It's Not The Money
I don't know if he ever wrote it down in any of his books, but I remember hearing church consultant Bill Easum say that the financial issues in the church are never about the money. I know I wholeheartedly agree with him! They are always about faithfulness to God and being disciples of Jesus. They are about trusting God for the harvest and looking for Jesus' direction in the world for us.
But we too often make it about the money. Which is why we use that wonderfully awful word stewardship as a code word for money. Whenever we use it we know that we are really talking about ways of getting people to give more. Yes, I know, I know. We always say that it is about the other things, too. The old time, talent, and tithe. But we all know that we wouldn't use the term for time and talent if we had enough money coming in. In my (not-so) humble opinion, all we are doing is putting a spin on our asking for money when we use that term.
It is also why we look for ways to "institutionalize" stewardship. We develop stewardship committees, commissions, task forces. We let people know how to do "planned giving" or make special donations to the church. While I think these have performed some good, especially in raising awareness of the different ways people can give to the church, they do not solve the problem. Renewal must always preceed an increase in giving. Education does not do it. Everyone I have ever seen who has decided they wanted to try tithing, for example, did so after some life-altering event that made them more aware of the grace of God. Some may have tried it on a dare or challenge from the pulpit, but if they did not have a spiritual experience of some kind as a result, they usually did not continue.
Which is why I am so saddened when a stewardship position, commission, etc. is seen as more important than evangelism, church planting, or renewal. What we as pastors need to be doing, and churches as churches need to be doing is mentoring, coaching, loving, developing groups where people can discover Jesus and have an experience of what it means to follow him with all they have, all they are, all they can be.
The Roller Coaster Ride is Almost Over
I mentioned the other week that my life has been a roller coaster ride. It took off down another hill this week. A few loops and corkscrews this week but I think I am coming into the final turns and coming out the end. By Monday or Tuesday next week I think I will be able to post some more specifics about it. All I can say is that having been reading and absorbing so much from so many God-blogs in the past 9 months (hmmm, 9 months!) I have discovered that some new things are being birthed. More next week as things settle out.
Subversive Leaders
Darryl at The Dying Church has an interesting thought about subversive leaders who undermine the very system that they are employed by. He uses the examples of Gorbachev in the old Soviet Union and de Klerk in apartheid-ridden South Africa:
Both Gorbachev and de Klerk were subversive leaders. They led structures that they ultimately worked to overthrow, at great cost to themselves.
Thinking about these two stories, I'm wondering if there is a role for leadership within the system of the modern church that questions many of its assumptions, and which might in the end lead to something very different.
