Kerby Anderson

The day after Thanksgiving is usually considered the official start of the Christmas season. Now would be a good time to evaluate what you plan to spend over the next few weeks. Overall, the estimates are that Christmas spending will exceed $720 billion. The average planned Christmas spending for Americans is around $1000. And that apparently does not even include the Christmas parties and travel during Christmas time.

Now there is nothing wrong with giving gifts at Christmas, but I couldn’t help but take a moment to compare what we spend at Christmas to what most Christians give throughout the year. Barna Research did a study of giving by Christians and found that less than ten percent of born-again Christians give ten percent to their church. A significant percentage of Christians spend more for presents at Christmas than they give to the church and Christian organizations throughout the year.

Barna Research also found that age and annual income were significant indicators of giving. For example the older you are, the more likely you were to tithe. Also, the poorer you were the more likely you were to tithe. A person who makes $20,000 a year is twice as likely to tithe as a person who makes $40,000-50,000 a year. And a person who makes $20,000 a year is eight times more likely to tithe than a person who makes $75,000 a year.

All of these statistics makes me wonder about our priorities. We seem to be more willing to give presents at Christmas so others can lay up treasures on earth instead of investing in God’s work and laying up treasures in heaven.

So during this Christmas season, I hope you will take a moment and consider what you might do to support your church and worthwhile ministries. That might even include the radio station that carries this commentary. Let’s reevaluate our financial priorities and try to get our spending and giving ratios back in line.