Emotion Associated with Religious Giving
by Steve Wai-Lung Cheung
Qualitative researchers have widely contributed to the discussion of the correlates and determinants of religious giving but they have attended less to believers' subjective views and practices of giving. As an anthropologist, I conducted an ethnographic case study between 2015 and 2018 at a small Baptist church in Hong Kong to examine how and why local Christians give. Specifically, I explore how the interplay between individual Christian actors, the church and (their understanding of) God shapes the practices and the meanings of giving.
In the United States, more and more congregation-goers attend large congregations and megachurches (Thumma and Travis, 2007). In Hong Kong, while a few megachurches have been developing rapidly over the past two decades, most churches are medium-sized (with 51-500 attendees). In particular, churches with 101-200 attendees constitute the majority of the local Chinese churches (Wu and Lau, 2016, p. 30). The church I studied is quite a “typical” local church, with around 140 registered members.
One finding I unveiled is that religious giving is far more than a rational and instrumental decision made by the givers. There are important non-material dimensions which make religious giving different from secular giving, one of which is the proper emotion and attitude associated with the giving. This is obvious when it comes to the giving to church, or what scholars term congregational giving. Many of my informants highlight the idea of gratefulness and gratitude—in Chinese, 感恩 (Ganen)—when talking about how giving should be done at church. According to a secular logic, giving might mean a sacrifice of one’s self-interest: it is out of one’s own generosity (or a calculated reason) to give out his or her own resources to another party. It seems more appropriate for the recipient to express gratitude to the giver, not vice versa. However, under a religious logic, my Christian informants see their giving to the church as a key avenue for them to receive and experience God’s grace. They are thankful to God because it is only with God’s provision and blessing (e.g. their ability to work and receive income, their good physical health, etc), they can practice giving.
Christians in Hong Kong use the Chinese term 事奉 (Shifeng) for the offering of time and effort to serve at church, which is different from another term 義工 (Yigong), which connotes the general idea of volunteering. Along with these differences in terminology, local Christians express different understanding and attitudes over these two kinds of giving (Cheung and Kuah 2019). In this essay, the words ‘Serving’ and ‘Serve’ (with capital letters) are used to refer to the contribution of one’s time and effort at church activities. One account of Serving is this:
“The fact is: It is God’s grace that you are capable of Serving. It is not so much what you practically do. God has given you a lot of things: your life, your heart to Serve, your ability to Serve. All these are given to you out of His grace. His grace is simply too great and enormous! …… Serving is the time I get closer to God. When I Serve, I remind myself to be always thankful to God. Thanks God very much for giving me chances to Serve. …… We should be thankful, possessing a grateful heart when we Serve.” (Cheung, 2019, p. 184)
The uniqueness of this Christian emotion of gratitude among my informants is evident if one connects and compares it with the logic of religious giving in Chinese folk religion settings. In Hong Kong, while many local Chinese do not claim to be believers of any institutional religion, they do regularly follow and practice Chinese folk religions (Bosco, 2015). Gods, ghosts, and ancestors are the three key types of supernatural entities in Chinese folk religions, and there are different principles and practices behind giving and offering to these entities (e.g. Wolf, 1974; Scott, 2007). Under the yin-yang cosmology, Chinese generally perceive gods as “yang” entities, which are powerful and benign beings. In communal and temple worship, many Chinese offer different sacrificial items to gods to ask for worldly assistance such as getting good health and good fortune. A local Cantonese saying, “拜得神多自有神庇佑” literally means that a god’s blessing and protection will come when one worships god frequently. It nicely captures the utilitarian nature of Chinese religious giving to deities. After receiving the blessing, if the worshippers want to express gratitude to the deities, they will practice another round of offering ritual, which is known as 還神 (Huan-shen), to reciprocate to the deities.
While this instrumental perspective of giving [1] is not completely absent in Christian giving, my informants largely downplayed the notion that the blessings they receive from the Christian God were conditioned by their giving. Interestingly, one informant spoke of this issue in contrast to the logic of giving in Chinese folk religion. She said,
“I don’t think that I Offer [2] because God helps me achieve something. Such a view is dangerous. In case I tentatively do not get a strong sense of God’s presence on my life and His provision, then should I give less? No! I don’t want to be like bai-shen (拜神; god worship in Chinese folk religions) in the sense that my giving depends on whether the deities are ling or ng-ling (靈唔靈; efficacious or not in providing what worshippers ask for).” (Cheung, 2019, p. 141)
In short, what we can learn here is that in Christian giving, the sense of gratitude arises because God’s blessing is believed to be unconditional. Unlike the Chinese folk perspective, many of my informants are convinced that Christian God’s abundant provision comes well before (as well as after) they give. Therefore, they highlight the importance of being grateful to God when they give, rather than after a blessing has been received.
