29 March, 2024

Biblical Stewardship in the Local Church

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by | 25 March, 2007 | 0 comments

By Tom Jones

Howie Mandel is the host of a game show that is taking the country by storm. Twenty-six beautiful women join Howie as they entice contestants with the chance of winning $1 million on Deal or No Deal. The game is pure chance.

Unfortunately, many church leaders deal with stewardship in their churches in a similar fashion. It is a matter of pure chance. When it comes to funding the mission of the church, local church leaders hope they will be lucky enough to receive enough offerings to pay the bills.

But your church and the people it can reach deserve better. The mission of the church is too important to be left to chance, and the following 10 principles can help your community of faith be financially healthy. 


 

1. Balanced, biblical stewardship training creates a spiritually mature church.

If leaders want their church to become spiritually mature, they first must develop spiritual people. Teaching biblical stewardship does just that. Churches must consistently teach that stewardship involves managing all of life for God”s glory. Biblical stewardship helps people discover their spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12), increases their faith, and encourages them to be active participants in the Lord”s church. Proper stewardship teaching challenges people to discover where they fit within the local church family. People who are active and involved in ministry are almost always sacrificial givers. In doing so, they become partners in the gospel.

The main emphasis in stewardship training should always be the person and not the purse. For instance, don”t just focus on how the local church will benefit, but also give attention to what stewardship will do for the person and his or her family. Concentrate on changing the person.

When teaching stewardship, it is important to stress three biblical truths. Together, these three principles create spiritual people and spiritual churches.*

 

“¢ God is the owner, while I am a manager.

“¢ Stewardship begins with loving rather than giving. I can give without loving, but I can”t love without giving. Love asks how much can I give? Legalism, on the other hand, looks for how little I can give. There must be a base of love before grateful giving can occur.

“¢ Stewardship starts with present resources.


 

2. Communicate the vision of the church over and over again.

Money is rarely the problem in stewardship! Instead, a lack of a God-sized inspired mission is the problem. Proverbs 29:18 says, “When there is no vision, the people perish” (King James Version). And not only the people perish””so do the bucks! Church leaders must have a God-directed vision for where the church is going. They must dare to dream and then share the dream in an exciting way with everyone who will listen.

There are many ways to communicate a vision. Internet-based communication, newsletters, bulletins, a statement of purpose, and informal lunches are just a sampling of how dreams can be shared with others.* Dare to dream big, not because of what you can do, but because of what God can do through his people.


 

3. Develop leaders who are models in giving.

Leadership is influence. “People do what people see.”* If leaders model sacrificial giving, others will follow. A church cannot rise higher than its leaders. A person should never be part of an official leadership team if not committed financially to the church.

The leader-model principle begins with the pastoral staff and elders. In 1 Chronicles 29, King David publicly announces how much he will give. He provides the model. A leader cannot expect people to give sacrificially if he or she is not willing to do it himself or herself. If leaders do not model sacrificial giving, they should not expect their church to be blessed financially.


 

4. Be a generous-minded, giving church.

God blesses us so we can bless others. John Maxwell says, “The greatness of the church is not judged by what comes in the offering plate on Sunday. The greatness of a church (in terms of money and people) is based on what goes out.”* The Lord blesses a church that is a channel for money and ministry. Every local church should establish a well-balanced mission program.

 


 

5. Teach committed, sacrificial giving at membership.

There must be a time when people make a commitment to faithful stewardship. Membership is the time when commitment must begin.* It can begin sooner than membership, but should begin no later. Consider teaching biblical stewardship in a new members” class. Emphasize that stewardship involves a way of life, not just money.

Churches should ask for concrete commitments. If you don”t ask, you won”t receive. The Bible is clear about blessings received as a result of giving (Luke 6:38). Rick Warren says, “Your church will be hurt more by those who would have said “˜yes,” but weren”t asked, than those who were asked and said “˜no.””Â 


 

6. John Maxwell stresses if you want more money or more talents, then find more sources.*

Creatively survey your environment, looking for the following:

“¢ People who attend church, but are not good stewards“”In most congregations, a large percentage of the people are not reaching their potential in giving.

“¢ People outside the church””A good evangelism program is one of the best assets in a healthy stewardship program. New people bring new money and new talents!

“¢ Present givers“”Challenge and educate present givers to raise their giving. Encourage people who have never tithed to begin. Challenge others to go beyond the tithe and give according to grace.

Most church members will give differently to various needs. These include daily operation expenses, new church work, international missions, social concerns, higher education, and others. Money that might be given in one of these areas won”t be given to another. You”ve got to ask. Those who give in response to one kind of need will do so again and again and again!

 


 

7. Keep congregational morale high.

Without a positive spirit, it is very difficult to remain healthy financially. Giving should be taught as a part of grace and not from a legalistic perspective. The goal is to lead people to discover the joy of giving: abundant living begins with abundant giving.

Decreased offerings are indicators of low morale. If someone plans to leave a church, he stops giving first. The higher the morale is, the higher the giving will be.

 


 

8. Keep the congregation tuned in.

All churches need to work overtime to keep communication flowing. People are often down on what they”re not up on. So financial communication is essential. When reporting on finances, emphasize three things:

“¢ Facts””where do we stand?

“¢ Focus””where are we going with this money?

“¢ Faces””who benefits? Always put faces with money.*

In addition, go overboard when thanking people for gifts. Be creative and thank them in many different ways. They like to know their gifts are appreciated.

 


 

9. Schedule an annual stewardship emphasis month.

This principle has been proven successful in thousands of churches, and if planned the right way, it can work almost anywhere. Scheduling an annual stewardship month makes a constant plea for finances unnecessary. Consider the following essentials to a successful stewardship month:

“¢ Prayerful planning times

“¢ Challenging theme

“¢ Right time of the year

“¢ Motivating message series

“¢ Testimonies

“¢ Helpful informational meetings that explain the budget

“¢ Handouts that communicate well

“¢ Commitment cards that ask for spe-cific amounts

“¢ Celebration banquet

“¢ Follow-up letters

 


 

10. Be creative when raising resources to fund mission.

Think outside the box. Be as creative as you can without violating your own theology of stewardship.

We were so sold out to fulfilling our mission in Princeton, New Jersey, that we raised funds in a number of creative ways. We held an annual Talent and Gifts Auction where we underwrote the children”s ministry budget. People in the church gave talents (cooking, electrical work, carpentry, and others) or gifts (time-shares, purebred puppies, airline tickets, golf outings, and others). We also solicited items from the local business community. Then we had a great meal one Sunday after church along with the auction. Every year we raised more than $15,000. It was also an awesome fellowship time. I remember one guy bidding $100 against me for a lady”s pie!

Another idea is a golf or tennis marathon. We raised more than $20,000 in our annual golf marathon.

Also, every church should have a year-end giving campaign for special projects.

In-kind gifts are also important. For example, each congregation should be able to receive stock gifts. Giving appreciated stock gifts is a double benefit to givers because they get the tax deduction of the stock”s value, but do not have to pay tax on the appreciation.

 


 

Creating a healthy financial base is absolutely essential for every local church. Creativity, planning, sensitivity, good biblical teaching on stewardship, and reliance on God”s Spirit will help make this seemingly impossible task a reality. Finances should never be a stumbling block when fulfilling the mission of the Lord”s church. He will provide the means.

________

*Concepts and quotes as marked are from John Maxwell in his sound cassette, Increase Your Church”s Giving in 1990 (Pasadena: Pastor”s Update, 1989).

 


 

Tom Jones is professor at Emmanuel School of Religion and regional director for Stadia East.

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