:
"1. It does not give a tithe of our income .... It is our
conviction that our people have robbed God of more than one-half of the tithes
which are His, while acting upon the defective plan of paying S.B. to the
amount of only one percent per annum on their property.
"2. The words of Paul touching this subject-'as the Lord hath
prospered him'-are in strict harmony with that system in the Old Testament
which claims one-tenth of all the income of the Lord's people as His. The
following we regard as a Scriptural and proper pledge for all our people to
make:
"We solemnly promise, before God and to each other, conscientiously
to pay to the Systematic Benevolence treasurer a tithe of all our income, to be
laid by when received, and paid on the first Sunday of each one of the four
quarters of the year; namely, the first Sunday in January, the first Sunday in
April, the first Sunday in July, and the first Sunday in October.
"3.
By the defective plan, those who had little or no property, and at the same
time had considerable income, in some cases robbed the Lord of nearly or quite
all the tithes of their actual income. By the Bible plan, one dollar of every
ten earned is secured to the Lord's cause. This alone will make a difference of
many thousands to be cast into the Lord's treasury for the support of the cause
of God.
"And we cannot see reasons why our institutions, such as publishing
houses, schools, sanitariums, and state conferences, should not put into the
treasury of the Lord a tithe of all their income. These are indebted to the
Lord and His servants for their existence and prosperity. As these receive the
support of the General Conference, their tithes should be put into the General
Conference treasury. The annual sum to be collected from our institutions at
Battle Creek alone would not be less than $4,000, a handsome sum indeed to cast
into a treasury which is not only empty, but actually in debt. And if our state
conferences also pay a tithe of their income into the General Conference
treasury, a want will be supplied that has long been felt." -- Statement
prepared by committee appointed at General Conference, October 2-13, 1878.
Committee as follows: James White, D. M. Canright, S. N. Haskell, J. N.
Andrews, Uriah Smith. Systematic Benevolence; or the Bible Plan of
Supporting the Ministry.
Not only was there a development in the understanding of
what constituted a
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proper tithe, but there was also a development in an
understanding of the use to which it should be put. The pattern of history in
this matter is akin to that of other developments among us. The Lord did not at
the outset through vision to Ellen White decree every detail. Rather, He led
our forefathers to the Scriptures as a basis of a church financial system,
first to the New Testament and then to the Old.
When the plan of gospel finance was adopted in the late
1850s, the lines of church work were limited. There were those engaged in
ministerial labors and there was the publishing work. The publishing work was
supported by the sale of literature and by freewill gifts.
As the sanitarium work was begun in 1866, a stock company
was formed and at the outset it seemed that this enterprise would be a
money-making concern, yielding no less than ten percent on the investment. The
medical work, although not so lucrative as it first seemed it would be, was not
the recipient of systematic benevolence.
Nor did the school look to this source for finance as our
educational work was started in the early 1870s. The three very early attempts
at church school work were before the days of systematic benevolence and they
looked to tuition for their support. This was true also with the school that
Bell started in Battle Creek in the late 1860s. The school started in Battle
Creek in 1872, with General Conference support, was on a tuition basis. The
only school in operation before the 1878 actions reorganizing systematic
benevolence, was Battle Creek College. It was not until 1882 that Healdsburg
College and South Lancaster Academy were started, and there is no hint that
they drew in any way on systematic benevolence or tithe funds. In fact, the
demands of the ministerial lines of work pressed hard on the systematic
benevolence funds, as the record shows.
The systematic benevolence funds provided for the cause were
not divided by the giver or the local church into strictly tithe funds and
non-tithe funds (offerings), nor were they in any manner separated in the
account books of the conferences or General Conference. The Spirit of Prophecy
counsels repeatedly call for a faithfulness that the "treasury be constantly
replenished," but prior to 1880 the instruction does not delineate precisely
how systematic benevolence funds should be used, nor impose the restrictions
presented in later years.
James White in the Review of November 29, 1864,
argues strongly for all of the systematic benevolence funds to be placed in the
local or General Conference treasuries "to support the proclamation of the
third angel's message."
"This" he maintains, "was the original design for our plan
of benevolence, and we regard it as a very great error in departing from it in
any degree."
He recognized, however, that there were exceptions and that
some of these funds could properly be used locally for expenses other than the
support of the ministry:
"Those churches that have to build houses of worship, and meet the
expenses of lights, fuel, etc., and do not feel able to come up to the figures
of our illustration of systematic benevolence besides, can at their annual
meeting appropriate by vote such a percent of their entire systematic
benevolence funds to such objects as they think proper. But it is supposed that
the
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instances where such a course would be necessary would be very few."-RH
November 29, 1864.
With the restudy in 1878, and the adoption of the plan of
figuring the tithe on the "total income" the treasuries were better supplied
and the uses to which systematic benevolence funds should be put became a
matter of study and discussion.
Late in 1879 Ellen White penned the article on "Sacredness
of Vows" now in Testimonies, vol. 4, pp. 462-476. In this she makes
several references to "tithes and liberal offerings" as a means of supporting
various facets of the work of the church.
1. Institutions
"Selfishness and fraud are practiced daily in the church, in
withholding from God that which He claims, thus robbing Him and conflicting
with His arrangements to diffuse the light and knowledge of truth throughout
the length and breadth of the land.
"God in His wise plans has made the advancement of His cause
dependent upon the personal efforts of His people and upon their freewill
offerings. By accepting the cooperation of man in the great plan of redemption,
He has placed a signal honor upon him. The minister cannot preach except he be
sent. The work of dispensing light does not rest upon ministers alone. Every
person, upon becoming a member of the church, pledges himself to be a
representative of Christ by living out the truth he professes. The followers of
Christ should carry forward the work which He left for them to do when He
ascended into heaven.
"Institutions that are God's instruments to carry forward His work
on the earth must be sustained. Churches must be erected, schools established,
and publishing houses furnished with facilities for doing a great work in the
publication of the truth to be sent to all parts of the world. These
institutions are ordained of God and should be sustained by tithes and liberal
offerings. As the work enlarges, means will be needed to carry it forward in
all its branches. Those who have been converted to the truth and been made
partakers of His grace may become co-workers with Christ by making voluntary
sacrifices and freewill offerings to Him. And when the members of the church
wish in their hearts that there would be no more calls for means, they
virtually say that they are content that the cause of God shall not
progress."-4T 464.
"The plan of systematic benevolence was of God's own arrangement,
but the faithful payment of God's claims is often refused or postponed as
though solemn promises were of no significance. It is because church members
neglect to pay their tithes and meet their pledges that our institutions are
not free from embarrassment. If all, both rich and poor, would bring their
tithes into the storehouse, there would be a sufficient supply of means to
release the cause from financial embarrassment and to nobly carry forward the
missionary work in its various departments. God calls upon those who believe
the truth to render to Him the things that are His."--4T 475, 476.
2. The Gospel Ministry and the Printed Page
"In commissioning His disciples to go 'into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creature,' Christ assigned to men the work of
spreading the gospel. But while some go forth to preach, He calls upon others
to answer to His claims upon them for tithes and offerings with which to
support the ministry and to
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spread the printed truth all over the land. This is
God's means of exalting man. It is just the work which he needs, for it will
stir the deepest sympathies of his heart and call into exercise the highest
capabilities of the mind."-- 4T 472.
In this same article, in dealing with the demands upon
Israel for benevolence, Ellen White wrote:
"According to the amount bestowed will be the amount required. The
larger the capital entrusted, the more valuable is the gift which God requires
to be returned to Him. If a Christian has ten or twenty thousand dollars, God's
claims are imperative upon him, not only to give his proportion according to
the tithing system, but to present his sin offerings and thank offerings to
God.
"The Levitical dispensation was distinguished in a remarkable
manner by the sanctification of property. When we speak of the tithe as the
standard of the Jewish contributions to religious purposes, we do not speak
understandingly. The Lord kept His claims paramount, and in almost every
article they were reminded of the Giver by being required to make returns to
Him. They were required to pay a ransom for their firstborn son, for the first
fruits of their flocks, and for the first gatherings of the harvest. They were
required to leave the corners of their harvest fields for the destitute.
Whatever dropped from their hands in reaping was left for the poor, and once in
every seven years their lands were allowed to produce spontaneously for the
needy. Then there were the sacrificial offerings, the trespass offerings, the
sin offerings, and the remission of all debts every seventh year. There were
also numerous expenses for hospitalities and gifts to the poor, and there were
assessments upon their property.
"At stated periods, in order to preserve the integrity of the law,
the people were interviewed as to whether they had faithfully performed their
vows or not. A conscientious few made returns to God of about one-third of all
their income for the benefit of religious interests and for the poor. These
exactions were not from a particular class of the people, but from all, the
requirement being proportioned according to the amount possessed. Besides all
these systematic and regular donations there were special objects calling for
freewill offerings, such as the tabernacle built in the wilderness and the
temple erected at Jerusalem. These drafts were made by God upon the people for
their own good, as well as to sustain His service."-- 4T 467, 468.
"Of all our income we should make the first appropriation to God.
In the system of beneficence enjoined upon the Jews they were required either
to bring to the Lord the first fruits of all His gifts, whether in the increase
of their flocks or herds, or in the produce of their fields, orchards, or
vineyards, or they were to redeem it by substituting an equivalent. How changed
the order of things in our day! The Lord's requirements and claims, if they
receive any attention, are left till the last. Yet our work needs tenfold more
means now than was needed by the Jews. The great commission given to the
apostles was to go throughout the world and preach the gospel. This shows the
extension of the work and the increased responsibility resting upon the
followers of Christ in our day. If the law required tithes and offerings
thousands of years ago, how much more essential
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are they now! If the rich and
poor were to give a sum proportionate to their property in the Jewish economy,
it is doubly essential now.
"The majority of professed Christians part with their means with
great reluctance. Many of them do not give one-twentieth of their income to
God, and many give far less than that; while there is a large class who rob God
of the little tithe, and others who will give only the tithe. If all the tithes
of our people flowed into the treasury of the Lord as they should, such
blessings would be received that gifts and offerings for sacred purposes would
be multiplied tenfold, and thus the channel between God and man would be kept
open. The followers of Christ should not wait for thrilling missionary appeals
to arouse them to action. If spiritually awake, they would hear in the income
of every week, whether much or little, the voice of God and of conscience with
authority demanding the tithes and offerings due the Lord."-- 4T 474.
By 1880 it was the general understanding that such as funds
came from the tithe should be devoted exclusively, or nearly so, to the support
of the gospel ministry. Note this from James White:
"The tithe is the Lord's--since the fall of man it has been
necessary that there should be men devoted wholly to the service of God. It
appears that from the beginning the Lord taught His people to devote one-tenth
to the support of His ministers."-- Review & Herald, January 15, 1880.
In 1880 some local churches must have been drawing upon
tithe funds for church expenses. At least this is implied in an action taken on
October 6 at the General Conference session:
"Resolved, that no church should devote any portion of the
tithe to the erection or repairing of its church, without the free consent of
the State Conference Committee."-- Review & Herald, October 14, 1880.
The church was feeling its way. While it had been the
general understanding that tithe funds should be reserved for the gospel
ministry, the demands of a growing work and increased resources at hand led to
a more liberal stance and one which was defended by the president of the
General Conference. George I. Butler wrote a pamphlet which carries no date but
gives evidence of having been published in 1884:
"Previous to 1878 we tried to carry out a plan called Systematic
Benevolence. Each person estimated the value of his property, ten percent of
which was reckoned as its income, and one-tenth of this latter was the tithe he
was to pay on his property. Personal weekly donations were given besides. This
was, as its name implies, systematic benevolence; but it was far from being the
same as a Bible tithe. The tithe is in no sense benevolence. It is not ours to
give, but the Lord's all the time.
"The matter of the tithe was brought before the General Conference
in October, 1878, and a committee of five [three] appointed to prepare a work
on this subject. Our people then generally accepted the tithing principle
theoretically, and have practiced it to a certain extent ever since."-- The
Tithing System, p. 69.
On pages 71 and 72 Elder Butler deals with the use of the tithe:
"Matters in the cause are assuming a new phase. New demands upon
us in the line of laborers are coming in more and more, and certainly the time
is reached when we ought to be honest with God and give Him His own."
Then in pointing out that
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which makes this necessary, he makes this
statement:
"Until within a few years past, the tithe has been used almost
wholly for sustaining ministers of the gospel, those who preach from the stand.
