What are the keys to economic blessing from God? The Old and New Testaments give consistent teaching on this topic. As Paul says in 2 Cor. 9:6-7:

He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. (NKJV)

And as Malachi says in Mal. 3:8-12: Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” says the Lord of hosts; “And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.

The commands of God to the Church on giving to His work both before and after the coming of Christ are similar. Joyfully tithe, and joyfully give offerings beyond that in proportion to how much God has blessed you in this era of grace.

The problem comes when people do not give cheerfully what the Lord wants them to give. Those who would argue otherwise regarding tithing, saying we live in the new covenant era and are under grace and not law, should then give far more than 10 percent, since our giving should be in proportion to the grace we’ve been given. As we have seen, God says He will be generous with those who are generous to Him.

I encourage you to be generous in your giving toward God. I testify to you that I have given a tithe and offering for more than the last 30 years, and the Lord has cared for me more than adequately.

Giving in the Presbyterian Context

Being a Presbyterian is hard, in a sense. In Episcopal church government there is one man ultimately making the important decisions, which simplifies the life of the church—whether he is right or wrong. In Baptist/Congregationalist church government there is one man, the pastor, who rules the congregation, subject to the majority vote that can force him out. Still, it simplifies matters, because congregations focus on their own needs, often with less attention to the broader needs of other congregations.

Being a Presbyterian is hard, because no one is in control of anything permanently, and the brothers must agree in order to make anything work among the congregations. We believe that our congregations have duties to one another, and to the missions and boards of the church who focus our efforts on concerns that are bigger than we can handle as individual congregations and presbyteries.

That makes our lives tough, because when the boards and agencies need funding, we can ask, and only require with a few very limited assessments. The temptations are the same today as they were for ancient Israel: Get a king to simplify matters, and tax to assure adequate funds. Or to make the shout of, “Every man to his own tents. What share do we have in David?” which is akin to the impulse toward congregationalism.

Thus, when there are denominational needs, how do we rightly meet them? As Presbyterians, we ask the congregations to give. You can help in that. You could give to Reformed Presbyterian Missions and Ministries (RPM&M) personally, but it is better still to make sure that your congregation gives to RPM&M in its budget.

Over 20% of RP congregations give nothing to RPM&M. That should be 0%. No congregation should give nothing to the general need of the church.

Our recent experience is that medium-sized congregations give to the RPCNA generously on average, but that large and small congregations do not give proportionately to the way God has blessed them.

With small congregations, we do not ask that you impoverish yourself, but that you give a little to the larger works of the church. With large congregations, we ask that you give a lot, and that you do not neglect your leadership responsibility to the denomination. If God has blessed you with size, do not neglect the leadership responsibility with which God has entrusted you in the RPCNA. Those who have more should give much more, but no one should give nothing.

Generosity Amid Economic Trouble

The Trustees of Synod and the Finance Committee thank every congregation and person who gave to RPM&M in 2009. It was a record year in real dollars, though not in inflation-adjusted dollars.

All that said, when there is economic crisis, the needs expand even as the ability to give contracts. The agency of the church that was hurt the most in the recent crisis was the RP Home, which suffered cutbacks in reimbursements from the government. They also suffered as their main lender came under scrutiny from its regulator, which forced tighter terms on lending agreements.

In 2010, RPM&M stepped up to give the RP Home more from the denomination; after all, some indigent pastors and their wives, and missionaries, are taken care of by the RP Home, and we have a responsibility to take care of them. The RP Home should not subsidize the RPCNA—particularly not when the Home is having hard times.

With RP Global Missions, we thank the saints who gave when they had a financial crisis, saving some ministries that might otherwise have died. You gave generously, and may that continue.

What Does RPM&M Fund?

RPM&M funds and helps fund all of the boards and agencies of the church:

• RP Global Missions—Cush4Christ and other missionary endeavors

• Board of Home Missions—Funding and direction for new congregations

• RP Home—Care for the elderly

• RPTS—Our theological seminary

• Geneva College—Our college

• Board of Education & Publication—Psalters and related music, the RP Witness, and
Reformed literature

• East Asia Committee—The churches in Asia that we are equipping

• The Committee for Vital Churches—Works to prevent burned-out pastors, and rehabilitate congregations fallen on hard times.

• Youth Ministries Committee—Carries out youth ministries across the church

• Graduate Studies—Aid for pastors seeking advanced degrees

• Church History Committee—Finds, preserves and publishes the historical documents of the church

• Pension Board—Cares for pastors in retirement, and encourages future provision for pastors in current ministry

For a small denomination, we do a lot with a little. But many of our boards and agencies could do more in their ministries if giving were higher.

What You Can Do

We encourage all members of the RPCNA to encourage their congregational budget committees to give to RPM&M. This will help make sure that all important denominational ministries are supported, especially those that are not flashy but that need support because they perform critical functions that enable more visible ministries. Fund our ministries directly, if you please, but don’t neglect RPM&M.

We have a small denominational staff. The Trustees of Synod employ only two people to make sure the work gets done. Around 1% of total congregational receipts supports the denominational office. Because we aim to be lean, when we get excess contributions we don’t hang onto them; we allocate them to the boards and agencies of the church, so that they can use them for ministry. The pastors and elders, meeting at Synod, have decided to distribute funds, as giving grows, proportionate to our priorities as a denomination.

Our Hope

We hope in God, who blesses abundantly. Beyond that, we encourage all members of the RPCNA to tithe to their congregations. After that, we encourage congregations to give to the works of the Lord in the RPCNA, including RPM&M, with 10% of gross receipts as a guideline for all giving in the RPCNA, and larger congregations giving more.

And, we hope that we will find ourselves in the happy situation that Moses did, in Exodus 36:3-7, when Moses told the children of Israel to stop giving because there was more than enough. And perhaps if we all tithe, and are generous beyond that, it will be so.

—David Merkel is a member of Synod’s Board of Trustees, is chairman of Synod’s Finance Committee, and is chairman of the Pension Trustees. He recently started his own investment management company, Aleph Investments.