Over the last few weeks, I have talked to a number of individuals familiar with the finances in their local churches and ministries. The discussion always seems to move to the economic downturn and the affect it is having on giving to the ministry or church.
Interestingly, many of the churches and ministries indicate that although down, giving is not down as much as would be expected due to the economic realities of the increased unemployment rates and market declines we are experiencing. We can certainly praise the Lord for this. Perhaps this economic downturn is refocusing some of our giving priorities.
In light of these discussions, the Lord again brings Luke 16:11 to mind: "Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you". However, this time we want to look at it from a churches or ministries perspective.
It is pretty clear that the unrighteous wealth is referring to money, but what exactly are the true riches? In Matthew 6 Jesus talks about laying up treasures in heaven. These would be things that count for eternity, not the stuff that we buy for this temporal life. These true riches would include individuals led to the Lord, or individuals led to a deeper walk in their relationship with Jesus Christ.
Isn't this what the Great Commission is all about? Discipling believers and evangelizing the lost. Isn't this what our ministries and churches should be all about?
Why is this verse so relevant in a down economy which will most likely result in decreased income in our church or ministry? I believe that if our ministry or church is to be an effective tool for the kingdom of God we have to be faithful with the use of our money, even in times of reduced giving.
When the giving may be down, we still must pay our bills on time and meet our obligations and commitments in a timely manner. Even if this results in staff layoffs, reduction in salaries or delayed expenditures in capital projects and improvements, we must be willing to make these difficult decisions.
As the local church and God honoring ministries face the realities of reduced giving as a result of the economic tsunami our society is experiencing we cannot "conduct business as usual". The stakes are far higher than a tarnished image in the community or a decrease in our credit rating. The result could be not fulfilling the purpose for why God has placed our church or ministry on this earth.
2 comments:
Right!
The best thing churches can do in these hard times is to increase mission giving for church planting. Then God will provide so that the church can give more. To provide, God will bless the businesses where the givers work. Believing business owners should give more of their personal and their business' income to their church, and as the church is outwardly focused on mission, God will bless these businesses. Individual believers participating in this cycle of blessing will then be blessed as well.
Pastor Keith
Thanks Pastor Keith, your plan is whole lot better than any of the lame economic stimulus "mumbo jumbo" that has been coming out of Washington.
George
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