How Giving to the Church Increases Poverty

One thing Christian churches of all denominations, sizes, and structures have in common is that they accept tithes and offerings.

Some are more assumptive in their approach by leaving giving envelopes strategically all around the sanctuary as well as the foyer, then at least once per scheduled service passing offering plates. Others have boxes either at the front or back where individuals can nonchalantly slip in their offerings. 

Of course, those techniques have now existed for centuries. Today, a growing number have someone charismatic give a direct appeal as a QR code is displayed on a huge screen, or people can opt-in to SMS messages that relay a giving link. 

Often, a prayer is invoked at some point to suggest giving is a pious and reverent activity, that the offerings serve a higher purpose.

How Churches Spend Tithes and Offerings

On average, churches spend 49% of their money on salaries, and after facilities, dues, and other minutiae, only 11% is spent on missions, and 10% on programs.

Don’t get me wrong: I am sympathetic to the financial needs of clergy. They sacrifice for others, yet their needs are often not met. Our broken system pays clergy wildly differently, with many underpaid. I have personally served as a pastor for a church that was unable to provide any financial compensation. 

There are a variety of other means to support clergy other than offerings, including stipends/salary paid by a denomination centrally; revenue from endowments, trusts, and other investments; property rental income; and bi-vocational opportunities. 

None of these are easy or especially popular, so the problem remains: when people give at church, very little if any actually goes to those in the community who need the most help.

Even if the ones who need help are clergy.

What is interesting to me is when people drive their shiny cars to a church and give more or less faithfully, and church leaders argue about the landscaping, or the songs selected by their paid musicians, or which new game system they should buy their youth group. Meanwhile, two hundred feet away are hungry and homeless people who have no idea when or where they will have a meal. 

Have you paid attention to the needs of those in your community? If you are the church, that’s not someone else’s job, it’s yours.

Jesus Christ: Financial Advisor

Jesus had a lot to say about how his followers should spend money. Here are a few examples:

• 

  “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” (Revelation 3:17, NIV)
  Money can’t buy the things that matter most in life, like love, joy, and peace.

• “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24, NIV)
  If we put money before God, it will control us.

• “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” (Luke 16:9, NIV)
  Money is a tool for God’s kingdom to be built relationally.

• “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21, NIV)
  When we give to the poor, we are investing in eternity.

• “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” (Matthew 5:42, NIV)
  How we spend our money shows what is truly important to us.

• “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.” (Matthew 6:2, NIV)
  Giving in secret protects our hearts from pride and self-seeking.

Money is a valuable resource that can be used for good or evil. When we align our financial priorities with those Jesus voiced, not only can we change the lives of those in our communities who need help, we are investing relationally in God’s kingdom on earth and in eternity.

What would it look like if instead of offering money to a local church, we actually became the church, and gave generously to those with the most need?

Cutting Out the Middleman

Despite Christ teaching to give to anyone who asks, and even instructing the rich young ruler to sell possessions so he can give to the poor, there remain those who are reluctant giving directly to others in need. Many worry or assume street people will take whatever cash they receive and buy drugs or alcohol.

A non-profit based in Canada studied a group of fifty individuals chosen at random whom were given a single lump-sum cash payment of $7,500, which was compared to the annual income assistance rate in British Columbia. 

In the first month of the program, the cash group saw a significant drop in homelessness from 77% down to 49%, while the non-cash group’s homelessness increased from 64% to 78%. Cash recipients found homes faster by a margin of a whole year. 

Over the course of 12 months, the cash group spent 4,396 fewer nights homeless, which would suggest giving cash to the poor prevents homelessness.

The study also demonstrated that cash recipients used what they were given primarily towards rent, food, and essential bills, while some spent a portion to feed and clothe their children.

This is not just some isolated experiment. The city of Stockton, California has a program called SEED that gave 125 residents selected at random $500 per month for two years. There were no set parameters or conditions: the participants could spend the money however they saw fit—there wasn’t even a work requirement. 

The unconditional cash transfers reduced monthly income fluctuations by 31%, increased full-time employment by 12%, reduced anxiety and depression, and empowered individuals to have more control of their finances, improve goal-setting opportunities, and be better prepared for unexpected expenses. Only 1% was spent on alcohol or tobacco. The program was even shown to improve the health of the participants and their families during the Covid-19 pandemic.

So, obviously, this works. 

Some would argue that whatever funds Christ followers would have to offer would just be a drop in the bucket, but that is also false.

In 2021, people in the United States donated $135.78 billion to churches. How different could the world within the reach of our arms look if we started putting our money where our mouths are?

One more question: if the result of giving to the church the way you currently do is the poverty-stricken world we live in, then how could direct giving not be an improvement?

Are You Helping or Hurting?

Our choices have consequences. Passing the plate in whatever form may serve some sort of higher purpose, but not only is it the very least we can do, by giving what we can to the church rather than directly to those who need it, we are increasing poverty.

We must challenge ourselves to break free from the traditional patterns and embrace a new way of giving. The power to change lives, to make a real difference, is within our grasp. 

And if we fail to do it, are we really the hands and feet of Jesus?