Discipleship How-To: Financial Stewardship

Everyone has money, even if just a little. Everyone has stuff, even if not very much. None of us want to lose our money or stuff; most of us wouldn’t mind having a little bit more.

So what does it look like for a Christian, a follower of Jesus, to handle the things of this world? What does God expect of us? How best do we honor Christ through how we handle money and other tangible resources?

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.” (Psalm 24:1-2 NIV)

I believe there is one fundamental realization upon which we must build our practices of discipleship in this area: everything belongs to God. All the money in your pocket and in your bank account belongs to God. All the electronic devices within your grasp belong to God. All the coal, oil, gasoline, and wood that you use to heat your home, power your car, and mow your lawn – these all belong to God. All of it belongs to God!

We are simply stewards of what God has entrusted to us.

Abraham realized this, I believe, when he returned home after rescuing his nephew Lot and defeating several neighboring kings in the process. Abraham’s encounter with the mysterious Melchizedek features an important biblical truth: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth” (Genesis 14:19 NASB). Only then did Abraham, apparently spontaneously, give Melchizedek a tenth of everything, thus forming the basis for our practice of the tithe. (See Genesis 14:17-20.)

The tithe, a basic standard in which one gives ten percent of one’s income to the church, is a time-honored practice and useful indicator of spiritual health. When we tithe, we acknowledge the truth that everything we have belongs to God, and we owe our very existence to him. Living on the 90% that remains after the tithe is, truly, a blessing. Do you tithe regularly? Is that part of your spiritual lifestyle?

God isn’t interested in pure numbers, though. Once, when Jesus watched people putting money into the temple offering plates, he commented that a poor widow’s two tiny coins were worth more than many rich people’s large gifts (Mark 12:41-44). It could have been that those rich people were giving a tithe of their income, or even more than that. But the one who was applauded by Jesus was the one who acknowledged that everything she had belonged, quite literally, to God.

So let’s assume that you tithe or that you are working toward tithing, toward giving a tenth of your income to the Lord. What do you do with the rest of your money? What do you do with the rest of your stuff?

Have you met someone who needs a hot meal or a new pair of shoes? Do you have a friend whose car is broken down and needs repairs? What about the struggling family whose son is growing into the size of clothes that your boy just outgrew?

How much of your money is going toward junk food, carbonated beverages, tobacco, or alcohol? Are you saving for the future? What kind of (and how much) debt are you in, and are you making progress on paying it off?

If God were to audit your books (those entitled “My Money” and “My Stuff”), what would he find?

One of the surest signs of spiritual health is the wise, God-honoring use of material possessions. Be a good steward of what God has entrusted to you!

Discipleship How-To: Visitation

Today marks the beginning of a new series that I hope will give shape to the concept of “discipleship,” one of the two primary thrusts of the Christian life.  I call the other primary thrust “outreach,” and I am convinced that anyone who desires to follow Jesus should be actively involved in each of these modes of spiritual growth.  What that involvement looks like will, naturally, change over time and from person to person.  My hope is that this series of articles will prompt you to think about how the practices of discipleship and outreach can take shape and grow in your own life.

Continue reading →

Why I Love Baseball

March is well-known in the sports world for being the time of “March Madness,” when over sixty college basketball games are packed into three weekends.  Over the years, I have enjoyed filling out a bracket for fun and watching how most of my predictions turn out to be completely wrong.  And I’ve grown an appreciation for the pace, tempo, and energy of that kind of game.

But nothing in the sports world compares to my love of baseball.

Continue reading →

Called to Be Holy

This week, Pastor David begins a series on the first few chapters of 1 Corinthians, a letter written to an ancient church with modern-day problems.  Despite all the issues at Corinth, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 that the believers there are called to be holy, and that God will keep them blameless until the day of Jesus’s return.  How does this passage reveal that “Jesus is the subject”?  (And what does that phrase mean?)  Click below to listen in to this week’s sermon!

Listen now!

The Year in (P)Review

Today is the last day of 2013, and a new year is soon to dawn.  In fact, I have a friend who lives in New Zealand, and at this moment she is already several hours into 2014!  The future is always very nearly upon us.

At this time of year, we often look back on the year that has passed, and we consider what the upcoming year may hold.  I invite you to take a few moments to reflect on the life of Mt. Haley Church of God with me.