Accompanying gratitude, another important sentiment is the sense of willingness. Many informants express that giving to church is not simply a fulfillment of a stringent duty or obligation. They see their giving not just (and not so much) targeting a human organization known as “a church,” but more directly as a thankful response to God for His loving provision. Therefore, they stress the importance of giving in a willing and joyful—in Chinese, 甘心樂意 (Ganxin leyi)—manner. One informant made an interesting remark that she cannot stand for doing Offering (i.e. contributing money to church) without such sentiment. She reported her refusal to Offer on occasions when she is not mentally and emotionally ready to give. She said,
“There were a few occasions in the past that I suddenly found myself reluctant to do Offering. Then I decided not to give at all in those weeks. I just perceive that it is meaningless to Offer if I do not do it willingly. To force myself to do so is even worse: It pollutes the whole thing. I am not happy with it. So does God... God does not require us to pay a given amount to Him; He invites us to Offer willingly.” (Cheung, 2019, p. 147)
It is essential to note that the above-mentioned emotions and attitudes associated with church giving do not arise in a vacuum. The church plays a key role in molding its members to cultivate such interior qualities. To do so, the church does not only instill such knowledge cognitively through sermons and biblical teaching classes. More importantly, it is through experiences in church rituals—specifically Sunday services—that lay members nurture the senses of gratitude and willingness in doing their giving. This is particularly apparent for monetary Offering, which is ritualized as a part of the regular Sunday services.
Now, let us take a closer look at the Offering ritual at the church I studied. The church arranges an Offering session at the middle of the program of Sunday services, placing it after hymn worship and before the sermon. During the Offering session, a collective prayer is first led by a Serving lay member. While the content of each Offering prayer varies slightly among different prayer leaders, giving thanks to God is a common theme. One example of such prayer goes something like the following:
Dear Lord, thank you for giving us the breath (our lives on earth).
Thank you also for giving us the prowess for working
So that we can earn money and maintain our lives
Father, right now we devote parts of our income to You
Hoping You be pleased with it; utilizing it in the Holy work.
Flourishing the church, and flourishing Your Gospel.
Thanks to God. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.[3] (Cheung, 2019, p. 109)
The back of the Offering envelope. Written above certain remarks on Offering is the Biblical verse from 2 Corinthians 9:7.
After the prayer, Offering bags are circulated around the church. All attendants might feel free to drop (or not drop any) banknotes or coins directly into the bags. Alternatively, many choose to do Offering by dropping “Offering envelopes.” Givers can first put their Offering amount (sometimes by check) into the envelopes designed and provided by the church, and then put the envelopes into Offering bags. On the Offering envelope, apart from the space for givers to fill in their personal details on giving (e.g. name of the giver, the Offering amount), the church has printed a Biblical verse on the envelope, which is from 2 Corinthians 9:7: “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”[4]
The end of the whole Offering session is marked by the singing of the hymn “Song of Praise.” After the collection of Offering, all the church attendants are asked to stand up and sing the hymn together. The lyric is:
Praise the Only God, the source of all blessing.
All spirits and creatures in the world should praise
Heavenly army shall praise as well
Praise unitedly to Our Father, Son and Spirit.
Amen.[5]
A typical program leaflet of Sunday services distributed at the church I studied. The highlighted part is the Offering session. The lyric of “Song of Praise” is printed out for attendants to follow.
While it is possible to Offer beyond ritual times, such as giving through bank transfer to the church’s account directly, most attendants in the church I studied do their monetary giving during the circulation of Offering bags. In the local context, the circulation of Offering bags is quite a distinctive way for local churches to collect contributions. By contrast, many Chinese temples in Hong Kong just place donation boxes at the entrance so that worshippers passing by can make their monetary offering individually as they want. Seldom do these non-Christian religious sites organize collective giving ritual sessions as many local churches do. I posit that the collective engagement and experience of the Offering ritual is therefore crucial to church attendants’ learning about Christian giving, including the proper emotion of giving. In fact, a number of my informants highlighted that they learned the proper ways and attitudes of giving more from participation in Offering rituals and less from sermons and Sunday classes.
From the above description of the Offering ritual, we can see clearly how the church creates (and recreates again and again in every Sunday service) the ritual atmosphere to enculturate its attendees the appropriate emotions associated with Offering at church. In the whole process, Offering is highly spiritualized, being framed (and experienced by the attendees) as a relational engagement with God, despite the material fact that the Offering is actually a flow of money from church attendees to the church organization. Since Offering is targeted directly at God, proper emotions and sentiments are stressed and recalled in the ritual. For instance, the opening prayer highlights God’s abundant provision to His people, and hence believers are subtly reminded to be thankful to God. The closing hymn, the Song of Praise, reminds givers once again that they are giving to the blessing God. Offering is therefore an event charged with joy and praise. And further, the Offering envelope - the material object used in the ritual - also cultivates the proper emotion of Offering in a willing and cheerful way.