In some way it seemed to be universally understood that no others were entitled
to any of the tithe. But more recently it has become customary to pay our Tract
and Missionary State Secretaries from the tithe, and our auditing committees
have settled with them the same as ministers. It has taken, in many cases,
considerable argument to bring this about.
"With the last year or two another class has also been laboring in
the cause, and the question has been raised, How shall these be paid? We refer
to the colporteurs and missionary workers of different classes, laboring in
field or in city missions. These have in many cases been paid from the tithe.
But in several instances it has been a heavy strain upon the treasury, and in
some cases the ministry have not had a reasonable support because of this. The
question has come to the front in a manner so forcible that it must be met and
settled.
"Many can labor as effectively in the missionary work as
colporteurs and laborers as those who preach from the desk. Many, no doubt,
will canvass, and pay their way by the profits on sales, but there are many
others who cannot be supported in this way, whose labors are necessary to carry
the truth. How shall these be sustained?
"After giving the matter much reflection we have settled the
question in our own mind. We believe that tithing is designed of God for the
support, as far as it will go, of all laborers who are called by the cause of
God to give their time to this work. We know of no other special system for
this purpose."-- G. I. Butler in An Examination of the Tithing System From a
Bible Standpoint, pp. 71, 72.
Notice that church school teachers are not mentioned. We had
no organized church school program at this time.
To what extent the opinions expressed by Elder Butler may
have been incorporated into the policies of the church is a matter which could
be investigated.
There was a discussion of the wider use of tithe at the
General Conference Committee on October 13, 1896, at the Fall Session. We quote
from the minutes:
"Elder Breed asked advice with reference to the counsel which
should be given churches in regard to use of the tithe for church debts and
expenses. It was shown that, while it was quite generally the custom of our
churches to keep their tithe in the regular channel--the support of the
ministry--yet in some instances, especially among two or three of the largest
churches in the denomination, the usual practice in this respect was not being
followed. The members of the committee expressed regret that such was the
condition of things, and suggested that steps should be taken to remedy the
evil as quickly as possible." -- General Conference Committee, October 13,
1896.
The record makes clear that in the mid-1890s, the Lord
through His messenger gave specific directions calling for a strict policy
relating to the use of the tithe. This came in a communication written from
Cooranbong, New South Wales, on March 14, 1897. It was published by the General
Conference in a 39-page tract, May 21, 1897:
"Letters have come to me from Oakland and Battle Creek, making
inquiries as to the disposition made of the tithe. The writers supposed that
they were authorized to use the tithe money
Page 11
in meeting the expenses of the
church, as these expenses were quite heavy. From that which has been shown me,
the tithe is not to be withdrawn from the treasury. Every penny of this money
is the Lord's own sacred treasure, to be appropriated for a special use.
"There was a time when there was very little missionary work done,
and the tithe was accumulating. In some instances the tithe was used for
similar purposes as is now proposed. When the Lord's people felt aroused to do
missionary work in home and foreign missions, and to send missionaries to all
parts of the world, those handling sacred interests should have had clear,
sanctified discernment to understand how the means should be appropriated. When
they see ministers laboring without money to support them, and the treasury is
empty, then that treasury is to be strictly guarded. Not one penny is to be
removed from it. Ministers have just as much right to their wages as have the
workers employed in the Review and Herald office, and the laborers in the
Pacific Press Publishing House. A great robbery has been practiced in the
meager wages paid to some of the workers. If they give their time and thought
and labor to the service of the Master, they should have wages enough to supply
their families with food and clothing.
"The light which the Lord has given me on this subject is that the
means in the treasury for the support of the ministers in the different fields
is not to be used for any other purpose. If an honest tithe were paid, and the
money coming into the treasury were carefully guarded, the ministers would
receive a just wage. . . . The minister who labors should be sustained. But
notwithstanding this, those who are officiating in this work see that there is
not money in the treasury to pay the minister. They are withdrawing the tithe
for other expenses--to keep up the meetinghouse necessities or some charity.
God is not glorified in any such work. . . . Gifts and offerings should be
brought in by the people as they are privileged in having houses of worship. .
. . Let house-to-house labor be done in setting before the families in Battle
Creek and Oakland their duty in acting a part in meeting these expenses, which
may be called common or secular, and let not the treasury be robbed."--
Special Testimonies to Ministers and Workers, pp. 16-19.
While making clear that well established churches such as
those in Oakland and Battle Creek should not use tithe funds for church
expense, Ellen White did at the same time (1897) recognize that there were
circumstances where tithe funds might be used for church buildings:
"There are exceptional cases, where poverty is so deep that in
order to secure the humblest place of worship, it may be necessary to
appropriate the tithes. But that place is not Battle Creek or Oakland. Let
those who assemble to worship God consider the self-denial and self-sacrifice
of Jesus Christ. Let those brethren who profess to be children of God study how
they can deny themselves, how they can part with some of their idols, and
carefully economize in every line. In each house there should be a box for the
church fund, to be used for the needs of the church . . . .
"Let not those to whom are entrusted responsibilities, allow the
treasury that God has appointed to sustain the ministers in the field, to be
robbed to supply the expenses incurred in keeping in order and making
comfortable the home of God. Thousands upon thousands of dollars have been
taken from the tithes and used for these purposes. This is not as it should be.
The
Page 12
gifts and offerings that have cost some self-denial are to be brought in. A
separate fund for the purpose of defraying the expenses which every church
member should share according to his ability should be instituted in every
place where there is a church."--Ms 24, 1897.
This message led to an exchange of correspondence. C. H.
Jones of Oakland wrote immediately to Elder White that the Oakland church was
not using tithe funds for church expense, and Mrs. White replied on May 27,
1897, writing at length in appreciation and again stressing the importance of
reserving tithe funds for the specific purpose for which it is intended. In
this she declared: "If there is a surplus of means in the treasury, there are
many places where it may be used strictly in the appointed lines" (Letter 81,
1897).
The next year Ellen White restated the matter in a manner
concerning which there can be no question:
"God's ministers are His shepherds, appointed by Him to feed His
flock. The tithe is His provision for their maintenance, and He designs that it
shall be held sacred to this purpose."'Ms 139, 1898.
Again, six years later, she stressed this point:
"The tithe is to be used for one purpose--to sustain the ministers
whom the Lord has appointed to do His work. It is to be used to support those
who speak the words of life to the people, and carry the burden of the flock of
God. . . .
"The impression is becoming quite common that the sacred
disposition of the tithe no longer exists. Many have lost their sense of the
Lord's requirements."--Ms 82, 1904.
In many of her later statements relative to the use of the
tithe, Ellen White speaks of how funds have been diverted to areas other than
that to which the tithe was dedicated; that is, for the support of the
ministry.
As we have gone through the early records we find that on
May 4, 1898, the General Conference Committee, at a meeting attended by Elders
Irwin, Jones, Evans, and Moon, was persuaded by Dr. J. H. Kellogg to allow the
use of the tithe paid by the sanitarium helpers to be devoted, under the
direction of the Medical Missionary Association, to supporting trained workers
and nurses to carry the light of health reform principles into the various
conferences for the education of this denomination. It is not too clear whether
this was to be the tithe funds going directly from the sanitarium to the field,
or whether the tithe was to be paid to the General Conference and the General
Conference was then to turn around and provide an equal amount for this type of
work.
On March 27, 1900, a report to the General Conference
Committee from the Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association provided "an
account of the receipts and disbursements of the tithes of the sanitarium
family from May 25, 1898, to December 31, 1899." Attached to this was a copy of
the May 4, 1898, authorizing action.
On April 4, 1900, the question was raised as to the
procedure which had been approved on May 4, 1898, and a committee was appointed
to bring a recommendation as to the course which should be pursued. The
committee reported on April 6, 1900, taking the position that "they did not
feel free to make a definite recommendation at this time." And interestingly
enough "by common consent, the committee deemed it prudent to let the matter
rest
Page 13
for the present." Apparently they were not prepared to tangle with Dr.
Kellogg on this.
There is a record indicating that when Brother Semmens was
sent to Australia as a medical missionary worker, part of his support came from
the tithe provided by the Battle Creek Sanitarium family.
However, the sentiment generally reflected in various and
sundry documents indicates that it was the understanding of the church that the
tithe was reserved especially for the ministry.
At its meeting of December 28, 1889, attended by O. A.
Olsen, W. C. White, R. M. Kilgore, E. W. Farnsworth and A. T. Jones, the
General Conference Committee took the following action:
"A letter was read from a Sister Gillett, of Graysville, Tennessee,
asking that they might be permitted to retain their tithes for one year to
assist in building a meeting-house.
"On motion, it was voted that it is the sense of this committee
that we do not endorse the withholding of tithes for such purposes under any
circumstances.
"Second, that we promise the brethren at Graysville a donation to
assist in building a meetinghouse."'GC Committee Minutes, December 28, 1889.
In the late 1890s Ellen White on several occasions spoke of
the remuneration of women in evangelistic work either in the sacred desk or in
carrying the message from door to door:
"A great work is to be done in our world, and every talent is to be
used in accordance with righteous principles. If a woman is appointed by the
Lord to do a certain work, her work is to be estimated according to its value.
Every laborer is to receive his or her just due. . . .
"Those who work earnestly and unselfishly, be they men or women,
bring sheaves to the Master; and the souls converted by their labor will bring
their tithes to the treasury."--Ev 491, 492.
The next year she wrote:
"The tithe should go to those who labor in word and doctrine be
they men or women."--Ev 492.
As Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, came from the
press in late 1900 it carried several strong appeals for the outreach of the
work and the need of this being supported by the tithe. In the chapter on
"School Management and Finance" she declared:
"Our conferences look to the schools for educated and well-trained
laborers, and they should give the schools a most hearty and intelligent
support. Light has been plainly given that those who minister in our schools,
teaching the Word of God, explaining the Scriptures, educating the students in
the things of God, should be supported by the tithe money. This instruction was
given long ago, and more recently it has been repeated again and again."' 6T
215.
A full chapter was devoted to tithe and offerings entitled
"Giving to God His Own," stressing strongly our responsibility to support from
the tithe those who carry the message of salvation to the world:
"He [God] places His treasures in the hands of men, but requires
that one-tenth shall be faithfully laid aside for His work. He requires this
portion to be placed in His treasury. It is to be rendered to Him as His own;
it is sacred and is to be used for sacred purposes, for the support of those
who carry the message of salvation to all parts of the world.
Page 14
He reserves this portion, that means may ever be flowing into His
treasure house and that the light of truth may be carried to those who are nigh
and those who are afar off. By faithfully obeying this requirement we
acknowledge that all belongs to God. . . .
"God lays His hand upon all man's possessions, saying: I am the
owner of the universe, and these goods are Mine. The tithe you have withheld I
reserve for the support of My servants in their work of opening the Scriptures
to those who are in the regions of darkness, who do not understand My law. In
using My reserve fund to gratify your own desires you have robbed souls of the
light which I made provision for them to receive. You have had opportunity to
show loyalty to Me, but you have not done this. You have robbed Me; you have
stolen My reserve fund. 'Ye are cursed with a curse' (Mal. 3:9)." 6T 386, 387.
And in her call for "Help for Mission Fields," she specified
that the tithe should be used in missionary work:
"Every convert to the truth should be instructed in regard to the
Lord's requirement for tithes and offerings. As churches are raised up, this
work must be taken hold of decidedly and carried forward in the spirit of
Christ. All that men enjoy, they receive from the Lord's great firm, and He is
pleased to have His heritage enjoy His goods; but all who stand under the
bloodstained banner of Prince Immanuel are to acknowledge their dependence upon
God and their accountability to Him by returning to the treasury a certain
portion as His own. This is to be invested in missionary work in fulfillment of
the commission given to His disciples by the Son of God."--6T 447.
The decade preceding the issuance of Testimonies,
vol. 6, had marked an important expansion in our school work. Colleges had been
opened in Lincoln, Nebraska, Walla Walla, Washington, and Cooranbong,
Australia. It is in volume 6 that we find the first clear-cut declaration
concerning paying Bible teachers from the tithe:
"The best ministerial talent should be employed in teaching the
Bible in our schools. Those selected for this work need to be thorough Bible
students and to have a deep Christian experience, and their salary should be
paid from the tithe."-- 6T 134, 135.
The emphasis was to continue on a faithful stewardship of
every church member:
"If all would pay a faithful tithe and devote to the Lord the first
fruits of their increase, there would be a full supply of funds for His work.
But the law of God is not respected or obeyed, and this has brought a pressure
of want."-- 6T 385.
The element of the care to be taken in the use of the tithe
became more prominent and was to be intensified in the next decade--a decade of
unprecedented expansion in the work of the church.