Continue reading →

Memorizing Scripture

If you were raised in church, like I was, you may have committed certain verses of the Bible to memory.  When I was a child, my home church had various Wednesday evening programs.  I remember one of them was called “Bible Mountaineers” – the different age groups of children had labels such as “Cliff Climbers” and “Summit Scalers” – and through the course of the year, we had specific verses and passages of scripture that we were encouraged to memorize.  Those assignments ranged from simple verses (“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23 NIV) to entire chapters (I crammed all of 1 Corinthians 13 into my short-term memory one week!).

photo by valleyboy74
photo by valleyboy74

Even if you were not raised in church, or if you are not a believer, you probably know at least part of one Bible verse.  All I have to say is “John 3:16” and some words might come to mind.  (“For God so loved the world…”)  Here’s an easy one to memorize right now:  “Jesus wept,” John 11:35, the shortest verse in the Bible!  That’s not a flippant idea, by the way; even that one verse reminds us, in its context, that Jesus feels the pain of the loss of loved ones.  His friend Lazarus had died, and while the story ends with rejoicing in Lazarus’s resurrection, Jesus still wept when he was shown Lazarus’s tomb.

In any case, church-sponsored active memorization of scripture usually ends for us when we graduate high school – or even earlier.  If you desire, as I do, that our children at Mt. Haley would be raised in the Christian faith and memorize important passages of scripture, then take this idea to heart:  Our children will do what they see us doing.

This goes beyond memorizing scripture, of course.  Our children will behave the way they observe adults behaving; they will worship how adults worship.  They will resolve conflicts the way they see adults resolve conflicts.  Our children are watching us, and if they do not see us taking discipleship, outreach, and community seriously, then they may not take those components of Christian life seriously when they are adults.

Why is it important for us to memorize scripture in particular?  The Bible is the foundation for our journey of discipleship; it is God’s word for those who would follow him.  The Bible contains everything necessary to describe, understand, and apply salvation in Christ to our lives.  (By the way, this is as far as I go in approaching theological terms like “infallible” and “inerrant.”  But that’s another conversation.)

Memorizing scripture keeps the word of God at the front of our thoughts.  Memorizing scripture helps us recognize false teachings and ethically questionable practices.  Memorizing scripture proves useful in our times of trouble, conflict, or sorrow.  Memorizing scripture gives us words to say to others when they have such experiences.  Memorizing scripture allows us more opportunities to meditate on the word of God on a daily basis.  This is transformational!

So does your spiritual diet include this practice?  Here are some passages that would be worthwhile to commit to memory.  (Can you add to this list?)

  • Psalm 23
  • Psalm 46
  • Isaiah 53
  • Matthew 6:9-13
  • Matthew 11:25-30
  • Romans 8:28-39
  • Philippians 3:7-14
  • Colossians 1:15-20
  • Colossians 3:12-17

–Pastor David

Doing vs. Becoming

During today’s Wednesday evening small group meeting, I was reminded of a profound truth about the path of Christian discipleship.  We are studying the devotional book “Extreme Love” which was the centerpiece of the Focus 40 (Lent) season earlier this year.  In one of the daily devotional readings, we discussed the difference between “doing” and “becoming”:  how we as disciples should be concerned more about who we are becoming rather than what we are doing.

photo by banlon1964
photo by banlon1964

Does that apply to your life at all?  We all live incredibly busy lives; I have even heard many retirees wonder aloud how they ever managed to go to work in years gone by.  Our society places a high premium on what you can do, accomplish, or achieve.  But I think there is something meaningful in thinking carefully about who we are becoming instead.  How is your character being shaped?  What changes to your values do you notice?  How does faith in Jesus Christ form you into a new kind of person – even if you have been a believer for years or decades?

And now:  how does this apply to us as a congregation?  It is easy for churches to be wrapped up in programs, ministries, and events – things that we do.  Rather than expend all our energy (and use all our God-given talents) on “doing,” what if we focused on “becoming”?  How is God shaping us as a church?  How is the Holy Spirit moving among us, to create something new among us?  What does our future look like as a congregation?  What are we going to become?

Two reminders.  First, we will have “Mission Conversations” throughout the fall season to address these very questions.  And second, you may join in this small group discussion by meeting with us Wednesdays at 7pm.  Take advantage of these opportunities for spiritual growth!

–Pastor David