According to Christian researchers John and Sylvia Ronsvalle, “If giving patterns don’t change, Christian churches face extinction in 2048.” From God’s perspective, that will not happen. Yet, the trends are real and disturbing.
Why has giving, as a percentage of income, been going down for nearly 30 years? I believe there are two primary reasons. First, our Christian culture continues to shift from one guided by biblical stewardship (God is honored by our use of His money for His purposes) to one motivated by philanthropic motives (God is honored by our use of money for our purposes). Second, the relative silence in the church about subjects related to stewardship of money (therefore allowing the culture to define our thinking) means that Christians increasingly look to culture for definition.
The stewardship vs. philanthropy dichotomy is a huge (but often unseen) issue for the Church. Virtually all Christians willingly attribute to God His ownership of all, however, the implication of how His ownership affects our stewardship is not well understood. The philanthropic ethic does not look to God for primary instruction but rather to personal choice—my money, my choice.
Consider the church budget presentation as an example. Church leaders feel pressured by parishioners to present the budget as a “good investment,” and “good stewardship,” achieving a strong ROI (return on investment). This further erodes right thinking and parishioners end up viewing good stewardship as “meeting the budget” rather than honoring God through a church-wide “missional” exercise. The bottom line is that we end up being good stewards according to what we value rather than according to what God values!
Then there is the silence in many churches about the subject of financial stewardship. Might it be that we too often talk about giving in the context of “crisis” or “meeting the budget” rather than in the context of a necessary spiritual discipline just like worship, prayer, integrity, purity or intimacy with God? We dread hearing the comment, “All the church ever talks about is money!” Part of the silence may also be due to a deficiency of training in Christian colleges and seminaries about teaching financial stewardship in the church. As a result the connection of faith to money is stretched beyond the breaking point.
