Should I Give to the Capital Campaign if I Still Have Personal Debt

Dear Friends,

I have recently been presented with a dilemma.  What if you are in significant debt but you want to give to the capital campaign?  Or what if you are practicing Financial Peace University’s debt snowball in the midst of our church’s capital campaign.  Should you divert money from your debt snowball to give to the capital campaign?  The answer is: it depends.

While many financial theologians and biblical scholars believe that tithing should be continued even in the midst of debt reduction plans, capital campaigns are giving opportunities above and beyond tithing.  The Bible does not provide a lot of clear direction for moments like this other than general principles about financial stewardship.  So let me offer what wisdom I have after almost 40 years of seeking to follow Jesus and studying the Bible.

I can’t say that you should never divert money from debt to give above and beyond your annual tithe.  Ultimately you have to ask God what God would have you do.  But I think part of that discernment depends on where you are at with the rest of your finances.  If you are under a crushing amount of debt (credit card, student loans, auto loans, mortgage, etc.) and you are generally living very simply bare bones with the basics to help pay off that debt, I think it would probably be wise to let giving to the capital campaign be done by others who are in a more healthy place financially while you keep working your debt snowball plan.  Or if you are barely making ends meet or are behind in your basic bills (housing, utilities, food, etc.), then this is likely not the time to give to a capital campaign short of God sending some writing in the sky.

On the other hand, let me share with you where Sarah and I are at and what we’re doing.  Sarah and I have a mortgage on a house in Petoskey and we have two car loans.  We also have a long history of paying off any debt we’ve accumulated very quickly (student loans and car loans are the only other debt we’ve ever had).  We are planning on selling our house in Petoskey this summer and using what we make on the house to pay off the car loans and tithe to the capital campaign.  We have a clear and realistic plan to get out of debt within the next year.  Giving to the capital campaign will have little to no effect our debt plan.  Because we feel that God is in the plans of the church, we are giving as much as we can to the capital campaign even though we still have some debt.

These two scenarios are the extremes when it comes to debt: crushing debt and debt that will be paid off early in the foreseeable future.  What is wise is obvious at these extreme poles.  Everything else in the middle is a matter of prayerful discernment.  Perhaps if you have debt, are paying if off early, and yet still live fairly comfortably, God might be calling you at this time to make some lifestyle sacrifices to give above and beyond your annual tithe.  This is a decision between you and your family and God.

One thing that we can all give to this capital campaign is our prayers.  Even if you are unable to give because of your current financial situation, now is a time to pray for continued perseverance in your financial plans so that at some point in the future you can give generously to God’s work.  Now is also a time to pray for the church as a whole.  Pray that God would provide for the mission that God has called our church to fulfill.  One of the beautiful things about being part of a faith community is that together we are able to do what none of us could do alone.  Thank you God for fellow followers of Jesus whose strengths help cover my weakness while my strengths cover their weaknesses!

Peace,
Pastor Tom

P.S. You may wonder what Dave Ramsey of Financial Peace University says about this question.  You can find his answer here.  Ramsey asks whether the campaign will incur debt.  While we do not necessarily dismiss taking out future mortgages for building  needs, this campaign is about paying for remodeling with cash and staying out of debt.  Ramsey also wonders about whether an outside firm has been used to manipulate church members. Again, I’m not sure that outside firms always manipulate church members, but this campaign is run entirely internally with some guidance from the book: Money Matters in Church by Steve Stroup and Aubrey Malphers.