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Online giving has become a way of life for many churches and many congregants. In November, 2020, Forbes reported that while overall giving had increased by 4.1% in the previous year, online giving had increased by 12.1%.(1) A report recently released by Barna indicated that 44% of US adults are digital donors. (2)
This ongoing trend has given rise to ever-increasing digital donation options, from church websites to text-to-give options to sites devoted to online giving such as GoFundMe.
Much has been written about the impact of online giving on churches and how churches can optimize their ability to attract and process online offerings. But what about the individual? Relatively little has focused on the pros and cons of online giving from the standpoint of the worshiper. That’s the subject of this article.
Giving as Worship
You’ve probably heard a statement along the lines of “everything we do is worship”. The problem with such statements is that they render words meaningless. Outreach is different from worship. Work is different from worship. Missions (another term abused in this way) is different from worship. All of these should be done for the glory of God – but they’re not all the same thing.
That having been said, giving is perhaps more consistently tied to worship in Scripture than anything else is – even prayer and fasting. The very first acts of worship recorded were offerings from Cain and from Abel (Genesis 4:3ff). Noah’s initial act of worship after leaving the ark was to build an altar and offer sacrifices on it (Genesis 8:20). Abram’s response to God’s initial promise was to build an altar and offer sacrifices in worship (Genesis 12:7). We could trace this theme all the way through the Old Testament – but you get the idea. Worship and sacrifice were often synonymous.
The New Testament doesn’t tie these two concepts together quite as directly, but actually broadens the discussion to incorporate how we view money as opposed to how we view God. In a well-known passage in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasts serving God with serving money and challenges his hearers to make a choice (Matthew 6:19-24).
The modern church has generally tied worship and giving together by making space in weekly worship services for giving. To a greater or lesser extent, most churches today have historically created a “giving moment” involving the passing of an offering plate, often while a worship song is being sung. Some churches have been more intentional about the environment and content of this moment than others – but it’s been a common practice (interrupted by the pandemic).
The Impact of Online Giving
Partially as a result of the pandemic and partly as a result of fewer and fewer adults carrying cash or checkbooks, many churches have permanently abandoned the offering plate in favor of digital options. Some of these churches have cash options, such as a giving box positioned in the sanctuary, but many stopped promoting giving in this way. With the easing of the pandemic and the return to in-person services, many churches now offer a hybrid model of giving, where some giving is done online and some within the service structure.
Many churches have necessarily come to rely on online giving as a major (if not the primary) source of income. But how does the move to online giving impact the individual?
Benefit: Prioritizing Generosity
From the giver’s point of view, the chief benefit of online giving is that it helps to make generosity a financial priority. Since many people don’t carry cash or checks, giving in the context of a service has become less feasible than it once was. The ability to give online opens opportunities to give both regularly and on special occasions.
Paul instructed the Corinthians to set aside money regularly for the collection he was going to take – a systematic, recurring practice (1 Corinthians 16:1-2). Using online transactions, believers today can make a priority of giving on a regular basis. This helps make giving the “firstfruits” a priority, as giving transactions can be scheduled to match the timing of paycheck deposits (which are also usually done electronically). This can be a great help to establishing the habit of regular giving, especially for those who are new to giving. No longer is giving determined by what’s left over at the end of the month; it can be given first priority.
Drawback: Dissociating Giving from Worship
The ease of online giving is its biggest benefit. It’s also the biggest drawback.
Online giving naturally divorces giving from worship. Without a moment taken in the context of a worship service, there’s no intentional time set aside for remembering with gratitude all of God’s good gifts. As a result, online giving can become a ritual, a task to perform rather than an act of worship. Giving can become more transactional and less transformational – just one more bill to pay. This is even more true of online giving done through recurring transactions, where the giver takes no action at all with each individual gift.
Reconnecting Worship with Online Giving
Online giving isn’t going away. Many of us already take advantage of it as a major aspect of our generosity plan. So how do we reconnect giving with worship?
Schedule Giving with income
First, schedule giving to coincide with income. This makes giving the top priority and restores the idea of “firstfruits” giving. Schedule your recurring giving transactions to occur on the day of your paycheck deposits (or the day after, if your deposits don’t always hit on the same day). Whether it’s weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly, you can schedule your giving transactions so that they hit together with your deposits.
If you receive unexpected or irregular income (such as a bonus), complete an online transaction (or more than one, if you give to multiple organizations) as soon as possible after the income is received.
Scheduling giving to occur with income is one way of acknowledging God as the real source of our wealth (Deuteronomy 8:17-18) and recognizes that we are stewards of what God has provided.
Accompany Giving with Prayer
Second, pray faithfully for your church and any other missionaries or organizations you support. If you give through recurring transactions, those transactions may happen a bit “under the radar”. But most organizations and churches send receipts of each online gift. Use that receipt as a trigger to pray. Some organizations include impact stories with their receipts; these can be great catalysts for prayer. Missionary prayer letters or specific prayer items from your church can also be fuel for prayer. Ask God to multiply the resources you’ve given and to use them for his glory.
Reinforce Giving with Service
Finally, look for opportunities to serve at your church or at other organizations where you give. These could be recurring opportunities or occasional ones. Serving will help stir your heart for God’s glory through the church/organizations you support. And it will connect you with specific needs for prayer, which will bolster your prayer times.
The prevalence of online giving doesn’t need to disconnect giving from worship. It just means that we need to be a bit more intentional about how we connect the two. Creating this connection helps us glorify God and express gratitude with our giving – moving our giving from transactional to transformational.
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesnonprofitcouncil/2020/11/10/generous-giving-prevails-ways-to-help-others-during-the-pandemic/?sh=459fcb112a22, accessed on 03/13/2023.
- https://www.barna.com/research/digital-donors/, accessed on 03/13/2023.
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