Pastors & Teachers
Common Excuses for Not Preaching on Giving
Pastors are the Lord's under-shepherds, charged with the oversight of His church. And pastors know better than anyone else how crucial congregational giving is for the survival of the church. So why do we hear so few messages on the subject of Christian giving or biblical stewardship? Here are some common preacher objections and our answers to them.
Fear of Offending Others
Fear of Exposing Oneself
Fear of Distracting from Ministry
Money is a sensitive and divisive issue in my church. Best to stay away from the topic altogether.
This is a common sentiment among pastors, as it seems that money is a sensitive and divisive issue everywhere. In fact, it is precisely because money is such a sensitive subject that it must not be ignored within the church. In spite of the American attachment to personal independence, the church shares a mutual responsibility for the spiritual growth of its members (John 13:34; 1 Corinthians 14:12; Galatians 6:1-5; 1 Thessalonians 5:11), and it is the preacher's job to proclaim whatever God says in His word (Acts 20:27). Because Christ has charged pastors to preach His gospel of salvation, and because this gospel includes people's attitudes toward money, then faithfulness to Christ requires that pastors preach about money. The Bible warns us that the truth will sound offensive and foolish to those who do not understand it (1 Corinthians 2). In a sense, then, a pastor should expect sensitivity and division. Not that he should preach so as to stir up discord. But he should preach God's word with power and boldness, even if it rattles the hearers and even if it makes them angry at him. But ministers should also be encouraged: Rightly taught and over time, a biblical view of money will create community rather than dissension in the church.
Many in my congregation are on welfare. I might hurt their feelings.
Care for one's hearers may be the most critical character trait in a pastor (1 Thessalonians 2:7), so the desire to avoid injuring one's people unnecessarily is commendable. On the other hand, if people's consciences truly need pricking, then it is the pastor's job to apply God's word to prick them. He should certainly not go out of his way to hurt anyone's feelings, but he should allow God's word to prick their hearts as the Lord sees fit (Acts 2:37). The message of Scripture includes both the bad news that people are lost in sin and the good news that Christ has accomplished a great salvation. A pastor must both break people's hearts with the bad news and comfort them with the good news. Is your congregation poor? The Scriptures speak quite plainly to poor people, blessing them (Luke 6:20), encouraging them with the coming of the Lord (James 5:7), and exhorting them to give generously (2 Corinthians 8:2), among other things. A pastor ought not to shrink back from preaching everything the Bible says to his people-blessings and challenges-even where it might offend. People need to hear the whole word preached, even if they sometimes do not know that they need it.
Many in my congregation are wealthy. I might arouse their suspicions.
The desire to avoid the appearance of greed is well founded. Indeed, there is no place for selfish gain in God's church (Ephesians 5:3), especially not in work of preaching the gospel (1 Thessalonians 2:5). Pastors face an uphill battle against popular prejudice on two fronts: The general public is suspicious of Christian ministers, and wealthy people are suspicious of anyone who wants to talk about money. Things look bad for the pastor on both counts. Even so, he must go on preaching the whole counsel of God, whatever people may think about him. God tells us that the gospel will be an offense (1 Corinthians 1:23), and we must let it do its offending work. Of course, this is no license for the pastor to cause offense. Rather, he should do everything in his power to dissociate true Christian giving from pulpit greed. He must let his pulpit language, his accounting practices, and his own standard of living be simple, biblical and above reproach. His congregants may be suspicious when first he begins preaching about giving. But the pastor can lead them beyond suspicion into generosity.
I dare not risk upsetting the big givers in the congregation, the people who keep us afloat.
This fear is understandable but inappropriate, for a couple of reasons. First, pastors have to risk upsetting people (wealthy people included) if they really want them to grow in grace. The pastor's job is to shepherd all his people in all aspects of Christian discipleship (Acts 20:27). If one of those aspects happens to upset them, that's OK. Sometimes the truth upsets, doesn't it? This is not to say, of course, that a pastor should go out of his way to be rude. But in one sense, he has to disregard his people's wealth and treat them all alike as "sheep." Second, it is easy to assume that, because these people give a lot of money, they are the source of the church's livelihood. But it is God, not big givers, who keeps the church afloat (1 Chronicles 29:14). While He happens to have used them to do it, He could sustain the church just as well without their money. The pastor who trusts in the Lord for his church's well-being will be free to preach the whole counsel of Scripture, even the potentially upsetting parts.
