BLOGGING TOWARD SUNDAY…

In the latest issue of The Christian Century, an article written by Chistian Smith, Michael Emerson, and Patricia Snell makes the following statement in bold type:  “Most American Christians give either nothing or very little to church or charities.”   The article goes on to report that in 1998, the amount of money given by the median U.S. Christian giver was $200, against a median income of $32,500.

That translates to .62 percent, a little more that one-half of one percent of incomes of REGULARLY attending U.S. Christians.  As a pastor, I can tell you that there is nothing shocking about those figures to me.  Embarassing, yes.  Shocking, no.

What IS shocking is the other statistic reported in the article:  While less than 10 percent of all Christians tithe, 14 percent of non-Christian religious believers give 10 percent or more!  What does that say about our commitment to Christ and his church?

The rule of thumb in the average Christian church is simple:  20 percent of the people give 80 percent of the money.  In other words, a small group of truly generous men and women are paying the bills for the vast majority who give little or nothing.  Interestingly enough, it has little to do with income levels.  What it has to do with is commitment to Christ.

How are you doing with that?

Filed under: Blogging Toward Sunday