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I cannot find in the New Testament an obligation on Christians to tithe 10% of their income. Instead I read that it is up the individual to decide:
2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV1984)
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Is there a church tradition established by the early church to encourage everyone to tithe 10%? What was the early church's view on tithing?
The word tithe itself comes from the Old English teogoþa, meaning "tenth" - so technically, tithing is the giving of a tenth by definition. But of course that's not what you're asking!
The idea of giving a tenth comes from the Old Testament:
"A tenth of the land's produce, whether grain from the ground or fruit from the trees, is God's. It is holy to God. If a man buys back any of the tenth he has given, he must add twenty percent to it. A tenth of the entire herd and flock, every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod, is holy to God. He is not permitted to pick out the good from the bad or make a substitution. If he dishonestly makes a substitution, both animals, the original and the substitute, become the possession of the Sanctuary and cannot be redeemed."
Make an offering of ten percent, a tithe, of all the produce which grows in your fields year after year. Bring this into the Presence of God, your God, at the place he designates for worship and there eat the tithe from your grain, wine, and oil and the firstborn from your herds and flocks. In this way you will learn to live in deep reverence before God, your God, as long as you live. But if the place God, your God, designates for worship is too far away and you can't carry your tithe that far, God, your God, will still bless you: exchange your tithe for money and take the money to the place God, your God, has chosen to be worshiped. Use the money to buy anything you want: cattle, sheep, wine, or beer—anything that looks good to you. You and your family can then feast in the Presence of God, your God, and have a good time.
Meanwhile, don't forget to take good care of the Levites who live in your towns; they won't get any property or inheritance of their own as you will.
At the end of every third year, gather the tithe from all your produce of that year and put it aside in storage. Keep it in reserve for the Levite who won't get any property or inheritance as you will, and for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow who live in your neighborhood. That way they'll have plenty to eat and God, your God, will bless you in all your work.
But, as you rightly say, in the New Testament we are instructed to give what we can, or to give whatever we feel is the right amount. Working out what that right amount is, is of course different for each person and therefore many have sought guidance on what the correct amount should be.
The passages in Leviticus and Deuteronomy don't just give an instruction but give some reasoning too; by giving ten per cent of everything in worship to God, we still have enough left over to live comfortably on.
When we look at Jesus' teaching on giving, he calls us to give much more than 10 per cent:
"If you want to give it all you've got," Jesus replied, "go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me."
Sitting across from the offering box, he was observing how the crowd tossed money in for the collection. Many of the rich were making large contributions. One poor widow came up and put in two small coins—a measly two cents. Jesus called his disciples over and said, "The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they'll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford—she gave her all."
On that basis, we might view ten per cent as the minimum we should be giving. The church I attend (a "New Church") teaches that we should give what we feel is the right amount, 2 Corinthians 9:7 indicates - but as a guideline 10% should be a starting point. (My church also practices what it preaches - 30% of income is given away to other projects and charities).
Giving everything (or even 10%) is an evangelical counsel: it's not required for salvation. As you quote, the early Church only directed its members to give what they could, not a minimum amount (much less everything). Paul even writes, just before the passage you quote, in 2 Corinthians 5:5:
So I thought it necessary to encourage the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for your promised gift, so that in this way it might be ready as a bountiful gift and not as an exaction.
And while I'm no Biblical scholar, Matthew 19:21 ought to be read in context. Just preceding this verse is Matthew 19:16-17:
16Now someone approached him and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
17 He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
That's it: the only thing required for salvation is to keep God's commandments, which Jesus enumerates in Matthew 19:18-19: poverty or charity is not listed among them.
Then taking the verses after and including Matthew 19:21:
21Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
23Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
24Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?”
26Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
Jesus is saying in verse 21 that if you wish to be perfect, you ought to sell everything and give to the poor, but the verses that proceed from verse 21 explain how impossible that is for people without God.
The disciples' astonishment and query to Jesus in verse 25 speaks to this, essentially saying, "whoa, nobody's going to do that: does this mean nobody will be saved?" Jesus in verse 26 then specifically states that God will save human beings by performing the impossible task: saving those who couldn't normally be saved because they aren't perfect.
Or as the New American Bible explains:
Riches are an obstacle to entering the kingdom that cannot be overcome by human power. The comparison with the impossibility of a camel’s passing through the eye of a needle should not be mitigated by such suppositions as that the eye of a needle means a low or narrow gate.
Beyond that, the Didache, an early Christian writing that dates to around the same time as Paul, mentions one of the ways you could tell a false Apostle from a real one:
Let every apostle that comes to you be received as the Lord. But he shall not remain except one day; but if there be need, also the next; but if he remain three days, he is a false prophet. And when the apostle goes away, let him take nothing but bread until he lodges; but if he ask money, he is a false prophet.
It wasn't until much later that justifications for tithing were formulated: the Catholic Encyclopedia mentions the first serious attempts to tithe dated to around 567 CE and 585 CE with the Councils of Tours and the Maçon, respectively.
Here Jesus confirm the tithe in the NT:
Matthew 23:23 KJV
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
And here, author of Hebrews explains whom receives that tithe:
Hebrews 7:8 KJV
And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.
Another aspect is, in the Melchizedek era, before the law, Abraham gave the tithe Melchizedek, impling that that "rule" is transcending from laws.
Tithing is not a Christian teaching, Christ never taught it even though there are instances where He could have. The apostles never taught it! It is an Old Testament teaching which the church has and is still using to produce money. Tithing is under the law, we are not under the law but under grace. Read Hebrews chapters 7-9 and you will see that we are not in the Levitical times or have a priest. Jesus is from the tribe of Judah which did not participate in that law.
There were a couple of instances where Jesus could have taught tithing. The first was when He was in the temple and watching the offering, He said the woman who gave her all (which was two mites), gave more than all of them because they gave of their abundance; now, if it was about tithing then if the woman would have given just one mite she still would have given more because it would have been a 50% tithe. Second, when the rich man said he had done all and Jesus said one that you are lacking is to sell all that you have and give to the poor and you will have riches in the kingdom -- notice that Jesus didn't say sell all that you have give the 10% tithes and the rest to the poor, He said give it all and you will have riches in heaven. This is not for Christians because there were no Christians at that time!
Is simple impossible that the original church established by Jesus and Apostles have requested Tithing to it's members. Why? Very Simple.
The Levites Where a Life and in exercise of their functions under the law of Moses in those early days!
So asking for tithing will have been to violate their rights. The original members were also Jews.
This is why the church only asked for donations. But the real missionaries like Paul, worked with their own hands to provide for himself. Remember the one in Salarie, do not worry about the sheep but their salary.
