5 Things That Could Happen If The Church Tithed
What Could Happen If The Church Tithed? Quite a lot actually…
Let’s look at some Church tithing statistics
The reality is the American church could literally change the world. If every American Christian just gave a little the difference we would make would be greater than anything seen before. The much more somber reality is we aren’t willing to do it. We cannot even commit to giving 10% of our income so that the world could be transformed and people could hear the message of the Gospel.
Now, I know the tithe, a 10% offering, is not mandated in the New Testament. And I firmly believe we are not held to the Old Testament Law, which includes the tithe. Jesus came and fulfilled the requirements of the law and replaced the Old Covenant with a New Covenant. In other words, we are no longer bound by the Old Testament Law. But that’s another topic for another post.
While we are not held to the tithe, we are called to live generously. Which is talked about regularly and is supposed to be the trademark of Christians. We are called to be generous people. So what does it say about the America Church that we have the opportunity to change the world, but instead sit on our hands?
But this is not an article on why you should tithe, rather what could happen if all Christians in America were actually generous. What could happen if we all gave generously? I will use the 10% tithe as a benchmark because we are familiar with it. This also isn’t an article about the Church’s misuse of money. That’s a different topic for another day. This article simply dreams with what could happen if we all gave generously.
Current Tithing Statistics
As previously mentioned the 10% gift is an Old Testament Law and is not mentioned in the New Testament. Instead we are called to live a generous life. There’s no number for what generous is. For some it might be 1%, others 5%, some 10%, and still others (most Americans) much more. However, for the sake of this argument we will look at what would happen if every Christian gave 10%. That will be our benchmark.
First, let’s start off with some tithing statistics of where we are currently.
- Currently Christians are giving at a 2.5% per capita/tithe. (Source)
- In the Great Depression Christians gave 3.3%. (Source)
- Currently only 10-25% of any congregation gives the full tithe (Source)
- Only 3-5% of Americans give regularly to the Church. (Source)
There are plenty more statistics out there. But I think you get the point. Christians aren’t as generous as we think we are.
If Everyone Tithed
Buckle up, we are about to do some napkin math.
There are currently around 327 million people living in America (Source). Conservatively 20% attend church regularly, 1 – 2 times a month (source). That means, roughly, 65,400,000 people attend church in America. The median income is $61,372 (Source). Our napkin math leads us to a total of $401,372,880,000 if every Christian gives 10% of their income. For simplicity, we assume a little more conservatively and call it $400 billion.
If you take the current average that Christians are giving at a 2.5% per capita/tithe we can estimate that roughly $100 Billion is currently coming in. Meaning if the Church in America tithed 10% there would be an extra $300(+/-) billion to fund ministry work locally and globally. Obviously that is a rough estimate. Several reputable sources put an increase of around $160 billion. But the point isn’t the number, the point is that we would have a LOT of extra money to make an impact.
So what are some of the things we could do with that money?
Let’s start locally.
Launch Outreach Ministries
- $1.8 billion to add a church campus/prison ministry in the roughly 1,800 prisons in America (check out the work the Hope Behind Bars is doing)
- $1.1 billion to add 5,500 new family counseling centers
- $500 million to provide debt and financial management training.
- $10 billion to help people facing financial crisis.
- $15 billion to provide support and housing for every homeless person in America. (Source)
- $5.6 billion to eliminate the financial burden of adopting from foster care $14,000 a year (average yearly cost of raising a child) per family. (Source)
- $10 billion for additional ministries.
We don’t need to head overseas to find people in need. There are plenty right here in our backyard. With everyone tithing the Church would have more than enough money to care for the needs of people in their church and in their community.
Fully Staff the Church
- $1 billion to train 20,000 new pastors
- $500 million to raise the median salary for current pastors
Many churches are understaffed, and many more pastors are underpaid. With a full tithe we could train new pastors to fill the current church roles that are left empty and fill new roles created by church plants. We could also raise the median salary from $44k to $54k. (Source)
Maybe you are wondering why we need to pay pastors. Why can’t they just get a second job? The median work week for a pastor is 50 hours. That means more than 50% of pastors are putting in more than 50 hours a week. Less than 3% of pastors work less than 40 hours a week. (Source) Pastor’s have high demands on their schedule. They simply don’t have time to have another job and care for their families. And a large number of pastors are underpaid due to the finical strains of the church.
