Several years ago, I served a congregation in the south western corner of Pennsylvania. The church had a number of unique problems, which mostly revolved around money and stewardship. This was caused by a couple of circumstances, one of them was that a member had died and left them nearly a half a million dollars in her will.
Early on in my ministry there, I was speaking with one of the elders. He informed me that he was not giving to the church at all. While he believed in tithing, he had stopped giving because the church did not "tithe to missions". He was convinced that what he was doing by "voting his pocket book" was totally correct. He reasoned that since the church was not doing what he thought they should do, he was justified in withholding his tithe and offerings.
To be honest, I was a bit taken back by what he told me, and I did not know exactly how to respond. After some thought, I sat down with him and lovingly confronted what he was doing. I explained to him that there is no such a concept in Scripture as "voting your pocket book". In my opinion, if you don't financially support the church of which you are a member, especially an elder, then you ought to go to a church that you can support.
What he was doing clearly demonstrated that he had no concept of Christian stewardship. In his mind, he could use HIS money to manipulate the church into doing what he thought they should do. The problem is, of course, it was not HIS money, but GOD's. God blesses you with material wealth so that you can GIVE to support His church, not attempt to influence HER leadership.
In my message on vision, I said that we needed to equally value and honor every single member of this congregation as Paul wrote in Corinthians, "so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other" (1 Corinthians 12:25). This principle especially applies in the area of stewardship and giving. No one should use their tithes and offerings as a means of controlling the church. Doing so is dangerous both to the spiritual life of the member and to the future of the congregation.
This is why I never want to know how much a member or family gives to our congregation. How much you give is between you and God, who blesses you with ability to give. You will always get the "equal concern" from me regardless of your giving. To do anything else is nothing more than favoritism which the Scriptures condemn.
Withholding one's tithe and offerings is extremely harmful to the member as well. You rob yourself of the blessing that comes from giving as well as turning your heart away from the Lord. Remember what Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21). When you don't give, you don't care, and when you don't care, you can do a great deal of harm.
The fact is that every one of us could find some excuse not to give or not to give as much as we know we should. If we must agree with everything in church and in the budget before we can support it financially, then Crossroads is doomed. I have given faithful to Crossroads even though I had serious disagreements with some things. I did this because I am giving to God in support of HIS Church.
Leaderships change. Budgets change. However my obligation to the Lord does not. As long as I am a member of THIS congregation, I must support THIS congregation with my tithe and offerings. If, for some reason, I cannot, then I need to find a congregation that I can support.
This is not to say that the leadership of a congregation should ignore the membership. We need to be open to suggestions and willing to listen to your concerns. Everyone, regardless of how much they give, should be heard and treated with respect. As John Maxwell once said, "A leader with no followers is just man out for walk".
I would be the first to confess that, as a leadership team, we have not always done our best in listening to your input as a congregation. That is changing though. We are committed to pursuing the mission and vision of Crossroads Christian Church. We want and need for you to come along side us on this adventure.
In Christ,
Mike
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