The last couple of Sundays we've been inserting pledge cards in the bulletin. In some ways, this certainly looks like we're asking for money. The session and staff try very hard to be faithful stewards of the money you give, and money is certainly needed--that's just reality in this world. Still, the pledge cards are not actually asking you to give. They're asking you to tell us how much you plan to give.
Giving is our joyful privilege in response to all God has done for us. God blesses us beyond our deserving and beyond our ability to respond in kind or in proportion. Repeatedly in the Bible, a tenth is presented as an appropriate proportion. Abraham gave "one tenth of everything" to Melchizedek even before there was any law. Even if you gave a tenth of all income or a tenth of all wealth, what is that but a token compared to all creation from the source of all good things? I heard a preacher one time say, "You can't out-give God."
This quantitative guideline of a tenth is where we get the word "tithe." A tithe is merely another word for a tenth. Because churches have been using the word for a long time and because its mundane usage is no longer part of normal, everyday language, it has the connotation that it is a tenth of income given as an offering to a church.
Here at First Presbyterian Church of Pauls Valley, we don't demand a tithe. We barely ask for money at all, but many people value and trust this congregation enough to give anyway. We are certainly grateful. We generally take the stance that how much you give is your own business. Maybe you give a tenth of your income, but not all of it goes to this congregation. That's great and we commend you on your generosity. We're even proud that such a generous person is part of our congregation. Maybe you know that your finances would be wrecked if you gave as much as a tenth; we're not stereotypical televangelists, and we don't want you to send your last coin to us instead of paying the electric bill, or whatever. We love you and want you to take care of yourself first. How much you give and to whom is up to you. It's also a private matter, and we try to be careful with your confidential information in the office and on session. How you determine how much you give is between you and God.
So, if we're barely asking you to give, and we're certainly not requiring you to give a tenth, what is pledging and what are these pledge cards for? Pledging is saying that you solemnly intend to give a certain amount. Sometimes circumstances change; a guy in my home church Atlanta lost his job, and the session voted to release him from the promise he made when he turned in his pledge card. Your pledge is not the money, but the promise to give (though in common language, we sometimes use the word pledge to mean the amount that was pledged, as in "I have paid half of my pledge."). What the pledge cards are for is so that you can tell us what your intentions are so that we can put it into our budget and planning process. That's what we mean when we say that pledging helps us plan.
Now all you have to do is consider how much you can afford, how much you value the programs of the congregation, and most importantly, how much blessing God has given you and how much you want to give back in response. Then let us know by filling in your pledge card. You can drop it in the offering plate, or you can come by the office and fill one out at your convenience.
Blessings,
--Chas
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