It is better to discuss giving privately with each member, not publicly from the pulpit.
One might think that personal finance is much too private a subject to speak about publicly from the pulpit, opting instead to discuss giving privately with individuals for the sake of tact. And to be sure, Lord's Day preaching is no substitute for personal accountability and counsel. But having said so, it is significant that the Scriptures themselves do not refrain from speaking quite publicly about Christian giving. In the same way that King David exhorted all Israel to give to the building of the temple (1 Chronicles 29), the apostle Paul also addressed whole churches, urging them to give and thanking them for their generosity (2 Corinthians 8, Philippians 4). The prophets and apostles apparently considered personal giving to be a matter of great significance to God and therefore appropriate for preaching. Public preaching communicates that the issue is not the pastor's personal request to some select people but, rather, the call of the gospel itself on the lives of all Christians, which is precisely the biblical view. A pastor should certainly discuss giving with his people privately, but not to the exclusion of the public preaching of the whole Bible.
I might scare visitors away.
This point is well taken. Given popular ideas about greed in the church, it is possible that preaching on money could scare some visitors away. But having acknowledged that, there are several reasons why pastors should preach about giving anyway: (1) The church's highest priority is not attracting and retaining visitors but giving worship to God. If God's worship and visitor opinion come into conflict, then so much the worse for visitor opinion. Pastors must preach what God says, whatever people may think of it (Galatians 1:10). (2) The gospel message itself includes money issues. Not only does the Bible say that money makes it hard for people to enter the kingdom of God (Luke 18:24), but it also says that money sometimes even sinks people's faith (1 Timothy 6:10). Because pastors are called to preach the gospel, and because the gospel includes money issues, then pastors must preach sermons about money. (3) In their preaching, pastors have the chance to undo popular confusion about Christian giving. Much of the distaste toward church giving is based on gross misunderstanding, like the idea that "the pastor just wants my money." Sound preaching can correct such errors and vindicate the name of Christ before unbelievers. (4) In the long run, good preaching on money will actually contribute to greater visitor retention. By preaching the whole counsel of God, pastors will cultivate healthy churches, which will in turn attract more people to the "sweet aroma" of the gospel (2 Corinthians 2:15). In the end, preaching on money is actually good for church growth.
You're asking me to criticize my congregation's spending priorities, but that would mean disrupting their whole way of life.
To say so is to rightly grasp the grand scope of the call to biblical generosity. God does not call us to "tip" Him a bit here and there, but to reorder all our priorities (spending included) in the service of His kingdom (Matthew 6:33). If a pastor preaches gospel generosity to his people, he probably will disrupt their whole way of life. But then, if he preaches the gospel at all, he will disrupt their whole way of life. That's what the gospel inevitably does. Of course, the point is not to disrupt lives but to preach the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). If lives are disrupted as a result, then so be it. And again, pastors must be sensitive to the condition of their congregations, preaching the truth to them in ways they can understand and respond. A pastor may need to introduce these ideas slowly, so as to allow the people to warm to them. In any case, as the pastor preaches, God will provide the grace needed for the people to obey.
I don't give much myself, so I would be a hypocrite if I preached on the subject.
This is a conscientious objection; Jesus Himself had famously harsh words for hypocrites-people who talk about the importance of obedience but do not do it themselves (Mark 7:6). A pastor certainly should not preach obedience while harboring disobedience in his own life. But what is the proper next step? The pastor might go on keeping his money to himself, in which case he cannot preach on giving lest he add hypocrisy to his sins. Or he might repent of his greed and start practicing generosity himself, in which case he can preach biblical generosity with a clear conscience. The biblical choice is clear. By no means does Jesus authorize us to persist in our private sins, provided only that we do not preach to others about those things. Rather, Jesus commands us to align both our private lives and public teaching with the whole word of God (Luke 11:42). Is abstention from public hypocrisy a license for private disobedience? Surely not. But thankfully, the gospel includes not only God's forgiveness of sins but also God's empowerment to change our shameful behavior.
My church or denomination restricts what I can say about money from the pulpit.
