Offering (Christianity)

The offering in Christianity is a gift of money to the Church beyond a Christian's payment of his/her tithes. In Christian worship, there is a part reserved for the collection of donations that is referred to as the offertory. Depending on the church, it is deposited either in a box reserved for this purpose or when a basket or purse is circulated. In some churches, it is also given by Internet.

History

Origin

In the Bible, the offering is an act of gratitude to God.[1] At the time of Moses, God gave certain prescriptions to the people of Israel. In particular, he was to bring him some of his wealth by way of gratitude for the land that God gave him for inheritance.[2] The offerings were largely agricultural products: wheat, barley, oil, animals and the amount was one-tenth of their income, the tithe.[3]

New Alliance

In the New Testament, especially in the Epistle to the Galatians in chapter 6, Paul of Tarsus reminds the believers' commitment to their pastor and the poor.[4] In this same book, the offering is compared to a seed.[5] These concepts are echoed in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians chapter 9.[5] The motivation of the donor is no longer an obligation, but must be a free choice of generosity.[6] Paul of Tarsus has made several collections in order to help people in need.[7] Moreover, the offering is presented as a support for the mission and a sign of compassion for the poor.[8]

21st century

Offering through the Internet has become a common practice in many evangelical churches.[9][10]

Using

The offering is put at the service of the Church, for example for the support of the ministers of God, Pastors or missionaries, building maintenance costs, programs, helping the underprivileged (Christian humanitarian aid).[11][12] For the affiliated churches, the offering also supports the services of their denomination.[13] According to a 2014 survey of 1,605 churches in the United States by Christianity Today, the top five expenditures are staff salaries (ministers) to 47%, the ministries and the support (Christian humanitarian aid) to 9%, the place of worship (mortgage or rent of the building to 7%, utilities to 7%, maintenance to 5%), the support for international missions at 5% and support for local missions at 4%.[14] A 2016 study conducted by the Leadership Network and the Vanderbloemen Search Group among 1,252 churches in the United States, in Canada, in South Africa and in Great Britain, gave similar figures.[15]

Controversies

In the 16th century, many Protestant theologians criticized the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church, for the remission of sins.[16]

A particularly controversial doctrine in the Evangelical Churches is that of the prosperity theology, which spread in the 1970s and 1980s in the United States, mainly through televangelism.[17] This doctrine is centered on the teaching of Christian faith as a means to enrich oneself financially and materially, through a "positive confession" and a contribution to Christian ministries.[18] Promises of divine healing and prosperity are guaranteed in exchange for certain amounts of donations.[19][20][21] Fidelity in the tithe would allow one to avoid the curses of God, the attacks of the devil and poverty.[22][23][24] The offerings and the tithe occupies a lot of time in the worship services.[25] Often associated with the tithe mandatory, this doctrine is sometimes compared to a religious business.[26][27][28][23] It is criticized by pastors and church unions, such as the National Council of Evangelicals of France, in France.[29][30] In United States, evangelists have asked for offerings to buy private jets. [31] In Africa, it is common to see pastors who have enriched themselves to the point of becoming multimillionaires, living in ostentatious luxury (many houses and cars, private plane, etc.), giving little importance to material aid to the poor. [32] [33]

Since the 1970s, various financial scandals of embezzlement have been reported in churches and evangelical organizations.[34] The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability was founded in 1979 to strengthen financial integrity in evangelical organizations and churches that voluntarily wish to be members and to undergo annual accounting audits. [35]

