An Answer for Offering

As a youth minister, seminary student and a church member, I've often wonder why we tithe the way we do. For years I've passed the gold plate to the person sitting next to me and I'm convinced that it has made me a little cynical. Over the past few months I've found that the offering segment of many church services carries with it a great deal of peer pressure. I've passed the plate and watched the people on my pew. I've held my head in shame for not putting anything in the plate and I've also judged the people around me for not giving. And throughout my observations I've discovered that I'm not the only person that struggles to find a sense of peace with tithing and offering my gifts to God.

Churches have started giving out envelopes to their members to bring with them on Sunday. It's a way to keep your tithes and offerings a secret. And if I'm jumping to a conclusion I've found that a secret offering is only a secret because we're afraid others might judge us. Why are we so heavily invested in what people give? Wasn't it Jesus that told us "not to let our right hand know what our left hand is doing"? Our offerings should be between us and God.

I don't think God wants our gifts if we feel pressured into giving them. God doesn't want a half-eaten sandwich. And that is what offering has become for many people. Instead we should be giving what we can, but at the same time I think we ought to give until we can feel it. If you make $1000 a week and you're dropping $5 bill in the plate I hope you can feel the effects of that $5 in your budget.

So, what's the solution? How do we make tithes and offering about joyful giving? Is there a way to do away with the peer pressure and to make this ritual something God centered and spirit driven? That was the intention in the first place.

I think there is a better way. I grew up in Dahlonega, Georgia. It's a small town. We have one post office in town and my folks don't have a mailbox. They rent a box at the post office and check it occasionally, but when they need to send something off it is easier for them to drive to the Wal-Mart parking lot. There they can drop there mail in a collection box and wait for it to be picked up. You've seen these boxes. They look like the image to the right.

What if we did away with the entire offertory segment of our church service? Could it be as simple as directing your attention to drop boxes in the back of the room? We could give them a nickname. Maybe we could refer to them as "Righteous Gift Receptacles"!

I know this sounds a little outlandish, but maybe it is a way to move our attention away from the persons on our pews or the staff that supports it's congregates in ministry. I'm just another joe churchgoer. Either way, it's important to understand that giving isn't about obligation or fear of ridicule. Our offerings are supposed to be given in awe of God and in the hopes of helping the "least of these."

-Brother Blake