"I'd Rather Fight Than Switch"
Back in the 60’s and 70’s, Tareyton cigarette ads featured a person with a black eye, holding a Tareyton cigarette, saying “I’d rather fight than switch [brands].” That’s how I felt when some younger men proposed that we try instituting online giving at our church.
I don’t remember when, but younger men brought to the board’s attention that fewer people were using cash to do business. More people were growing accustomed to doing business online using credit cards or automatic bank account deductions. Many churches, they said, were giving up passing the baskets and establishing these new online methods of giving to the ministry.
I was immediately and vehemently opposed to online giving, and so were a few others in leadership. What was wrong with cash? After all, I still used it. I was certain we would see a moral slide away from the personal discipline of making up your weekly envelope and consciously making that weekly offering to the Lord. “Giving will decrease,” I said.
After some give and take in board meetings about the pros and cons of online giving, we decided it wouldn’t hurt to try some form of online giving. Those who wanted to use it could, and those who still wanted to give money in envelopes could give that way. If it failed, we could cancel it.
After our church established online giving, we of the old school found we had been wrong. Those living in the new “online world” happily set up automatic drafts that gave to the church regularly and more conveniently. It was still disciplined giving – just a different form of personal discipline than I had learned.
When COVID hit in 2020 online giving kept our church afloat. Once we began meeting again, we stopped passing the basket (some were still concerned about passing the virus) and hung a little box in the lobby of the church where people could deposit their envelopes. We became so accustomed to these new methods of giving we never had to go back to passing baskets.
As time keeps moving and people discover different ways to improve life, some of those ways become the way of the future and the old ways fade as people adapt to the changes. Like it or not, changes in the world can push change upon you. When new ways can be used for good, I have come to believe it’s wiser to switch than fight.
I don’t remember when, but younger men brought to the board’s attention that fewer people were using cash to do business. More people were growing accustomed to doing business online using credit cards or automatic bank account deductions. Many churches, they said, were giving up passing the baskets and establishing these new online methods of giving to the ministry.
I was immediately and vehemently opposed to online giving, and so were a few others in leadership. What was wrong with cash? After all, I still used it. I was certain we would see a moral slide away from the personal discipline of making up your weekly envelope and consciously making that weekly offering to the Lord. “Giving will decrease,” I said.
After some give and take in board meetings about the pros and cons of online giving, we decided it wouldn’t hurt to try some form of online giving. Those who wanted to use it could, and those who still wanted to give money in envelopes could give that way. If it failed, we could cancel it.
After our church established online giving, we of the old school found we had been wrong. Those living in the new “online world” happily set up automatic drafts that gave to the church regularly and more conveniently. It was still disciplined giving – just a different form of personal discipline than I had learned.
When COVID hit in 2020 online giving kept our church afloat. Once we began meeting again, we stopped passing the basket (some were still concerned about passing the virus) and hung a little box in the lobby of the church where people could deposit their envelopes. We became so accustomed to these new methods of giving we never had to go back to passing baskets.
As time keeps moving and people discover different ways to improve life, some of those ways become the way of the future and the old ways fade as people adapt to the changes. Like it or not, changes in the world can push change upon you. When new ways can be used for good, I have come to believe it’s wiser to switch than fight.