Cheerful Generosity
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. 2nd Corinthians 9:7 (NIV)
How many times have you thought, “If we just had more money, we could accomplish so much more in our community.” While money is not the answer to all of your church’s problems, it does take money to fund the vision of the local church.
It is easy to fall into the dichotomy of the “Haves” and the “Have-Nots.” As if some churches just “have” all the money and others are doomed to an existence of hopelessly wishing for more. However, 2nd Corinthians 8 puts up the Macedonian church as an example that crushes this false dichotomy.
“In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave a smuch as they were able, and even beyond their ability.” II Corinthians 8:2-3 (NIV)
From their poverty, they gave generously. Moreover, they begged to be a part of the offering and gave even beyond their means. Cheerful generosity has never been about the money. Generosity is an overflow of the heart. There is no other reason that Arkansas A/G churches consistently land in the top 3 in the U.S. for missions giving while Arkansas is in the bottom 3 in the nation in average household income. Generosity is a spiritual issues that really comes down to faith and submission.
“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” II Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)
Paul is still talking about monetary giving when he writes that God will give us an abundance for every good work. God is able to provide the resources to accomplish the vision that he has given you for your church and community. Giving is a spiritual discipline like prayer, fasting, and studying the Bible. If we want to develop generous givers, we must teach and train our people about Biblical generosity. This section will give you practical steps to help you cultivate and develop a culture in your church of cheerful, generous givers!
Connect Giving to the Vision/Mission
Studies have shown that the number one reason that someone donates to a non-profit is a belief in their mission. Over the last several decades, the church is getting less and less of the total percentage of money donated to non-profits each year. The money is still being given; it is just not being given to the local church.
How can this be? We have the greatest mission that mankind has ever known. That is not to discount hospitals, schools, or other non-profits that are making a difference, but their mission isn’t to reach a lost world with the good news of the gospel. Their mission isn’t eternal. So why are we losing ground? We are losing because for too long we have preached “Pay the tithe” and thought that was good enough. That may well have worked 50 years ago, but it will not be as effective today especially among millennials and gen-z. People, especially young, working-class people, want to know that their money is being used for a good purpose.
This is such an easy win for us! Just celebrate wins with your people, and tie those wins to their generosity.
Here are some examples:
- Mark gets saved on a Sunday. The next week, before taking up the offering, you celebrate that salvation and directly tie it to people’s giving. “It is because of your giving that our church was able to do the outreach that invited Mark and his family to be here last Sunday. Your giving paid for the curriculum we used in the nursery where his daughter went last week so he could focus on the message. Your generosity is making an eternal impact for the Kingdom of God!”
- Your bus ministry brings in a record number of youth on Wednesday night. The next Sunday, before taking up the offering, you tie that victory to the people’s giving. “We had a record number of students last Wednesday, and many of those came through our bus ministry. It is because of people being generous with their time to drive those buses that we are able to minister to these students. Also, it takes money to put gas in the vans, and it is because of your continued financial generosity that we are able to sustain this life-changing ministry.
- James and Laura’s marriage was restored through a small group ministry, and they are ready to celebrate that publicly. “James and Laura got connected to a small group last semester. They thought their marriage was over, but God restored their marriage through their group. We can have thriving ministries like this because of your faithful generosity.
To expect generosity from people, we have to be making a spiritual impact on their lives and the lives of their family. If revival breaks out in your church, and Bill’s kids and grandkids get saved, he is going to believe in the value of his financial giving like he never has before. People who are sold on the mission of your church will support that mission financially.
Make Missions Giving a Priority
When personal finances are all inwardly focused, we would not consider that to be a generous person. Likewise, when a church’s finances are all directed inwardly, that church cannot be considered generous.
If we want to develop the spiritual discipline of giving in our people, we have to model generosity with our church’s finances. We also have the biblical mandate to take the gospel into all nations. When we consider these two together, it naturally follows that missions giving must be a high priority for a church to establish a generous culture.
Some are afraid to make monthly missions commitments for fear that their church’s budget cannot support such giving. This is the same as a person telling us they can’t pay their tithes for fear that they would not be able to pay their other bills. Our response would be that God is our provider, and when we take care of His stuff first, He will always take care of us. The same logic applies here.
There are many churches struggling financially who do not give to missions, but every church that is financially healthy is a missions-minded church.
Personally Give
Studies have shown that the number two reason that someone chooses to give to a non-profit is a belief in the staff and leadership team. To put it directly, you cannot develop generous givers if you are not one. We should never ask our people to give to something that we are not willing to invest in ourselves.
