Whose Offering Plate?

I've always been intrigued by the title of J. Clif Christopher's book, Not Your Parents' Offering Plate.  I suppose because my teenagers would think the title should be Not Your Grandparents' Offering Plate.  So as I read the book, I kept in mind that if I gave this book to a young adult person in the congregation I serve or recommended the book to one of our young clergy, it would be advantageous to offer some clarification to them about just whose offering plate the author is referring to in his writings.   

The book was a really easy and quick read, primarily comparing the church to nonprofit organizations with the church not in the positive light.  If you are not in favor of using the terms donor, customers, and fund-raising with regards to the church, you might want to close the book from the beginning.  I would tell you to bite your tongue and keep flipping the pages.  The terms are used throughout the book because today Christopher works primarily with nonprofit organizations rather than churches through the company he founded, Horizons Stewardship Company.

Having said that, I will say that I found some good counsel regarding communicating with financial leadership teams in your local churches.  If you are looking for ways to help a finance committee of a local church understand why it is important for the pastor to be involved in the giving and finances of the church, turn to chapter four.  Although the examples used are directed more towards capital giving, you will find nuggets to apply to the general fund giving of the local church.  Here are just a couple of reasons highlighted:  1)"Knowing what members give will help you capture the real gift: their soul"  2)"Knowing what people give will help determine the effectiveness of church programs"  or more plainly put: Are we changing lives?

Christopher ties the Biblical story of Zacchaeus to these points and his case that all members are not equal when it comes to giving.  Christopher states that Jesus had a great concern for the poor and marginalized but for the wealthy as well because Jesus knew how easily money could pull them away from God.  (Go back and read the Zacchaeus story in Luke 19:1-10.)  He writes "I am convinced that Jesus went to Zacchaeus' house to get his soul, not his money.  But when Jesus heard of the gift of money, he knew he had Zacchaeus' soul." 

Having experienced difficulty in helping pastors and finance committees of local churches understand why it is important for pastors to have knowledge of the giving within the church they serve, I appreciate Christopher's willingness to step out boldly and provide counsel to pastors who are struggling with this same topic in the life of the church they serve.  I believe as Christopher states that when pastors have a glimpse into where the treasure and heart are of a church member and it appears not to be with God, we must help them remove that which stands between them and salvation.

I am a pastor who likes to identify the lessons learned (both positive and developmental) at the end of the day whether it be with myself personally or with a group following a ministry effort.  And yes, sometimes it appears that we did more things wrong than right.  Yet with that comes our spiritual growth and identifying  things we would do today and do differently.  That is what Christopher does in the final chapter of his book.  Some of us might want to go the last chapter first and read all the lessons learned before we dive into the detail of the book and learn how that lesson was learned.  However you decide to read the book, one thing Christopher would do now is "Pray, Study, and Get My Act Together First."  Isn't that what we all should be doing?