This turned out to be only the second summer of my entire ministry—which had begun three decades earlier—when the church’s contributions climbed Sunday by Sunday instead of taking a nosedive. The results were stunning.
At the end, one man wrote to ask for his money back. The funny thing about this—which I can tell now, 20 years later—is that this same fellow had written a book on financial stewardship and giving just a year or two earlier.
I informed a couple of key leaders about his request, they approved the refund, and we returned his contributions to him. (I have no memory of how large a sum that involved.)
Not long ago, a pastor told me he never preaches on stewardship and that the very idea makes him physically ill. When I pointed out that by his own admission his congregation was hurting financially—they were having to cut the budget!—and that the solution was to teach his people about stewardship, he was adamant that he would not do so. It was his protest, he said, against the preachers who manipulate their people in order to get their money.
I understand his concern but not his conclusion.
Because some do it wrong does not mean the rest of us should not get it right.
The “right” way to preach on stewardship, to train one’s people to honor God with their income, involves:
1. Knowing all the New Testament’s teachings on the subject.
That is not a formidable task for a pastor who is devoted to knowing and teaching all of God’s word anyway. Passages like Matthew 6:19-21, Mark 12:41-44, I Corinthians 16:1-9, and II Corinthians 8-9 are some of the most helpful teachings on this subject.
2. Setting a good example himself.
The pastor who would not be willing to invite the entire congregation to look at his giving record is not going to do a good job of preaching on giving. Let him build a reputation as a generous giver.
3. Learning, knowing and teaching all the reasons God wants His people to give to His work.
And how many reasons are there? Probably 500. The first 10 reasons are: to honor the Lord, to break the stranglehold of greed and materialism, to lay up treasure in Heaven, to fund laborers who go into distant fields with the Gospel, to encourage other believers to give, to rebuke the devil, to maintain the church’s strong presence in this community, to fund the local ministries and programs, to set a great example for our children, and to force myself to keep my priorities straight.
This is why it is never an adequate reason not to preach on giving when a church is meeting its budget financially. That is indeed one reason we are to teach our people to give (“that there may be provisions in my house”—Malachi 3:10), but it’s only one. There are 499 others!
A pastor who can preach well on stewardship owes it to other preachers to show them how. And all pastors should labor in prayer and in the study until the Lord shows them how He wants it done.
I hope someone invites me to preach on stewardship soon. I love to help people get this thing straight!