Bottom line, we could fully staff the current church and the church of the future.
Let’s shift gears for a moment and look at what impact the church in America could have across seas.
We Could Change the World
- $25 billion and 5 years would relieve global hunger, starvation, provide clean water and deaths from preventable diseases.
- $12 billion would eliminate illiteracy in 5 years.
- $15 billion would solve the world’s water and sanitation issues. (Source for the 3 statistics above)
- $10.8 billion would free 27 million people living in slavery. (Source)
The world is filled with people dying from lack of food, water, and preventable diseases. And we can fix that. I’m not talking about making everyone rich or leveling the economic playing field. There will still be rich and poor and people in-between. But it is within our reach to stop these preventable things and raise the quality of life for people born into poverty.
We have the money and the resources to fix this. All we need to do is make the sacrifice.
Fully Fund the Great Commission
- $2.5 Billion (Source)
An estimated 1 in 5 people in this world have never heard about Jesus. Of the 6,800 living languages about 1,800 do not have the Bible translated into their native tongue. (Source) We have the resources to accomplish this. It will take many years, but we can do it. We have the resources to put a Bible in everyone’s hands and literally tell the world about Jesus. Think of the impact a small sacrifice from everyone could make.
Our Role
Again, the purpose of this article is not to show exactly what we could do and how we could do it. Some of the listed things would probably cost more, and some less. They are simply estimates of what it could take to do some of those things. The point of this article is to show what is within our reach if we just sacrificed a little.
The reality is in the numbers. We are selfish. We would rather keep more for ourselves than be generous. Let me rephrase that…. I am selfish. I would rather keep more for myself than be generous.
The American church has it within itself to literally change the world in ways never before seen. God has given us SO much, and we are grossly mismanaging what he entrusted us with.
Don’t read this as what “they” need to do better. Rather what is your role? Are you living generously? If you are a Christian, you are the church. So are you playing your part? You will not be held responsible for what others do with what God has given them. But you will be held accountable for what you have done.
What do you think could happen if the church was generous?
Editors Note: This article was originally posted on May 31, 2016. It has been revamped and updated.
Sometimes I wonder about the faith required for a family with a small flock of sheep to offer the first-born ram of each ewe as a sacrifice to God. That was Old Testament times but to think that true giving is a matter of Law is to miss the reality of it. A offering pleasing to God requires much of the giver and this means we need wisdom and grace to know how and when to give. It cannot be a matter of rules or programs. I think giving is a good work that also requires spiritual effort.
I have heard this low giving statistic ever since I became a Christian 24 years ago. I have heard the same message for years and years. What could we do if all believers tithe? It is guilt talk. It hasn’t motivated anyone to give.
Some have given because they do love the Lord but also were promised great blessing in return for giving. I know single moms, lower income families who gave way more than ten percent. For years and years. They’re still flat broke and barely making it. I know of one case where they were giving so much of their money away and not seeing much increase financially that they couldn’t afford to buy someone a new tire.
What could we do with more money?
more pastors? What? many of the larger churches now have so many pastors on staff I am confused by what they actually do;
the Senior pastor
the Associate Pastor
the Campus Pastor
the Tech Pastor
the Media Pastor
the Pastor of small groups
the Pastor of women’s ministries
the Pastor of Worship
the Pastor of Fellowshipping
The Pastor of security
the Pastor of Maintenance
the Youth Pastor
the Children’s pastor
many churches have this many and more pastors
do we need more?
Many like to say if we all tithed then we could eliminate hunger, and famine, and tears, and make the world happy happy happy
I didn’t realize we adopted the platform of the DNC.
Throwing money at schools, orphanages, feeding programs, job training etc will not eliminate any of these problems
In other nations, one many are Godless heathen nations who worship false gods and idols and reject Christ. There is no blessing on these nations. As a result men pursue ungodliness and famine and war and pestilence is overwhelming.
two these nations have military regimes that run them. Most of the food or resources given are procured for the govt and their military. War ravaged lands make it incredibly difficult to bring relief. And no matter how many orphanages we build, in another part of the World sadly more orphanages will be needed. It is not to take away from people’s pain or make light of their suffering, but it is like owning a pet. No matter how often you sweep it is always there and the same amount you swept the day prior. It is a fallen World. Even if all Christians gave 20% of their income away it wouldn’t eliminate suffering. Jesus said the poor we will have with us always.