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References
  1. Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Baker Academic, USA, 2001, p. 46-47
  2. Richard Watson, A Biblical and Theological Dictionary, Carlton & Porter, USA, 1831, p. 835
  3. James Leo Garrett, Systematic Theology, Volume 2, Second Edition, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2014, p. 410
  4. Frank S. Thielman, Theology of the New Testament, Zondervan Academic, USA, 2011, p. 492
  5. Rodney Reeves, Spirituality According to Paul: Imitating the Apostle of Christ, InterVarsity Press, USA, 2011, p. 158-159.
  6. Frank S. Thielman, Theology of the New Testament, Zondervan Academic, USA, 2011, p. 339.
  7. Michael Barnett, Janice Gross Stein, Sacred Aid: Faith and Humanitarianism, Oxford University Press, UK, 2012, p. 67.
  8. Mark L. Vincent, Matthew M. Thomas, A Christian View of Money: Celebrating God’s Generosity (4th edition), Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2017, p. 43
  9. Michael Gryboski, Millennial-Majority Churches Detail Challenges, Success Stories in Growth and Finances, christianpost.com, USA, June 18, 2018
  10. Ghana News Agency, Asoriba launches church management software, businessghana.com, Ghana, February 3, 2017
  11. Brian Stiller, Evangelicals Around the World: A Global Handbook for the 21st Century, Éditions Thomas Nelson, USA, 2015, p. 128-129
  12. Rémy Chhem, Marc-André Morency, Le culte du dimanche à l’Église évangélique baptiste de Québec Archived 2014-08-14 at the Wayback Machine, IPIR, Canada, December 13, 2011
  13. Norman Doe, Christian Law: Contemporary Principles, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2013, p. 332
  14. ChurchLawAndTax, How Churches Spend Their Money, churchlawandtax.com, USA, August 28, 2014
  15. Suzette Gutierrez-Cachila, New Study on Church Income/Spending Study Shows Insights to Establishing Better Finance System, gospelherald.com, USA October 10, 2016
  16. Frank K. Flinn, Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Infobase Publishing, USA, 2007, p. 530
  17. Randall Herbert Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition, Baylor University Press, USA, 2004, p. 562
  18. Kate Bowler, Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel, OUP USA, USA, 2013, p. 59
  19. Laure Atmann, Au nom de Dieu et… du fric!, notreafrik.com, Belgium, July 26, 2015
  20. Bob Smietana, Prosperity Gospel Taught to 4 in 10 Evangelical Churchgoers, christianitytoday.com, USA, July 31, 2018
  21. Gina Meeks, Megachurch Pastor Ed Young Promises to Refund Tithe if God Doesn't Open the Windows of Heaven, charismanews.com, USA, June 16, 2014
  22. John Blake, How passing the plate becomes the 'Sunday morning stickup', cnn.com, USA, June 14, 2015
  23. Raoul Mbog, Le juteux business du pasteur évangélique Dieunedort Kamdem, lemonde.fr, France, December 25, 2015
  24. Venance Konan, Églises évangéliques d’Abidjan - Au nom du père, du fils et... du business Archived 2017-01-13 at the Wayback Machine, koffi.net, Ivory Coast, May 10, 2007
  25. Marie-Claude Malboeuf and Jean-Christophe Laurence, Églises indépendantes: le culte de l'argent, lapresse.ca, Canada, November 17, 2010
  26. Laurie Goodstein, Believers Invest in the Gospel of Getting Rich, nytimes.com, USA, August 15, 2009
  27. Jean-Christophe Laurence, Le business religieux, lapresse.ca, Canada, November 17, 2010
  28. Trésor Kibangula, RDC : pasteur, un job en or, jeuneafrique.com, France, February 06, 2014
  29. Henrik Lindell, Théologie de la prospérité : quand Dieu devient un distributeur de miracles, lavie.fr, France, August 8, 2012
  30. AFP, Le ruineux Evangile des "théologiens de la prospérité", lepoint.fr, France, March 26, 2013
  31. Arwa Mahdawi, Jet-set Jesus: televangelist to donate old private jet when he gets new $54m one, theguardian.com, UK, June 1, 2018
  32. Mfonobong Nsehe, Les pasteurs les plus riches du Nigéria Archived 2016-08-09 at the Wayback Machine, forbesafrique.com, France, November 28, 2015
  33. Trésor Kibangula, RDC : pasteur, un job en or, jeuneafrique.com, France, February 06, 2014
  34. Michael J. Anthony, Introducing Christian Education: Foundations for the Twenty-first Century, Baker Academic, USA, 2001, p. 284
  35. Randall Herbert Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition, Baylor University Press, USA, 2004, p. 239
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