Why Give?

Giving is Worship, Our Response to God.

Giving financially is a response to God’s boundless grace and generosity. It’s a form of worship acknowledging and expressing that all we have, as individual members of one Body, comes from God. Giving glorifies and honors his abundant generosity and reflects it back toward him as those made in his image and likeness. Giving also says we aren’t afraid of lacking anything because God is our source and we trust him.

Giving is Love for Others.

Before he ascended, Jesus established a community of love - in the Greek, the word is agape (John 13). Agape is the picture of people graciously welcoming and providing for one another, as in a meal. This was fleshed out in mutual concern and responsibility for the spiritual, physical and emotional well-being of everyone who came to be a part of the Body of Christ, belonging to one another in him. It was relational and economic. Fundamentally, the act of giving to the Church is an expression of this love as it provides the spiritual leadership, pastoral care and basic provision for the needs of the community, including the basics of meeting space and administration. Since the earliest days of the Tabernacle, our God has called his people to be generous to one another and also to provide for the worshipping culture - the priesthood, the Temple and, eventually, the Church.

Giving is for Everyone.

All are called to worship God. All are called to give.

Throughout redemptive history, giving has been a dignity and opportunity extended even to the poorest in the community. Consider the widow Jesus praised for her generosity, though she gave only two, nearly-worthless, copper coins. Jesus called hers an abundant gift. So everyone who has an income is called to give.

Giving is a Biblical Means to Blessing.

We are stewards, not owners. A steward is a person who has been entrusted with and who manages another’s resources according to the owner’s vision and values. Each of us was created for stewardship by God (Gen 1:28), both a ruler with authority to govern resources and a servant accountable to the owner of the resources. Jesus taught stewardship and blessing in Luke 6, the Sermon on the Plain. He was merely restating and renewing the blessing principle in Malachi 3:6-12. He said: “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” So, giving is an invitation to greater blessing.

However, blessing in the biblical sense is not the promise of health, wealth, and happiness. Rather, blessing is located in the very presence and purposes of God. This is the blessing we all need.

How much should I give?

Because the NT standard of giving is generosity, the amount is a matter of faith, prayer and conscience. The Old Testament teaches that we are to give back to God our “first fruits” (Exodus 23:16, 19). Proverbs 3:9 encourages us to “honor the Lord with [our] wealth, with the first fruits of [our] increase” meaning the primary and choicest of our possessions. The New Testament does not negate the underlying principles (see the next FAQ). Fundamentally, God has modeled “first fruits” by giving us his Son, Jesus Christ. Our response to God should reflect our love of and devotion to him and to the Church he has set apart. There are seasons in our economic lives, to be sure. There are financial responsibilities to our families, friends, communities, and in some cases, creditors. We all have them. But in any stage of life, good, prayerful planning is necessary to maintain or increase our giving without neglecting our other financial obligations.

What’s the deal with tithing?

In the Old Testament, the principle of the tithe (10%) was established to give everyone, no matter their level of prosperity, a sense that they are giving equally - as a community. God’s people were called to give a tenth of their income to the support of the ministry and the needs of the poor. They gave everything from flour and olive oil to livestock and gold. The New Testament teaches that we should give as we are “able and even beyond [our] ability” (2 Corinthians 8:3). Therefore, the tithe (10%) is arguably seen as a kind of minimum guideline for giving, expanded in the new covenant. In the New Testament, Jesus told the Pharisees that they should tithe as they were already doing, while not neglecting justice and love (Luke 11:42). And in the earliest days of the Church, believers continued to teach and follow the principle.

Should I give all of my tithe and / or offering to Living Faith?

The answer to this is a qualified "no." Your gift is an act of personal worship to God in response to his grace in your life and the gift of his Son. The allocation of your money and time to God’s service should be a byproduct of prayer and of consultation with other Christians to whom you are accountable. However, if you consider Living Faith your “home church,” consider allocating a significant portion of your tithe and offering to the community to whom you belong, where you invest most of your time and where others are investing in you as an agape fellowship.

How does Living Faith meet our vision through giving?

Living Faith’s vision is to be a community of Christ’s life, love, and mission. 100% of our operating budget comes from the weekly giving of our members and regular attenders. Your giving counts. It might be tempting to think that your individual contributions do not make a difference to the work that is being done. However, every gift adds up to mutual effort of advancing Christ’s vision for this local cogregation

Note: Our income and expense reports are always available to our members in full transparency. It all belongs to God!