No minister I know likes to talk about money, especially for a prolonged period of time as in a series or campaign. But, it is so important to talk about this subject! Our church is presently in a campaign designed to encourage us to “assess our lifestyle, arrange our priorities and allocate our resources to please God and honor him.” This is not a small task, especially when it will come to the “resources” discourses. