Jul 31 2008 8:48PM
The Giving Myths
For three decades, I’ve been invited into virtually every kind of church in America (Evangelical, Protestant, Roman Catholic), and I am frequently asked, “What’s the real reason that giving is declining in most churches today? Is it the economy?”
“No.” Economic downturns do make religious people more conscientious about how and where they give and invest. When wages are frozen, commissions are smaller, and prices are higher, the coffers will be lighter. That’s a fact. But, the economy has very little to do with the decline in the number of coins that ring in today’s coffers. Even when the economy was booming, giving was waning. Giving has been declining for decades.
A more important question is: “What motivates generosity at all? Regardless of the economy, why would any person give anything?”
Here’s what I know: Generosity is never tied to your circumstances, but to your convictions. If the economy had anything to do with giving, the Macedonians, about whom the Apostle Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 8, had every reason to quarantine the meager resources they did have. Instead, however—and this is what shocked the Apostle—their generosity was outlandish.
Just as in Macedonia, this kind of outlandish generosity exists today, but it isn’t because of sermons on tithing or the pulpit scolding of those who do not give. If you’re interest is in growing a spiritually healthy church, motivation for giving must come from somewhere other than guilt for not giving or shame for giving too little. Instead, what makes people genuinely generous is a deep, life-transforming experience of divine grace—the kind of transformational experience I talk about in my book, The Giving Myths. You never have to beg from people who have experienced grace; you almost always have to beg from those who have not.
This isn’t rocket science, but it is the key that will unlock the door to generous giving, and it is the only way to make your church recession proof when it comes to giving. If you find there is a decline in giving in your church, look for a deficit of grace in people’s lives. It is there you’ll find the answers in your search for what motivates giving.
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