I had an interesting response to the poll on my site about e-giving. I sent emails out to my colleagues asking them to vote on my new poll about if their church had e-giving what options did they offer. I was assuming their church even offered e-giving. I never thought about the churches that do not offer e-giving and for very good reasons. One of my colleagues responded that his church did not offer e-giving because they do not feel it is the right way to give. Giving to the Lord should be done in person and as a part of worship to God.
The Bible says in Malachi 3 that we should “bring the whole tithe into the storehouse”. It didn’t say put it on a credit card or an ACH via the Internet. Obviously those were not around back then but it does say bring the tithe. This topic has been discussed by many groups for years on the subject of e-giving and then that leads to the use of credit cards for giving.
Proponents of e-giving would argue that it’s not HOW you give but THAT you give. Opponents would argue that giving is part of worship and should be done in person.
So here are my questions.
Q1. Do you believe we should bring the tithe in person or are we OK to e-give? Why or why not?
Q2. If yes, do you believe it is OK to accept credit cards for e-giving as tithes and offerings? Why or why not?
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Personally… I don’t see online giving as a problem. My church doesn’t offer it, but we do have a check automatically mailed out from our bank the first of every month.
However… I see a HUGE, GIGANTIC, ENORMOUS, INCREDULOUS, problem with churches accepting credit cards. I won’t get into all the reasons in this comment (people can read my blog for that), but suffice to say that the credit industry exploits the poor for greedy gain, and God DESPISES their dealings… and they will not go unpunished.
We need to be a separate people, who stand for what is right. A people who don’t ask, “What’s wrong with it?” but rather, “Is it right before God… according to His Holy Word?”
Cheers!
Wow! This topic is close to my heart. I am the steward of a service called eGive so I have a pro online giving view. I see people use electronic giving a number of ways but I’d like to post a quote from Bruce. ” Thanks for the great service you provide. I used to think that I needed to place my gift in the basket every week for it to feel like I was doing something good. But then when a guy finds himself unable to attend, he falls behind very quickly, and then has to try to figure out how to catch up. But with eGive, my gift is there even when I can’t be. And I am up to date on my giving, always.”
Some of the churches that use our service receive over 60% of their giving electronically. Cultures change… Livestock and produce used to be the way people gave. Checks, online giving and the donation of stocks and other property are relatively recent developments.
I believe that honoring God with the first fruits of your labor and giving with joy from your heart is the main thing. Any way you can do that is how it should be done. The best time to do something the Lord leads you to do is right away. With the Internet available 24 x 7 giving in that manner is possible. I believe that God is honored by a digital tithe and offering as long as it is offered joyfully from the heart with love. So it is not how you give but what is in your heart when you do.
God’s Grace, Peace and Blessings To you! Brad
Thanks Matt! I agree about the credit card and tithing. We teach Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey. It would be a tragedy to have someone attend our financial class with credit card debt from tithing! I do the on-line bank check as well but sometimes do feel a little awkward not giving when the plate comes by. I enjoy your blog very much!
Rick Cadden
Brad i appreciate your comment! This topic has been discussed for a while now since e-give became popular. Many churches struggle with this so i was hoping to get some discussion going to maybe help s understand this new technology more. Our church is just now offering ACH giving but NO credit cards. Have a great day!
Rick Cadden
Dear Rick:
Thank you for the opportunity to voice my opinion on eGiving. The credit card piece is one I have grappled with for many hours in prayer. For the first five years eGive did not offer credit card giving because I did not believe it would be good stewardship for the givers or the churches. We lost a number of large potential customers because of this decision but I was OK with that. I was doing the “right” thing. Then some of our church customers asked us to make it available. They felt that people should be able to give any way they wanted to and that credit cards are the way people are used to transacting business online. They believed the decision whould be the church’s and not eGive’s. I have been contacted by a number of givers that wanted to use eGive but could not get a checking account because of their banking history. They had credit cards they wanted to use for giving but were unable to use our service. They were unable to give to their church unless they used cash or a money order and wanted to give using their credit card. Based upon all of these factors I prayed about the decision of whether or not to offer the credit card piece. The next morning after an especially extensive prayer about this topic (because I had to make a decision) I received an email from a person who was not willing to use eGive to give to their church because they WOULD NOT give us their checking account number. They found it suspicious that we did not accept credit cards and wanted me to know they chose not to use our service because eGive did not accept credit cards. I have concluded that eventually all churches will accept credit cards because of various factors in the financial services industry and demand by their members. We offer credit card giving but it is each church’s decision. If the church decides not to accept credit cards the credit card option does not even show up on their givers’ make a gift screen. The churches that do offer credit card giving have seen a big increase in their eGiving and many of the gifts have been very large. I believe it is not a matter if churches will accept credit cards for giving but when. There are many people who are able to responsibly use credit cards and for some reason feel more comfortable using credit cards for online transactions. Credit cards are by far the most commonly used form of payment online. I believe that either method is safe and acceptable in the eyes of the Lord. Again, not a matter of how you give but what is in your heart when you do. I pray extensively before making any major decisions in my stewardship of eGive. I believe the answers to my prayers have always been very clear and easy for me to discern. I pray that I have made the decision that is pleasing to God. I believe that the people who use credit cards to give are just as blessed as those that do not and the churches certainly benefit. It seems to me that eGive’s acceptance of credit cards benefits the giver and the receiver.
For those of you who disagree, I was where you are not very long ago and I respect your opinion.
God’s Grace, Peace and Blessings to All!
Brad
Brad those are great words! For me i just can’t get past the credit card and giving. I recently cut up all my cards and pay cash for everything. I also paid them all off with a peer to peer loan saving tons on interest the banks were charging. So, i for now i could not encourage anyone to use credit cards even for tithes and offerings. I love the discussion though and hope we we get more input.
Thanks i will check that out. I have not had anyone else email me on that but will still check it.