Financial Giving

In the New Year one task which I have often encouraged church members to undertake is a review of their financial giving to the church.

Your income may go up or down; you may feel that your ability to give has increased or decreased. Early in the New Year it is good practice to take the time to review your level of giving to the church. We are all encouraged to give regularly to support the work of the church as we are able. Paul gave this advice to the church in Corinth: "On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income." (1 Corinthians 16:2 TNIV)

What Paul called ‘the first day of every week’ we call ‘Sunday’ and many people do still give on a weekly basis, but in today’s world many of us find it more sensible to give monthly, and some of us with irregular income coming from investments or contracts paid can only give when a sum of income has come in. The exact date or period for giving doesn’t really matter, the more important underlying principle is that you should treat it as a regular commitment.

The second principle Paul describes is that what we give should be ‘in keeping with your income’, in other words there should be a sense of proportion, the higher your income - the higher the amount you should set aside for the church, the lower your income - the less you ought to set aside for the church. Wisely, Paul doesn’t try to tell the people in the church in Corinth exactly what that proportion should be. Instead Paul offers this advice: "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7 TNIV)

So, how do you decide what to give?

Paul, with his Jewish background would have been used to a basic Biblical instruction: "Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year." (Deuteronomy 14:22 TNIV) The Bible calls this tenth, or 10%, a ‘tithe’ and the tithe was applied not just to fields but to all productivity and income.

Many Christians today still give a 10% tithe to the church because that is what they have decided in their heart. Others believe that in this modern, high income tax and high VAT world a different standard is appropriate; the United Reformed Church and the Church of England both suggest that if the average Christian were to decide to give 5% of their income to the church and 5% of their income to other charitable work, this would be an acceptable response.

But these are only guidelines.
The response is yours to make.
What have you decided to give?

In the last few weeks I have also made available to everyone in church a letter offering this encouragement to review their giving. If you would like a copy ask the Door Steward the next time you are in church. Will what you give to the church in 2009 be different from what you gave to the church in 2008? Only you can decide in your own heart, nobody else can take that decision for you.

Thank you for considering this. May you know the Lord’s blessing as you responsibly make any necessary change.
(M.S.)