Some churches do restrict what their ministers can say about money from the pulpit. Such restrictions should not be taken lightly, since submission to authority is an important part of Christian spirituality (1 Peter 2:13). On the other hand, if for whatever reason a church is restricting its pastor from preaching the word of God faithfully, then he must obey God rather than men (Acts 4:19). It is God, not the church, who has saved him from his sins. So when it comes down to it, the pastor's first allegiance must be to God. A pastor in this situation should inquire about the reasons for the church's restrictions-are they biblical or not? If so, then he can obey the church joyfully. If not, then he must go on preaching everything that Jesus has commanded (Matthew 28:20), for this is the duty of a minister of the gospel. We should not go out of the way to stir up trouble, but neither should we shrink back from preaching the word at the point of controversy. In extreme cases, this may mean being asked to leave the church, which has happened to many great pastors. But even in this case, God will be faithful to provide for His servant.
Preaching about money is more likely to decrease giving by my church members.
We tend to think that preaching about money would be likely to decrease rather than increase congregational giving. We generally fear causing offense or sounding greedy. These are reasonable concerns, but in fact there is a godly way to preach about money that avoids unnecessary offense. Is it possible that unbelief underlies this objection? Do we doubt God's promise to work through His word by His Spirit? The Spirit-empowered preaching of the whole word of God is His normal means to accomplish salvation and spiritual growth (1 Corinthians 2:4). If a congregation lacks generosity, their most pressing problem is not budgetary but spiritual (Matthew 6:21). That being the case, they need a spiritual solution. Many pastors remain silent on giving because they think to do so is better for the church, but they may in fact be inadvertently withholding from his people the very thing they need most-the word of God applied to their hearts at their point of difficulty. As frightening as it may seem for the church budget, pastors should preach God's word on money to the people. Not only will they will be much the better for it, but the church also will encounter fewer cash flow troubles in the long run.
I don't really know what to say about it.
This sentiment is common among pastors, and there are good reasons for it. First, many pastors were not taught about giving in seminary. For complicated reasons, American seminaries have generally failed to give due attention to giving in the study of biblical theology, disclosure ethics and church administration. But while this is an unfortunate historical reality, it need not determine the future of the church. The present generation of pastors and seminary professors is in a position to reform the church on this issue, calling her back to biblical teaching about stewardship. Such reform would consist of individual pastors going back to the Scriptures and preaching again all that the Bible has to say about money. Second, many pastors lack good study material. In recent American church history, there has been a scarcity of good literature on biblical generosity, due to Christian inattention to the doctrine of stewardship generally. But happily, recent developments have turned the church's attention once again to grace-based stewardship in the Bible. The upshot is that, unlike previous generations, pastors today need not go without good study material. Probably the best place to begin is with the Generous Giving Research Library, an extensive online collection available on Generous Giving's pastors' home page. Any pastor can remedy his ignorance with just a little study. To have missed Christian stewardship training in seminary is understandable. But with the resources now available, is there any reason to neglect stewardship further?
My job depends on my keeping the congregation happy. If I were to preach on money, I would put my job and my family's welfare in jeopardy.
This, too, is an understandable objection. It is right, in a sense. After all, a church can fire its pastor if he upsets them. But isn't God's evaluation of our job performance far more important than anyone else's? If God wants us to preach on stewardship, but we refuse for fear of our congregations, what will we have gained? Wouldn't we be better off obeying God than our congregations (Acts 5:29)? The pastor who loses his job on account of faithfulness to God's word can be sure that God will watch over him and his family, even apart from his paycheck from the church (Matthew 6:32). Having said all that, however, experience has shown that pastors who take the bold step of preaching giving to their churches generally do not get fired, but quite the opposite. We may be inclined to imagine catastrophe, but it is more likely that preaching stewardship to the church will result in progress than in persecution.
I get enough negative feedback on my preaching as it is. There is no need to go asking for trouble.
This is no isolated phenomenon. Many preachers have to deal with churches full of self-appointed sermon critics. And what is more, it is right to be upset about this. Many parishioners do not show their pastors the double honor that the Scripture calls for (1 Timothy 5:17). But the fact that people treat their pastors badly is not a reason for pastors to shrink from a biblical responsibility. Yes, the pastor may receive negative feedback if he preaches on giving. But if that's what it takes to be faithful to the Lord, then so be it (2 Corinthians 6:4). More than likely, the pastor won't hear any criticisms that he hasn't already heard before. But experience has shown that, although the pastor may take some blows initially, stewardship preaching tends to result in healthier churches over the long haul. Isn't that sort of long-term spiritual growth worth some grief in the short run?
My congregation is too steeped in materialism; no one would listen to me.
