As you can see, the title of this article is The Collection. By the “collection”, I am referring to the practice (common in most churches) where at some point during the worship service the deacons walk down the aisle(s) of the church and collect money from the congregation. In this article I will try to answer some basic questions about this part of the worship service.

Who?⤒🔗

The first question we need to consider is who should give? The answer is: everyone who is able. Many people – also in our own churches – have the idea that only the adults should give to the collection. This is because up until a generation or two ago, only the adults had any money. But that is not the case anymore. More and more young people today have part time jobs. Therefore, they can and should contribute something to the collection as well.

We can also ask: who should collect? In many churches today, the ushers take up the collection. There is nothing wrong with that, but since the deacons are called by God to collect and distribute the alms of the congregation, the task of collecting is rightly assigned to them.

What?←⤒🔗

What is the collection? First of all, let us be clear what it is not. The collection is not a church-sponsored form of taxation – a way for the church to raise the necessary funds to support its various programs and to pay the salary of the minister. It is much more than that. It is an act of worship. God wants us to worship Him not only by singing and reading and preaching the Word of God, but also by giving. In the offering we express:

1. Our stewardship. We are reminded that God is the giver of everything that we have – also our money. It all belongs to Him. Therefore, it is appropriate that we give back to Him a portion of what He has given to us.
    
2. Our thankfulness. Our offering should be an expression of our thankfulness to the Lord for all that He has done for us.
    
3. Our trust. When we give to the Lord, we trust that He will also supply us in all of our needs.

When?←⤒🔗

When should the collection be taken? The collection should be taken every Lord's Day when the congregation gathers together for worship. This is clear from 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2 where Paul writes:

Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

Paul here is referring to a collection he was taking up for the needy saints in Jerusalem. He instructed the church at Corinth to take up this collection “on the first day of the week”, i.e. on the Lord's Day, when they came together for worship. This reinforces what we said above that the collection is (ought to be) an act of worship.

Most of our churches take up the collection after the congregational prayer (i.e. before the sermon). But there is something to be said for taking up the collection after the sermon as well as it expresses not only our thankfulness for what God has done for us both in creation and in redemption, but also what we have heard in the preaching of the Word.

Why?←⤒🔗

Why do we take up a collection? We have already said that the collection is an act of worship. But, what happens to the money after it has been collected?

The money collected is given to the Lord; it is used to support the work of the kingdom of God locally and abroad. The main collection is used to support the work of the local church, such as costs associated with outreach, paying the utilities, maintenance costs, salaries of the minster, caretaker and anyone else who works for the church. Some of this money is also used to support the work that is done outside of the church, by so called “para-church” organizations. These include Come Over and Help, Word and Deed, Pro Life, etc...

How?←⤒🔗

Under this heading we will consider two questions:

1. How much should we give?←↰⤒🔗

In the Old Testament, the people of Israel were expected to tithe ten percent. This, however, was part of the ceremonial law which was fulfilled by Christ. The New Testament nowhere specifies how much we should give. In 2 Corinthians 9:7 Paul writes: “Every man according as he purposely in his heart, so let him give”. In other words, the amount you give is between you and the Lord. Having said that, if believers in the Old Testament were required to give ten percent, should we who enjoy the complete revelation of God not give (if we are able) even more than that? A good rule of thumb is: we should give until it hurts.

The widow in the temple gave only one penny, but her offering was more pleasing to God than the others who gave much more because she gave all that she had; the others did not. That does not mean, of course, that we should give away everything that we have. Nor does God require this. It simply means that what we give should cost us something. We should feel it. If we do not, we are probably not giving enough.

2. How should we give?←↰⤒🔗

This is even more important than how much we give. What matters to God is not how much we give but the spirit or attitude with which we give it. In 2 Corinthians 9:7 Paul writes:

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.