I’ve been trying to gain a better understanding on what the Bible has to say about money and generosity, in order to Biblically shape more regular and consistent messages about giving at church.
Let me recommend ‘Money – God or Gift‘ by Jamie Munson (from Mars Hill Church).
Many (perhaps most?) churches struggle to reach budget.
As budgets strain and the end of the year draws to a close, congregations are urged to “be generous”. What kind of response does this generate? Perhaps the budget is reached, but is this from more people giving, or the same people giving more?
As I’ve been reading ‘Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard‘, I’ve been struck by the value of giving clear instructions:
“If you want people to change, you must provide crystal-clear direction…What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity…Clarity dissolves resistance.”
“If you want people to change, you don’t ask them to “act healthier.” You say, “Next time you’re in the dairy aisle of the grocery store, reach for a jug of 1% milk instead of whole milk.”
Could the same apply when it comes to asking people to “be generous”?
I’ve seen this in action when I go to fundraising events for Crusaders. They ask for a clear amount – “if everyone here gives $300, we can reach our goal and do X”. As long as I’ve got the money, I don’t have to think about it. They’ve made the ‘path’ (in the language of Switch) very clear. And this makes it easy for people to respond.
We hate to put a number on what it looks like to be generous, because this looks different for different people. We feel uncomfortable with calls to ‘tithe 10%’, finding it difficult to match this instruction with NT teaching.
What would it look like to direct generosity?
Could this be “we’d like you to consider giving $10 more per week – on top of whatever you are currently giving”?
Could this be “if each adult at our church gave an $300 by Christmas, we’d reach our budget and be able to do X, Y and Z”?
“To spark movement in a new direction, you need to provide crystal-clear guidance. That’s why scripting is important—you’ve got to think about the specific behavior that you’d want to see in a tough moment”
What are your thoughts on moving beyond “be generous” to a more directed approach to encouraging generosity?
I listened to a podcast about giving. In the podcast, the interviewee stressed the importance of thanking people who give to church.
He made the point that church is the only place where people give and don’t receive any form of follow-up or thank you. People give to lots of organisations, even Christian organisations, and receive a follow-up letter (and receipt), thanking them for their support and partnership.
In most churches, we can’t do this because we don’t know who is giving, let alone how many people are giving. Why don’t we know?
The usual rationale is that giving should be in secret. The oft-quoted passage for this argument is Matthew 6:3-4:
“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
What does it mean that our giving be ‘in secret’?
I find it interesting that Jesus uses the image of hands again – as he does in Matthew 5:
“And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”
Jesus isn’t arguing here for self-harm, in the same way that in verse 6, I don’t think he’s arguing that we don’t even know what we’re giving!
The point seems to hit home in the following verse, Jesus says:
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.”
It seems that Jesus is warning against doing things for the reward and praise of others. Don’t do things to be seen by men. Do it for the reward that comes from God.
Perhaps the argument should be:
“Don’t give if you are doing it for the praise of others”.
instead of
“No one else should know what you’re giving”.
What do you think?
The problem when giving is known to none but ourselves, is that no one can keep us accountable. There’s accountability in every other area of Christian life – purity (“looked at porn lately?”), serving (“you’ve got gifts – why aren’t you using them?”), Bible reading (“how are your devotions going?”, etc. – but when it comes to financial stewardship, we enter a ‘no go’ zone. This is particularly scary when Jesus warns so frequently about the dangers of money, greed, and being rich to ourselves, but not towards God.
I’d be interested in your thoughts.
Should we encourage people to share what they give, or even as a start, when they give, for the purposes of thanking people, and keeping each other accountable?
Here’s an interesting fact: “Five percent of Protestants give 56 percent of all that is given.” (quoted in: ‘Turbo Charge Your Giving‘)
I’m investigating providing a facility for people to give to our church, via our website, using credit cards and/or PayPal.
I’ve noticed on most Australian church websites, where giving is mentioned, the only option is for people to give via EFT (i.e. transferring from your bank account to the church bank account). For example:
In the U.S., giving via credit card or PayPal is much more common:
Does your church provide online giving options?
What options do you provide? Credit card?
Why do you provide those options and not others?
I’ve been researching how churches provide options on their website for their members to financially give. Many churches (particularly in the U.S.) provide this option.
I’ve been surprised by how little information is provided on some sites about the ‘why’ of giving. A lot of detail is provided about how to give, but not necessarily about why Christians give (example: Highpoint Church).
I think it’s important to provide information on these pages about the ‘why’ of giving. Not only is this important for members, it’s also important I think to explain to newcomers why giving is part of the Christian life.
Here’s three examples.
1. Emmaus Church has this explanation:
“As followers of Jesus we don’t give financially in an effort to win God’s approval, favor, or love. That has already been lavished upon us freely through the life, death and resurrection of our Great God & Savior Jesus Christ (See Romans 5:8 and 1 John 4:10). Rather, we give as a response to the gospel. We give as an act of worship. We give because God first gave (See John 3:16)!
Simply put, giving financially toward the forward progress of the gospel of Jesus is an act of worship. At EMMAUS Church at least 10% of every offering received is devoted to outside church planting.
Thank you for giving to support the gospel-work of EMMAUS Church here in Northern Atlanta and beyond.”
2. This explanation on the Central Baptist Church website:
“The Lord commands that we give. With it comes the opportunity to proclaim to our neighbors and community His sufficiency and provision. Giving invigorates our devotion to Christ. Giving frees us from the tyranny of consumerism. Giving provides an outlet for compassion. Giving provides us an opportunity to teach our families that money is a servant rather than our master. So, our prayer is that as people of faith we would live faithfully.”
3. I also like this explanation on the Mars Hill Church website:
“Giving cheerfully and sacrificially of our finances is part of our worship. A believer labors not to accrue personal wealth or possessions, but to steward God’s resources well and model Jesus to our brothers, sisters, and community.
If you’re a Christian outside our region who uses the website regularly and you feel compelled to give above and beyond the primary giving to your local Christian congregation and mission, we appreciate your support.
Our work is an effort to serve our Father in all things, and one of the primary ways we serve God is by cheerfully giving God our “firstfruits” (2 Corinthians 9:7; Proverbs 3:9). We call our members to give, not by meeting some obligatory percentage, but gladly sacrificing for the sake of the gospel because Jesus sacrificed for us, and all we have is His.
We thank those who have helped us meet these needs and pray Mars Hill Church would join in faithful, consistent, godly giving as Scripture instructs.”
Have you seen any other examples of church websites that explain both the what and the why?
