Admiring the Vision

Matthew 6:1

Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.


Not long ago, I visited an unfamiliar church. I was seated in one of their pews and decided to entertain myself by rifling through the many cards and pamphlets that were available. Among others, I found one card that said in big, bold letters: "I give electronically". It had a spot to write your name and date and included fine print that read: "If you donate online or by bank draft you may use this card to participate in the offering during worship services." I felt an immediate unsettling in my spirit: this is not right.

What should a gift to God look like? Well, my friends at Merriam-Webster define a gift as "something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation" and I see nothing in that definition that conflicts with Scripture. So, both Jesus and M-W tell us that when we give a gift, we should give it without expectation of compensation, whether that looks like the choice piece of Communion bread (don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about), a stroked ego, or even the praise and admiration of our peers.

So why then would a church use a card like this? Well, since the people using it "donate online or by bank draft", both the congregant and the church would already have a record of the transaction, so that's not it. The card states that its purpose is to allow the user to "participate in the offering", but if you donate online or by bank draft, haven't you already participated in the offering? You are left with no choice but to believe that this card is a modern-day example of exactly what Jesus was speaking out against in Matthew 6: sinners' need to be admired by others and their willingness to trade that admiration for the reward that God has for them.

Do I think the leadership of this particular church have no regard for the vision that God has for their church? Not at all. My guess is that they have let the wants a few misguided congregants (who also happen to give electronically) interfere with that vision. I think one of the strongest signs of the spiritual health of a church (or almost any organization or individual) is the willingness of the leadership to discern the vision that God has for them and then to pursue that vision despite all of the distractions that the masses have to offer. Isn't that something that we have all experienced?