By this time Sabbath school offerings were being taken up on
a regular basis. The first was in 1878--the year of the revision of the tithe
plan--and was used for local Sabbath school expense. In 1885 Sabbath schools
made their first gifts to missions. In 1889 and 1890 the Sabbath schools
provided funds for building the Pitcairn. By 1904 most Sabbath school offerings
went for foreign missions.
It was in this setting, at the turn of the century, that we
moved into our church school work in a serious way. There were various
suggestions made as
Page 15
to how this line of work should be supported. On July 29,
1901, Ellen White wrote:
"The Lord desires the churches in every place to take hold more
diligently of the church school work, giving liberally to sustain the teachers.
The question has been asked, 'Could not the second tithe be used for the
support of the church school work?' It could be used for no better
purpose."--Ms 67, 1901.
On October 29, 1901, the General Conference Committee took
an action on the second tithe in which it was arranged for certain second tithe
funds to be returned to the Pacific Union Conference, but without specifying
their use.
When San Fernando Academy was opened about the year 1904, it
was proposed that the school be supported from the second tithe, and at about
that time two pamphlets were published by the Southern California Conference.
One was The Second Tithe, Its Scripture Foundation and Legitimate Use,
written by R. S. Owen, and the other was The Second Tithe, by Clarence
Santee and R. S. Owen. But Ellen White on April 27, 1904, wrote:
"I do not see the wisdom of the school depending on the second
tithe to meet so much of its expenses. I fear that if the brethren rely so much
upon this, difficulties will arise. You should labor patiently to develop those
industries by which students may partly work their way through school. Let each
family try to pay the expenses of the students that it sends to
school."--Letter 167, 1904, addressed to Brethren Santee and Owen.
On April 7, 1905, Ellen White wrote to E. S. Ballenger, who
was connected with our school work:
"In regard to the school work, I have been instructed that the plan
of charging students nothing for tuition, depending on the second tithe to
support the school, will always leave the school in the condition of financial
embarrassment. When I first heard of this movement I thought I would let it be
worked out, but I tell you now that the light given me is that other plans will
have to be made than the plan of supporting schools from the second tithe.
Students should be charged a reasonable price for their tuition. There will be
an abundance of places to use the second tithe in doing earnest missionary work
in new places."--Letter 103, 1905.
And then on October 4, 1905, Ellen White wrote to Elder
Clarence Santee:
"We are now wrestling with the debt on the Fernando college. If our
people will take hold earnestly of the sale of Christ's Object Lessons a
great deal may be accomplished. The plans for supporting this school in the
past were not wisely laid. I hope that no one will endeavor to go over the same
ground again and make similar mistakes."--Letter 279, 1905.
In the context of these times Ellen White in 1904 penned a
statement on The Use of the Tithe (Ms 82, 1904), portions of which were
to form a part of the counsels which eventually were published in
Testimonies, vol. 9, under the title of "Faithful Stewardship."
The full 1904 statement appears as
Appendix A. It is significant.
Considerable attention has been focused on the paragraph on
pages 248, 249 of Testimonies, vol. 9, concerning the use of tithe for
"school purposes" and support of "canvassers and colporteurs."
History of the statement in question:
a. As noted, it appears first in Manuscript 82, 1904, as
follows:
"One reasons that the tithe may be applied to school purposes.
Still others
Page 16
reason that canvassers and colporteurs should be supported from
the tithe. But a great mistake is made when the tithe is drawn from the object
for which it is to be used--the support of the ministers. There should be today
in the field one hundred well qualified laborers where now there is but one."
[See full manuscript as Appendix A.]
b. In preparing for a presentation to be made at San Jose, California, in
January, 1907, at a symposium on the "Support of God's Kingdom on Earth," Ellen
White incorporated the paragraph in the heart of the manuscript she would read.
c. The Ellen G. White symposium article was embodied in 1909 in
Testimonies, vol. 9, pp. 245-251, in the chapter "Faithful Stewardship."
Thus we have the paragraph in question appearing three
times: 1904, 1907, 1909.
The question has been raised whether in 1904 or 1907 there
were special issues or crises either in our educational work or the colporteur
ministry. Very careful examination of the minutes of the General Conference, of
the correspondence between Ellen White's office and leading church workers, and
the E. G. White files themselves, fails to reveal that there was any special
crisis situation which led Ellen White to write as she did.
The 1884 Butler pamphlet in which he expresses his
conviction that tithe money should help support the newly established
colporteur ministry was, however, in circulation in 1904, the year of writing
of the statement in question.
As to the payment of colporteurs, the records from 1901 to
1904, which we have examined, make no reference to the suggestion that
colporteurs might be paid from the tithe.
These facts give support to the conjecture that Ellen
White's statement concerning "school interests" and "colporteurs" appears only
in general terms in the context of a statement dealing with the tithe and its
use, and was written to safeguard the use of the tithe.
It should be ever kept in mind that the burden of many of
the E. G. White statements regarding the use of the tithe and the diversion of
tithe funds is that there shall always be ample funds in the treasury to
adequately pay the ministers and to support the strong evangelistic thrust
throughout the world. She wrote:
"There should be an abundant supply in the Lord's treasury and
there would be if selfish hearts and hands had not made use of the tithe to
support other lines of work.
"God's reserved resources are to be used in no such haphazard way.
The tithe is the Lord's, and those who meddle with it will be punished with the
loss of their heavenly treasure unless they repent. Let the work no longer be
hedged up because the tithe has been diverted into various channels other than
the one to which the Lord has said it should be. Provision is to be made for
these other lines of work. They are to be sustained, but not from the tithe.
God has not changed; the tithe is still to be used for the support of the
ministry. The opening of new fields requires more ministerial efficiency than
we now have, and there must be means in the treasury."-- 9T 249, 250.
October, 1975
Revised February, 1990
Page 17
by Robert W. Olson
At the time of the organization of the Seventh-day Adventist
church we did not have a full-fledged tithing system, nor did we have any
instruction from Ellen White relative to usage of the tithe. Mrs. White's
earliest comments on how tithe funds should be spent were of a very general
nature. Late in 1879 she wrote:
"Institutions that are God's instruments to carry forward His work
on the earth must be sustained. Churches must be erected, schools established,
and publishing houses furnished with facilities for doing a great work in the
publication of the truth to be sent to all parts of the world. These
institutions are ordained of God and should be sustained by tithes and liberal
offerings. As the work enlarges, means will be needed to carry it forward in
all its branches."-- 4T 464.
Three years later she made a somewhat similar comment: "A
tithe of all our increase is the Lord's. He has reserved it to Himself, to be
employed for religious purposes" (CS 67).
However, by the 1890s Ellen White had become much more
explicit in her counsel. As the church grew and new problems and challenges had
to be faced, the Lord gave her increased light and understanding of His will in
this matter.
On March 16, 1897, she wrote to A. G. Daniells:
"I send you this morning a letter written for America, and sent
there yesterday morning, which will show you how I regard the tithe money being
used for other purposes. [See Special Testimonies, Series A. No. 10, pp.
16-25.] This is the Lord's special revenue fund, for a special purpose. I have
never so fully understood this matter as I now understand it. Having had
questions directed here to me to answer, I have had special instruction from
the Lord that the tithe is for a special purpose, consecrated to God to sustain
those who minister in the sacred work, as the Lord's chosen to do His work not
only in sermonizing, but in ministering. They should understand all that this
comprehends."-- Letter 40, 1897; 1MR 187.
Ellen White herself helps us to "understand all that this
comprehends," for she specifically approved certain usages of the tithe, while
she just as specifically disapproved of others.
According to Ellen White, tithe funds may properly be used
for the support of the following classes of workers or projects:
1. Gospel Ministers
"Let each regularly examine his income, which is all a blessing
from God, and set apart the tithe as a separate fund,
Page 18
to be sacredly the
Lord's. This fund should not in any case be devoted to any other use; it is to
be devoted solely to support the ministry of the gospel."--RH May 9, 1893; CS
81.
"The tithe is to be used for one purpose--to sustain the ministers
whom the Lord has appointed to do His work. It is to be used to support those
who speak the words of life to the people, and carry the burden of the flock of
God. . . . When a man enters the ministry, he is to be paid from the tithe
enough to sustain his family. He is not to feel that he is a beggar."-- Ms 82,
1904.
2. Bible Instructors
"The tithe should go to those who labor in word and doctrine, be
they men or women."-- Ev 492.
"There are ministers' wives--Sisters Starr, Haskell, Wilson, and
Robinson--who have been devoted, earnest whole--souled workers, giving Bible
readings and praying with families, helping along by personal efforts just as
successfully as their husbands. These women give their whole time, and are told
that they receive nothing for their labors because their husbands receive
wages. I tell them to go forward and all such decisions will be revised. The
Word says, 'The laborer is worthy of his hire.' When any such decision as this
is made, I will in the name of the Lord protest. I will feel it my duty to
create a fund from my tithe money to pay these women who are accomplishing just
as essential work as the ministers are doing."-- Letter 137, 1898; MR 959.
3. Bible Teachers
"Some women are now teaching young women to work successfully as
visitors and Bible readers. . . . Should not such labor be looked upon as being
as rich in results as the work of the ordained ministers? Should it not command
the hire of the laborers?
Would not such workers be defrauded if they were
not paid?...
"In many respects a woman can impart knowledge to her sisters that
a man cannot. The cause would suffer great loss without this kind of labor.
Again and again the Lord has shown me that women teachers are just as greatly
needed to do the work to which He has appointed them as are men."-- Ms 43a,
1898; MR 330.
"The best ministerial talent should be employed to lead and direct
in the teaching of the Bible in our schools. Those chosen for this work need to
be thorough Bible students; they should be men who have a deep Christian
experience, and their salary should be paid from the tithe."-- CT 431 (1913).
"Light has been plainly given that those who minister in our
schools, teaching the Word of God, explaining the Scriptures, educating the
students in the things of God, should be supported by the tithe money. This
instruction was given long ago, and more recently it has been repeated again
and again."-- 6T 215 (1900); CS 103.
On December 4, 1904, W. C. White wrote William Covert,
president of the Wisconsin Conference:
"In working out this problem in schools that mother was closely
connected with, the tithe was only used for the minister connected with the
school, who had the chief burden of the Bible instruction, whose special work
was the fiting of young people for evangelical work."
4. Needy Mission Fields, Both in America and Overseas
"In some of the larger conferences the tithe may be more than
sufficient to sustain the laborers now in the field. But
Page 19
this does not sanction
its use for any other purpose. If the conferences were doing the work that God
desires them to do, there would be many more laborers in the field, and the
demand for funds would be greatly increased. The conferences should feel a
burden for the regions beyond their own borders. There are missions to be
sustained in fields where there are no churches and no tithes, and also where
the believers are new and the tithe limited. If you have means that is not
needed after settling with your ministers in a liberal manner, send the Lord's
money to these destitute places."-- Ms 139, 1898; 1MR 182, 184.
"More and more we must come to realize that the means that come
into the conference in the tithes and gifts of our people should be used for
the support of the work not only in the American cities, but also in foreign
fields. Let the means so zealously collected be unselfishly distributed. Those
who realize the needs of mission fields will not be tempted to use the tithe
for that which is not necessary."-- Ms 11, 1908; 1MR 192.
5. Publishing Department Directors
W. C. White wrote W. S. Lowry on May 10, 1912:
"In many conferences in past years the question has arisen as to
whether it was lawful and expedient to pay the State canvassing agent from the
tithe. This matter has been discussed in Union and in General Conference
councils, and our brethren feel clear in supporting the State agent from the
tithe because the books are very effective preachers. Whenever this question
has been brought to Mother, she has given her approval of the plan generally
adopted by our people."
6. Medical Missionaries (Minister-Physicians)
"Some, who do not see the advantage of educating the youth to be
physicians both of the mind and of the body, say that the tithe should not be
used to support medical missionaries, who devote their time to treating the
sick. In response to such statements as these, I am instructed to say that the
mind must not become so narrowed down that it cannot take in the truth of the
situation. A minister of the gospel, who is also a medical missionary, who can
cure physical ailments, is a much more efficient worker than one who cannot do
this. His work as a minister of the gospel is much more complete."-- MM 245.
7. Retirement Benefits for Ministers and Their
Families
"Many workers have gone into the grave heartbroken, because
they had grown old, and could see that they were looked upon as a burden. But
had they been retained in the work, and given an easy place, with a whole or
part of their wages, they might have accomplished much good. During their term
of labor, these men have done double labor. They felt so heavy a burden for
souls that they had no desire to be relieved of overwork. The heavy burdens
borne shortened their lives. The widows of these ministers are never to be
forgotten, but should, if necessary, be paid from the tithe."-- Ms 82, 1904;
1MR 189.
