By Matt Friedeman
October 26, 2005

(AgapePress) - I was reminded this week of the late evangelist Tom Skinner, who said that we all ought to face the facts about our "tithes" and offerings to the local church -- what we actually do is, in reality, give to ourselves.

With the money proffered we hire the best preacher possible (so we don't have to listen to one who might bore us). We purchase a new youth center (for our youth, naturally), we unload thousands on new carpet and a fancy pulpit, better lighting and cushier seating, user-friendly curriculum and a video projection for our updated baptistery.

We tithe to ourselves, insisted Skinner. And as unpleasant as that perspective is, you have to admit, it is hard to argue with.

I was thinking about Skinner this week after I read the recent findings of John and Sylvia Ronsvalle of empty tomb, inc., a research organization based in Champaign, Illinois.

Churches, they report, are spending more on themselves than ever before. Eighty-five percent of church income is spent on the church itself, up from 1968 when 79 percent was expended on the same. And mind you, spending money on "others" can include, in their research, yourself, too. In the mix considered going to "others" is support sent to denominational and district headquarters as well as to colleges and seminaries.

This trend ought to cause concern. Sylvia Ronsvalle recently told the Huntsville Times, "There is a turning inward .... Philanthropy is being interpreted as giving to things that benefit ourselves rather than others."

Except, of course, that giving to yourself overly much doesn't benefit you.

For instance, Protestant congregations that contribute more to truly outward-bound causes like foreign missions and domestic compassionate ministries tend to grow; declining congregations give significantly less.

Although the Ronsvalles' research didn't go as far as this hunch, my bet is it is nonetheless true: congregations that give more to missions also invest more time, energy and visionary purpose in meeting the needs within their own communities. Hence, their growth would come not from simply a cause-and-effect relationship of financial stewardship, but from a whole-life discipleship of compassion and love encompassing loosened pocketbooks and practical action -- something that even the most hard-core of the unchurched have to admire and, even, be attracted to.

When Jesus said that the most important commandment was "Love God ..." He quickly followed with "Love your neighbor ...." Congregations that devote appropriate spiritual emphasis to the first of Jesus' favorite commands and affectionate attention to the second -- both within their communities and beyond -- will find themselves in a wonderful position to grow in holiness and, in all likelihood, numerically as well.

That prescription for growth will always make "tithing to ourselves" pale in comparison.