Questions about giving

Giving is an act of worship in response to the goodness and grace of God. Period. If we cannot give cheerfully, as opposed to reluctantly or out of compulsion (2 Corinthians 9:7), then we must ask God for his Holy Spirit to change our hearts to honor His will in that area of our lives.

The practice of giving is just like any other spiritual discipline/practice necessary for growth as a Christian. For example, we should prod our hearts if we find ourselves without desires to know the Word of God, spend time in prayer, or be part of Christian community or gathered, public worship. Giving, much like these other practices, is a way that we worship God: by trusting he will conform us to the image of His Son. And yes, God makes us more like His sacrificial loving Son, as we strive to be sacrificial, cheerful givers.

There are several common objections from those who do not give. Let us briefly address several of them:

What if The church seems fine without my giving?

This assumes that giving is primarily for the purpose of supporting the church. It is not. While financial gifts are the way God determined His Church be supported, the primary reason believers give is that it is an act of worship; giving is a believer’s response to God’s provision. Whether the church is “fine” with or without your support is irrelevant to the primary purpose of one’s giving.

What if I cannot afford to give?

Over the course of life, most of us will experience seasons of abundance and seasons of lack. This is why, as a church, we do not teach concrete percentage rules for one’s giving and generosity. Excluding extreme circumstances like joblessness, giving and generosity can still always be part of our lives, even if the amount of giving changes (Mark 12:41-44). As we’ve said, we do not approach tithing 10% of our income legalistically. Christians are not bound by the Old Testament command. However, the New Testament’s standard of sacrificial giving could not possibly require less of us.

For myself (Pastor Rob), there have been seasons of real financial struggle for my wife and I. Yet, we determined that no matter how bad things were for us, we would never allow our giving to dip below 10%, and in some seasons, we definitely felt that squeeze as it meant not eating out, maintaining tighter grocery trips, choosing a smaller, more affordable apartment, keeping our travel to a minimum, etc. Our decision to tithe 10% over living “more comfortably” was not out of legalistic obligation, but because we knew everything we have in life is God’s. And since generosity is God’s command, we know God will not command from us that which he will not provide. God gave us grace to trust he would always provide us at least the 10% to be able to give to our church––and God always did!

Those seasons of keeping our budget tight so we could be generous to our church required lifestyle changes that were part of what it meant to be sacrificial. And truthfully, it was through those seasons we saw tangible evidence of what Matthew 25 teaches: “that if we are faithful with the ‘little,’ God will entrust us with more.” God has been faithful to us as we chose to be faithful to him throughout the years. And as a result, we have been able to maintain our 10% minimum giving that helps grow our church while also giving to other missions and ministries we have felt led to support.

I do not write this as a way of pressuring anyone to trust God to do the same in their lives, but I do wonder, why not? Why not give generously trusting that God will honor those gifts, and if he so desires, entrust you with more? Why not consider how to make personal budget cuts to that which might be superfluous spending to ensure an additional measure of generosity in tithes and offerings? Though not always the case, I have found at times, “I cannot afford to give” might mean instead that one does not want to consider lifestyle changes that would make it possible to give generously to God.

What if I do not trust the church to use my money well?

This is a valid concern. As Christians, we all have a responsibility to be wise stewards of what God has given to us by ensuring we invest those resources well. As a church, we go to great lengths to ensure our resources are used well and honor Christ (for more on our church structure, take our Connect Class offered on Sundays).

With that said, here are a couple of important giving considerations:

1. Giving is not primarily about supporting the church. It is an act of worship. So, to not give, is withholding worship from God.

2. Being part of the church means you are part of supporting the Kingdom work being done in that church. Of course, we do not require people to give to be part of our church. We will never do so because we are called to love and care for all whom God draws to us. However, if one decides to be part of a church, partakes in the ministry of that church, and claims to be part of what God is doing in that church, why would one not feel led to support their church financially?

3. Ultimately, if one is not willing to support the work of the church because they do not believe in the mission of that church or they do not trust the church, then maybe it is time to find a church that they do trust and want to support. We do not desire for that to come off harsh, but rather loving. We want everyone to be a part of a church they believe in and therefore want to support in order that life-giving Kingdom work might be accomplished.