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There are many motivations that preachers use when they attempt to motivate people to give. Some talk about the good things that the money will buy—whether food for the hungry or electricity to light the sanctuary. Others talk about God’s commandments and make giving a matter of obedience. This is the biblical equivalent of the parent who says, “Because I said so.” And, then, there are preachers who emphasize the urgency of some crisis. “If you don’t give, we will have to close the project.” I disagree with each of these rationales. Talk of utility (i.e., give to accomplish something) turns givers into consumers who purchase services. The problem here is that, in a world where the customer is always right, people begin to think of themselves as having control over which things get done. Almost every pastor has met parishioners who threaten to take their money elsewhere if they don’t get their way. A congregation’s primary responsibility is to serve God and not to be swayed from doing good by the giver who wants to have his or her way. |
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God’s Leaders Multiply, Not Maintain As we begin thinking about fall stewardship campaigns, our minds may turn to the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30), the story of a master who entrusts property to his slaves and then calls each of them to account for how they cared for his property. Some predictable sermons immediately come to mind. This time of year, talents are usually defined as our monetary gifts. God calls us to invest those gifts for the kingdom. We should not bury our money in the ground in fear, but we should release it and aggressively use it for God’s purposes. When we do, we hear the words of Jesus (at least in the old RSV) “Well done, good and faithful servant.” According to this stewardship interpretation, the faithful invest their gifts for greater return, while the unfaithful hide, protect, and maintain their gifts. |
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| The Right Question | |||||||||||||||
A seminary student was asked by a congregation to take on a summer ministry assignment. The student knew how important it was in this short-term assignment not to get off to a bad start, making inadvertent mistakes. When she met with the pastor to discuss the summer project, she asked: “What are the taboos here?”
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Editors: Lovett H. Weems, Jr. and Ann A. Michel Copyright © 2006 by the G. Douglass Lewis Center for Church Leadership. Leading Ideas material may be freely distributed with attribution (exclusive of material protected by separate copyright). |
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