On February 24, 1911, E. R. Palmer wrote Ellen White
describing the details of the newly adopted sustentation plan. He stated, "Each
of our conferences contributes five percent of its tithes to the Sustentation
Fund."
Ellen White responded:
"I was pleased to receive a letter from you, as one who has been
appointed to act a part in the distribution of the sustentation fund. . . . It
is right that sure plans be laid for the support of our aged workers, or the
younger workers who are
Page 20
suffering because of overwork."--Letter 10, 1911; MR
193.
8. A Partial Salary for Some Literature Evangelists
According to W. C. White, some colporteurs were provided a
partial salary in Australia while Sister White was there. On June 11, 1902, he
wrote the publishing director of the Lake Union Conference:
"I see no light whatever in any wholesale move for placing
canvassers on the payroll, and taking their commissions. I have studied the
proposition many times, and I see nothing in it but financial ruin to the
conference, and demoralization to the canvassers.
"There are many places, however, where our canvassers ought to be,
but which are too difficult to work; and I believe it would be greatly to the
advantage of our work if faithful men and women were selected to go into our
cities and other fields that are especially difficult, with the promise of two
to three dollars per week to assist them in their living expenses during those
times in their work when their commissions do not give them ample support. I
have seen this plan followed with excellent results, and I believe in it most
heartily.
"In the Australian Colonies we could not afford to support Bible
workers on the old-fashioned plan; but we secured as many colporteurs as we
could get to sell the Bible Echo, the Health Journal, and our
smaller books, in the large cities, and we paid these workers from two to two
and a half dollars a week each from the conference tithe to assist them in
their expenses. I believe that it will be necessary to follow a plan similar to
this in many difficult fields."--W. C. White to J. B. Blosser, June 11, 1902.
While we do not have a statement from Ellen White endorsing
this use of tithe funds, it seems reasonable to conclude that she was in
agreement with the plan, for it was in effect in Australia while she was there.
The fact that W. C. White defended the plan would also seem to indicate that
Ellen White approved of it.
1. Houses of Worship, in Exceptional Cases
"There are exceptional cases, where poverty is so deep that in
order to secure the humblest place of worship, it may be necessary to
appropriate the tithes. But that place is not Battle Creek or Oakland."--Ms 24,
1897; 1MR 191.
"All here [Petoskey, Michigan] are poor, scarcely able to take care
of themselves. Now the request I have to make is for the conference to buy this
little meetinghouse. We want you all to consent to this, and the conference may
own it until the church here increases in numbers and can buy it."--Letter 96,
1890, to O. A. Olsen, General Conference president.
2. The Clerk and Treasurer of Large Churches
C. F. McVagh, president of the Southern Union Conference,
wrote W. C. White on October 24, 1912:
"Brethren Nicola, Hart, and others of the older brethren tell me
that they distinctly remember that years ago Sister White said that the tithe
collector and clerk of the Battle Creek church should be paid out of the tithe,
and up to the time of the Haughey administration, I guess it is a fact that the
Battle Creek church paid its clerk and treasurer out of the tithe, and then
turned the balance over to the conference."
In responding, W. C. White said his recollections were the
same:
Page 21
"My memory of the matter is in full harmony with the statements of
Brother Nicola, Hart, and others. In the olden days, when the Battle Creek
church was growing, it was found that unless the work of collecting the tithe
was followed up regularly that the amount received was very much less than if
the matter were followed up in a businesslike way by a collector who made the
work his regular duty. We also found that this work demanded more time than it
was right for us to ask any one, two, or three of the deacons to give to the
matter, and it was thought by the church council that it would be good policy,
and for the best interests of the tithe payers, and for the best interests of
the conference, to have a good collector chosen and employed and paid a
reasonable amount for his time.
"This plan, with the reasons therefor, was placed before
Father
* and Mother, and received their hearty approval. I cannot name the
time or the place, nor can I repeat the words, but I am very positive that
Mother gave her hearty approval to this plan, and it seems to me that the
wisdom of the plan can be clearly discerned from the business standpoint, and
that it should be maintained even though we may not find a written testimony
bearing upon the subject.
"In years past there was no effort made to conceal from other
churches the fact that Battle Creek managed its affairs in this way. Our
brethren largely recognized that different methods must be followed in churches
of different circumstances. I am glad to tell you that the St. Helena
Sanitarium church employs a faithful tithe collector and pays for actual
service done from the tithe. Should this plan be discontinued, I think the
conference would lose from five to ten times as much as it paid to the
collector. But we do not find that our smaller churches need to follow this
plan or that they are brought into perplexity because this plan is followed in
our very large churches."--W. C. White to C. F. McVagh, October 31, 1912.
* James White died in 1881,
so this was a very early practice in Battle Creek. The fact that the St. Helena
Sanitarium church was paying its "tithe collector" in 1912 would seem to
indicate Ellen White's continued approval of the plan.
3. Medical Missionary Work, to a Very Limited Degree
On May 4, 1898, the General Conference Committee authorized
a tithe-for-tithe exchange with Dr. Kellogg. Concerning this special fund, Dr.
John Harvey Kellogg wrote Ellen White on March 17, 1901:
"Tithe which is paid by our sanitarium workers is all paid
into the conference treasury just the same as other tithes, every cent of it.
But at our request, and with your approval, an equal sum is appropriated to be
used in carrying forward the missionary work connected with the sanitarium.
This is the way the matter has always been conducted and I have never asked for
anything else."
Ellen White apparently approved of Dr. Kellogg's use of
tithe funds for medical missionary purposes, for three years earlier she had
written to our leading brethren:
"Why, I ask you, have not special efforts been made to
employ medical missionary workers in our churches? Dr. Kellogg will make some
moves that I would feel sorry to have him feel compelled to make. He says if no
means is allowed to carry the message by medical missionary laborers into the
churches, he shall separate the tithe that is paid into the conference, to
sustain the medical missionary work. You should come to an understanding and
work harmoniously. For him to separate the tithe from the
Page 22
treasury would be a
necessity I greatly dread. If this money in tithe is paid by the workers into
the treasury, why, I ask, should not that amount be apportioned to the carrying
forward of the medical missionary work?"--Letter 51a, 1898.
"If no help is given by the presidents of our conferences
and ministers to those engaged in our work, Dr. Kellogg will no longer pay in
the tithe from the workers at the sanitarium. They will appropriate this to
carrying forward the work that is in harmony with the light of God's Word. . .
.
"When the Lord moves upon the churches, bidding them do a
certain work, and they refuse to do that work, and someone consents to reach to
the very depths of human woe and misery, God's blessing will rest upon
him."--Letter 51, 1898.
Ellen White cautioned that this type of work, while
important, should not absorb all the energies of the church. She queried,
"If we should all engage in the work that Dr. Kellogg has
been doing for the lowest class of people, what would become of the work that
is to be done in the places where the third angel's message, the truth upon the
Sabbath and the second coming of our Lord, has never been proclaimed?"--Letter
18, 1900.
Ellen White also identified certain purposes for which the
tithe was not to be employed. These included the following:
1. Care of the Poor, the Sick, and the Aged
"Through circumstances some will become poor. It may be that
they were not careful, that they did not know how to manage. Others through
sickness or misfortune are poor. Whatever is the reason, they are in need, and
to help them is an important line of home missionary work. These unfortunate,
needy ones should not be sent away from home to be cared for. Let each church
feel its responsibility to have a special interest in the feeble and the aged.
One or two among them can certainly be taken care of. The tithe should not be
appropriated for this work."--Ms 43, 1900; MR 177.
"The tithe is set apart for a special use. It is not to be
regarded as a poor fund."--CS 103.
2. The Education of Needy Students
"Now, in regard to educating students in our schools. It is
a good idea; it will have to be done; but God forbid that in the place of
practicing self-denial and self-sacrifice our individual selves, to do this
work, we should subtract from the Lord's portion, specifically reserved to
sustain the ministers in active labor in the field. . . .
"All these things are to be done, as you propose, to help
students to obtain an education, but I ask you, Shall we not all act in this
matter unselfishly, and create a fund, and keep it to draw upon on such
occasions? When you see a young man or a young woman who are promising
subjects, advance or loan the sum needed, with the idea that it is a loan, not
a gift. It would be better to have it thus. Then when it is returned, it can be
used to educate others. But this money is not to be taken from the tithe, but
from a separate fund secured for that purpose."--Letter 40, 1897; 1MR 193, 194.
3. School Purposes and Colporteur Support
One reasons that the tithe may be applied to school
purposes. Still others reason that canvassers and colporteurs should be
supported from the tithe. But a great mistake is made when the tithe is drawn
from the object for which it is to
Page 23
be used--the support of the ministers. . . .
Provision is to be made for these other lines of work. They are to be
sustained, but not from the tithe."--9T 248-250 (1909).
4. Church Expense
"I was shown that it is wrong to use the tithe for defraying
the incidental expenses of the church. . . . You are robbing God every time
that you put your hands into the treasury for funds to meet the running
expenses of the church." * -- CS 103.
"His people today are to remember that the house of worship
is the Lord's property and that it is to be scrupulously cared for. But the
funds for this work are not to come from the tithe."'9T 248 (1909).
* After reading this message from
Ellen White, the Battle Creek church voted on January 16, 1897, "that the
church discontinue the practice of paying the current expenses of the church
and Tabernacle out of the tithe." (Published in Special Testimony to Battle
Creek Church, p. 10.)
5. Church or Institutional Buildings
A church seating 1,500 people was erected in Oakland,
California, in the 1880s. Total cost, including land and furnishings, was
$36,000. A decade later indebtedness on the building had been reduced to
$12,400, but for various reasons the members were having great difficulty in
making the mortgage payments. On February 1, 1897, C. H. Jones wrote Ellen
White:
"We are in an emergency. There is great danger, unless this
debt is lifted, that the church will be allowed to go by default, and the
mortgage foreclosed. . . .
"Would it be wrong, Sister White, under the circumstances,
for the Oakland church to retain a portion of its tithe for a time, in order to
liquidate the indebtedness--simply taking it as a loan to be paid back to the
conference as soon as possible?
If it is wrong, we do not want to do it; if it is right, it
will be a great relief to the church.
Responding in a general way, Ellen White declared:
"There are exceptional cases, where poverty is so deep that
in order to secure the humblest place of worship, it may be necessary to
appropriate the tithes. But that place is not Battle Creek or Oakland."--Ms 24,
1897; 1MR 191.
Then, in a letter to Jones under date of May 27, she more
directly answered his question when she stated:
"Every soul who is honored in being a steward of God is to
carefully guard the tithe money. This is sacred means. The Lord will not
sanction your borrowing this money for any other work. It will create evils you
cannot now discern. It is not to be meddled with by the Oakland church, for
there are missions to be sustained in other fields, where there are no churches
and no tithes."--Letter 81, 1897; 1MR 185.
In 1895-1896 the Boulder Sanitarium was erected at a cost of
about $80,000. Of this amount, $60,000 was supplied from General Conference
funds, which were basically tithe funds. Ellen White objected to this means of
financing the construction costs of the institution. On June 19, 1899, she
wrote:
"The question has been asked me by letter, Have you any
light for us in regard to the Boulder Sanitarium? ... The light which the Lord
has been pleased to give me is that it was not right to build this sanitarium
upon funds supplied by the General Conference."--Letter 93, 1899.
Page 24
Ellen White states that the tithe should be used for "one
purpose--to sustain the ministers," and that it is to be devoted "solely to
support the ministry of the gospel." These expressions would seem to indicate
that tithe funds should be reserved exclusively to pay the salaries of pastors
and evangelists. However, it is evident that Ellen White did not interpret her
own writings in such a limited way.
As legitimate recipients of tithe funds she included
publishing department directors, minister-physicians, Dr. Kellogg's medical
missionaries, a church treasurer and clerk, and, apparently, literature
evangelists with especially difficult territorial assignments.
Ellen White's rather broad understanding of the question of
tithe usage is further underscored by her willingness to make exceptions to the
rules under certain circumstances. As noted, she agreed that, in cases of dire
poverty, tithe funds could be used to secure houses of worship. True, this was
an exceptional--not a regular--use of the tithe, but it did, in fact, receive
Ellen White's endorsement.
