What does Tribe teach about tithing?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on tithing starts with an honest admission that the subject is uncomfortable. Brian Hunter names the awkwardness directly and then pushes through it, pointing out that Jesus talks about finances more in the gospels than he does about hell, because Jesus understands the connection between where our money goes and where our hearts actually are. Giving disciplines the flesh and reflects the heart, and that is why the conversation is worth having.
Brian traces tithing back to its first appearance in Genesis 14, where Abram gives a tenth of everything to Melchizedek, a figure the New Testament later connects to Jesus. From there the teaching applies a filter Brian returns to often: when something from the Old Testament comes through the cross into the new covenant, it is either confirmed, modified, or deleted. Tithing is modified. Nobody is bringing livestock anymore, but the underlying posture holds. Luke 14:33 sharpens what that posture looks like: Jesus says you cannot become his disciple without giving up everything you own. The practical landing point is an open hand, holding time, talent, and finances loosely and staying attuned to how God is asking you to use any of it. Brian puts it plainly: "the test of tithing proves the truth of trusting."
The teaching builds from love, trust, and surrender rather than from obligation. Brian draws on Luke 7, where Jesus says the person forgiven much loves much, and connects the depth of that love directly to how seriously we reckon with what we owe. On trust, he moves through Matthew 6, where the familiar verses about worry are anchored in a larger argument about treasure and the kingdom. The full New Testament posture, Brian says, is not just ten percent but one hundred percent held loosely, because everything a person has came through God's provision in the first place. Giving is not a fundraising mechanism. It is a spiritual discipline that trains the heart to trust Jesus with every aspect of life, and as Brian says, "giving reflects our heart and is a practical way of expressing our love for Jesus."
Taught from Matthew 6:19-21 · Genesis 14:14-20 · Luke 14:33 · Luke 7:47 · 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“There's a difference between belief and trust.”
From Three Aspects of Tithing
The passage taught · Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him.
4 Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- July 14, 2025 Three Aspects of Tithing Brian Hunter walks through Matthew 6 and Luke 7 to show why giving reflects love and trust in God, not just a church budget line.
- July 13, 2025 Love, Trust, and Something to Work With Brian Hunter explores tithing as an act of love and trust, drawing from Matthew 6 and John 6 to show how giving reflects the heart and invites God to act.
- July 7, 2025 The First Tithe Brian Hunter walks Tribe through the biblical idea of tithing, showing how giving time, talent, and money reveals how much we actually trust God with our lives.
- July 6, 2025 The Test of Tithing Brian Hunter walks through what the Bible says about tithing, why Jesus talked more about money than hell, and what it really reveals about trust.
Mentioned along the way
- November 17, 2025 New Wine, New Wineskins Pastor Brian Hunter shares how remembering God's past faithfulness arms us for today's battles, using the story of water from the rock and a surprising $750 miracle.
- November 16, 2025 Pecky Day Brian Hunter shares how God made water pour from a rock in the desert, and why remembering past provision arms us with real faith for today's battles.
- February 17, 2025 Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves Brian Hunter opens a new series in Leviticus and Galatians, exploring what it really costs to live in relationship with God and why something always has to die.
- February 16, 2025 The Series: Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves A Jackson Hole pastor opens a series on Leviticus and Galatians, exploring why something must die for a life-giving relationship with God to begin.
- June 24, 2024 Sex, Money, and the Bible Brian Hunter walks through sex, money, and the Bible, asking one question: are the beliefs you're staking your life on hanging from a hook that will actually hold the weight?
- June 23, 2024 Sex, Money, and the Bible Brian Hunter uses a hat-rack analogy to explore what we anchor our beliefs about the Bible, money, and sex to, and whether those anchors can actually hold the weight.
- May 6, 2024 Worship Is a Sacrifice Tribe's worship team leads a congregation-wide conversation on what it really means to worship, from singing and Scripture to giving and daily obedience.
- May 5, 2024 The Ways We Worship A Jackson Hole congregation talks honestly about what worship really means, covering singing, sitting under Scripture, and giving as three connected acts of devotion.
- September 5, 2022 Mosaic Tiles of His Return A Wyoming congregation explores Habakkuk's prophetic vision, the return of Christ, and how a living hope can overflow into the lives of people around us.