Tough Talk About Stewardship (Part I)

Let’s talk about stewardship. Yes, I know what you may be thinking. The new program year is starting up, the Wednesday night activities are starting up again, the Christian education offerings are expanding, the contemporary service is returning, the Mission committee is renewing their efforts – and the Pastor wants to talk about stewardship?!? Yep, I do.

Stewardship is what we do when we recognize that everything that we have comes to us as a gift and a blessing from God, and we choose to give back to God a generous portion of what God has given to us. That’s stewardship. Stewardship is not, “How much am I willing to contribute to the annual budget this year?” Stewardship is not what we give to charitable contributions and take as a write-off on our taxes. Yes, stewardship is related to our giving to the annual budget, and it’s related to our charitable contributions that we count up at tax time, but stewardship goes beyond those simple concepts. Stewardship is a way of life. It’s a discipline. It’s a habit, a habit that develops over the course of time as we grow in the ways of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t just happen; it takes some work; it takes some effort; it involves a degree of sacrifice; it may mean that we have to ask ourselves what are we willing to give up in terms of the things we want, so that we can more fully partner with God in the things that God wants.

Here at the beginning of my ministry with you, I think it’s important to share with you my own stewardship habits. Please understand, I share this not to boast or brag; I share this, rather, because I recognize that I am now the primary “spiritual leader” of this congregation, so to speak, and I think it’s important that you know that if I am going to ask and invite and encourage you to develop some habits and some practices, that I have done some work myself to develop those habits and practices in my own life. It’s not fair for me to ask things of you that I’m not willing to ask of myself. Simply put: I tithe. A tenth of my annual household income goes straight to the church. It comes right off the top. I looked at my gross income for the year, I figured out what ten percent of that is, and I divided it by fifty-two, so I would know how much I should be contributing on a weekly basis. Of that ten percent, I have chosen to give half of it to this congregation, and half of it to the Presbytery of Lake Michigan, which is, technically speaking, the “congregation” that I belong to; but all of my ten percent is going directly to help fund the ongoing, regular ministries and expenses of the church. Offerings for special purposes (for example, special mission projects and special building projects) are not counted as part of my tithe, nor are my contributions to other organizations and agencies outside the church. Simply put, ten percent of my annual income goes straight to the church for ongoing, regular, budgetary expenses.

I would like to invite and encourage you to reflect on your own patterns and habits of giving. I would like to invite and encourage you to ask yourself a series of questions: “Am I giving as generously back to God as God has given to me?” “To what extent am I being a faithful steward of the gifts and blessings that I have been given?” “What do my giving habits suggest about my level of commitment to Jesus Christ and to Christ’s church?” “If somebody were to look at my overall financial picture, what would that person think were the real priorities in my life?” “Jesus was willing to give his all for me, but what am I willing to give back in return?” Some of you are, undoubtedly, already tithing, or perhaps more than tithing; if you are, please know that you will probably never get thanked publicly for your gifts – since individual giving patterns are confidential (and no, I do not know what individual people or families give to the church) – but please also know that your gifts are greatly appreciated. Some of you, probably, are giving as generously as your means will allow, to the point of it being sacrificial for you to do so, and perhaps you feel guilty about not being able to tithe. If you fall in that category, please know that your gifts are also greatly appreciated, and please do not feel guilty about not being able to give more. I believe that your generous gifts warm God’s heart.

I’d also be willing to bet (well, no, not literally!) that some of you who are reading this have what might be called “lukewarm” giving patterns. (See Revelation 3:14-22!) Yes, you give; yes, perhaps you give quite a bit; yes, you could give more. Perhaps you contribute to the church as you might to any other worthy organization – a modest contribution that helps you feel like you are doing your part, and that doesn’t pinch your budget too much. If you fall into that category – if you find yourself thinking, “Darn, that’s me!” – well, just ponder those questions I mentioned above. What does your contribution to the church suggest about your commitment to Jesus Christ and to Christ’s church? You’ll have to answer that. I can’t answer it for you. Ultimately, it’s a matter between you and God, and you’ll have to figure out what you can live with.

I would hope, however, that none of the members of this church would be willing to settle for a lukewarm commitment to Jesus Christ and Christ’s church.

You know, the heart of the Christian story is about one individual who was willing to take all the resources that had been given to him (in his case, they weren’t financial!) and give them all away. To give them all away . . . for the benefit of people like us.

I wonder: what if he had been willing to give only in part?

Okay, I can hear the objections coming!

“But Pastor, I’m massively in debt!” Well, you’re not alone. According to some estimates, 20 to 30 percent of the population of this country has a massive problem with consumer debt. But just because lots of other people have the same problem you do doesn’t mean that you need to stay in debt. It is quite possible to learn healthier fiscal practices. I’ve had to learn some of that myself; I got into some bad spending habits earlier in life that I’ve had to work to un-learn. It can be done, and there are people and books and resources who can help you. (Go the public library and check out a book on how to take charge of your fiscal life!) And as you begin to take charge of your fiscal life, you can build a stewardship component right into that, giving thanks to God for the new practices and habits you are learning.

