Most churches believe that generosity is an essential component of faithful discipleship. Yet in practice, most churches do not build cultures of generosity, teach the importance of giving, or talk about money with the frequency and fervor that Jesus did. For those who have grown up in the church, especially the mainline church, we have several bad habits to unlearn about giving:
1. Churches don’t talk about money.
Some churches simply stay silent on money. Sometimes leaders are afraid that money conversations will anger people in the pews or that new people will be turned away. Perhaps there are pastors who themselves are uncomfortable with the topic and therefore do not naturally weave it into their teaching and preaching. This hurts not only the people who are seeking to grow in faith, but also the church’s ministry that depends on the faithful practice of generosity.
2. Churches talk about money when they are desperate.
This is usually the result of the first mistake. We never talk about money until we absolutely have to, and by that time, there are usually problems. People don’t give out of loyalty the way they once did. People are not motivated to bail out a struggling institution. People want to give to something that is exciting, makes an impact, and is visibly connected to changing lives.
3. Churches only talk about money in connection to giving.
This is another critical error. There are many churches that avoid talking about money except when they need to talk about giving. Every time the congregation hears “money”, they assume you are about to ask them to give it to you. On the practical level, many churches commit this error when they preach and teach about money once a year during stewardship season. Over time, not only do we associate money talk with giving, but we fail to teach the breadth of what scripture challenges people to do with their resources.
We then associate generosity with giving to the church, because every time we talk about the practice of generosity, we are asking people to be generous toward “us.” Rather, the church ought to be a community that helps people think faithfully about their finances.
4. We ask new people not to give.
In many ways, trying to correct previous mistakes creates new ones. This mistake is most often made by newer churches, contemporary churches, or churches trying to connect with new people. I was visiting a church recently and when offering time came around, the pastor stepped up and shared something like this: “Here at our church we give as part of worship. But if you are new or have just recently started coming, we do not expect you to give.” Most people do not need to be given permission not to give. The invitation not to give only makes it more difficult later to introduce the practice of generosity.
5. We talk apologetically about giving.
Many churches speak apologetically about giving. We over-explain, offer conditions, and sometimes outright apologize before we ask people to practice generosity. We remind them that they do not have to give and then talk about giving in sacrificial terms. But being generous helps us grow closer to Christ and leads to greater joy in our lives.
This material is excerpted from 8 Virtues of Rapidly Growing Churches (Abingdon Press, 2018) by Matt Miofsky and Jason Byassee. Used by permission. The book is available at Cokesbury and Amazon.