Passing Offering Bucket in Church

John 6:7 [NLT]- Philip replied, "Even if we worked for months, we wouldn't have enough money to feed them!"

When Jesus asked his disciples to test them about how to feed the multitude of people who came to hear him, Philip who is one of his disciples looked on to working for months to earn enough money to feed those people. He did not answer that we need to collect money passing an offering bucket to feed the people. But today in Churches they announce all the needs and ask people to put money in the bucket. I believe the pastors are fist looking at collecting money from congregation rather than looking on to God (which is the best option that Jesus did) or even earning the money themselves (which is 2nd best what Philip did).

I attend a Church where the offering bucket is not passed around so that people will be forced to put. The money box is laid at the back seat and those who give do it in secret.

Now I am not boasting about this practice but I am surprised how many believers are not concerned about the love of money that they see in their Church which is evident from this unbiblical practice of passing money bucket. I am wondering how you are tolerating it? Is it out of ignorance you tolerate or you think God will not be bothered by such behavior?

I was born again in an American Mega Church, but I left the Church on the day when the pastor preached a sermon on offering more money. Nothing against the sermon (though many things in it were unbiblical) but that day alone they gathered money after the sermon so that people will give more after being convicted by the sermon. Is it not using the sermon to play with Human emotions?

The purpose of this thread is not to Judge the churches that practice this, I am sure 99.99% of Churches do this practice in US. But I want to know what makes the believers in these Churches to tolerate such acts?

In India the practice is much worse, they even announce on Speakers how much each person has given that week. It is a practice that they got from Hindu Temples. I am sure not many Churches in US have degraded to that level, but can soon happen. I am not a prophet to prophecy this but I can see it quickly happening.

I was once hearing Brother Zac Poonen and he was comparing the practice of passing offering bucket to the sin of Gahazee who went behind Naman to get money. Did he not end up getting also Naman's leprosy? What do we learn from such incidents of Old Testament?

Sreeram, I don't think they like links posted here, so I'm sending you an article written by a guy I used to go to church with, I really miss him he moved to another state. The subject in the mail is called "A Christian And Tithing".

I read a part of what you sent. I agree as far as I read. But I am not against Tithing. In new Covenant we are asked to give gracefully, not to tith just 10%.

But my question is against the point of passing the bucket. Is it not against the concept of giving in secret? Especially when Pastors ask the congregation to hold their offering up in their hands and pray. How is that a secret giving? Is it not the love of money that the Church has that makes them follow such practices?

Sreeram, In my opinion, if anyone in the church is able to physically see what anyone gives, I would say that's a way to put folks under condemnation. We all know what the word say's about condemnation, right? And last but not least, you might have huge givers that want the Glory by holding up the big bucks.

Sree,

I have also wrestled with this a lot. I am not very good at giving anyway. Primarily because I don't like the idea that the money I give goes to paying a light bill and not to ministry. To fund our ministries we do things like cake auctions and stuff like that and I do participate in those, but again, totally not in secret during a cake auction.

I don't even know. I am almost always the lone dissenting voice at my church when it comes to things like this. So to be honest, I have become rather quite about these things. I guess I've lost my grit and gusto when dealing with issues, but I have grown really tired of sticking my neck out and then getting my head chopped off for non-conformance.

I personally believe the article I sent Sreeram, is a great article on tithing. If anyone wants this I can send it to them in an email if it's in your profile, and let you judge for yourself.

Thanks Brother Greg, I'm not saying I totally agree with the article or not, I would like to withhold my personal opinion. I do believe it was well thought out, and will take most folks a little deeper into understand the tithe in today's church.

http://churchofhouston.com/tithing-tithe

Havok20x, I appreciate your honest testimony. I do not believe any Church is perfect. But how open are they to change makes the difference. DO they still have ears to listen? In the book of revelation 5 out of 7 Churches were in backslidden status but they still had hope if they had ears to listen to what Jesus spoke to them.

Havok20x, I would also suggest you to pray that Lord will either open the ears of your Church leadership or pray that he will lead you to a Church that is more inclined to the Word Of God.

Brother Frank, I appreciate your testimony.

I am so far from being the upstanding kind of godly man that I need to be. I don't want to dog my church. We have our problems for sure but I believe that the Lord can and will make it better. What do I have that I have not received? I definitely don't want to boast as if I accrued any degree of wisdom or knowledge on my own. Sorry if I came off that way.

As far as this practice goes, I think it is just the way we've done it for so long that no one questions it.

As far as this practice goes, I think it is just the way we've done it for so long that no one questions it.

If no one has questioned it then why cannot you question them? The disciples never felt afraid of Questioning Jesus, in fact Jesus said that to them it was given to know the meaning. So if there is really a Christlikeness in your Church leadership then it should not be a problem to question them.

Just ask them whether the passing of offering bucket is against giving in secret. If they are not concerned about losing money then they will yield to it.

If we are used to a restaurant food but then come to know that some of their cooking practice is not hygienic then we will immediately stop eating there.

If we are used to visiting a hospital and we come to know that they follow an unhygienic method of treatment like not sterilizing their equipment etc, then immediately we will stop visiting that hospital.

The care that we show for physical hygiene is not shown for Spiritual. When we know a practice in a church is against God's word, we are willing to stay there, hoping one day God will correct them. But if they are unwilling to hear God and stick to old practice then how will they change?

You know how you know who the really "called" pastors are, they are the one that wouldn't jump ship even if everyone stop tithing. When I was a kid in the 50's and early 60's our pastor had a job outside the church, and some today still do, but probable not many.

There is nothing wrong with passing the plate vs box at the back or even teaching others to give but if the leadership begins to trust in man then its all downhill from there.

I think your point is we must no judge by external actions but internal love of money which God only knows. I totally disagree.

If I am watching obscene movie and justifying saying I do not lust after these women, God only looks into my heart to see whether I lust or not. Then I am deceived. If my action itself is defiled then there is no point in looking into the heart.

Same is with passing offering plate around and forcing people to give. This practice itself is clearly against God's word of giving in secret. Now any leader or Church that practices this is clearly driven by love of money and not by word of God. There is no point in saying we do not know what is control there. That is stupidity.

Brother Mark, I am not sure why you deleted that post but I liked your testimony in that post.