Your kingdom come : A case study on Christian giving

Abstract

Existing literature on religious giving is often quantitative in nature. Many researchers tend to treat giving as a dependent variable and examine determinants of giving. Useful though such approach is, the dimension of how concrete meanings of giving are constructed and experienced by both the religious organization and believers is often under-investigated.

This thesis presents a sociological and anthropological study on Christian giving, a form of religious giving. Two broad questions are addressed in the thesis: 1) Why and how do Christians engage in giving? 2) What is the significance of giving to different social actors involved, including lay members, the church organization and God? In tackling these questions, a qualitative case study on a local church called the Church of Benevolence is conducted. Participant field observation at the Church’s activities and rituals, as well as interviews with 50 lay attendants and leaders, are carried out between 2016 and 2018 for data collection.

This study is chiefly informed and guided by literature on ‘self’ and ‘gift’. On the one hand, at the individual level, it pays attention to how giving is interpreted and practiced by Christian actors as a technology for the cultivation and transformation of their sacred selves. Another line of exploration is focusing on how Christian giving as a form of gift exchange contributes to the construction and maintenance of the social relationship between different Christian actors. A combination and synthesis of both considerations offer us a better reflection on the interplay between structure and agency on the issue of Christian giving.

This research shows that Christian giving is located at the intersection between the humanly and the sacred planes. In practicing and managing giving, Christian actors – both individual believers and the church organization – need to continually navigate and negotiate between secular, economic considerations and spiritual concerns. It is found that, cognitively and behaviorally, these actors generally tend to downplay the former dimension. Instead, they both take part in the spiritualization of giving, seeing it as a central nexus for their direct connection with God. This thesis, therefore, argues that giving is not just a religious duty Christians fulfill, but more importantly also a critical avenue for Christian actors to construct and transform their sacred selves. Furthermore, the collective spiritualization of giving has facilitated the making of a sacred giving economy and a church community characterized by a fairly high degree of egalitarianism and solidarity. This thesis hopes to contribute to the existing academic discussion on the subject matter by proposing an explanatory framework on Christian giving, which shows how lay members, the church organization and God interact with one another in the process of giving. (438 words)