Book Review: Passing the Plate by Christian Smith and Michael Emerson
January 20, 2009 Posted by Roger Overton
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In the wake of global tragedies, citizens of the United States typically step up and donate more money than any other nation. However, it seems that in relation to the amount of money we take in, we don’t have as much to be proud about. This is especially remarkable since America is, more than most countries, a “Christian nation,” and accurate Christian teaching encourages giving to those in need. In Passing the Plate, sociologists Christian Smith and Michael Emerson explore the reasons why “most contemporary American Christians are remarkably ungenerous.”(3) |
The authors estimate that in 2005 Christians (who are church members) in the United States had a collective total income over $2 trillion, but they only donated less than 4% of their income. “If American Christians were to give from their income generously—not lavishly, mind you, only generously—they could transform the world, starting right away.” (11) If these same Christians gave 10% of their income, another $46 billion would be available to help people around the world. The authors provide many pages of examples of how this money could be spent effectively.
In the second chapter a number of facts are offered in an effort to reach explanations for the lack of generosity. The first is that 20% of all American Christians do not give a single penny to any church or charity. Next, of those who do give, they give very little, between 2-4%. Another fact presented is that despite the massive growth of average income, American Christians give proportionally less today than they did 80 years ago.
Given these facts, as well as several others, the authors propose nine hypothesizes to explain why American Christians don’t give more. These explanations include high living costs, unperceived needs, distrust, ignorance about what their traditions teach, and failure to make giving a routine practice. They “test” each hypothesis against the evidence they’ve gathered for this study.
The fourth chapter provides anecdotes from interviews with pastors and church goers on the subject of financial giving. Many of the responses they gathered corresponded with the statistical information they provided earlier. These interviews help the reader understand the information from a more personal perspective. In the fifth chapter, the authors provide the results of an “experiment” they conducted during the interviews- they generated responses to a hypothetical situation where 10% giving became a requirement for church membership. Only 7% said they would begin tithing, while 76% they would not tithe at all.
The book conclude with six explanations for the lack of generous giving by American Christians: 1) America’s culture of mass consumption 2) Pastors’ fear of discussing money 3) Ignorance of Christian teaching about financial giving 4) Mistrust for leadership or organizations 5) Lack of conversations about money among Christians 6) Failure to adopt routine methods for giving. The authors provide more than a dozen ideas for how leaders can lead Christians to lead more generously. Appendices provide summaries of various denominational teachings on giving, data sources, and statistical charts.
Overall Passing the Plate is a convicting and interesting book. It’s disappointing to see how little American Christians actually give out of their income, and it’s challenging to see what could be done if we gave only 10%. While I think the conclusions are accurate and helpful, the authors repeatedly explained that more research needed to be done on particular points. Given how often they excused themselves from providing a conclusion for this reason, one might expect them to do more research before writing this book. However, most of these points were not central to their case. Passing the Plate is a very worthwhile read, and I would recommend it to church leaders who feel inadequate when dealing with financial issues.
Related posts:
- Book Review: Too Good to Be True by Michael Horton
- Book Review: Deceived on Purpose by Warren Smith
- Book Review: God of Promise by Michael Horton
- Book Review: Essential Truths of the Christian Faith by R.C. Sproul
- Book Review: Philosophy Made Slightly Less Difficult
- Book Review: A Different Jesus? By Robert Millet
Posted in Book Reviews, Main Page, Roger's Posts
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January 26th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Speaking from my own experience, I have often “passed the plate” because I was merely a college student, working very little and only able to pay bills because of student loans. In retrospect I see that it would not have been all that difficult for me to set aside 10% of my small income, and I am only now beginning to try to do that (and mostly I'm still failing).