By Oyewole O. Sarumi
Today, we ars confronting in Christianity a crisis of theology, not just practice. One of the most repeated statements heard in modern religious spaces is the claim that God needs money. It may be spoken softly, emotionally, prophetically, or administratively, but the implication remains the same: heaven is waiting on human fundraising to function. This idea has become so normalized that many believers no longer question it.
Offerings are no longer presented primarily as worship, generosity, or partnership in love; they are often framed as divine necessity. God is portrayed as running projects that depend on human financial rescue, and congregations are pressured into believing that unless they give a certain amount, something in God’s agenda will stall, and they won’t receive any blessings.
However, Scripture is unmistakably clear that God has never depended on human supply. The problem we face today is not merely administrative abuse but a profound theological distortion. When the nature of God is misunderstood, worship becomes transactional, faith becomes financialized, and spirituality becomes performative. The central claim of this teaching is simple and biblically grounded: God does not need money; man needs God.
The Self-Sufficiency of God and Divine Aseity
The Bible consistently presents God as self-existent and self-sustaining. In formal theology, this attribute is known as aseity, meaning God depends on nothing outside Himself. In Acts 17:24–25, the Apostle Paul declares that the God who made the world and everything in it does not live in temples made by human hands, nor is He served by human hands as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
Paul did not speak this to unbelievers alone; he spoke it to correct a pervasive religious misunderstanding. The Athenians were deeply spiritual people who built altars, gave offerings, and honored deities. Their error was not a lack of devotion but a false assumption that gods depended on human service. Paul dismantled that idea completely by asserting that God does not receive because He lacks, but because we worship.
This is echoed in Psalm 50:10–12, where God provides a direct rebuke to religious transactionalism, reminding Israel that every beast of the forest and the cattle upon a thousand hills are His. He notes that if He were hungry, He would not tell us, because the world and all its fullness belong to Him.
Modern parallels are unavoidable; when believers are told God is waiting for a financial target before He acts, the same ancient error reappears in contemporary form.
The Old Covenant System and the Purpose of Sacrifice
Some may argue that God commanded offerings and sacrifices in the Old Testament, suggesting a divine requirement for resources. However, the sacrificial system was never about meeting a divine need. Instead, it served three specific pedagogical purposes: providing education on the cost of sin through atonement, forming a covenant identity for a people set apart, and serving as prophetic symbolism pointing toward Christ.
As Hebrews 10:4 explains, it is actually impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. God never depended on the animals; He was teaching humanity the reality of redemption. These offerings were educational tools, not a financial support system for heaven.
Christ as the End of Supply-Based Worship
The turning point of biblical history is the New Covenant. At the cross, Jesus did not merely forgive sin; He ended the entire system in which humans attempted to sustain divine activity through material contributions. When He cried out in John 19:30 that it is finished, He meant it was entirely completed, not partially finished or awaiting fundraising for its efficacy.
Hebrews 8:13 notes that by calling this covenant “new,” He has made the first one obsolete. This changes everything about the motivation for giving. Under the Old Covenant, giving maintained a religious system; under the New Covenant, giving expresses a relationship. The motive has shifted permanently from obligation to love.
The Shift from Physical Buildings to Spiritual Temples
The New Testament repeatedly emphasizes that God’s dwelling has changed location permanently. According to 1 Corinthians 3:16, believers themselves are now God’s temple, and His Spirit dwells within them. Ephesians 2:21–22 describes the body of believers as a holy temple in the Lord, being built together into a dwelling for God’s Spirit. This carries profound implications for how we view church finances. If believers are the temple, then physical buildings are merely tools, not divine residences. Funding structures cannot be equated with funding God. A church building may serve a ministry’s logistical needs, but God is not homeless without it. To suggest that God is “evicted” or limited because a building project is unfunded is a denial of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The Apostolic Pattern of Preaching
The apostles ministered in contexts of poverty, persecution, and constant mobility. Yet, nowhere in their preaching did they claim God needed resources to function. Their central messages were consistent: repentance, Christ crucified, the resurrection, the Kingdom of God, and the transformation of life. They did not focus on fundraising targets. In Acts 3:6, Peter famously said that he had no silver or gold, but what he did have, the power of Christ, he gave freely. Notice that a lack of money did not hinder divine power. The miracle did not wait for a budget or a successful capital campaign.
