The Money Back Guarantee
It’s a Big Deal To God
Churches have a reputation for talking about money all the time. At Verve, we talked about money sixteen times in our first eleven years. That’s sixteen Sundays out of almost six hundred.
Churches are also known for asking people for money, a lot. Not us. In fact, every week the one thing we always say is, “If you’re new around here, please don’t give. We hope this service was a gift to you.”
These last couple weeks in our What If? Series we talked about money, and even encouraged people to give.
Why?
Giving is a really big deal to God. He is generous and wants us to be generous. He put more in the Bible about money than basically any other topic.
God wants us to give. In fact, he commands us to give 10% of what we bring in back to him. That’s what a “tithe” is – tithe means “tenth” – and to tithe is to give back to God 10% of what he’s given you.
The Test
God wants us to tithe. I think he also understands that the idea of it can freak us out. So he does something remarkable. He says,
“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven…’” (Malachi 3:10).
It’s like God’s saying, “I know you’re scared. I get it. And I am so determined that you become generous that I will invite you to do something here that you are never invited to do anywhere else in Scripture. … Test me in this. Give ten percent to me and see if I don’t bless you for it.”
This is the only place in the Bible where God asks us to test him. In fact, elsewhere in the Bible we’re told, “You shall not test the Lord your God.”
But here God says, “I’m so determined that you become generous that I will humble myself and ask you to test me in this. So, do it. Test me. And see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out blessing.”
The Money Back Guarantee Challenge
It’s incredible. God says, “Test me in this.” And … we want to help you do that. Ever since our church started, we’ve been doing a “Tithe Challenge.” It’s always been, “Tithe for one year. Test God for a year.” But we’re going to make it easier. Here’s how it will work…
- If you’ve never tithed before, tithe to God for the next 90 days. Bring the full tithe, 10 percent.
- You give online or through the Verve App.
- If 90 days from now you’re not convinced, if God has not blessed your life, if you’re sorry you did it, we will give you your money back, no questions asked.
We’re totally serious about this. All we need is a record of your giving. You can’t come to us and say, “Heyyyy. So, just trust me on this … I gave $10,000 over the last 90 days, and I would like it back.” No. We’re not doing the honor system. We need to have record of you’re giving.
And again, you have to tithe, 10%. Because that’s what God promises to bless. Not 9th, or 8th, or 7th, or 6th, or 5th. No, 10%.
And your giving has to be Verve. You can’t say, “Well, I gave somewhere else. But now I want the money I gave them … back … from you.” No. The money has to be given to Verve, be a full 10% of your income, and be given online or through the Verve App so there’s a record. If you do that, and don’t feel God has blessed you for doing that, just ask and we’ll give your money back.
Why are we doing this? Because giving is a really big deal to God. He is generous and wants us to be generous. He commands us to tithe. We know that can be scary. So we want to help you trust God.