The Survey Says – “Proof That Christian Leaders Are Extraordinarily Generous”

Can I be transparent?  I despise most Christian surveys.  The reason is simple.  They never seem to have any good news.  Their data gives the impression that the sky is falling.  The surveys tell us there is no hope and Jesus is, at best, asleep at the wheel or, at worst, no longer in control.

Most Christian surveys imply that Satan is winning and Christians should batten down the hatches.  Then we should wait for our lives to end or the rapture, whichever comes first.  There is simply is no chance of redemption.  Frankly, I have always felt that part of the reason for this was people needed to justify their position and/or promote books because negativity sells.

Well, using www.SurveyMonkey.com, I asked the readers of this site to participate in an Anonymous Survey On Church Giving.  I had been conditioned to expect a depressing picture of Christianity.  We are told not to expect much from Christians.  Well, the results are in and they are SHOCKING AND ALARMING!  ALARMINGLY GOOD!

Three years ago I was in a meeting with a group of Christian creatives discussing the phrase “generosity”.  I stated that much like the word “stewardship”, this term would soon become stale and needed to be repackaged.

I felt that an organization on the leading edge of creativity should consider using the phrase “sacrifice”.  I said, “The sense I get is most Christian leaders are already generous, so what’s the next step?  Sacrifice.”

One of creatives responded, “I agree that most Christian leaders are generous but sacrifice will never sell.  Most people don’t want to think about sacrifice.”  Despite my efforts, the idea died due to lack of traction.

I want you to remember that conversation as you read the following results of this week’s survey.

Here is what my research tells us:

1. 80.3% of those surveyed held staff or volunteer leadership positions at their church.  That makes sense because this is a website designed to invest in leaders.
2. A SHOCKING 85.3% of the responders state they give at least 10% of their pre-tax income to their local church.  Even though most of the respondents are in leadership, this is an incredible number!
3. As you would then guess, 92.1% state that tithing is biblical.  Sorry grace givers!
4. 60.5% claim to carry very little if any personal debt.  However, 17.1% (basically 1 out of every 5) state their personal debt was stressful or significant.
5. 69.3% claim that their personal debt load has no impact on how much they give.  That speaks to the current level of faith, trust, obedience, responsibility, and Christian discipleship.  Great job!
6. When asked what percentage of their income they give to charity, an INCREDIBLE 46.1% said they give MORE than 10% to charitable causes.  This is tangible proof that Christian leaders are extraordinarily generous!
7. 81.6% says the majority of their giving goes to their local church rather than spreading it around.  Once again, sorry grace givers!
8. What is most exciting to me is 75% of the respondents described themselves as “Excited” or “Very Excited” about their church’s vision.  The Kingdom is advancing!  It also appears the level of giving and where it goes is in direct correlation to level of excitement for the church’s vision.
9. Interestingly, whether or not a pastor should know the giving records of church members is basically split right down the middle.  47.3% for and 52.7% against the pastor having that information.

Final Conclusions

1. I love Christian leaders!  And anyone who communicates anything other than great respect and admiration for them is simply wrong.
2. Christian leaders are arguably the most extraordinarily generous leaders around!
3. The time for calling Christian leaders to generosity may be over.  This survey shows that the large percentage is already there.
4. Therefore, the next step in the Christian leadership journey is not generosity.  It is sacrifice.
5. However, there is a need in churches for a multi-layered communication strategy on finances.  Not everyone is a leader at their church.  Regular attenders still need stewardship education from people like Joe Sangl.  They should still be discipled with generosity language.  But for leaders, they need to be challenged to move toward sacrifice.

Finally, I want to say how proud I am to be part of the Christian leadership community.  As a whole, we are an extraordinarily generous tribe.  We are not robbing God.  We are keeping our personal debt levels low.  We are giving more than the tithe to fund ministry, relieve suffering, serve the poor, and facilitate eternal life change.  We love pastors and give our lives to the fulfillment of great vision.

The survey says,”Christian leaders are extraordinarily generous.”  As a result, the survey also says, “Christian leaders should now focus on and move towards sacrifice.”

Is there work to be done?  YES!  But don’t let anyone tell you the sky is falling.  Don’t let anyone tell you there is no hope.  God is still doing an amazing work through Christian leaders and I am proud to be one of you!

What are your thoughts on the survey?

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