Sadly, many leaders have never seen or managed large sums of income flowing. Many leaders wouldn’t even know what to do with that type of funds. Would leaders be able to manage that type of funds?
Christians should give and give what they can. It is not of necessity, or compulsion, or Law that we give.
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Another thought- what if people didn’t tithe but instead started to take care and love their neighbors? This would include spending some money as needed when those neighbors need a helping hand. I do mean neighbors as in the people who live around you and perhaps even those who you work with or otherwise see on a regular basis. We probably wouldn’t need official ministries or organized outreaches that cost money and yet many people would be reached and taken care of. Just a thought.
I’ve actually heard of a Church that does that. I can’t for the life of me remember the name, it will eventually come to me. But out of their budget they zero to missions/outreach. Instead they take their congregation to local/global organizations, they help them out and let the congregation see the physical needs. Then they spell out the needs and challenge their people to give directly to that organization, mission, or people. It works out great for them! A very cool and different concept. They’ve estimated that their congregation gives about 24% of their annual budget, which is substantial!
I will say one of the reasons they can do that is they have a LARGE full-time staff that work in outreach. This is not a feasible for most Churches to do this healthily. For a church to do that it would take many man hours to do well. But it’s still something interesting to look into. I’m sure there are more churches capable of doing it.
I like your comment but I actually meant it more like cancel the budget/business/paid staff completely and instead Christians would love their neighbors, help meet needs in their neighborhood, encourage other Christians around them and share Jesus with those that are already in their lives (whether through work, home, family, volunteering, etc). Instead of 10% of income going to the “church”, it would go directly to meeting the needs of people around you.
There is the house church movement that does just that. There’s a lot of cool ministry that comes out of that. However there are a lot of draw back as well.
Church is more then just helping others, though that’s certainly a pillar. It’s about a gathering of believers that help each other, meet together, eat together, learn together, and grow together. Most of that can’t happen without paid pastors. That’s why since the beginning most pastors have been paid by the church. Starting in Acts and continuing to today. The average pastor works 50hrs a week leaving little time to find work outside to find work. If we were to disband and not give to the church it would not be able to continue to do some of it’s primary missions.
I am admittedly a little bias since I am a pastor and support my family via the church. However I think I’m in good company since the founding of the church pastors/full-time staff have been paid so that they can give themselves fully to the work of the church.
The best argument I’ve encountered against tithing is that Christians who tithe often think that the other 90 percent is theirs to spend as they please. No– 100 percent comes from God, and 100 percent is to be spent according to his will. This includes responsibility with the family budget, direct help to neighbors who need it, and sometimes support for charities not connected to the organized churches. I agree that congregations need more support from their members to do the work of the church–supporting church workers, reaching out to their communities, and sending missionaries to all nations. Many faithful church members give less than ten percent to their congregations because they see other ways their money can serve the Lord more efficiently and effectively. J.
Great article. I agree 100%. I’ve heard, and believe it, 10% should be where we start when God has blessed us and we can give.
Myself, and family have been blessed with much. However, we had a time in our lives when we did go hungry and we were cold. We still gave until we literally couldn’t anymore. Our local church didn’t help us during that time of need because it simply did not have the resources. If the people who could have given did, our church would have not only helped us at the time, but so many others as well.
I would also mention, what would happen if the church leadership gave as well. Our church gives a minimum of 12% of all tithes and offerings brought in to existing outreach ministries not run by our church. It has been life changing and great to be a part of. I think if churches would give out at least 10% of what they take in and show the members what they are doing with the money people would be excited to give, even the non-givers.
One final note on giving. Based on the new testament, 100% of everything we have belongs to God. So giving 10% to the church is pretty minor stuff. That other 90% Christians hang on to; yea, God is wanting to use that to bless you so you can bless those around you. If you can’t proclaim and share the blessings God is laying on you, you might want to double check where those funds are being spent. Just a thought.
I also agree that Churches should give. If the church and it’s leaders aren’t setting the pace then it will never be a generous church.
Yes! And thank you for the statistics. The 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 encouragement to give generously and cheerfully could be interpreted as encouragement to give beyond a tithe, because 10% was the minimum required by Old Testament Law and as such wouldn’t have been considered “generous” in the culture of the day.
You are right, we are still called to be generous. I think for some that means an above 10%. While for others that could be much much below. God calls different people to different levels of giving.