Crafting a Message that Moves the Hearts of Givers
How to get over the difficulty of asking for financial gifts. | by Don Corder
In Malachi 3:10, we read, “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’”
The majority of churches, or church leaders, have a hard time requesting money from their members. One common reason is “I don’t ask for money because people don’t like being asked for money.”
In most cases, what the people stating this objection really mean is, “I don’t ask for money because I don’t like asking for money.”
Many pastors avoid the subject because they don’t want to feel rejection. Other pastors can sometimes feel guilty preaching on tithing because they don’t value their personal service to the church. The biblical truth is part of our mission in spreading the gospel is asking for money. We aren’t preaching the full gospel if we aren’t preaching about money.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus talked more about money than He did about love or sin. We aren’t afraid to ask people to love their neighbor, to serve others, or to read their Bibles; we just don’t want to ask them to give money. Money is important to God for only one reason—because it’s one of our most precious tangible possessions.
God asks us for a modest 10 percent of our income. If He asked for 1 percent, we wouldn’t notice it much. Giving 50 percent would be a heavy load. Ten percent is enough to make us swallow hard, but not enough to break the bank. Giving 10 percent is a huge step of faith when people start, but then it grows their faith.
I I encourage you and your leadership team to trust God enough to risk failure. Only 2 percent of Americans actually tithe based on their gross income, before taxes. What do you do with that statistic?
I pray that you preach compellingly about giving in your church. I pray that God gives you boldness to speak the truth and call people to develop lives of generosity.