“But Pastor, I don’t even know how much I give!” If you’re one of those people who puts a few dollar bills in the offering plate and doesn’t keep track of it, start keeping track. Or, better, look at your overall financial picture, figure out what you want to be giving, and do the math to figure out how much you would need to give each week or each month to reach your goal.

“But Pastor, it’s too much of a stretch to jump to a full tithe right away!” Yes, that may well be true. If you have been in the habit of giving somewhat modestly, it might very well be a huge leap to jump to a full tithe, and it might not be possible for you at the present time. The real question is not are you tithing currently, but are you taking concrete steps to move in the direction of giving generously back to God in gratitude for the gifts and blessings that God has given you? Perhaps you could go from giving $5.00 per week to a full one percent of your income. Or perhaps you could go from giving two percent to four percent. You might need to take measured steps, over a period of several years. Lasting change in habits rarely happens successfully overnight! It will take work, and effort, and discipline. Measured steps can make the journey more manageable.

“But Pastor, I disagree with how the church is spending its money!” Well, that may be. Rarely does everyone in any congregation fully agree, 100%, with the spending habits of the church. I’ve already discovered one thing we spend money on here that I’m not sure is a good use of our resources, and at an appropriate time I might bring it up for discussion. But I’m not going to reduce my giving because of my disagreement. If you disagree with how the church is spending its money, the absolute best thing you can do about that – both for yourself and for the church! – is to let the leadership of the church know how you feel. There is no way to do this effectively by trying to do it anonymously. If you care that much, write a letter outlining your concerns (a polite letter, please!) and send it to the Clerk of Session. It will be shared with the Session. Session will talk about it, and get back to you. Please don’t send your letter to the whole congregation; that would be overkill. All you need to do is to politely and clearly state your concerns to your elected leaders. You helped to elect them; now, help them to do their job by communicating with them your concerns. And, while you’re at it, please make some specific suggestions about ways in which you think our spending habits could be improved. Please don’t just criticize; take the time to make some constructive suggestions for improvement. And remember, the Session’s job, ultimately, is not to make choices that are pleasing to the congregation, but rather to make choices that are pleasing to God. The Session will take your concerns under advisement. I can’t guarantee that you will get what you want, but you will at least have had the opportunity to be heard, and it could be the beginning of a very interesting conversation.

“But Pastor, I want to have more control over where my money goes!” If you feel that way, you’re probably not alone here either! Over the course of the past thirty to forty years, more and more people want to have a “say” in where their money goes. Gone are the days when most people would give freely and generously to institutions or organizations with no strings attached. More often than not, people want to have a say in where their money is going, and often, people want to give their money to very specific causes. That change has benefited many special projects of various kinds in a multitude of ways. It has also had the unfortunate effect of crippling many churches and other non-profit agencies that depend on income that comes with no strings attached to be able to pay their ongoing, regular, cannot-be-avoided bills. Maybe you get excited about supporting a particular mission project, or a particular Christian education project, or a particular building project. Maybe you don’t get excited about contributing to the water bill, or the electric bill, or the payroll taxes, or the Board of Pension dues, or the insurance, or the repair contract on the copy machine, or the paper towels, or the light bulbs, or the toilet paper. But all those expenditures are necessary for us to be able to do business. What happens if everybody gives their money to designated causes, and nobody contributes to basic necessities? We would have a big problem! (How would you like to not have toilet paper when you want it?!?) What we need are people who are willing to contribute generously and sacrificially to the ongoing mission of the church with no strings attached, people who recognize that this organization has basic, necessary, ongoing expenses that we must pay if we want to do all the other things that we really get excited about (like mission, and music, and Christian education, and so forth). We need people who are willing to be able to give up some degree of control. Remember Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane: “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me . . . yet not what I want, but what you want.” We follow a Lord who was willing to give up control. One of the lessons that we all learn in life, sooner or later, is that we are not in control of our lives. Too often, we like to think that we are. No, when we become a Christian, we place our trust not in our own power, but in God’s. That means handing over some of the control we really want to keep for ourselves. Yes, designated causes are important, but not at the expense of basic necessities that nobody gets excited about paying for but that we would all notice and dearly miss if we no longer had them around (how about heat in the wintertime?). This may be tough for some of us to be able to do. But what is the Christian life, if not an ongoing self-examination of our attitudes, and an ongoing course-correction to live a life more like Christ’s? Remember, he gave it all away, freely, giving up all his control in the process. And he did it for us . . . so that we could do the same for others.

The heart of the Christian story, as I said above, is about one individual who was willing to take all the resources that had been given to him and give them all away. To give them all away . . . for the benefit of people like us.

Stewardship is what we do when we make choice after choice after choice to follow in his footsteps. . . .

Next month: “Tough Talk About Stewardship, Part II” – and I promise, it won’t have anything to do with money.

Peace and blessings,

Rev. Bill Pinches
Pastor