March 19, 2010

Book Review: Tithing by Douglas LeBlanc

It was with great interest that I chose Tithing as my next book to review in Thomas Nelson's BookSneeze program. There is no small controversy in the circles I work in as to the role tithing plays in the life of a believer.

The title of the book leaves no mystery as to it's subject. The subtitle--"test me in this"--lets us know right up front that the author thinks tithing is for today. Rather than a detailed biblical exposition, however, LeBlanc opts to go the "personal testimony" route. Thus the book is divided into eleven chapters (and an epilogue), each featuring a different person or group of people telling about how they were blessed by the practice of tithing.

As I opened the book, the first thing that caught my eye was that the forward was by Phyllis Tickle, madre superior of the Emergent Church. Then my attention was drawn to the fact that Tithing is part of a series called The Ancient Practices. Other authors for the series include Brian McLaren and Scot McKnight. At this point I had very low expectations for the book.

With all of that, it was better than I supposed. LeBlanc includes stories like that of Randy Alcorn, who can only make minimum wage because he was sued by an abortion clinic, and anything he makes above that would go to fund abortions. A couple of the interviewees even expressed my own position on tithing.

Yet there is one huge elephant in the room. Several of the people LeBlanc cites as examples are either from extremely liberal wings of the church, or out-and-out unbelievers. So...who does the Orthodox Jewish Rabbi tithe to? Am I to believe that God is going to bless money given to a false religion?

Tithing is interesting inasmuch as it presents different viewpoints on the subject. But the underlying message--that a person can please God through tithing regardless of whether Christ's atoning work on the cross has been applied to him--is patently false.

Talk back to the missionary: What do you think about tithing? Wade into the percentage fray in the comments section.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Posted by Andrew on March 19, 2010 4:12 PM.