Why Do We Give?
-From David Plunkett, Stewardship Committee
Why do we give away our money? An amazing number of us do, you know. Ninety-five percent of American households give money to charity. In 2013, we gave away $335 billion of our hard-earned cash. In Fairfax County, VA, alone we gave away $1.2 billion for an average contribution of $3,527 per county resident. Churches capture about 31 percent of that giving which would mean about $1,100 is the average contribution to churches. Giving by the 531 members of Parkwood in 2015 averaged about $2,000 per member, raising a total of slightly less than $1.2 million. I don’t know about anybody else, but I can think of a lot of stuff to spend $2,000 on. So, why did we give that money away instead of buying more stuff for ourselves?
Giving is one way our lives reflect God’s image. God, in Genesis, gives humanity a front-row seat for viewing His marvelous universe. He plants a garden for our use and gives us the animals of the Earth, asking only that we care for His creation. God does not ask us to give Him anything in the first chapters of Genesis. Yet, within a generation Cain and Abel are making offerings to God (Genesis 4). God does not ask for sacrifice until late in Abraham’s life (Genesis 15). That request comes after practices of altar sacrifice (Genesis 8:20) and the tithe (Genesis 14) are already established. So, I guess one reason we give is that it is an inherently human condition because we are made in God’s image.
What, then, does that say about the 5 percent of households who never give anything, even to secular charities? Only 4 percent of adults report being atheists or agnostics. So, it seems unlikely that all those stingy households are made up of non-believers. In fact, non-religious people give away a little over 1 percent of their income, a rate not much different than some religious givers. It emphasizes Pastor Mike’s point that we can give without being a Christian, but we can’t be a Christian without giving. Would it surprise you to know, however, that almost 13 percent of mainstream Protestants never give anything to the church?
If giving is an innate part of human nature, then why don’t some people feel the impulse to give? The question I started with comes around — just turned around to face the real issue. Why is it that some of us don’t give, and, more importantly, why are there Christians who don’t give to support the church? It is a question I hope we can wrestle with through a series of thought exercises, stories and Biblical reflections.