Is Your Church Constantly Asking for Money?

Most churches are hurting financially in this economy. They are asking their members to give more. I don't think that will work. The problem isn' t that Christians don't know that the church needs money to operate. The problem is that Christians don't really trust in God to take care of them. Instead of giving like the Lord Jehovah is their strength, they hold back like there is no god at all.

This isn't the first time this has happened. God's people can't seem to understand that God provides it all. They really think that they should trust in  their own assets. This happened in the wilderness when God provided manna. They tried to hoard some of it for the future. They could not understand that the God who provided the manna in the first place wouldn't let them starve to death. The hoarded manna rotted. The same thing is going to happen with the money God's people are holding back.  It will disappear and Christians will not have any more money than if they had given.

The real problem that churches have is that they aren't making disciples. Churches are content to have people come once a week for one to two hours and hope that it will affect the other 166 hours of their week. Why should we believe that will work? There are no skills being modeled in most churches to see Christians grow in the Lord. Christians aren't giving with faith because they have not seen faith lived out in front of them. This must change.

God took His people through the wilderness for a long time until they learned the lesson of depending upon Him. Will He take His people through the wilderness again? I can't see why not. We cannot be a people called by His name if we aren't a people who trust in Him. His past method was to take away all the other things we could trust in so that we had to turn to Him. Will He do that again?

Unfortunately, asking for money is a reaction rather than a disciple-making principle. It tells of a need rather than speaking to a solution. Our solution is trusting in God. Our needs will be filled as we trust in Him. He is either the God of the universe and all things are subject to Him or He is another version of Santa Claus. We tell the story of Santa Claus knowing it isn't true.  Our faith cannot resemble the story of Santa. It must be lived out by actions that prove our trust.

Immediately go to the Lord in prayer if your church asks for money. The question is, "Lord, am I living like I trust in You?" If not, you should examine your own giving. If so, He may still lead you to give more but you will not do so because of the appeal for money. You will do so out of an obedience to Him. Obedience is always an act of trust.

Pray for your church. It is made up of people who have great faith and very little faith. It is part of the body of Christ that brings the world to faith. It should be made up of disciples. Pray that this focus of making disciples becomes more important than the money which is so often asked for.