The Psychology of Manipulation and Compulsion
Modern behavioral research in religious sociology shows that financial pressure is most effective when framed in terms of spiritual urgency. Three mechanisms are commonly used: fear of missing out on God’s blessing, guilt over holding back His work, and using financial status to prove spiritual loyalty. None of these are biblical motivations.
In 2 Corinthians 9:7, Paul writes that each person must give as they have decided in their heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. The Greek word for compulsion implies coercion or psychological pressure. Therefore, any giving extracted through fear or emotional manipulation contradicts clear apostolic teaching.
When Giving Becomes Loyalty Currency
A dangerous shift occurs when financial contribution becomes the primary proof of spiritual alignment. At that point, giving is no longer worship; it becomes allegiance management. Offerings are used to maintain authority, donations secure personal favour, and contributions are seen as a way to purchase closeness to leadership. Jesus warned against this dynamic in Matthew 23:25–28 when He rebuked religious leaders who used religion for personal elevation. Whenever giving is used to protect a reputation or a man-made empire rather than to serve people, the gospel has been displaced by institutional survival.
Supporting Ministry Versus Funding God
It is important to distinguish between supporting ministry and the false idea of funding God. The New Testament does teach generosity toward ministers and the needy. Galatians 6:6 encourages those taught the word to share good things with their teachers, and 1 Timothy 5:18 reminds us that the worker deserves his wages. This is human stewardship and community care, not a response to a divine need. Supporting people is biblical; portraying it as God’s survival requirement is not. Biblical giving is voluntary, love-motivated, and relational, whereas distorted giving is pressured, fear-motivated, and transactional.
The Commercialization of the Sacred and the Danger to Faith
When spiritual authority is used to generate financial urgency, religion shifts from proclamation to marketing. The gospel becomes packaged as an opportunity where one must “sow to unlock” or “pay to access favour.” Yet, the New Testament consistently rejects monetized spirituality. Matthew 10:8 instructs us to give freely because we have received freely. In Acts 8:18–20, Peter severely rebuked Simon for attempting to purchase spiritual power, because divine grace is never a commodity. This matters because it affects how believers perceive God. If God requires money to act, the rich gain a spiritual advantage while the poor are disadvantaged. However, James 2:5 insists that God has chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith. Faith is not dependent on wealth.
Returning to a Christ-Centered Faith
The gospel restores a beautiful simplicity: God gives, we receive, and we respond in gratitude. It is not a cycle where we give so that God reacts and activates blessings. Any preacher saying that is manipulating you. Christian giving is an act of thanksgiving, not a trigger for activation. Romans 11:35 asks who has ever given to God that God should repay them. There’s no human contribution that puts God in debt. Every leader must honestly ask if they are financing a ministry or merely validating their identity through expansion. Growth can be spiritual or architectural, and they are not the same thing. When pressure replaces persuasion and targets replace transformation, the message has shifted from Christ to the institution. And that is no more Christianity.
Christ Is Enough, More Than Enough
In conclusion, God does not need money. He never has. He created galaxies without fundraising committees, redeemed humanity without financial assistance, and indwells believers without the need for construction projects.
While giving remains a sacred part of the Christian life, it is only sacred when it flows from love rather than leverage. The Church must recover the distinction that we give because God is faithful, not so that God can function. The cross ended all divine dependency narratives, and the resurrection confirmed His total sufficiency. The call of the gospel is not to sponsor heaven, but to trust the One who already sustains all things. The question before every leader and congregation remains: are we building God’s kingdom or protecting human ambition in His name? Christ is not waiting for funding; He is waiting for faith.
Prof. Sarumi, a Bible Scholar, write from Lagos.