As the saying goes, “You teach what you know, but you reproduce who you are.” If you want to reproduce cheerful, generous givers, then you have to model cheerful generosity to your people.
If we are going to ask our people to “grow in the grace of giving,” then we too must grow in this grace.
Teach/Preach on Biblical Generosity
Pastors have said “It is the hardest thing to preach on.” “I know that if I do a series on money, people will leave.” “I don’t want to be accused of being a prosperity preacher.” The truth is that some people have taken biblical generosity and twisted it into bad theology. It is also true that someone else’s bad theology should not keep us from teaching the whole word of God.
Some people take grace and abuse it. So should we stop preaching grace? Certainly not. Some people take the love of God and twist it. Does that mean we stop preaching love? No. Some people take money out of its biblical context. Does that mean we stop teaching on the benefits of generously giving? No.
Much of our problem when it comes to financial theology comes from the fact that more sound theology is not taught. When people hear talk about money, it is often from a place of bad theology.
It is not the entire gospel, but it is part of the Word of God. In fact, money and possessions was a major topic in the gospels. That is because money, like few other earthly things, has the ability to dominate the thoughts and actions of almost all people. Money can cause all kinds of evil, but it can also be used for good.
People need to understand what the Bible says about money and possessions. As a part of our offering time, we should teach on biblical giving often, and we should preach with some regularity on what the Bible says about money and giving.
Be Generous as a Church
Your community should be better because of your church. Connecting with other stakeholders in your community is a great way to model generosity and make personal connections. You will find many specific outreach ideas in this material that will work with any budget. The point of the community outreach is not how much it costs, it is about the generous heart of your people to be a blessing to your community.
Some ways that your church can be generous in your community:
- Buy Sonic drinks for all the teachers at your local school
- Feed the firehouse dinner
- Host a thanksgiving meal outreach at your church
- Feed a local high school sports team before a game
There is also a place for being generous with your own people. Some churches do a “Family Christmas” service where they bless their own people with Christmas gifts. Being generous with people who serve and give is also a great idea. You get what you celebrate, so celebrate the people you want to reproduce! Be generous!
Offer Financial Training
One of the most practical and overlooked aspects of developing generous people is helping them with their personal finances. Most people are interested in but lack financial training. You can use many resources such as “Financial Peace University” to help your people learn the basics on personal finance.
What you will find is that when people feel more in control of their money, they feel more freedom to give. When people learn to budget, pay off debt, and save for retirement, they set themselves up to be able to give. They are even more inclined to give when the church is what introduced them to this personal financial material. It gives people the feeling that the church cares for their personal finances beyond just what they give to the church.
Manage the Finances With Integrity
Studies have shown that the number three reason that someone chooses to give to a non-profit is the fiscal responsibility of that organization. We must handle God’s money, both personally and as a church, with integrity and the highest standards.
There are resources at the district office that can help if you struggle with bookkeeping. Regardless of how you accomplish it, the financial recording has to be done accurately.
We also have to be open with our members and donors about how the money donated to our church is being used. With the exception of individual salaries, church members and donors should have access to any financial information they want.
With the rising number of people giving online, it is also important that we acknowledge our role in making the online transaction both easy for the giver and cost-effective for the church. There are many companies that offer these online giving services and varying costs. We should look to lower these costs when it is possible.
One good option for lowering giving costs in Planning Center Online. Through Planning Center Online, ACH donations (electronic checks) are only charged a $.30 fee per transaction regardless of the donation size with no percentage taken. Non-ACH transactions do have a fee, and it is in line with industry norms. Most donors want their money to stay with the church and not go to processing fees. So if you will explain to them how much you can save with ACH donations, the vast majority will use that option to give.
For example:
If your church takes $50,000 in online giving. One popular giving platform for churches charges 2.9% plus $.30 per transaction. That 2.9% accounts for an extra $120 in fees per month. Even after taking the $30 monthly PCO Giving fee into account, you’re still keeping $90 more per month. If you have someone give a large gift online, those savings can add up quickly.
Another benefit to PCO is that all of the giving is automatically integrated with their People database. This is free, and it makes it possible for people to check this giving through the year. It also makes end-of-year giving statements easy to send out digitally.
Resources
Books to read:
Not Your Parent’s Offering Plate - J. Clif Christopher
Monthly offering plan:
Click here to download a suggested plan.