On the other hand, Ellen White named several causes for
which tithe money was not to be appropriated. In specifying that the tithe
should not be used for church expense, care for the destitute, colporteur
salaries, or school purposes, she was not labeling these causes as undeserving.
Rather, if the tithe should be used for these and other similar, good programs,
there would not be enough money left to support the gospel ministry.
The basic rationale for giving top priority to the gospel
ministry in the use of tithe funds must be that pastors, evangelists, and
conference administrators have no other adequate source of income available for
their support. This is also true of other conference office personnel, such as
secretaries, accountants, custodians, etc. Colporteurs, teachers, medical
institution workers, and publishing house employees all generate an income from
their labors. This is not true of ministers or conference office personnel.
Hence, if the tithe is diverted to other enterprises, the gospel ministry will
suffer and, in consequence, the church as a whole will suffer as well.
Question may be raised as to why Ellen White approved of
paying the Battle Creek church "tithe collector" (treasurer) from the tithe
when he was not a minister and was not engaged in ministerial work. The answer
probably lies in the fact that his work led to a much larger tithe income for
the conference, even after his salary was paid, than would have been the case
had he not been so employed.
Question may also be raised as to why Ellen White urged
local congregations to meet their operating expenses (utilities, maintenance,
office supplies, etc.) from free will offerings, while she did not give similar
counsel concerning conference office expenses. In other words, if it is proper
to pay the electric bill in the conference office from tithe funds, why not pay
the local church's electric bill from the tithe also?
The answer to this question may be that conference office
expenses are incurred in order to provide a support center for the conference
leaders. These expenses become part of the ministerial function. On the other
hand, the same expenses in a local church provide a support center for the
laity and are not
Page 25
exclusively connected with the work of the pastor.
There is still one other matter that deserves attention. A
practice occasionally encountered over the years is that of a few church
members assigning their tithe to projects of their own choice. Ellen White
opposed this procedure. She stated:
"Let none feel at liberty to retain their tithe, to use
according to their own judgment. They are not to use it for themselves in an
emergency, nor to apply it as they see fit, even in what they may regard as the
Lord's work. . . .
"If our churches will take their stand upon the Lord's Word
and be faithful paying their tithe into His treasury, more laborers will be
encouraged to take up ministerial work. More men would give themselves to the
ministry were they not told of the depleted treasury."--9T 247, 249.
The "treasury," in Ellen White's view, was the conference.
She was pleased that Dr. Kellogg was paying all the sanitarium workers' tithe
"into the conference" (see p. 23), and she revealed great distress at the
thought that this plan might be discontinued. "For him to separate the tithe
from the treasury," she wrote, "would be a necessity I greatly dread" (Letter
51a, 1898).
In Ellen White's view, then, the various conferences should
bear the responsibility of authorizing the expenditure of tithe funds. And this
should be done through representative groups of church leaders who form our
local, union, and general conference committees. Ellen White objected strongly
to the "kingly power" exerted by a few men who controlled all General
Conference funds through the 1890s. At the General Conference session in 1901,
she admonished the delegates:
"It is not in His [God's] order that two or three men shall
plan for the whole conference, and decide how the tithe shall be used, as
though the tithe were a fund of their own."--1901 GCB 83.
If the various conferences are to decide how tithe funds
should be used, some may wonder why Ellen White at times appropriated her tithe
to causes of her own choice. The answer to this question is given by Arthur L.
White in The Early Elmshaven Years, 389-397.
A fair consideration of the complete spectrum of Ellen
White's comments on this subject leads to the following summary of principles
to be applied in the appropriation of tithe funds:
1. The tithe is the Lord's and should be returned to the
storehouse, the conference treasury, through the member's home church.
2. Gospel ministers and Bible instructors should have first
call on the tithe, and they should be remunerated adequately (pp. 17, 18,
Sections 1, 2).
3. The conference should share the tithe with the world
church (p. 18, Section 4).
4. Church members should give offerings for the operating
expenses of the local church (pp. 20, 21, 22, Sections 1, 2, 4).
5. Some aspects of the gospel, even though they are
important, should not be supported from tithe, as other sources of funding are
available for them (p. 22, Section 3).
6. Exceptions to these principles may be made only in cases
of dire poverty or under extraordinarily unusual circumstances (See C. Tithe Usages in Unusual
Sotuations).
June 1, 1986
Revised February, 1990
by Arthur L. White
This paper constitutes a brief historical review of the
unique position of Mrs. White in regard to certain special situations relating
to the tithe.
Before Sabbathkeeping Adventists had organized churches and
conferences, and before we had chosen the name "Seventh-day Adventists," the
believers came to see the binding claims of the tithing system presented so
clearly in the Scriptures. Under the general term "systematic benevolence" they
adopted early in 1859 a tithe plan which was figured on the basis of property.
It was estimated that one's property should yield an income of ten percent a
year--this was the increase. A tithe would be one tenth of this, or one percent
a year of total property valuation. *
As Testimony No. 5 came from the press in June 1859,
it bore the assurance that "the plan of systematic benevolence is pleasing to
God." Ellen White told of how in vision she "was pointed back to the days of
the apostles, and saw that God laid the plan by the descent of His Holy Spirit,
and that by the gift of prophecy He counseled His people in regard to a system
of benevolence.
"All were to share in this work of imparting of their carnal
things to those who ministered unto them in spiritual things."--1T 190.
There was a good response to the plan. And for nearly twenty
years there was little or no change in the plan of "systematic benevolence."
Then in 1878 workers and church members came to see that there was a defect in
figuring the tithe on the basis of property holdings and that "by the Bible
plan, one dollar of every ten earned is secured to the Lord's cause," and that
to pay a proper tithe called for "a tithe of all our income." (See
Systematic Benevolence; or the Bible Plan of Supporting the Ministry.
1878.)
From the inception of tithing among us, certain principles
stood out in bold relief:
1. The tithe is to be used for the support of the
ministry.
This thought is embodied in the initial Spirit of Prophecy
statement just quoted above in the reference to "those who ministered" "in
spiritual things." It is a thread running through all the counsel touching on
the tithe given over a period of fifty years, as in such typical statements:
"The tithe is sacred, reserved by God for Himself. It is to
be brought into His treasury to be used to sustain the gospel laborers in their
work."--GW 226.
"It [the tithe] is to be devoted solely to support the
ministry of the gospel."--CS 81.
"Let the work no longer be hedged up because the tithe has
been diverted into various channels other than the one
Page 27
to which the Lord has
said it should go. Provision is to be made for these other lines of work. They
are to be sustained, but not from the tithe. God has not changed; the tithe is
still to be used for the support of the ministry."--9T 250.
2. The tithe is to be brought into the "storehouse" and
from there is to be dispersed.
"It is part of the minister's work to teach those who accept
the truth through his efforts to bring the tithe to the storehouse as an
acknowledgement of their dependence upon God."--GW 370.
"He [God] claims the tithe as His own, and it should ever be
regarded as a sacred reserve, to be placed in His treasury and held sacred for
His service as He has appointed."--9T 247, 248.
3. Unlike his responsibility in the matter of freewill
offerings, the tithepayer has no discretion as to the place where his tithe
should be paid.
"That portion that God has reserved for Himself is not to be
diverted to any other purpose than that which He has specified. Let none feel
at liberty to retain their tithe, to use according to their own judgment. They
are not to use it for themselves in an emergency, nor to apply it as they see
fit, even in what they may regard as the Lord's work."--9T 247.
"A very plain, definite message has been given to me for our
people. I am bidden to tell them that they are making a mistake in applying the
tithe to various objects which, though good in themselves, are not the object
to which the Lord has said that the tithe should be applied. Those who make
this use of the tithe are departing from the Lord's arrangement. God will judge
for these things."--9T 248.
"Some have been dissatisfied and have said: 'I will not
longer pay my tithe, for I have no confidence in the way things are managed at
the heart of the work.'
"But will you rob God because you think the management of
the work is not right? Make your complaint, plainly and openly, in the right
spirit, to the proper ones. Send in your petitions for things to be adjusted
and set in order, but do not withdraw from the work of God and prove unfaithful
because others are not doing right."--9T 249.
4. God has had one plan for all dispensations.
"A tithe of all our increase is the Lord's. He has reserved
it to Himself to be employed for religious purposes. It is holy. Nothing less
than this has He accepted in any dispensation. A neglect or postponement of
this duty will provoke the divine displeasure. If all professed Christians
would faithfully bring their tithes to God, His treasury would be full."-- RH
May 16, 1882.
*"We propose that the friends give a
tithe, or tenth of their income, estimating their income at ten percent of what
they possess."--James White in Good Samaritan, January, 1861.
Nothing is plainer in the E. G. White writings than the
clear instruction concerning the faithful payment of the tithe and the fact
that it is reserved for the support of the ministry.
There are a few individuals who use the E. G. White writings
and their knowledge of certain special situations in a strange manner. They
attempt to circumvent the clear, plain counsels which have guided the church in
the matter of handling the tithe, and aim to lead others to assume the
responsibility of handling their tithe on their own responsibility. We feel
duty-bound to point out a gross distortion of E. G. White teaching. As we do
this, it will become clear that there is no justification for certain
conclusions
Page 28
drawn and expounded by these detractors.
First we should establish Mrs. White's personal relationship
to the obligation of the tithe and the manner in which she paid her tithe. Let
her speak, as she did in 1890 in a statement published in an early pamphlet: "I
pay my tithes gladly and freely, saying as did David, 'Of thine own have we
given thee.'"
Lest some argue that this statement does not indicate that
Mrs. White paid her tithes in the regular way into the conference treasury, we
give here the fuller setting:
"You who have been withholding your means from the cause of
God, read the book of Malachi, and see what is spoken there in regard to tithes
and offerings. Cannot you see that it is not best under any circumstances to
withhold your tithes and offerings because you are not in harmony with
everything your brethren do? The tithes and offerings are not the property of
any man, but are to be used in doing a certain work for God. Unworthy ministers
may receive some of the means thus raised, but dare anyone, because of this,
withhold from the treasury and brave the curse of God? I dare not. I pay my
tithes gladly and freely, saying, as did David, 'Of Thine own have we given
Thee.'
"A selfish withholding from God will tend to poverty in our
own souls. Act your part, my brethren and sisters. God loves you, and He stands
at the helm. If the conference business is not managed according to the order
of the Lord, that is the sin of the erring ones. The Lord will not hold you
responsible for it, if you do what you can to correct the evil. But do not
commit sin yourselves by withholding from God His own property. 'Cursed be he
that doeth the work of the Lord negligently,' or deceitfully. When persons
declare that they will not pay their tithes because the means are not used as
they think they ought to be, will the
elder of the church or the minister sympathize with the
sinners? Will he aid the enemy in his work? Or will he, as a wise man, endued
with knowledge, go to work to correct the vile, and thus remove the
stumbling-block? But, brethren do not be unfaithful in your lot. Stand in your
place. Do not, by your neglect of duty, increase our financial
difficulties." -- Special Testimonies, Series A, No. 1, pp. 27, 28 (Aug.
10 1890).
Seventh-day Adventists accept that Mrs. White was called to
a special work--that of serving as a prophet. But her work was broader than
this. She says:
"My commission embraces the work of a prophet, but it does
not end there. It embraces much more than the minds of those who have been
sowing seeds of unbelief can comprehend."-- 1SM 36.
In an article in the Review and Herald, the same year
she penned the words quoted above, Ellen White outlined in considerable detail
the broad work to which she was called. The account is found in Selected
Messages, book 1, pp. 33, 34. We quote one item:
"I was charged not to neglect or pass by those who were
being wronged. . . . If I see those in positions of trust neglecting aged
ministers, I am to present the matter to those whose duty it is to care for
them. Ministers who have faithfully done their work are not to be forgotten or
neglected when they have become feeble in health.*
Our conferences
Page 29
are not to disregard the needs of those who have borne the
burdens of the work."
This placed a heavy burden on Ellen White. As a
denominational worker, she knew from experience what it meant to face illness
in the family with no provision for financial assistance. She knew what it
meant when James White, while serving as president of the General Conference,
was stricken with paralysis and she had to pull up the carpets from the floor,
the rag rugs of her own making, and sell them, as well as the furniture, to
secure means for the care of her husband. So the instruction that in a special
manner she was to watch out for ministers who might be in need was significant
to her.
