Our church has been participating in on-line giving for
almost a year and about 10% of our giving comes through online. As you know, I seldom just write a blog that
deals exclusively with our congregation, but I really wanted to take a moment
and express to you why our family decided to give this way and why each member
should consider this option.
I have found that in our life we tend to automate the
important. Most of our bills are paid online and we set up automatic debits so
as not to “forget” the necessary. We
show our priorities and set reminders or automate giving towards the things we
DO NOT want to overlook or be tempted to wait on - things like our house payment,
insurance and similar bills. In our
lives as a family, the only time we ever wrote a check was for the offering (certainly
we have people that still give this way in our church and that’s great)… but,
the ultimate priority in our home is Christ, and our giving at TBC should be one
of our top priorities! How many times,
when things are tight, are you tempted to withhold that check you have not yet
written? But, the battle going on inside
of you at that point – the one that pushes you toward faithfulness, obedience
and trust vs. the one that pulls you toward the easier “out” – that battle can
be avoided by building in some accountability with automated giving. Certainly that is not the end of the war with
our flesh as automatic drafts can always be changed, etc., but in doing so we
must “step over” our convictions to alter our tithe and plans and thus, it
causes us to slow down and realize the steps we are taking into
disobedience. If we would put filters on
our computers to guard our eyes, put restrictions on our tv shows to guard our
minds, why would we not put accountability in place in our finances to guard
the area we probably struggle with more than any other (an area we are tempted
with disobedience probably more than any other) – faithfulness and trust in our
giving.
At Trinity, we are increasingly becoming more mission minded
and I am blessed to be a part of a church that cares deeply about reaching
people for Christ. I know that the Lord chooses to use the obedience of His
people in giving and sharing the gospel to see lives transformed by the grace
of Christ. Each month when I am doing
our finances, I am reminding myself that the difference between paying my house
payment online and giving on line for Kingdom work, is that I am investing in
eternity and blessing others when I give to the Lord vs. paying for something
that will only burn up one day when I pay my mortgage. Now, I am not saying that we should not pay
bills or that our mortgage is unimportant, I AM saying that we should be
mindful of the things of Christ even in the everyday things we do and the
priorities we set with our finances.
The second reason we choose to give online is that it allows
a teaching point for our children. Most of the time when we put our offering in
the plate during a service, I was sitting in one place, Michele was sitting
somewhere else because she had to slip in from the nursery or from teaching
Sunday school, and the boys would be with their friends many times. But, we can
give at home and it reminds us of the priority in our lives to keep the
importance of giving in front of our boys. I hear so many people speak
negatively about the “younger generation” - that they live only for video
games, iphones, ipads, ipods and stuff in general. But, I believe if my boys
watch Michele and I model giving, it can teach them generosity. I lead them in
family worship, we model living our scripture as we walk each day, and it
certainly can’t hurt to talk about why we give as a family.
Last, we give because it is commanded by God. We give
on-line because of convenience and it has become how we do most all of our
finances. But, we give because our Lord commands us to be givers. The word of
God deals with stewardship and finances more than it speaks of prayer. Our
desire is not to give in a reluctant way, but in a cheerful way. We give each
month because it honors God. For our
family, we give during the third week of each month. At one point last year we wrote our check and
then went on vacation - the reason we wrote our check in advance was because we
were not going to be in town the third week, and it would have been very easy
to forget to do so when we are out of “our routine”. Later, when we went out of town to be with
family in November, we were set up to give online and it was much more
convenient and it automates my priorities. Anything I can do to make my life more
organized I will do it!
Regardless of how you give, know that the desire of Trinity is
to always use it for the glory of God and to be good stewards of what God has
entrusted to us. But, with summer approaching and people out of town on
vacation, I want to encourage you to at least try this convenient way of
honoring our Lord and setting the standard of giving regularly for your family.
