#CHURCHTALK 01: Why do Christians give Offerings in Church?

When Christians gather for a typical fellowship or service time in churches, one thing that almost always happens is the giving of offerings by those who attended the service.

Today's #ChurchTalk focuses on the reasons why this agelong practice is held by Christians till today.

There are two (2) main reasons:

1.   It is an act of worship (homage, tribute, or reverence) 
The practice was started by the first family in Christian history, Adam and Eve, as a way to recognize, reverence and pay tribute to God who specifically told them to go and till the ground (i.e. work), promising to give them food from it, albeit at the cost of great labor (see Genesis 3:17-19,23).

So, when they tilled the ground, planted and harvested from it, in gratefulness, they must have brought a tribute or offering from their harvest, to pay homage to God whom they believed and knew made their labor and harvest profitable. They must have done this in remembrance of His promise to give them food from the ground when they till it. This is considered so because we know that they also taught their children, Cain and Abel, to do this (see Genesis 4:1-4).

Remember that while in the garden earlier, Adam had learnt the practice of coming to fellowship with God at a set time. From the storyline in Genesis 4, I believe that after he and his wife had been driven out of the garden, they must have continued this practice of coming before God at a set time. That must have been how their children learnt to bring their offerings to God at that set time too.

So, interestingly, this practice of giving offerings actually predated Abraham (who is considered as the father of faith, and the patriarch of both the Jewish and Christian experiences of God). In essence then, this is not a practice that is exclusive to Jews only, but one that all offsprings of Eve can be part of.

First reason: Like Adam and Eve, Christians give offerings because they believe in the existence of God, and the role He plays in making their earthly works profitable for their sustenance. It is meant to be given according to how much a person had been blessed by God (Deuteronomy 16:10). This is the first reason.

30,000 capacity International Headquarters of Deeper Life Bible Church (DLBC), the church-arm of Deeper Christian Life Ministries (DCLM), Lagos, Nigeria

2.   For advancing the work and worship of God on the earth
After God had brought the children of Israel out of Egypt with the promise to take them to a promised land, they became a moving nation - a movement. Their destination was the promised land, but they were still in the wilderness. At this time, they were camped around a mountain called Sinai.

In order to advance His work of teaching them more practically about Himself and His ordinances, the first thing He told them to do was to build a physical sanctuary (a holy place of meeting) where they could gather, and He could reveal Himself to them, and show them the art and vessels of worship. These arts and vessels of worship were symbolic of the precepts involved in worshipping Him acceptably.

In order for this sanctuary to be built, He asked that each and everyone of them should give an offering willingly, from their hearts (Exodus 25:1-9). It is important to note that His only condition was for anyone giving to do so with a willing heart. And the offering was specific to the work for which it was needed, so, it wasn't just money offerings.

Second reason: Christians give offerings in order to provide resources (or money needed for resources) which are meant to advance God's program on earth, specifically the works of the church. They are meant to fund administration, welfare, capital projects, programs, and other necessary things in line with the vision of the local church.



Chukwubuikem Paul Anunaso is a civil/structural engineer. He is also the editor of The Paul Anunaso Blog, and can be reached at anunaso.cp@gmail.com.


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