It’s Time for “bart”
I work with many churches across the US, and one pressing need I see frequently is for a Biblical, simple and objective way to review how your church supports local and global ministry. First, let’s step back and look at the big picture.
If we look at personal global mission giving in particular, the statistics are pretty overwhelming.
Collectively, 1.5% of personal income for Christians is actually given to the Lord’s work, far less than a tithe (10%). Of this amount:
82% goes to Home ministries of local churches (mostly Christian nations): $734 billion [2]
12% goes to Home Evangelism in same Christian nations: $107.5 billion [2]
Only 6% of this “tithe” goes to anything Missions: $52 billion ( 5.8%, 2022). [2]
WHERE DOES THE MISSIONS MONEY GO? NOT TOO FAR.
Only 1.7% of “Missions Giving” goes to work among Unreached Peoples (less than 2% Christian) Estimated $880 million (1.7% of the $52b for anything “missions”) [3]
Put another way, for every $100,000 that Christians make, they give $1.70 to the unreached.
The church is called to “Go and make disciples of all the nations (peoples)” (Matt 28:19). As the church (“ekklesia” - the “called out ones”) we together are to exhort, teach and encourage one another to give of our time, our talents and our treasure as God’s people to reach the nations!
There are several moving parts at the congregational level for that to happen, but one place to begin is to be faithful stewards of our congregational giving - our benevolence. I personally am not a fan of that word - “benevolence” - but it’s the one commonly used in our pat of the body of Christ, so “when in Rome”!
Where does your benevolence go? Mostly local? Is any sent to help reach the nations, not a bad idea since that is the focus of Matthew 28! In 1991, Lutheran Theologian Rev. Dr Carl Braaten, who recently died and has is now in his eternal home, gave a powerful and insightful address entitled “The Mission of the Gospel”. He said,
“The church spends prime time on concerns for which it has no unique competence but neglects the one thing needful which only the church, and no other agency in the world, has been commissioned to accomplish. …The apostolic mission of the Gospel created the church; we call it evangelism. God has given the church this commission to go with the Gospel to all who do not yet, or who no longer, believe. It is an assignment God has given to no other people in the world. If the church does not proclaim the message of salvation in the name of Jesus to those who do not believe, it will not get done.”
Does your investment of benevolence funds meaningfully and practically connect with God’s call to the nations? Has it been a while since you reviewed it thoroughly?
ALWM has a free, helpful and simple resource called BART. It’s our Benevolence Assessment and Review Tool. This is an effective and objective way to review your local and global mission giving. Now is a good time to decide to begin 2024 with a prayerful review by using BART! You can find it at alwm.org/BART! For assistance write missionshelp@alwm.org!
