People Spots
Online
Produced by James W.
Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries
Stewardship
by James W. Moss, Sr.The pastor is the principal fundraiser in the local church. This is a fact whether pastors or people want to admit it or not. This is a bold statement coming from an old critter who was subtly conditioned by the following statement: “You can tell that pastor is really spiritual because he doesn’t talk about money.” That statement was intended to condition the pastor in two ways. First, the pastor was to allow giving on the part of parishioners to be an individual thing between them and their God. Second, the pastor wasn’t supposed to ask for a raise and be content with whatever the church offered.
To ignore the subject of money is to ignore a whole body of biblical teachings.
Real living is giving. Miss Elizabeth was a precious saint of God. She understood that real living is giving. For years she taught children. She shared with them of her substance. She bought for her classes and never turned in a bill. If a child had a need, she provided for that need without fanfare or notice. When Miss Elizabeth died, there wasn’t much left. She had learned the lesson. You only keep what you give away. I suspected that Miss Elizabeth didn’t tithe. My best guess was she gave close to half of everything she had to Christ and the church. Her legacy was simple. Many children would rise up and call her blessed.
God must be first in our lives. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). “You shall have no other Gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).
Whatever or whoever is first in your life is your god. How can you tell what is first?
What do you talk about? What does your calendar say? What does your checkbook reveal? This simple test gives insight about our values. Our God is a jealous God. He demands to be first in our lives.
What does God want us to do? WWJD—What would Jesus do? We are challenged as in the novel, In His Steps. Given these circumstances, what would Jesus do? When we determine his course of action, we are to pursue that same course in our everyday life.
Who is a successful Christian? A successful Christian is one who seeks to know the will of God and strives to do it. I believe God will make his will known to every honest seeker. Once we know his will, then there must be an obedience check. Am I willing to be obedient to his desire for my life?
God has ordained a giving spirit. He gave us an example by giving his son. Jesus gave us an example by giving his life. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” It may be difficult to convince a child of this, but it is absolutely true. The fact is we only keep what we give away. I haven’t done too many funerals with a U-Haul trailer on the back of the hearse.
Pastors, challenge your people to enjoy the blessing of giving. It is good to give in order that you might enjoy the blessing of giving. As pastors, we are challenged to raise money to support the church. People are encouraged to give to this special interest or that. Maybe, a better way is to encourage people to give is so they can experience the joy of giving. It is true that the end result will be the funding of various interests in the church. But a blessing comes from giving.
“Dorcas was always doing good and helping the poor” (Acts 9:36). Dorcas had learned the art of giving without expectation of return. When she died, the people were truly upset and sent for Peter, who raised her from the dead. A deep sense of giving will add meaning and value to life.
Years ago, because of some subtle training by very intentional elders, I as a pastor was reluctant to ask for money. It was not until it truly dawned on me that I was not asking for money for myself that I became emboldened to ask for contributions to the Kingdom. I wasn’t asking for me, I was asking for the King. In addition, I was striving to help people enjoy the blessings of giving. Add to that the dimension that people are truly blessed when they give without expectation of return.
Keep that phrase in mind: “Without expectation of return.” If I give you something expecting you to give me back something of equal value or more, then I haven’t given. It is not until we learn that a gift is given without expecting anything back. A true gift to Christ and the Church is given without expectation of return.
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January 26, 2004. Volume 7, Issue 1. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way with proper credit. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.