When it was time for Moses to build the tabernacle — the "house of God" — in the wilderness, God instructed Moses to take an offering (Exodus 35-36). What happened was unprecedented! The Israelites gave so freely and generously to the project, Moses had to order them to stop giving. Their gifts and offerings exceeded the need, yet they just kept giving. Moses had more resources than he knew what to do with.
In all my years of pastoral ministry, I've never had to tell a congregation to stop giving. In fact, I've never heard of any church having that "problem." Sadly, in most congregations, the opposite is true. The problem isn't people giving too much – it's people giving too little.
Many congregations teeter in financial crisis – unable to add programs, make necessary upgrades to their facilities, or hire much-needed staff. Most congregations with less than 350 adults in average attendance are in "survival mode." Instead of dreaming of their future, they wonder if they can stay afloat another year or two.
Surveys show that the average church member in the U.S. gives between 1.5 percent to 3 percent of their annual income to the church. That's not even close to the tithe, or 10 percent, prescribed in the Bible. A most recent survey of my own tribe found that about 30 percent of United Methodists don't give anything at all to their church. Ouch!
Why did Moses have to beg God's people to stop giving, and we have to plead to give?
It has to do with "the attitude of gratitude." The Israelites were enslaved and held in bondage by the Egyptians for more than 400 years. The work was back breaking. They had only crude shelter, the clothes on their backs, and food enough to sustain them for another day. Every child was born a slave. Each generation begat another generation of hopeless, dreamless people — forced to endure endless toil and troubles.
When God delivered them from their endless cycle of misery, they were so filled with gratitude and thanksgiving to God that they gave everything they had to Him. The moment they were offered an opportunity to tangibly thank God and build for Him a dwelling place for His presence, they couldn't stop giving their treasures to God. (Remember, part of their deliverance was taking the spoils of Egypt with them, so they had come into wealth and treasure.)
Contrast that with our attitude. We've been raised in a free country. We are wealthy compared with most of the world. We don't get excited when it's time to take the offering each Sunday. We roll our eyes and grudgingly give our leftovers to God's house.
The problem is we don't get it. We don't see ourselves as liberated slaves. And because we don't get it, we aren't nearly as grateful to God as we should be. Without Jesus, we are slaves to sin and held in bondage by an evil taskmaster. Satan rules our lives. Hell is our destiny. But Jesus set us free. Through Him we have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness to live in God's glorious Kingdom of light. Instead of being enslaved by sin, now we are the very righteousness of Christ. Heaven is our home. Jesus is our King. Hope abounds.
When we grasp this reality deep in our hearts, maybe pastors, like Moses, will have to ask us to stop giving so much.
The Rev. William Thomas is pastor at Hereford United Methodist Church. He can be reached at pastor@herefordumc.org.
