The Interruption

"Well, it's time to pay the taxes."

Word of warning: if I haven't meddled enough this week already, I might just do so today!

I've actually heard the words at the top of this blog said in reference to the offering time in worship. Time to pay the taxes. I've also frequently heard the offering referred to as an "interruption" in worship. And, granted, sometimes the way the offering is handled, it can feel like an interruption. It can feel like it has no connection to what came before or what comes next.

But, in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. When we feel that way, it may say more about the way either (a) the worship leader/pastor approaches the offering or (b) the way we do.

Why is an offering an essential part of worship? Because I believe it is, especially in American culture. There may be many gods we bow down to in our culture, but none seems so powerful, especially these days, as money. Money has a huge grip on our hearts and our lives. We are made to constantly feel as if we will never have enough. We worry if we give too much, we will not have enough for our retirement. We stress out over whether or not we can pay the bills. And we make a lot of noise over who knows how much we give (but is that because we give too much or too little?). Whether we have a lot or a little, money very quickly becomes a god to us.

And that's why we need the offering in worship.

The offering is not about paying the bills—though, let's be honest, there are bills to pay. The church has to pay for lights, heat, power and staff (including insurance, worker's compensation, etc.) just like any other business. Years ago, I had a man who was angry about the offering call me and say, "Why can't we just give our time like we used to and stop asking for money?" And I responded, as kindly as I could, "The power company doesn't know how to cash in our time." I know of another church who told their pastor he shouldn't expect to be paid if he were really serving the Lord. Yes, the church has bills to pay, just like anyone else, and that requires money. But that's not the primary purpose of the offering.

If the offering is about worship, and it is, then it's about more than money. Worship is about surrendering our lives to Jesus, recognizing he is Lord and we are not. We sing to surrender our voices and souls. We study and listen to the sermon to surrender our minds. We go into the world to surrender our strength. And we give to surrender our hearts. We give up some of what is most precious to us, what even approaches "god status" in our lives, so that we can worship the true god. The offering is not so much about the church receiving as it is about you and I giving. I need to give. I need to break the power money has over my heart, and I do that by giving it away. It was given to me anyway, and I'm only a steward of it.

Jesus reminded us that the greatest commandment, from the earliest Scriptures, is this: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). That is our primary and ultimate goal in worship, even in the "interruption" of the offering. Any other goal or desire we come to worship with must be subsumed under the goal of loving God and surrendering all we are and all we have to him.