Most Pastors in their quest to raise money bypass God’s principles on giving and do their own thing. A time when I gave ₵2 at church, it was my all. Little attention was given to me.
When I gave 500, the Amen was loud but I had close to ₵7000 in my account. Its value is not the same as the ₵2. They categorize the givers and give priority to those who give huge sums. They start calling from the bigger amounts and special prayers and Amen are said for them. What humiliation this is! Yet they always find ways to justify it.
A friend invited me to church 7 years ago. I had then finished SHS and was a pupil teacher. I earned ₵50 a month. Now let’s do a little bit of calculations here.
Tithes=₵5, offering: 2×4sundays in a month=₵8, spent ₵1 every working day:1×20working days=20. Emergencies, evening service offerings, credits etc have not been captured yet. So you could see how insufficient the income was.
I followed my friend to his church and after service their group pastor met us. He told them of their head pastor’s birthday and that they were contributing for him. My friend said he would give ₵5. And the pastor lamented that it was too small. Apparently my friend gave what he could at that time. But due to the pastor’s remarks he started contemplating on the next amount to pledge. The pastor looked at me and asked how much I would give. I was there for the first time and I had only ₵5 on me. We needed to get home too because our residence and the church was very far. We needed about ₵2 for transport. So I said I would give ₵2. The pastor exclaimed woow. He was shocked. They are a faith and a prosperity driven church. How could I have given so low?
Of course he couldn’t tell me that but that was what the “wow” meant.
I felt bad. I thought I had given much because that was my best. My friend gave all he had on him and thought of going home by faith I guess. If I had not kept money for our transport, the trotro mate would have skinned him alive. He had nothing on him after church.
He would organize buses to carry people to church and the pastor was impressed with him but he was doing that with borrowed money and he left the neighborhood owing a couple of folks.
Some churches do quota giving where there tell every member how much they should give.
Under no circumstances should you borrow to give. Remember God had said you will give to nations and will borrow from none Deut 28:12. Let’s live by the word.
*2Co 8:12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have*.
*Mar 12:43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.*
*44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything–all she had to live on.”*
Opoku Agyemang Emmanuel
THE NETWORK OF REVIVALISTS 