Suggested readings:
Corcoran, K. E. (2015). Thinkers and feelers: Emotion and giving. Social Science Research, 52, 686-700. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2014.10.008.
A rare exception in the literature on religious giving, which examines the significance of positive emotions during religious services in motivating people to give.
Cheung, S. W. L., & Kuah, K. E. (2019). Being Christian through external giving. Religions, 10(9), 529. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10090529.
This article explores how Hong Kong Christians construct and transform their sacred selves through giving to parties and groups outside of their church. It touches upon why some Christians see it spiritually important to show humility when giving to the needy.
Kuah-Pearce, K. E. (2015). Engendering religious compassion: Chinese women and the micro-politics of Buddhist volunteerism. Asian Journal of Social Science, 43(4), 357-375. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15685314-04304003.
This study on female participation in Buddhist volunteerism in Taiwan has discussed the role of gratitude in motivating and guiding Buddhist volunteers in doing compassion.
[1] In Bible, one might find verses like Malachi 3:10, which literally suggests that giving could yield God’s provision. Even in terms of academic studies, Hoge, Zech, McNamara and Donahue (1996) find that church members who strongly believe that God will pay back to them for their monetary giving are likely to give more to their churches.
[2] The words “Offer” and “Offering” (capitalized) in this essay refer to the contribution of money to church. Local Christians have different terms to refer to giving to church—奉獻 (Fengxian)—and the general idea of monetary donation—捐錢 (Juan qian). Again, they have different views and practices over giving money to church and to secular organizations. See Cheung and Kuah (2019) for more details.
[3] The exact prayer in Cantonese Chinese goes like this: 親愛嘅天父，感謝祢，雖然依排天氣好反覆，而且流感都好活躍，但係祢都賜俾我地足夠嘅體魄去應付咁反覆嘅天氣。我地依架都放低工作上的壓力、緊張的心情，回到祢當中去親近祢、敬拜祢。多謝祢，我地依架獻上感謝，求祢悅納、潔淨我地依啲甘心樂意獻上嘅金錢。奉耶穌基督名字祈禱，阿們！
[4] The exact Chinese version of the Biblical verse shown on the envelope is 捐得樂意的人是神所喜愛的.
[5] The lyric in Chinese is 讚美一神，萬福之源，天下生靈都當頌言；天上萬軍也讚主名，同心讚美父、子、聖靈。阿們.
Bosco, J. (2015). Chinese popular religion and Hong Kong identity. Asian Anthropology, 14(1), 8-20. doi: 10.1080/1683478x.2015.1025591.
Cheung, S. W. L. (2019). Your kingdom come: A case study on Christian giving. (Thesis). University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR.
Cheung, S. W. L., & Kuah, K. E. (2019). Being Christian through external giving. Religions, 10(9), 529. DOI: 10.3390/rel10090529.
Hoge, D. R., Zech, C. E., McNamara, P. H., & Donahue, M. J. (1996). Money matters: Personal giving in American churches (1st ed.). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
Lincoln, R., Morrissey, C. A. & Mundey, P. (2008). Religious giving: A literature review. Science of Generosity. Retrieved from https://generosityresearch.nd.edu/assets/20447/religious_giving_final.pdf.
Scott, J. L. (2007). For gods, ghosts and ancestors: The Chinese tradition of paper offerings (Vol. 1). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Thumma, S., & Travis, D. (2007). Beyond megachurch myths: What we can learn from America's largest churches. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.
Wolf, A. (1974). “Gods, ghosts, and ancestors.” In Wolf, A. (ed.), Religion and ritual in Chinese society. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 131-182.
Wu, D. C. W., & Lau, E. T. H. (2016). Pastoral ministry in turbulent years: Studies on Hong Kong church 2014. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Church Renewal Movement Limited. (In Chinese)
Steve Cheung is a full-time teaching assistant at the Department of Sociology, The University of Hong Kong (HKU). He received his PhD in Sociology from HKU in 2019. His thesis examined the interplay between church organization, individual believers and (their interpretation of) God in the construction and reproduction of the meanings and practices of Christian giving. Before obtaining his PhD, he did his MPhil study on the topic of Chinese ancestor worship. His general research interest is on the Sociology and Anthropology of religion. His faculty page can be found here.