What is the rule of your household? How do you manage your home? How do you make sure that everyone gets what they need and sometimes what they want? Who feeds the dog or cleans up after the cat? Who does the grocery shopping, and who pays for the groceries? How are the children taught? Who coordinates with the neighbors?
The word economics is a simple transliteration of an ancient Greek word for the rule system that guides household management. We might think economics has a different meaning in the U.S. today—that it focuses on the flow of money, the price of goods, and the businesses and governments that coordinate services. But politicians rightly correlate the economics of the family to policies set by Congress, the Federal Reserve and the World Bank. These policies affect households.
At the beginning and end of the day, almost all of us are most concerned about managing our homes and those who dwell inside them. What we do as citizens affects our households. It is for the sake of our households that many of us become involved in social action.
For Christians, household economics includes a commitment to tithing and other charitable giving. You probably know that, in the new millennium, charitable giving by individuals has declined steeply. This is true, despite the tax burden being overall less in the 21st century than it was in the middle of the 20th century. While some of the decline in giving can be attributed to recessions, some of it also seems to be due to a decrease in trust.
As I see it, we have lost faith in our economic and social system to help take care of our households, so we put the burden on ourselves to be independently responsible. We tend to emphasize spending on our household members and saving for an uncertain future for their protection. If we have a little bit left over, instead of giving it away, we often feel more secure saving this for our retirement, our children’s college funds or a legacy to leave our grandchildren.
Interestingly, however, the accounts we use to keep our savings do not hold our savings still. Banks and investment firms loan this money out to encourage economic growth. Most of us accept the risk of loss for a greater return on our investments— we trust the financial advisor to make good decisions for our household. Yet we may feel less secure in giving out that money ourselves to our churches, schools and favorite charities. I don’t have an answer to this philanthropy crisis, except to name it as a faith crisis—not an economic crisis. We have lost faith that our giving to support these organizations will be blessed and help our households too.
Recently, a woman at the Metropolitan Chicago synodical women’s convention told me that she has always tithed 10 percent to the church and Women of the ELCA. In making this part of her budget, she’s always had enough for her household and has been blessed by the organizations she supports. For her, she said, it is about faith.
When we support our society and our church, we build up systems that support our own households. My faith tells me to trust this, and not the scarcity messages so prevalent in society today. In faith, we give in love, and we flourish.
Jennifer Hockenbery, interim executive director of Women of the ELCA, also works as editor for the Journal of Lutheran Ethics. A lifelong Lutheran, she has written several books and articles about the intersection of Lutheran theology, philosophy and gender studies.
This article appeared in the January/February 2025 issue of Gather. To read more like it, subscribe to Gather.