Do North American evangelical Christians really believe in heaven? Not if you look at their behavior, says one speaker. Here’s his evidence.

I’m at the The Seed Company’s President’s Forum. Great stuff coming out.

One of the speakers spoke provocatively: “Based on their giving patterns, American evangelicals do not believe they are going to heaven.”

He came to this conclusion based on Matthew 6:19-21, where Jesus says,

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“Notice,” said our speaker: “stor[ing] up” is a behavior. “Where your heart is” has to do with belief. “If you are not storing up treasure in heaven, what proof is there that you actually believe in heaven?”

[Someone else commented that two books reveal more about your real beliefs and commitments than anything else in the world. "Let me see your checkbook and your daily planner and I can tell you where your heart is."]

Here are a few statistics our speaker quoted that seem to reinforce our speaker’s belief that American evangelicals don’t believe in heaven.

1. Evangelicals in North America (U.S. and Canada) comprise 9% of the world’s total.

2. 80% of the wealth in the evangelical world is generated in North America.

That means,

3. 9% of the world’s evangelical population (i.e., those of us living in North America) has the opportunity to make a significant impact on funding Jesus’ “Great Commission” (Mt. 28:18-20: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all [the ethné--ethnic groups, peoples], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”).

4. It would seem the 9% has a responsibility to fund worldwide “Great Commission” efforts.

5. Fewer than 6% of North American evangelicals give at the level of a tithe (10% of their income) of higher.

6. Less than 6% of all giving by evangelicals in the United States ever leaves the U.S.

*******

“I often hear people protest my numbers,” our speaker continued. “They say, ‘There are so many needs here in the United States! . . . Let the people in those other counties take care of their own needs.’”

Except . . . “Does that proposal–to let them take care of their own needs–make any sense at all?”
He reeled off statistics:

• 50% of the World’s Population outside North America lives in Abject Poverty–no shoes; no consistent food source; no clean water. . . .
• 40% of the World’s Population outside North America lives in Poverty–two pairs of shoes; consistent food supply; some clean water; no medical care.
• 5% of the World’s Population outside North America is “Getting By”–i.e., they enjoy some kind of housing/shelter, clean water, some medical care, clothing, education.
• 4.5% of the World’s Population outside North America enjoys an “American ‘middle class’” lifestyle.
• 0.5% of the World’s Population outside North America enjoys a Wealthy (U.S.) lifestyle.

What do you think? Even supposing his numbers are only relatively accurate. Suppose only 40% of the world’s population outside North America lived in abject poverty, and 30% lived in regular poverty, and 20% is “getting by” while 9.5% enjoys an “American middle class” lifestyle: Is it really reasonable for us to expect them to solve their own problems?

********

A few other observations and comments.

* “Note that moths don’t generally destroy clothing we are actually wearing; they destroy clothing that is unused and being stored away.” –Put another way, the treasures on earth that Jesus urges us not to “store up” are, indeed, excess wealth, wealth for which we don’t really have a strong need or good use.

* “Can you imagine Peter teaching a lesson about tithing at the time that the church was “ha[ving] everything in common” and they were “[s]elling their possessions and goods” and “[giving] to anyone as he had need”?

* “There’s something called Grace Giving and something called Duty Giving. Duty Giving asks, ‘Should we? . . . Should we . . . give a tithe based on our income before or after tax?’” ["The answer," said our speaker, "really depends on what kind of ROI you want. You want a return based on your income before . . . or after?"]

* “Grace Giving asks, ‘Can we? (or How can we?) . . . Can we . . . meet all our needs, give everything away for Kingdom causes, and die broke?’ –It’s a possibility mentality.”

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