We live in a selfish world. It’s been that way since the Fall in the Garden of Eden. Satan loves to convince us to focus on our wants and needs rather than using the resources we have to help others. Yet the Bible is filled with commands to be generous and to serve the poor and marginalized in the world.
But generosity is also important to further the work of the Church in the world. Not just to pay the preacher and the light bill for the building, but to serve others and spread the Gospel message. Sadly, Satan seems to be winning the war of generosity versus selfishness. Many churches are seeing significant drops in contributions. Charities are closing their doors because they can’t get enough donations to stay open. People are suffering everywhere in various ways and it seems fewer and fewer people are willing to share their time and resources to help them.
To be honest, online giving is making the problem worse. Children are no longer seeing their parents and the Christians around them give money to God every week. They are too young to really grasp the idea of online giving. Many churches make it difficult for children to give unless they go out of their way to find a mystery box in the foyer in which to place their coins. Even collections for things like food and clothing are done in boxes in a corner somewhere and announcements are rarely shared of how much was collected (perhaps from embarrassment at how little was collected). Parents are not encouraged to involve their children in participating in these collections. I would also imagine very few children and teens have ever heard a lesson on generosity, much less been immersed in a church culture that constantly emphasizes giving as a spiritual discipline.
You may not be able to change your church entirely in the way that it teaches about and encourages generosity, but you can develop a culture of giving in your Bible class. Have regular short term collections where students are encouraged to bring in items they can afford out of their allowance or by earning money for doing extra jobs around the house. Set goals and celebrate how much is given. Have regular lessons or parts of lessons that teach God’s commands on giving. Have students collect their spare change for a period and then let them work together to decide how to spend it to help a ministry in some way. Have regular brainstorming sessions exploring how students can be generous even when they don’t have much money. Talk about true biblical tithing which is much higher than the assumed ten percent. Teach older students how to make a budget and keep expenses low so they have more to give to God. Encourage the parents of your students to involve them in purchasing items for collections or giving away some of their things to help others. Talk constantly about how to have a selfless versus a selfish heart and apply the concepts to the various people in your Bible lessons.
If the current giving trends don’t improve quickly, churches won’t have the funds to meet their expenses, much less help other people. Or they will be forced to become secular in order to receive government grant monies for their service endeavors. You can make a difference starting with your Bible class students.