It is right to expect a hard time of it. Jesus Himself noted the resistance of the rich to the kingdom of God (Luke 18:24). Possessions have a way of controlling us. And the more possessions we have, the stronger the controlling influence. But even so, we should never underestimate the transforming power of the gospel. Zacchaeus was a materialist, and his wealth had a powerful grip on him. But upon meeting Jesus, he was changed so dramatically that he gave away half of all he owned (Luke 19:1-10). If Zacchaeus could experience this kind of change, then our congregations can, too. Granted, it may take a long time, and it may require hard work and skillful pastoring on the part of ministers. But isn't this true of all pastoral ministry? In short, we should be realistic about the challenge involved in preaching generosity, but we should also have great faith in the power of the gospel to change people.
Salvation is all that matters. Money and giving are beside the point.
Salvation is truly a matter of utmost importance. Indeed, the apostle Peter calls it the very goal of our faith (1 Peter 1:9). In the biblical account, the great problem is sin, and the great solution is redemption through faith in Jesus Christ. That is a shorthand summary of the Christian religion. With that understood, however, money is hardly beside the point. As the apostle Paul cautioned the young pastor Timothy, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Timothy 6:10). Apparently, money is sometimes responsible for shipwrecking people's faith. Elsewhere, the apostle John argues that failure to give one's money is a sign that a person's salvation may be in question (1 John 3:17). So while money is not the center of the Christian religion, it is very much connected to sin and salvation, which are the center. If that is the case, then not only Timothy, but Christian ministers today too, must not neglect the subject of money. It is good to insist on the preeminence of salvation. But can we then conclude that common issues like money are unrelated? No. Rather, it is precisely because money is so related to sin and salvation that it is such an important subject.
I'm a theologian. If my people want financial advice, they should go to a professional advisor.
Ideally, the pastor/theologian and the professional advisor are neither unrelated nor competitors but, rather, coworkers in growing the practice of Christian generosity. The pastor has a unique platform to exhort Christians to give; he explains the "why" of giving. The professional advisor is able to make generosity practical and workable; he explains the "how" of giving. If a pastor does nothing more than send his people to professional advisors for financial issues, he has lost the precious opportunity to speak the word of God into that part of their lives. He has communicated to them, "God's word is not relevant here," which is untrue (Colossians 1:20). Christians give generously not because professional advisors tell them to, but because they have been changed by the biblical gospel of redemption in Christ. People need their pastors to preach God's word on finances to them first, then to send them to professional advisors for practical helps. The pastor and professional advisor work together to help Christians make investments that will last for eternity. No single part of the body should be remiss in its side of this task.
I have already scheduled a full year of sermons in advance. Giving doesn't fit in with the planned themes.
Adherence to a planned series of sermons is a wise practice. For one thing, it is just good organization. And done properly, it can keep the preacher bound to the biblical text rather than to his or the congregation's pet topics. However, if a pastor can preach through any part of the Bible for a year and not deal with the issue of giving, then he is either missing or avoiding something in the text. Can one preach on God's holiness without mentioning His incomparable generosity, or on God's grace without mentioning the Christian’s overflowing response? While it is only one of many biblical themes, giving has a remarkable way of showing up every few chapters. (See Generous Giving's list of biblical references). By all means, pastors should stick to their planned series. But they should also take a closer look at the chosen texts, and be on the lookout for the theme of giving throughout. It probably fits in better with their planned themes than they might realize.
Scripture focuses on so many other more important truths that I don't want to get bogged down with a secondary issue like money.
It is true that there are more and less important teachings in Scripture. But do we think the Bible's less important teachings distract from or compete with its more important ones? No. If God included these teachings in the Bible at all, He included them for a reason: the church's edification (2 Timothy 3:16). No biblical teaching "bogs down" believers from other biblical teachings. The church needs-and pastors must preach-the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), giving proper emphasis to more important doctrines, but not neglecting or avoiding any doctrine. Nor is money so marginal an issue in the Bible as one might think. It has been rightly observed that we have in the four gospels more words from Jesus on money than on any other single subject. Stewardship is not just a trivial church ritual but a defining mark of true faith (Matthew 6:21). Stewardship has everything to do with the very gospel of Jesus Christ itself. While money does tend to be a marginal issue in American evangelicalism, this is only because we have gotten the Bible wrong on this point. Pastors should certainly not neglect any of the other great doctrines of the faith, but they should give biblical stewardship its proper place as well.