And not only was she to be alert to the needs of faithful
workers, but her attention was often called through vision to the cases of
ministers or their families who were being neglected. In many cases she gave
financial assistance from her own income, or from funds in her control, for at
times her personal resources were inadequate. Her son, Elder W. C. White, wrote
of this experience, making reference to her request that certain neglected
workers be given assistance from her income:
"When we pleaded with her that her income was all consumed
in the work of preparing her books for publication, she said, in
effect:
"'The Lord has shown me that the experience which your
father andI have passed through in poverty and deprivation, in the early days
of our work, has given to me a keen appreciation and sympathy for others who
are passing through similar experiences of want and suffering. And where I see
workers in this cause that have been true and loyal to the work, who are left
to suffer, it is my duty to speak in their behalf. If this does not move the
brethren to help them, then I must help them, even if I am obliged to use a
portion of my tithe in doing so.'
"In harmony with this, Mother has many, many times made
request of our conference officers to give consideration to the necessities of
humble but faithful workers whose needs were by some means overlooked.
"In many instances her requests have been responded to, and
the needed help given. But in some cases the lack of funds and the absence of
appreciation of the worthiness and the necessities have left the needy workers
without help, and have left her to face the burden. Then she has said to me or
to the bookkeeper, 'Send help as soon as you can, and if necessary take it from
my tithe.' In many cases we found it possible to respond to her requests by
gifts from her personal funds, and in some cases a portion of her tithe has
been used.
"These experiences relate mostly to the years we were in
Europe and Australia, and to the years 1900 to 1906, in behalf of the work in
the Southern States.
"During the greater part of the time since my connection
with Mother's business in 1881, a full tithe has been paid on her salary to
church or conference treasurers. Instead of paying tithe on the increase from
her books, there has been set apart an amount greater than a tithe from which
she has made appropriations from time to time in accordance with the
instruction mentioned above.
"In view of the extraordinary and exceptional
responsibilities placed upon her as a messenger of God having special light and
special responsibility in behalf of the needy and the oppressed, she says she
has been given special and exceptional authority regarding the use of her
tithe. This authority she has used in a limited
Page 30
way as seemed to be for the
best interests of the cause."--W. C. White in a statement, "Regarding the Use
of the Tithe."
* The retirement plan which makes provision for aged or
incapacitated workers was not in effect until 1911. not to disregard the needs
of those who have borne the burdens of the work."
On January 22, 1905, Mrs. White wrote a letter to the
president of a local conference in which she sounded certain cautions and
referred to the experience just recounted. It has been quite widely published
by those who would make inroads on the sacredness of the handling of the tithe.
Some set it forth as an exhibit to give seeming justification to their course
of action. Before we present the letter we will give the historical background.
The work of the denomination began relatively late and grew
slowly in the southern part of the United States. This was particularly so
among the blacks.. The South of a century ago was backward, and in general on a
low economic level. Even when the church did make a beginning, it was scattered
and small, and it was with great difficulty that it was maintained financially.
Long before the Southern Union Conference was organized, a work was begun among
the blacks by several workers who went at their own expense into the South.
This was recognized by the church and when the Southern Missionary Society was
formed to foster this endeavor in the South, it was fully recognized and is
found listed in the Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook as one of the
organizations of the denomination.
The greater part of the work of the Southern Missionary
Society was the starting and maintenance of mission schools, but it was also
carrying forward other lines of evangelism and was supporting several ordained
ministers. For a time the Society received a small appropriation from the
conference, but this amount, though greatly appreciated by the officers of the
Society, was a very small gift compared with the magnitude of the work. They
felt distressed over the fact that a neglected people, in a destitute field,
were being deprived of the gospel message because their need and their
helplessness were not understood.
While visiting in the State of Colorado in the latter part
of 1904, an agent of the Southern Missionary Society received from one church a
gift of about $400 to assist in the work of the Society. These funds came in
response to his appeal for help in evangelizing the South. Some of the money
was tithe. Elder W. C. White, who was familiar with the details of this
circumstance, writes of this:
"When the agent of the Southern Missionary Society asked the
members of this Colorado church for a donation, they manifested a willingness
to give, and some of them said that they were paying a large tithe, and some
were not wholly pleased with the way in which it was used. Compared with the
population of the State, the conference was strong and it had a good income.
Therefore, some said, let us send some of our tithe to be used in the good work
for the neglected colored people in the Southern States.
"Then the officers of the church and the agent of the Society did
in an irregular way what has since become very popular as a wise and unselfish
policy when done in an orderly and regular way. They transferred a portion of
the tithe of a well-to-do conference to a very destitute and needy mission
field.
"The officers of the Southern Missionary Society did not use this
money to pay their own wages. They did not use it in any way for their personal
benefit.
Page 31
Neither did they pay it to the support of men whom the conferences in
the South thought to be unfitted or unworthy. Neither was it paid to men who
were carrying on an unauthorized work of their own devising.
"The money was placed in the treasury of the Southern Missionary
Society and was paid out in a regular and economical way to approved laborers
who were engaged in regular denominational work.
"But the action was irregular on the part of the agent who received
the money, and the church that paid it to him. By the officers of the Colorado
Conference this action was considered to be not only irregular but wrong and
censurable. They thought that they needed the money for home use, and they felt
that the action of the officers of the Southern Missionary Society was worthy
of public condemnation and censure and that the money should be returned.
"The officers of the Society were in trouble. They had used the
money quickly in paying the wages of preachers, and their income was greatly
below their needs. Moreover, they felt that a public denouncement would tend to
diminish the small income that they were then receiving. Their trouble became
known to Sister White, and from Mountain View she wrote a letter to the
conference president, dated January 22, 1905."
Here is her letter. Note carefully its wording:
"My brother, I wish to say to you, Be careful how you move. You are
not moving wisely. The least you have to speak about the tithe that has been
appropriated to the most needy and the most discouraging field in the world,
the more sensible you will be.
"It has been presented to me for years that my tithe was to be
appropriated by myself to aid the white and colored ministers who were
neglected and did not receive sufficient properly to support their families.
When my attention was called to aged ministers, white or black, it was my
special duty to investigate into their necessities and supply their needs. This
was to be my special work, and I have done this in a number of cases. No man
should give notoriety to the fact that in special cases the tithe is used in
that way.
"In regard to the colored work in the South, that field has been
and is still being robbed of the means that should come to the workers in that
field. If there have been cases where our sisters have appropriated their tithe
to the support of the ministers working for the colored people in the South,
let every man, if he is wise, hold his peace.
"I have myself appropriated my tithe to the most needy cases
brought to my notice. I have been instructed to do this; and as the money is
not withheld from the Lord's treasury, it is not a matter that should be
commented upon, for it will necessitate my making known these matters, which I
do not desire to do, because it is not best.
"Some cases have been kept before me for years, and I have supplied
their needs from the tithe, as God has instructed me to do. And if any person
shall say to me, Sister White, will you appropriate my tithe where you know it
is most needed, I shall say Yes, I will; and I have done so. I commend those
sisters who have placed their tithe where it is most needed to help to do a
work that is being left undone. If this matter is given publicity, it will
create a knowledge which would better be left as it is. I do not care to give
publicity to this work which the Lord has appointed me to do, and others to do.
Page 32
"I send this matter to you so that you shall not make a mistake.
Circumstances alter cases. I would not advise that anyone should make a
practice of gathering up tithe money. But for years there have now and then
been persons who have lost confidence in the appropriation of the tithe, who
have placed their tithe in my hands and said that if I did not take it they
would themselves appropriate it to the families of the most needy ministers
they could find. I have taken the money, given a receipt for it, and told them
how it was appropriated.
"I write this to you so that you shall keep cool and not become
stirred up and give publicity to this matter, lest many more shall follow their
example."-- Letter 267, 1905.
As Mrs. White speaks of the use of the tithe in this
particular case, and in other cases, it is always in the setting of money which
was to be used for the support of our ministers. Any tithe money she handled
was used as tithe money should be used.
In the letter under discussion she says, "I would not advise
that anyone should make a practice of gathering up tithe money."
She also says, "As the money is not withheld from the Lord's
treasury, it is not a matter that should be commented upon."
And regarding the field to which it was transferred, she
says, "That field has been and is still being robbed of the means that should
come to the workers in that field."
Sister White, then, at a time when there was inadequate
provision for these ordained ministers, was authorized to meet these
necessities even to the use of her tithe. But this does not in any degree open
the way for church members or ministers to bestow their tithe wherever they see
fit. It is very clear that this extraordinary experience does not authorize any
laborer to gather up tithe money and appropriate it to his own use or to the
use of his associates. Neither does it give license for anyone to invite our
people to give their tithe to them for some very needy missionary enterprise.
There is not one phrase or sentence in this letter which
would neutralize or countermand the clear and full instruction concerning
paying tithe or its use. When all the facts are before us it can easily be seen
that any such use of the letter is a misuse.
In the letter to the conference president, quoted above,
Mrs. White, on the basis of the special instruction God had given to her,
stated that "If there are any persons that shall say to me, 'Sister White, will
you appropriate my tithe where you know it is the most needed,' I should say,
'I will do this,' and I have done it .... I have taken the money, given a
receipt for it, and reported how it was appropriated." She did not make a
practice of gathering up tithe funds; she never requested that tithe be placed
in her hands.
There was a veteran colporteur who at times sent a portion
of his tithe to Mrs. White to be used properly in the Lord's work. How she
handled such tithe is reflected in a letter she wrote to our workers in the
South, in which she explained the source of some $500, which she was hastening
on to them in response to an urgent need made known to her. She related how a
large part of this was money given by the general public as she made an appeal
at a large gathering. A part of it was tithe money placed in her hands by this
colporteur. Of this portion she wrote:
Page 33
"I have $75 from Brother R, tithe money, and we thought that it
would be best to send it along to the Southern field to help colored ministers.
. . . I want it specially applied to the colored ministers to help them in
their salaries."--Letter 262, 1902.
But writing to this man at another time, she revealed not
only her course of action but her attitude toward such matters, urging
confidence in his brethren and the regular manner of handling the tithe:
"You ask if I will accept tithe from you and use it in the cause of
God where most needed. In reply I will say that I shall not refuse to do this,
but at the same time I will tell you that there is a better way. It is better
to put confidence in the ministers of the conference where you live, and in the
officers of the church where you worship. Draw nigh to your brethren. Love them
with a true heart fervently, and encourage them to bear their responsibilities
faithfully in the fear of God. 'Be thou an example of the believers, in word,
in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.'"--Letter 96,
1911.
Great changes have come into our work since the days when
Mrs. White made use of tithe funds entrusted to her.
The Retirement Fund has been established, and through this
blessed agency money is wisely distributed to workers who were formerly
neglected.
Furthermore, plans have been adopted by which tithe is sent
out of the conferences that are strong for the support of the work in
conferences and missions that are needy.
Much will be found in the Testimonies for the Church
regarding tithe paying and systematic benevolence, but nothing to sustain the
idea that it is right for ministers or other workers, either authorized or
self-appointed, to receive and use the tithe to support themselves in
independent work.
Surely no honest-hearted person will find in these
experiences a justification for the withholding of tithe funds, or for
appropriating them as he thinks best. Unless he can qualify as one to whom God
has through special instruction guided a course divergent from that so clearly
set forth in the many E. G. White published counsels, is he not duty-bound to
adhere to those counsels?
Responsibility Concerning the Tithe Confused With
Personal Responsibility in the Matter of Freewill Offerings
In several instances in privately-issued publications
reproducing the letter written by Mrs. White to the conference president in
1905, other exhibits are presented which would seem to lend support to the idea
that in the matter of the tithe each individual is alone responsible to God and
is to seek the counsel of no man. Short quotations removed from their setting
and placed in proximity to statements relating to the tithe would seem to
countermand the clear counsels which appear in the E. G. White books.
It should be noted that the principal exhibit is taken from
a document not generally accessible today. Here is the quotation as it has been
privately published in several tracts:
"The Lord has made us individually His stewards. We each hold a
solemn responsibility to invest our means ourselves. God does not lay upon you
the burden of asking the conference, or any council of men, whether you shall
use your means as you see fit to advance the work of God."-- Special
Testimonies to Battle Creek, pp. 41, 42.
In these two sentences--actually quite widely separated in
the original tract--no mention is made of the tithe. In these sentences Mrs.
White is not writing
Page 34
about the tithe. Nor is she writing about our regular
offerings. The statements concern the responsibility of the author of literary
productions in the stewardship of his royalties from his published work. The
setting is the same as that of the article entitled "The Author," found in
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 7 pp. 176-180.
Perhaps we should review briefly the historical backgrounds.
