“Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.” How does this generosity compare with church giving today?
“Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.” Acts 4:32. That passage clearly shows the radical generosity of the 1st century church. How does it compare with church giving today? Rob West explores that first. This is MoneyWise Live - biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
The church advancement team at Generis and the Barna Group did a survey to find out the status of giving these days. It’s called “Revisiting the Tithe & Offering,” and it revealed a lot about how Christians are supporting the local church. Giving, of course, doesn’t involve just money. As the saying goes, Christians should be generous with their “time, talent and treasure.”
Not surprisingly, the vast majority of pastors, 94%, reported that they view member giving primarily through the lens of tithes and offerings far exceeding other forms of generosity.A personal note - I look forward to the day when that’s not the case, when tithes and offerings are such that finances don’t have to weigh so heavily on the minds of pastors. They have enough on their plate with feeding the flock, that they shouldn’t have to worry about money.
Obviously, tithes and offerings are vital to the local church, so it’s also not surprising that 98% of pastors said their church is primarily funded through individual donations.
That much, I think is good. The local church should be funded through member giving, rather than investment earnings or an endowment of some type. A church should have an emergency fund, something like a year’s worth of operating expenses. But assets beyond that should be used for ministry or missions, in my opinion.
There’s some good news about Christian generosity, as compared to Americans as a whole. Studies show that 60% of U.S. adults give to a charitable organization during the course of a year. Nominal Christians, those who don’t attend church at least monthly or say their faith is important to them, give at about the same rate as the general population. But a full 90% of practicing Christians who do attend church at least monthly and say their faith is important to them, give to charity on an annual basis, and that charity includes giving to their local church.
What does all this mean? It actually makes perfect sense. In general, Christians are more generous than the population as a whole, as they should be. And believers who feel strongly about their faith and attending church regularly, are more generous than those who don’t, exactly what you’d expect.
The average amounts of giving track perfectly with those three groups:
U.S. adults give an average of $916 a year to charities
Nominal Christians give slightly more, $1,165 a year
Practicing Christians give $3,000 a year, more than triple that of the average American adult, 2/3s of which goes to their local church.
We occasionally get calls from listeners who want to know if it’s okay to give their tithes and offerings to something other than their local church. We believe your tithe should go to your church. It’s wonderful to give sacrificially to other ministries, but your first fruits should go where you’re fed. So it’s encouraging to see that the survey revealed most Christians agree. A full 75% think it’s more generous to give to their local congregation. That clearly shows a commitment to the local church with regard to giving.
The next finding isn’t quite so encouraging. While 55% of believers agree that all church members should financially support their local church, 51% also said there may also be circumstances when it’s okay not to. An example of that would be volunteering at the local church. Surprisingly, about 60% of Christians in general, meaning nominal and practicing combined, said that members who are committed to volunteering have less of a financial obligation to support the church.
Even more surprising, that percentage held true for practicing Christians. 60% of those who attend regularly and hold strongly to their faith, also believe that volunteering can be a SUBSTITUTE for financial giving. In my opinion, that’s not right. Don’t get me wrong, volunteering is important to the church, and every member should look for ways to be of service. But if every member gives time and not a tithe, you soon wouldn’t have a church. Volunteering should only be viewed as a substitute for financial giving if you’re unable to be a percentage giver to your church. And even then, you should always try to give something, as a form of worship. Remember what Jesus said about the widow who gave two small copper coins in Mark 12:43, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.”
Next, Rob answers these questions at 800-525-7000 or via email at Questions@MoneyWiseLive.org:
If you have a TSP with $300,000 that and you've been told if you rolled $191,686 into a rollover annuity you would receive a stream of $1,000 per month for you and the same for your wife for life, should you consider this?
If you've been a teacher in Texas schools for 10 years and have a retirement fund in TRS or Texas Retirement System and they're now offering transitioning into ORP akin to a 403(b)1 or 403(b)7, should you participate?
If you're trying to improve your credit, you just bought a car and you're ready to buy a home, should you pay off credit cards every month or is it OK to sometimes pay just the minimum?
If you share a home with your brother and sister and one wishes to buy from another, is there a particular type of mortgage that would streamline the transfer between the family?
If you're 56 and plan on working until you're 61 or so and haven't saved a lot because you were previously relying on selling your insurance agency but the environment to do so has soured, how can you begin to transforming to taking care of your retirement fund?
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