Why I Pledge

"Now concerning the contribution for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that contributions need not be made when I come . ..." -- 1 Corinthians 16.1-2

My goal is to support stewardship awareness on a more personal level this year as the Finance Committee, the Church Session and the Congregation thinks through, prays through and plans financially toward 2008. Instead of doing full-blown messages on financial stewardship, I thought I would write a series of short flyers written from a personal point of view. Last week’s topic: "Why I Tithe." This week: "Why I Pledge." And then for Stewardship Sunday, next week "Overflow Ministry."

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Pleding is another … I don’t want to say controversy, but ... topic around which there is a variety of perspectives. That’s OK. I understand that. My perspectives have changed over time. I hope to show a good set of reasons why the practice of pledging is legitimate and helpful. Again, I hope that people who have not pledged before – pledge financially to this church. I have no qualms about being "up front" with that. I am one Christian among many on this issue; however, I think it is fair that you hear from your pastor on this issue as well.

So … Here goes … !

1 Corinthians 16

I did not choose this passage as a proof text to say: "Thou shalt pledge," because the Bible does not command this. I chose this passage because Paul counsels that the Christians in Corinth were to lay up a certain amount of their income/blessing ("…as he may prosper …") on a regular basis, in this passage, on the first day of the week (the day that the Christian community met for worship). Evidently, this directive of Paul’s was not just limited to the Corinthian Christians, but was a recommendation/expectation Paul had of the many churches he had established in the region of Galatia. One can certainly point out this Paul’s financial campaign to the poor Christians in Jerusalem was an exception … a special offering under special circumstances. Yet, I want us to see a principle at work in Paul’s approach.

Similar to the flyer I wrote on tithing for last week, you can see the idea of proportional giving in operation, rather than an expectation of a certain, preset amount. If you were to read this passage in 1 Corinthians and compare it to Paul’s extended and fuller explanation of this financial offering to the poorer Christians in Jerusalem in 2 Corinthians, chapters 8 and 9, you will get an excellent overview of New Testament financial stewardship principles.


Giving from the Heart

Occasionally people want me to consider an alternative to pledging, saying that giving should be from the heart and not as a matter of dutifully seeing a pledge through, explaining to me that we should give as we feel we should give – out of a genuine "want to." I agree that giving should be from the heart, but that heart should have a heartbeat, that is a regularity to it. As I give in terms of a long term commitment (which is a pledge), whether to the church or to a mission cause I believe in, I am giving from the heart. I am not always led to pledge, sometimes one time gift is all that is needed and for other types of ministry I want to give over time because of the nature of the need. I think that only makes practical sense.


Living on Faith

It has been said to me over the years that it is not right for a church to ask or expect a financial pledge on the part of its members … It comes across as an invasive technique to for a church to get money … and, that the church needs to operate on faith instead.

Operating by faith is more than ‘just getting by’ if you can ‘just get buy.’ … Being in a position of wondering and lack … wishing and hoping for better, yet not convinced that the situation will improve very much … Always considering that the church should be poor and strung out financially to meet its basic financial obligations … And, "Well, if the money comes in, then it comes in! Praise God!"

Operating by faith means … Knowing the promises of prosperity chapter and verse from God’s Word and claiming those promises in our lives and in our church … Praying that God will release generous hearts to give to this ministry we call U.P.C.

… Changing the flow of reason and emotion from "How little can we get by with?’ to "What can God do with the financial seeds we give and sow into His care?" … Confidence in the principle that if we sow abundantly we will reap abundantly (see 2 Corinthians 9.6-12).

Operating by faith means responding to His invitation to join Him in His work. That’s not just a financial point of obedience, that is a whole-life, whole-faith response to the leading of God and it will include our finances on some level.


My Number One Reason for Pledging is …

… to relieve the church of the unnecessary burden of financial anxiety. I want my church to know that it can count on me to do my part. I can’t do everything, but I can let the church know by my pledge up front that it does not need to live with financial anxiety. Financial anxiety, for those who have gone through it, drains a lot of energy, often physically and certainly emotionally. The church needs to be in a position to plan and follow through, without the added and unnecessary burden of financial anxiety. We have God’s work to get on with!


Next Post: Overflow Ministry

I want to talk about ministry beyond the church budget … Overflow Ministry. We have yet to see where biblical and prayerful tithing and pledging will take us.

For Bulletin Flyer ... October 7, 2007