Most authors receive remuneration for their literary work from a royalty--a
certain percentage of the sale price of each book. When a publisher accepts a
manuscript for publication he usually does so on this basis. This plan has been
followed in our denomination from its beginning days. There came a time in the
mid-1890s when some of our publishing houses reasoned that the organization was
in a much better position to know the needs of the cause than the author of a
book, and they urged authors to either give their manuscripts to the publishing
house or to accept a very modest lump sum payment. Then whatever success might
come to the book would in turn benefit the publishing house and not the
author.
Ellen White pointed out that this was unjust, and that the
author should receive his due royalties. At the same time, she pointed out to
the author that his royalty income was not his to use as he might please, but
that he was a steward for God. The Lord had given him special talents, and if
the Lord in blessing those talents brought financial benefit to the author, the
author was to recognize his stewardship in the use of such funds. Sister White
addressed several communications to the brethren on this point, and it is from
one of these communications, which appeared in Special Instruction Relating
to the Review and Herald Office and the Work in Battle Creek, that the
parts of three sentences in question are extracted.
On page 38 of this pamphlet, Mrs. White wrote as an
introduction:
"I have borne abundant testimony, setting forth the fact that the
ability to write a book, is, like every other talent, a gift from God, for
which the possessor is accountable to Him. This talent no man can buy or sell
without incurring great and dangerous responsibility."
Then from page 40 and onward we quote in their fuller
setting the sentences in question, placing them in italics to identify them.
Because the tract is not generally accessible, we quote quite fully:
"It is not our property that is entrusted to us for investment. If
it had been, we might claim discretionary power; we might shift the
responsibility upon others, and leave our stewardship with others. But this we
cannot do, because the Lord is testing us individually. If we act wisely in
trading upon our Lord's goods and multiplying the talents given us, we shall
invest this gain for the Master, praying for wisdom that we may be divested of
all selfishness, and laboring most earnestly to advance the precious truth in
our world.
"Some men or councils may say, That is just what we wish you to do.
The Conference Committee will take your capital and will appropriate it for
this very object. The Lord has made us individually His stewards. We each
hold a solemn responsibility to invest this means ourselves. A portion it
is right to place in the treasury to advance the general interests of the work,
but the steward of means will not be guiltless before God, unless, so far as he
is able to do this, he shall use that means as circumstances shall reveal the
necessity. We should be ready to help the suffering, and to set in operation
plans to advance the truth in various
Page 35
ways. It is not in the providence of the
Conference or any other organization to relieve us of this stewardship. If you
lack wisdom, go to God; ask Him for yourself, and then work with an eye single
to His glory.
"By exercising your judgment, by giving where you see there is need
in any line of the work, you are putting out your money to the exchangers. If
you see in any locality that the truth is gaining a foothold, and there is no
place of worship, then do something to meet the necessity. By your own action
encourage others to act in building a humble house for the worship of God. Have
an interest in the work in all parts of the field.
"While it is not your own property that you are handling, yet you
are made responsible for its wise investment, for its use or abuse. God does
not lay upon you the burden of asking the conference or any council of men
whether you shall use your means as you see fit to advance the work of God
in destitute towns and cities, and impoverished localities. If the right plan
had been followed, so much means would not have been used in some localities,
and so little in other places where the banner of truth has not been raised. We
are not to merge our individuality of judgment into any institution in our
world. We are to look to God for wisdom, as did Daniel.
"Age after age Jesus has been delivering His goods to His church.
At the time of the first advent of Christ to our world, the men who composed
the Sanhedrin exercised their authority in controlling men according to their
will. If men's wills were always submerged into God's will, this would be safe,
but when men are separated from God, and their own wisdom is made a controlling
power, the souls for whom Christ has given His life to free from the bondage of
Satan, are brought under bondage to him in another form.
"Do we individually realize our true position, that as God's hired
servants we are not to bargain away our stewardship, but that before the
heavenly universe we are to administer the truth committed to us by God? Our
own hearts are to be sanctified, our hands are to have something to impart as
occasion demands, of the income that God entrusts to us. The humblest of us
have been entrusted with talents, and made agents for God, using our gifts for
His name's glory. It is the duty of everyone to realize his own responsibility,
and to see that his talents are turned to advantage as a gift that he must
return, having done his best to improve it. He who improves his talents to the
best of his ability may present his offering to God as a consecrated gift that
will be as fragrant incense before Him, a savor of life unto life."--
Special Instruction Relating to the Review and Herald Office, and the Work
in Battle Creek, pp. 40-43.
The merchant carries a responsibility as a steward for the
Lord. He is responsible for the way in which he uses his profits from his
business after he has paid a faithful tithe. The farmer is responsible to God
for his use of the means the Lord entrusts to him. These were not to transfer
to someone else the responsibility of the use of the means which God gave to
them, and this was so with the author. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the
tithe, but it was dealing with the principle of stewardship in general, and it
is a gross misuse of the parts of three sentences to put them together as has
been done in several privately published tracts.
Page 36
Another case in which Mrs. White's words relating to
freewill gifts are erroneously applied to the tithe is found in some of these
privately published tracts in close proximity to the sentences dealt with
above. Here is the statement and its supposedly-supporting quotation taken from
the Testimonies:
"Before the Lord directed Sister White where to pay her tithe, she
for a while paid tithe to the Seventh Day Adventist Publishing Association.
Later on she could not conscientiously do so for she writes: 'When means has
been pressed upon me, I have refused it, or appropriated it to such charitable
objects as the Publishing Association. I shall do so no more."--1T 678. (Taken
from page 5 of a privately published tract.)
In this statement, penned in 1868, Mrs. White is not
speaking of the tithe in any sense. This is made clear by reading the sentences
quoted in their context in the full paragraph. It is found to be in the setting
of the distressing experience of the mistreatment of Hannah More. Mrs. White
declared:
"We see outcasts, widows, orphans, worthy poor, and ministers in
want, and many chances to use means to the glory of God, the advancement of His
cause, and the relief of suffering saints, and I want means to use for God. The
experience of nearly a quarter of a century in extensive traveling, feeling the
condition of those who need help, qualifies us to make a judicious use of our
Lord's money. I have bought my own stationery, paid my own postage, and spent
much of my life writing for the good of others, and all I have received for
this work, which has wearied and worn me terribly, would not pay a tithe of my
postage. When means has been pressed upon me, I have refused it, or
appropriated it to such charitable objects as the Publishing Association. I
shall do so no more. I shall do my duty in labor as ever, but my fears of
receiving means to use for the Lord are gone. This case of Sister More has
fully aroused me to see the work of Satan in depriving us of means."-- 1T 678,
679.
Here Mrs. White points out that when those who had been
benefited by her patient toil in writing out what the Lord had revealed to her
for them [and they] wished to give her something by way of remuneration, she
had refused. Or if it was accepted she did not keep it, but gave it to such
organizations as the Publishing Association. Now, as she saw the pressing needs
about her, she declared that she would accept such gifts and use the money to
help the needy. There is no reference here at all to tithe. The discovery of
such use of the Spirit of Prophecy writings should lead all to approach
privately published tracts with great caution, and should underscore the
absolute necessity of looking up in the full setting every Ellen G. White
quotation employed.
But this is not all. Not satisfied with this clear
distortion, the author of the privately published tract referred to here, after
the brief distorted statement just given, adds:
"Why she could not conscientiously pay her tithe to the publishing
of Seventh Day Adventist literature any more is seen better by a testimony
given out later on: 'I feel a terror of soul as I see to what a pass our
publishing house has come. The presses in the Lord's institution have been
printing the soul-destroying theories of Romanism and other mysteries of
iniquity. This is taking all
Page 37
sacredness from the office. The managers are
loading the guns of the enemy and placing them in their hands, to be used
against the truth. How does God regard such work? In the books of heaven are
written the words: Unfaithful stewardship. Thus God regards the publication of
matter which comes from Satan's manufactory--his hellish scientific delusions.'
Mrs. E. G. White in A Solemn Warning, read to the Review and Herald
Board, in November 1901. Published by the Pacific Press, Oakland, California,
1903."
We have pointed out that the tithe is in no sense involved.
Mrs. White stated in 1868 that because of the pressing needs of those about her
she would use funds given to her, not as a gift to the Publishing House, but to
help the destitute.
But the writer of the privately published tract, first
removing from its context the 1868 E. G. White statement, "I shall do so no
more," unequivocally declares that the shift in Mrs. White's liberalities was
because of the type of literature published at the Review office, and quotes a
1901 statement in support.
Concerning the objectionable literature published for a
brief period in the Review office, we have ample information in
Testimonies, vol. 7, pp. 164-168. It was not until the early 1890s that
this problem arose, a full 25 years after Mrs. White wrote her statement
regarding the objectives of her liberalities.
Surely such falsehood and gross distortion of the Spirit of
Prophecy writings should alert readers to the true objectives of those who make
such use of the precious counsels which mean so much to the church.
To all who really wish to know what Mrs. White has actually
taught, we would urge the reading of the Spirit of Prophecy counsels in the E.
G. White books themselves rather than in privately issued tracts and
mimeographed sheets.
March 1959.
Revised February, 1990
Page 38
(Manuscript 82, 1904; A basic source of Ellen G. White's 9T
248-251 statement.)
"Thou shalt command the children of Israel that they bring
thee pure olive oil, beaten, for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always."
This was to be a continual offering, that the house of God might be properly
supplied with that which was necessary for His service. His people today are to
remember that the house of worship is the Lord's property, and that it is to be
scrupulously cared for. But the funds for this work are not to come from the
tithe. The tithe is to be used for one purpose--to sustain the ministers whom
the Lord has appointed to do His work. It is to be used to support those who
speak the words of life to the people, and carry the burden of the flock of
God.
But there are ministers who have been robbed of their wages.
God's provision for them as not been respected. Those who have charge of our
church buildings are to be supplied with the means that is necessary to keep
these buildings in good repair. But this money is not to come from the tithe.
A very plain, definite message has been given to me to give
to our people. I am bidden to tell them that they are making a mistake in
applying the tithe to various objects which, though good in themselves, are not
the object to which the Lord has said that the tithe is to be applied. Those
who make this use of the tithe are departing from the Lord's arrangement.
God will judge for these things. One reasons that the tithe
may be appropriated to school purposes. Still others would reason that
canvassers and colporteurs should be supported from the tithe. But a great
mistake is made when the tithe is drawn from the object for which it is to be
used--the support of the ministers. There should today be in the field one
hundred well qualified laborers where now there is but one.
God cannot look upon the present condition of things with
approval, but with condemnation. His treasury is deprived of the means that
should be used for the support of the gospel ministry in fields nigh and afar
off. Those who proclaim the message of truth before great congregations, and
who do house-to-house work as well are doing double missionary work, and in no
case are their salaries to be cut down.
The use of the tithe must be looked upon as a sacred matter
by our people. We must guard strictly against all that is contrary to the
message now given.
There is a lack of ministers because ministers have not been
encouraged. Some ministers who have been sent to foreign lands, to enter fields
never worked before, have been given the instruction, "You must sustain
yourselves. We have not the means with which to support you." This ought not to
be, and it would not be if the tithe, with gifts and offerings, was brought
into the treasury. When a man enters the ministry, he is to be paid from the
tithe enough to sustain his family. He is not to feel that he is a beggar.
Page 6
The impression is becoming quite common that the sacred
disposition of the tithe no longer exists. Many have lost their sense of the
Lord's requirements.
The tithe is sacred, reserved by God for Himself. It is to
be brought into His treasury to be used to sustain the gospel laborers in their
work. For a long time the Lord has been robbed, because there are those who do
not realize that the tithe is God's reserved portion.
Many ministers are lying in their graves, brought there by
sorrow and disappointment, and by the hardship brought upon them because they
did not receive sufficient for their labors.
Let us remember that God is a God of justice and equity.
There would today be many more ministers in the field, but they are not
encouraged to labor. Many workers have gone into the grave heartbroken, because
they had grown old and could see that they were looked upon as a burden. But
had they been retained in the work, and given an easy place, with a whole or
part of their wages, they might have accomplished much good. During their term
of labor these men have done double labor. They felt so heavy a burden for
souls that they had no desire to be relieved of overwork. The heavy burdens
borne shortened their lives. The widows of these ministers are never to be
forgotten, but should, if necessary, be paid from the tithe.
Read carefully the third chapter of Malachi, and see what
God says about the tithe. If our churches will take their stand upon the Lord's
Word, and be faithful in paying their tithe into His treasury, His laborers
will be encouraged to take up ministerial work. More men would give themselves
to the ministry were they not told of the depleted treasury. There should be an
abundant supply in the Lord's treasury, and there would be if selfish hearts
and hands had not made use of the tithe to support other lines of work.
