Why Don't We Pass the Plate?

From the beginning, Dublin Bible Church adopted the practice that a number of churches have gone to - not passing an offering plate. Some churches have a box on the wall next to the exits - we have a box on a table next to the exit. We do not mention the box every Sunday. We simply trust that the Lord will move in the hearts of our people to give, and we occasionally teach on the topic because it is a biblical topic. So far, the Lord has met our every financial need.

This has always been our practice, but we don't want to imply that churches that pass the plate are doing something wrong. There are good ways and bad ways to pass the plate, just like there are good ways and bad ways to not pass the plate. I've known several churches that do an excellent job of passing the plate in a God-honoring, worshipful way. And I seen a few abuses, too. But there is no biblical superiority of having a box or passing the plate - both are valid.

The advantages of not passing the plate are many: We don't want to make church primarily about money. We don't want anyone to think that all we want is your money. We want people to prayerfully consider how much to give - to make that a very personal discussion with the Lord and a decision that is carefully made. We don't want anyone to feel pressured to give. We don't want people to make a show of their giving. We want to trust the Lord to provide without any form of fleshly pressure.

But, there are some downsides to not passing the plate. Artfully done, passing the plate can be a truly worshipful experience - an experience we miss out on. The act of giving is a spiritual act, and passing the plate from one to another is a community act of worship. Our children don't grow up seeing giving as a normal part of church because of the discreteness of the box - there are less natural opportunities to teach our children about giving.

I don't know if churches have more donations by passing the plate or not - certainly the high-pressure plate passers collect more initially, but perhaps in the long run, the techniques of the flesh backfire. Clearly, there are some very high pressure churches that continually bring in a small fortune through the collection plates, but no matter - we don't want more collections at the cost of dishonoring biblical teaching on giving. We never want to see pressure used, with or without passing the plate.

The clearest passage on giving is 2 Corinthians 8-9. Click here to read it. There are literally hundreds of other passages on the topic of money - because it's such a stumbling block, it's taught frequently in the Bible. In fact, Jesus talks more about money than He does about heaven and hell. I recommend that every attender regularly read those two chapters in 2 Corinthians and at least annually spend time with the Lord praying about his or her giving habits.

As we wrap up Philippians, we end on two paragraphs about the topic of giving (read it here). Paul's main concern about their giving was that their giving be a practice that helps them to develop into the kind of people God wants them to be. It's about their character and their discipleship, not the balance sheet. God wants us to be a particular kind of people, and that includes being people who strategically use finances to advance the Kingdom of God. Giving is in fact one of the spiritual disciplines.

And that's why we don't pass the plate.