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Why People Don't Give and What the Church Can Do About It

I’ve learned a lot from Ron Blue over the last 10 years. Ron has a way of taking complex ideas and simplifying them so that everyone gets the point. Think of the “5 uses of money” that he has been talking about for 20+ years: give, spend, pay taxes, save, and eliminate debt.

Money is complex, but Ron makes it simple. This is harder than it seems if you’ve never done it – and some people would even call it genius.

In his book Generous Living, Ron uses a pyramid to outline seven reasons why he believes Christians don’t give. The bottom of the pyramid represents the foundational barriers to giving, and then as you work your way up, the barriers oftentimes are less of a factor. Here are the seven levels of Ron’s pyramid:

In my eight+ years of working with givers and churches, and in my own personal giving journey, I think Ron nailed it with this list. And over the next couple of months, we are going to walk through each section of the pyramid to understand better why people don’t give and how your church can serve them to release transformational generosity.

So let’s look at the root issue of why people don’t give – spiritual problems. I’ve talked with many mega-church leaders about what percentage of their weekend attendees don’t give anything to the church during a year. The answer I hear most often is 50 percent of the people give $0. Fifty percent! And when I think about these folks, I would guess that they don’t:

  • Read their Bible
  • Pray outside of a crisis
  • Serve others
  • Fill in the blank __________________________ with any other spiritual discipline that spurs one to grow

These people have a serious spiritual problem, and the real issue is that they aren’t in the game. They aren’t growing. They are not seeking the Kingdom of God. According to Dallas Willard, they “check in with God on Sunday” and then live the rest of their lives for themselves. So of course they don’t give.

And what about the other 50 percent? I think there are two “sub-groups” included here: those who “tip God” and give two to five percent haphazardly and those who give greater than 10 percent regularly and intentionally. And those who are tippers and who give nothing at all “don’t have the right belief system from a spiritual perspective on their money,” as Ron outlines in the book.

So what are some ways that church leaders can serve these three groups to overcome the spiritual problems that hinder giving? Here are several recommendations:

  • For the 50 percent giving nothing – Challenge them to get in the game through a holistic spiritual growth experience that includes giving. My friend Julie Bullock is a master at this. She helps churches execute “worship challenges” that include Bible study, prayer, service, and giving – all over a five- to eight-week period. I bet that many people begin to really live out their faith during these challenges, which includes giving for the first time.

    Another effective method for getting this group to give for the first time is through special offerings for external purposes. I remember Whittier Area Community Church in Southern California raised over $500,000 with a special Christmas offering to build a hospital for AIDS orphans in Malawi, Africa. The previous largest Christmas offering had been $26,000, and the stories of both Christians in the church and non-Christians in the community catching a vision for something bigger than themselves brought in many first-time givers. And I would imagine that many of these first-time givers to Malawi are now giving more consistently to other visions within the church. Watch a video of this Malawi Miracle.

  • For the two- to five-percent tippers – These people need a “3rd conversion” that goes beyond their hearts and minds – a conversion of their pocketbooks. And one of the best ways I’ve seen this shift occur is through the preaching of the Word and in financial teaching environments. Some very well-known pastors spend at least three to four weeks annually preaching on stewardship and generosity (Andy Stanley and David Jeremiah, for example). Ron says in his book “church and para-church leaders – and really, anyone who is involved in teaching and discipleship – need to communicate what the Bible says about money, ownership, and the eternal rewards promised for those who live and give generously. We always act on what we believe. Therefore, our beliefs must be anchored in the truth.” Go to the “teaching” section at GenerousChurch.com/Videos to get an idea of how pastors are preaching on stewardship and generosity.

    Many people also tip in their giving because they are simply upside down financially and don’t feel confident they can give more. That’s why you need to move up the pyramid and help them solve these financial problems in teaching environments. We will address this in our next blog post.

  • For the 10 percent+ givers – I would guess these people don’t have a spiritual problem that impacts their giving. Their pocketbook reflects where their hearts are (see Matthew 6:21). We can also assume that if someone is giving 10 percent or greater to the work of the Kingdom, they most likely have margin in their finances through wise stewardship. So with these people, you need to go higher up the pyramid and help them learn how they can have a greater Kingdom vision both personally and then corporately through your church’s role in the Kingdom. Then continue even higher up the pyramid to help them develop deeper Kingdom relationships through short-term mission trips, local ministry opportunities, etc. These will all be outlined in future posts as well.

Let’s end this section with a quote from Ron. In his book, he makes a comment that sums up why we should want our people to be generous givers – because it’s good for them.

“The amount of money you have has nothing to do with financial security or contentment. Neither can satisfaction be found in wise investments, careful budgets, or debt-free living. Instead, the secret to financial freedom and joy is directly linked to one thing: the willingness to be generous with what you have.”

Let’s learn from Ron and spur our people on to financial freedom and joy through generous giving.