God's reserved resources are to be used in no such haphazard
way. The tithe is the Lord's and those who meddle with it will be punished with
the loss of their heavenly treasure unless they repent. Let the work no longer
be hedged up because the tithe has been diverted into various channels other
than the one to which the Lord has said it should go. Provision is to be made
for these other lines of work. They are to be sustained; but not from the
tithe. God has not changed; the tithe is to be used for the support of the
ministry. The opening of new fields requires more ministerial efficiency than
we now have, and there must be means in the treasury.-- Ms 82, 1904.
Page 40
BY FRANK B. HOLBROOK
Associate director of the Biblical Research Institute at the
General Conference.
Whereshall I send my tithe? I no longer have confidence in
church leadership. May I give it to anyone who claims to preach 'the straight
testimony' of the Adventist faith? May I assist self-supporting units with it?"
In other words, am I free, as a church member, to direct my tithe into any
channel I see fit? Can I expect the Lord's approval of such a course of action?
These are practical questions--and sincere. Unfortunately,
they reflect an uncertainty among some of our members over the role and
function of the organized world church of Seventh-day Adventists. Since we are
a Bible-based church, we believe that Israel's experience with organization and
tithing can provide sound insights to assist modern Adventists in resolving
such questions.
We begin our survey with Israel's experience in the time of
the Judges (1400-1050 B.C.), an epoch of anarchy. "In those days," observed the
chronicler, "there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his
own eyes" (Judges 21:25).* There was little pulling together for the common good.
By contrast, the establishment of a monarchy brought a sense
of unity, national consciousness, and purpose. It brought identity and
coherence to Israel's religious faith and civil institutions. When Israel's
kings governed under God, following the organizational pattern laid down by
Moses, the national interests were best served, and the people prospered both
spiritually and materially.
This prosperity provided an appealing showcase, attracting
the surrounding nations to the true God (see Deut. 4:5-8). Order is the law of
heaven; it is seen in all God's works.
Israel's monarchal government as a theocracy meant that
religious faith was intimately linked with civil life. Under-girding the
priestly Temple ministration and the national religion lay the divinely
appointed financial plan of tithing.
The practice of rendering to God a tithe (or tenth) of one's
increase in material goods appears as a definite part of the patriarchal
religion from time immemorial (see Gen. 14:20; 28:22). The patriarchs probably
used the tithes in special sacrifices and feasts to the Lord, although on one
occasion Abraham gave a tithe of the spoils of war to Melchizedek, a priest of
the true God in Canaan.
At the establishment of the Israelite nation, sanctuary, and
priesthood, God reaffirmed His right to the tithe: "All the tithe of the land,
whether of seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord's; it is
holy to the Lord. . . . And all the tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth
animal of all that pass under the herdsman's staff, shall be holy to the Lord"
(Lev. 27:30-32). Now, however, the Lord directed that the tithe should form the
major basis for the financial support of the tribe of Levi, which, receiving no
home territory in Canaan, was appointed to care for the religious needs of the
nation (Num. 18:21-24).
The Levites (living in the 48 cities allotted to them
throughout the tribal territories--Num. 35: 7) periodically gathered the tithes
from the people. They in turn tithed what they received and brought this "tithe
of the tithe" to the sanctuary storehouse chamber, where it was redistributed
to the priests (and in later years to other Levitical personnel) who served in
the sanctuary service and worship (see Num. 18:26-28).
This financial plan probably did not function at all in the
period of the judges; we know that it lapsed at times during the monarchal era.
But in periods of spiritual revival we catch glimpses of its operation. One of
these occurred under King Hezekiah of Judah (2 Chron. 31:2-19).
In response to the king's command to "give the portion due
to the priests and Levites" (verse 4), "the tithe of everything" (verse 5)
began to flow into the Temple storehouse. Azariah the high
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priest exclaimed to
the inquiring king. "Since they began to bring the contributions into the house
of the Lord we have eaten and had enough and plenty left" (verse 10). This
heartening news prompted Hezekiah to enlarge the storage areas and appoint
officers to oversee the regular distribution of this support "to their brethren
[Levites], old and young alike, by divisions" (verse 15; see also verses
11-19).
When Nehemiah--appointed governor over the reestablished
nation of Judah (fifth century B.C.)--led the Jews into a renewal of their
covenant with God (see Neh. 9:38), he also led them to a commitment to revive
the tithing system: "To bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it
is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our rural towns. And the priest,
the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the
tithes; and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of
our God, to the chambers, to the storehouse .... We will not neglect the house
of our God" (Neh. 10:37-39; cf. 12:44).
During Nehemiah's temporary absence from Judah (Neh. 13:6),
however, the national purpose lapsed; the people backslid. On his return he
remonstrated with the leadership: "Why is the house of God forsaken?" (verse
11). Once more the tithing system was restored, officers were reappointed to
oversee distribution, and "Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil
into the storehouses" (verse 12).
In Nehemiah's second period of governorship God challenged
His people through the prophet Malachi: "Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing
me. But you say, 'How are we robbing thee?' In tithes and offerings. You are
cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me; the whole nation of you" (Mal.
3:8, 9). Following this severe criticism, God once more appeals to His people:
"Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house"
(verse 10).
From this overview of the biblical data, we find it evident
that the Levitical worship was amply underwritten by a tithing system that
operated on a storehouse principle. No one chose to give his tithe to a
particular priest or group of priests. On the contrary, all the tithes of
Israel were gathered by the Levites, who in turn brought a tithe of these goods
and moneys to the storehouse areas of the Temple. At this location, appointed
officers distributed sustenance in a regular manner and in proper amounts to
the priests and other Levitical attendants who ministered directly in the
service of the Temple. This national pulling together provided a coordinated
support for the Temple personnel who gave full time to their respective
spiritual ministries.
Early Sabbathkeepers were reluctant at first to move in the
direction of organization. But as the Sabbath message spread, it became clear
that no real advance could be made if "every man did what was right in his own
eyes." Ellen White summarized the reason our pioneers organized the Seventh-day
Adventist Church in the 1860s:
"As our numbers increased, it was evident that without some
form of organization there would be great confusion, and the work would not be
carried forward successfully. To provide for the support of the ministry, for
carrying the work in new fields, for protecting both the churches and the
ministry from unworthy members, for holding church property, for the
publication of the truth through the press, and for many other objects,
organization was indispensable" (Testimonies to Ministers, p.
26).
Pressed to keep ministers in the field full-time, our
pioneers sought to develop an adequate financial system for the organizing
church. As early as 1858 a Bible class in Battle Creek under the direction of
J. N. Andrews began to search for Bible principles of gospel support. The class
eventually recommended a plan known as Systematic Benevolence, the predecessor
of the present system of tithes and offerings.
Not until 1876-1879, however, did Adventists institute a
full-fledged tithing system (adapted from the Levitical model) as the basis for
denominational finance. Leaders encouraged members to adopt the tithing plan as
God's ordained arrangement for the support of the ministry and the work of the
church. Tithes gathered in the churches were remitted to the conferences for
the support of the ministers in their respective territories. The conference
was designated as the storehouse for the tithes. The conference passed on a
tithe of these
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tithes to the General Conference. Over the years this storehouse
principle has been refined so that tithe now flows from local churches to the
conference, with certain percentages moving on to the union conference and
finally to the General Conference, with its oversight of the world field.
The steady growth and extension of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church--from 3,500 members in the United States in 1863 to more than 5 million
worldwide today, and from a small U.S. area to a presence in more than 180
countries--has demonstrated under God's blessing the soundness of the
storehouse principle of the Levitical system. The church succeeds when it pulls
together toward a common goal.
Approximately 40 years after the organization of the
Adventist Church there appeared a new form of lay endeavor: the self-supporting
unit. Begun in 1904, the Nashville Agricultural and Normal Institute
Corporation (the parent organization for Madison College and Madison Hospital)
became the forerunner of scores of similar units that assisted in developing
the work in the southern area of the United States. Today approximately 700
self-supporting units and independent businesses, with similar objectives as
Madison, function under the General Conference umbrella organization known as
ASI (Adventist-Laymen's Services and Industries International).
Usually self-supporting groups view themselves as adjuncts
to the organized church. Actually, the Adventist Church itself provides the
reason for their existence. Composed of dedicated, self-sacrificing men and
women, self-supporting units have enlarged and furthered the cause of truth
through the years by a variety of means such as schools and medical missionary
endeavors.
Self-supporting units were never intended to spend their
energies turning inward on the church to challenge publicly its doctrines, to
critique its endeavors, or to prey on its tithes. On the contrary, such units
were intended to uphold the church and to extend its influence, like Aaron and
Hur, who held up the hands of Moses in the battle of Israel against the
Amalekites (Ex. 17:8-16).
Unfortunately, some independent ministries (not under the
ASI umbrella) openly accept tithe funds from church members and argue that the
storehouse principle is invalid. Like disaffected persons who have given up the
Adventist faith, leaders of these ministries point to the flaws and failures in
the church as reasons why members should divert their tithe to them--although
they themselves are accountable to no one. Such independent groups sometimes
appeal to the example of Ellen White as their defense for accepting the Lord's
tithe.
As one of the pioneers, Ellen White encouraged organizing
the Adventist Church and fully endorsed through teaching and practice the
system of tithing on the storehouse plan. In the early years, before medical
and sustentation plans existed, she (by the Lord's direction) occasionally
assisted ministers (both Black and White), who were in dire straits, from her
personal tithe. In another situation she cautioned a conference president
against making an issue of a gift of tithe from some members of his conference
to the Southern Missionary Society, which supervised the struggling work in the
southern United States. Eventually it became a regular practice for strong
conferences to share a percentage of their tithe with weaker conferences. (For
a detailed account of Ellen White's use of the tithe, see Arthur L. White,
Ellen White: The Early Elmshaven Years, pp. 389-397.)
None of these exceptions provide a basis for members to
divert the Lord's tithe from its intended use to independent ministries or
self-supporting units. Ellen White addressed the questions posed at the
beginning of this article, for they were raised in her day also.
"Let none feel at liberty to retain their tithe, to use
according to their own judgment. They are not to use it for themselves in an
emergency, nor to apply it as they see fit, even
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in what they may regard as the
Lord's work. . . .
"Some have been dissatisfied and have said: 'I will not
longer pay my tithe, for I have no confidence in the way things are managed at
the heart of the work.' But will you rob God because you think the management
of the work is not right? Make your complaint, plainly and openly, in the right
spirit, to the proper ones. Send in your petitions for things to be adjusted
and set in order; but do not withdraw from the work of God, and prove
unfaithful, because others are not doing right" (Testimonies, vol. 9,
pp. 247-249).
"Read the book of Malachi. . . . Cannot you see that it is
not best under any circumstances to withhold your tithes and offerings because
you are not in harmony with everything your brethren do? . . . Unworthy
ministers may receive some of the means thus raised, but dare anyone, because
of this, withhold from the treasury, and brave the curse of God? I dare not. I
pay my tithes gladly and freely, saying, as did David, 'Of thine own have we
given thee' (KJV). . . .
"Do not commit sin yourselves by withholding from God His
own property. . . . Do not, by your neglect of duty, increase our financial
difficulties" (Special Testimonies, Series A, No. 1, pp. 52, 53.
Seventh-day Adventists recognize the good work other
Christians are doing. However, we are committed to the divine leading that
brought about the birth and organization of the Advent movement to carry out
the mission symbolized by the angels of Revelation 14:6-14 and 18:1-4.
While the truth is perfect in Jesus, neither the leadership
nor the laity of this movement will ever be perfect. The wheat always will be
mingled with tares (see Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43); the church will always have its
Judases. But the prophecies foreshadow no new organizations to come, no more
"angels" to fly. This is "the time of the end." The present Advent movement has
been appointed to accomplish this Revelation mission. Our urgent commission
allows no room for disorganized approaches and haphazard moves, with every man
doing what is right in his own eyes. There is only one place for the Lord's
tithes to be deposited: the storehouse of the church. For Adventists, no other
use of the tithe is admissible.
God expects His people to press together spiritually and
pull together financially to accomplish His objectives. The global task of the
church is many times greater than ancient Israel's in underwriting the Temple.
With so large a challenge before us, let every minister and member enter
wholeheartedly into the spirit of Nehemiah: "We will not neglect the house of
our God" (Neh. 10:39). []
* Unless otherwise noted, Bible quotations in this article
are from the Revised Standard Version.
ADVENTIST REVIEW MARCH 3, 1988