Most tithe dollars fill pockets, not stomachs
At age 23, I found myself jobless— I had left my job in October 2018, just a week before the recession started.
I couldn’t get a job anywhere. Office work, waiting tables, and Barnes and Noble all rejected me. My college degree meant nothing in a world where there were no jobs to be had.
Enter Mr. and Mrs. Righteous, two leaders at my church who invited me over for lunch a few times at their big, gorgeous home downtown. At once such lunch, they asked me if I tithe. Taken aback by the pointedness of that very personal question, I said, “Not really.”
They instructed that tithing would bring me financial blessings and prosperity, potentially even a job. “ If you do the right thing, God will provide!” (This unfortunate advice, offered to many poor people, helps keep them poor.) “It worked for us!” they said gleefully.
I might have pointed out that tithing 10% at that low point in my life would have meant taking money out of the offering plate, not putting it in.
What do churches do with money?
As someone who has given 5 years of my life to charitable work, helping those less fortunate is something I strongly believe in. Unfortunately, these days tithing does not help people who are less fortunate anymore.
Hopeful articles in Relevant magazine — a Christian publication — argue that more tithing would relieve global hunger, eliminate illiteracy, and solve the world’s clean water problems. But this is far from the truth. Barely any money given to churches helps anyone outside the congregation — less than 10%based on a study of 1,045 large churches worldwide.
Even that 10% doesn’t make much difference. Churches run programs with strings attached, requiring church attendance to receive help. They feed the hungry and dying with the Gospel instead of the food, shelter, and medical treatment. Food and shelter that these churches could easily afford to offer.
For that other 90% of the churches’ money, most of it goes into staff pockets, staff who make much more than the average congregant. The average US pastor, who is standing up front telling you that “God says” to tithe (Note: tithing is a church tradition, not a Biblical mandate) makes $47k per year. Meanwhile, half of Americans — the people being admonished to give— live on less than $30k / year.
Is taking up an offering moral?
This brought up a question in my mind. I heard week after week that we needed to give 10% of our incomes. But I wondered: Does it make sense to tell someone to tithe when you haven’t seen their finances? Without knowing how much grocery money they have for that month, is it wise to ask them to put themselves in jeopardy (and perhaps needing church or government assistance)? Moreover, is it kind?
Statistically, the poor are already more generous than the rich. In 2011, while American earners in the top 20% contributed 1.3% of their incomes to charity, those in the bottom 20% contributed 3.2% of their money. Might it not make sense for churches to specifically ask the wealthier to fund incentives and pastoral salaries instead of guilting the poor to stretch their already thin means?
Make your tithing count
There’s no reason not to continue giving 10% if you can afford it. Whether it’s to your church or not is up to you.
But you can make a huge difference in making sure your tithe actually makes a difference. Most churches welcome input on how to spend tithes. Overwhelmed fellow members are often happy they have hit 10% giving for the month and don’t have a strong preference in terms of where it goes.
Note: If your church is not open to having financials examined by members, that’s a huge red flag. Any nonprofit organization worth its salt will share general numbers around impact and staff salaries.
Questions you should be asking:
- How much of my donation goes to help people?
Find out what proportion of your church’s funds goes to charities. One thing I loved about my childhood church is that more that 90% of our funds went toward helping others. We met in a humble space each week and our pastors refused a salary. That statistic is flipped in churches today, with large churches giving less than 10% to people and causes outside the congregation.
2. How can my congregation get the most impact per dollar?
Check out the charities your church contributes to. After 5 years of working at charities, I can say that some of the things nonprofits use money on are ridiculous, and some of the programs they offer are more impactful than others.
Salaries at many nonprofits are absolutely unbelievable. Some nonprofit employees get paid as if they worked at Goldman Sachs.
Happily, someone else has done the research for you. A quick search online will tell you whether the charities your church contributes to use your money responsibly. Organizations like Charity Navigator look into nonprofits and rate them on a 4-star basis: organizations lose stars for irresponsible money management, using too much money on marketing vs helping people, and other benchmarks. They also publish nonprofit presidents’ salaries.
For the rare organization not in Charity Navigator, use these guidelines to evaluate their health.
3. Are staff salaries fair?
Since staff costs are the vast majority of church expenses, it’s crucial to look at your pastor’s salary vs what most people in your church make. Is an hour of their time really worth that much more than an hour of their time, or are they just a CEO raking it in?
I’ve had to think long and hard about whether I wanted to use my grocery money to fund my pastor’s lifestyle. If you’re not thrilled with the idea of your money going toward the pastor’s next Caribbean vacation, you may want to diversify your tithe between your church and causes that make a bigger difference.
Likewise, if you see members of church staff who are vastly under-paid, that might be something you address with fellow congregants and leadership, asking that your funds go toward a salary increase.