Campus CrossWalk Magazine: 2007 Spring Issue -- Giving as Worship

Since the days of Cain and Abel, sacrifice has been a central part of worship. The sacrifices we most often think of in the Old Testament were to seek forgiveness for sins. Other sacrifices included peace offerings, which sought God’s blessing or peace in the person’s life, while others were made simply to worship God. Abraham gave 10% of his belongings to God’s priest, Melchizedek, after winning a battle to rescue his nephew Lot. (Genesis 14:17-20) Hannah dedicated her son to serve in the tabernacle after God granted her prayer for a child. (1 Samuel 1) So sacrifices serve different purposes depending on the events in a person’s life, or the time of year, or the festival taking place at that time.

In most churches today, we strive to make our worship relevant. We expect the sermon to address issues we confront in our daily lives. We expect the songs to be happy, uplifting, and not too slow. We want the prayers to be genuine and heartfelt, not formulaic. Likewise, the Lord’s Supper talk should provoke thought and prompt us to experience the presence of Christ as we participate in the bread and the cup.

The expectations above are reasonable and legitimate. For worship to be meaningful to God, it must be meaningful to us. Expressions of thankfulness, praise and adoration that are dragged from us through gritted teeth do not represent the “spiritual and truthful” worship that God desires.

So my question is this, “If we expect our worship services to be ‘real’ and to interact with what’s going on in my life, why is the offering I place in the collection plate each week so regulated, impersonal, and ritualistic?”

From the Lord’s Supper talks I’ve heard (yes, I know the collection is “separate and apart from…”), there are several reasons we contribute to the collection plate each Sunday:

It’s commanded in the Bible.
We’re to support the work of the church.
We’re following the example of Jesus who gave His life for us.
To express thanks to God for giving us so much.

Some of these reasons are better than others, but the practical reality of giving to God is that a lot of people give just whatever is in their pocket that morning, after making sure there’s enough left for Sunday lunch. Members that are extra diligent have a budgeted amount or percentage they give each week and come armed with their regular check. The problem with these approaches is that they’re not interactive. They don’t reflect life. They may reflect income and spending habits, perhaps our sense of duty, but unlike the Old Testament sacrifices, they don’t reflect my life or my relationship with God.

Paul describes a generous congregation as having given themselves “first of all to the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 8:5) When we have a strong relationship with God, we are motivated to give gifts of sacrifice to Him. Because of this relationship, we can give cheerfully, not reluctantly or out of obligation (see 9:7).

I believe, that as a part of our worship, our giving to God should reflect the ups and downs of our lives. When life is going great it’s easy for us to sing louder, pray longer, and “amen” the preacher a bit more, but have you ever considered giving more generously as a sacrificial way of thanking and praising God for his blessing in your life. When life stinks, don’t stop giving. Say a prayer over your sacrifice expressing your trust in God, your commitment to worshiping and serving Him, and seeking His solution to your situation.

The week that my girlfriend agreed to become my wife, I doubled my regular offering to God as an expression of thanks and joy. While it stretched the resources of a poor graduate student, five years later I’m still convinced I got a bargain. When I eventually complete graduate school, I expect to worship and praise God with a lot of whooping and hollering, but also by making an extra sacrifice of praise that Sunday.

Yes, my wife and I have agreed upon a budget and a set percent of gross income that we cheerfully give each week, even when life stinks, but we have the freedom to celebrate and worship God in good times by sacrificing more.

Peter Horne has an undergraduate degree and several years experience in public accounting. In 1999 he moved from Australia to Memphis to pursue his Master of Divinity at Harding Graduate School. For the last 18 months he has worked as a campus minister at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.