Blog | Getting Your Congregation Excited About Giving
Getting Your Congregation Excited About Giving
Giving a sermon on tithing is difficult. Obviously, we all know it’s a Biblical teaching, and the church survives only as a result of people’s commitment to and generosity for her mission. But everyone tends to think of giving as a necessity. As a chore. Giving 10% of your income as a tithe to the church frequently feels like an obligation rather than a joy, and it seems that in the last several decades the attitude towards giving to the church has shifted. So how is it that you can get your congregation excited about giving again?
Getting Your Congregation Excited About Giving
People’s perspectives and attitude towards giving is entirely dependent upon how leadership frames it. Is the topic of giving avoided? Is it only spoken of as a checklist item or a chore? Does anyone know what their money is going towards? Congregation members need to know why their giving is important, how it affects your ministry, and how they should think about it.
Here are a few thoughts on how you can get your congregation excited about tithing to the church:
Demonstrate How Giving Has Helped in the Past
People need examples. They want to see what giving has done so that they know they are a part of something much larger than themselves. As someone who has at times struggled with the thought of giving to the church in the past, I can speak from experience that sometimes it feels like your money is just vanishing. I gave it to the church like I was supposed to and then… where did it go? Nothing feels different to me after I give, so why should I continue to do so? These attitudes towards giving are much more common than church leadership may want to recognize.
But it’s true – it is hard to see how your individual giving affects the church at large. So share examples! Demonstrate how each person’s tithes have changed the church in the past. Leading up to a sermon on giving, show them where your church started, how many members were a part of it, and how the giving commitment of those few members grew your church to afford a new building, staff members, appropriate equipment, funding missionaries, growing children’s ministries, etc.
Be Transparent About Financial Standing
Obviously, some privacy is always necessary when it comes to financials – we understand that. No one is expecting you to shout from the rooftops the salaries of all employees or cost of every piece of equipment the church pays for. But add up the broad numbers and share your church’s current financial standing and yearly fiscal goals. Show how close (or far away) you are from meeting those. What’s the church ministry budget? The missions budget? How far are you from meeting those goals, and from now till the end of the year, what type of general giving commitment would you need your congregation to engage with in order to meet them?
The most important piece here is that you need to be specific about how their gifts will impact the church. “If everyone gave an extra $500 more than their usual giving from now till the end of the year, we would be able to – plant “x” number of churches; fund “x” number of missionaries; hire a children’s pastor; etc.” Give them a goal. Get them excited about their involvement in transforming their church and growing it for the sake of the Kingdom.
Teach Biblical Giving Principles
We often lose sight of how the Bible actually speaks of giving. Why is it that the Bible always speaks of giving as an act of joy, but we approach it with such a mundane and monotonous attitude? Aside from “give 10% of your income”, we frequently forget about the attitude that Scripture instructs us to give with.
Scripture teaches to give joyfully. To support “the least of these”. To welcome the missionary. Giving is so monumentally important. Giving our tithes, giving our time, and blessing others with whatever resources we have is a beautiful and fulfilling lifestyle.
Bring your congregation back to the Bible to see how they should think about giving, and allow those sermons to transform their perspectives on the topic.
About the Author
Chris Fleming is a professional musician from Minneapolis, MN who has played with artists such as Kari Jobe, TAYA, Aodhan King, and Jason Gray. He is actively involved with the CCM scene and has contributed as a drummer, music director, song writer, and producer for various worship artists and churches locally and nationally. Chris is the Motion Designer at Motion Worship, helping to create motion background collections and countdowns for our subscribers.
That’s a common thought, but not entirely accurate. Paul quotes the Law twice in taking about giving: 1 Cor. 9:9 and 1 Timothy 5:18. His reference is not directly to tithing, but he certainly relates it to giving. It’s also worth noting that the concept of the tithe, or ten percent, pre-dates the Law. See Genesis 14:20
It’s true that Paul uses a different standard in 2 Cor. 9:7, but it’s not true to say he does not reference the Law in his teachings.
Tithing is Old Testament law and Paul never speaks about it. He says give it out of love. (2 Cor)
The law (Malachi) was nailed to the cross (Col 2). Where the Spirit of the Lord there is liberty.
Imagine telling your wife to only hold your hand once a day. How awkward is that?
Give and support. But don’t demand 10%. Paul writes in Galatians you have fallen from grace.
If we go back to the law what other laws do we follow? Sabbath? Clean and unclean?
Cheers,
Your friend in Christ