Giving & Receiving

According to a recent study, the poor are the most generous. “The lowest-income fifth (of the population) always give at more than their capacity,” said Virginia Hodgkinson, former vice president for research at Independent Sector, a Washington-based association of major nonprofit agencies. “The next two-fifths give at capacity, and those above that are capable of giving two or three times more than they give.”

Christian News Wire reports that the recession is not solely to blame for the decline in giving among church-goers. With the average church committing 85 percent of its budget to salaries, buildings and other internal operations (www.generousgiving.com), “Christians are opting to give to nonprofits that are turning this model upside down, using the majority of their income for direct ministry not overhead.”

Jeremy is one such pastor that shares the sentiment of many pastors when it comes to talking about money in the pulpit… Often if we touch the subject at all, we do so with the awkwardness of a 16-year old chess club member asking a cheerleader to the junior prom! And the televangelists don’t help us any. Many people filter their views about Christianity through the skewed lens they see in the Big-Haired, Rolex-wearing, Benz-driving guys begging for money on TV. Please understand, I’m not judging you if you drive a Benz or wear a nice watch…..unless you are simultaneously begging for money!