When conversations about giving arise in the Church, they are often met with discomfort, suspicion, or defensiveness. Some immediately assume the issue is institutional—budgets, buildings, or salaries. But Scripture frames giving very differently. The lack of giving does not merely strain the Church’s ability to function; it quietly impoverishes the spiritual life of the follower of Jesus.
Biblically speaking, withholding generosity harms the giver just as much—if not more—than it harms the ministry.
Giving Was Never About Funding an Institution
From Genesis to Revelation, giving is presented as a spiritual discipline, not a fundraising strategy. God does not ask His people to give because He is lacking. He asks them to give because they are forming hearts.
Jesus consistently tied generosity to discipleship. In Matthew 6, He did not say if you give, but when you give. Giving was assumed as a normal expression of devotion, alongside prayer and fasting. It was never optional for those who claimed to follow Him.
When giving disappears from the life of a believer, something deeper is missing than money.
The Spiritual Cost of Not Giving
Jesus said plainly,
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)
This means generosity is not just an outcome of spiritual maturity—it is a pathway to it. When believers stop giving, several things begin to happen internally:
1. Faith shrinks.
Giving requires trust. Withholding trains the heart to rely on self rather than God. Over time, fear replaces faith, and obedience becomes conditional.
2. Worship becomes theoretical.
Giving is one of the few acts of worship that tangibly costs us something. When worship no longer costs anything, it slowly loses its power to shape us.
3. Possessions gain authority.
Jesus warned that no one can serve both God and money. When giving stops, money often becomes the silent master—dictating decisions, priorities, and anxieties.
4. Discipleship stalls.
Spiritual growth rarely happens in comfort. Generosity stretches the soul. Without it, believers often plateau, wondering why their walk feels stagnant.
How the Church Is Also Affected
While the follower suffers spiritually, the Church suffers missionally.
The Church is not a business, but it is a body with practical responsibilities: caring for the poor, supporting ministry, discipling the next generation, sending missionaries, and creating spaces for worship and community. When giving declines, the Church is forced into survival mode rather than mission mode.
More troubling, however, is what often happens next:
Vision shrinks to match resources, rather than faith stretching to match the call of God.
When generosity dries up, ministry does not simply slow—it narrows. Outreach becomes limited. Support systems weaken. Opportunities to bless communities are missed, not because God stopped providing, but because His people stopped participating.
Giving Forms Us, Not God
The Apostle Paul captured this truth when he wrote:
“Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.” (Philippians 4:17)
Paul understood that giving produces fruit in the life of the giver. It aligns the heart with the Kingdom of God. It loosens the grip of materialism. It reorients priorities around eternal impact rather than temporary comfort.
When believers withhold generosity, they are not protecting themselves—they are robbing themselves of spiritual formation.
A Call Back to Trust and Obedience
The issue of giving is not about pressure or guilt. It is about trust. God does not need our money, but He does desire our hearts fully surrendered to Him.
A follower of Jesus who does not give generously will often struggle with anxiety, control, and spiritual dryness. A church without generous believers will struggle to embody the love, reach, and compassion it proclaims.
Both are connected.
Restoration—in the Church and in the believer—will always require obedience, and generosity has always been part of that obedience.
The question is not whether the Church can survive without giving. The question is whether the follower of Jesus can truly flourish without it.
Thoughts from Pastor Toney 