Preachers ought never to ask for money. That is the job of the stewardship chairman.
This objection presumes that preaching biblical generosity is the same thing as asking for money for the church. But this is not the case. When the pastor preaches from the Bible, he is speaking God's word on God's behalf. He is not asking anyone for anything; rather he is declaring, "Thus saith the Lord" (see 2 Timothy 4:2). Congregants must be taught to listen to sermons not in the same way that they listen to sales pitches, but as the very word of God to His people. Likewise, pastors must learn to preach not as salesmen but as the spokesmen of the living God. As the preacher of God's word, he is not saying to the people, "Please help us out," but rather, "The grace of God in Christ compels you to no longer live for yourself but for Him, even with your money." Having said so, of course, the church is also an earthly institution that must raise money and meet budget. Therefore, it is necessary and appropriate to make needs known and to ask for gifts (Philippians 4:15). This may be done by any proper authority in the church, whether the minister or an elder, deacon or lay leader. It is not so important who does the asking, so long as the truth of God's absolute authority is made clear.
I have a very generous congregation. Giving isn't a problem in my church.
A generous congregation is good news, indeed. But we should also pause to ask ourselves: By what standard do we call a church generous? Do they give sufficiently to meet the budget? Or, do they give more than other churches in town? A more important question is: What is the Bible's standard for generosity? The Old Testament establishes the tithe system-one-tenth of gross income. Frankly, most churches fail to meet even this meager standard. But even if our churches tithe, we should consider that in the New Testament, Jesus' one chosen example of generosity is a poverty-stricken widow who gives her last two pennies (Mark 12:41-44), 100 percent of all she owned. Very few of us have ever even dreamt of this, but Jesus calls it a realistic Christian goal. Jesus has accomplished our redemption, and we have received the Holy Spirit; therefore, we are empowered for generosity that previously seemed unimaginable. The Scriptures call Christians ever on to greater and greater generosity. The biblical question is not "How much must I give to have done enough?" but "How much can I give?" (2 Corinthians 8:4). Many pastors do not preach about giving because we think our churches already give enough. But in doing so, might we be underestimating the Holy Spirit or robbing our people of the chance for greater service to Christ?
I already preached about giving during the annual fund drive.
Many pastors keep a giving sermon on file to pull out once a year for the church's stewardship campaign. The idea behind this common practice may be that giving is not an appropriate topic for regular Christian teaching but an unpleasant necessity for making budget. It is significant, though, that both the Old and New Testaments are surprisingly full of instruction on financial matters, all of which points to the central place of money in human life and Christian spirituality. And if giving is such an important topic in Scripture, then isn't it an appropriate topic for regular Christian teaching today? If a pastor preaches just one or a few giving sermons annually for a fund drive, he is communicating, "The church needs your money," rather than, "Your finances are central to your relationship with God." The pastor is motivating his people to give by appealing to occasional church need rather than to the gospel of God's redemption in Christ. It is no surprise, then, that people are not excited about giving. A pastor's fund-drive sermon itself may be thoroughly biblical, but its isolation in the church year communicates unbiblical ideas that he may not intend. A great stewardship sermon last year is a good start. But if the pastor does no more than that, then he will have done his people a disservice, possibly even thwarting some people's desire to give.
I don't believe in the tithe.
This is a substantial objection. The relevance of the tithe command in the New Testament is a subject of some disagreement among Christians of good will. If a pastor is truly biblically convinced that the tithe does not apply today, then he should not offend his own conscience by preaching what he does not believe. In the meanwhile, though, we invite pastors to consider our rationale for the continuing relevance of the tithe-not as the "finish line" but rather as the "starting blocks" to radical New Testament generosity. One might change his conviction by further study of key verses from God's word (1 Chronicles 29:11-14; Matthew 23:23; Luke 3:11, 21:1-4; 2 Corinthians 9:7). But whatever one's opinion on the tithe, one can and should still preach the rest of the biblical counsel on giving. In the New Testament the main reason offered for Christian giving is not the tithe laws but the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because God has shown such great mercy to His people, it is fitting that we should offer ourselves as sacrifices to Him (Romans 12:1) and specifically in part by giving our money (2 Corinthians 8:8-9). If a pastor is biblically convinced that the tithe does not apply today, that is OK. Let one's preaching, like one's conscience, be bound to the whole of Scripture.
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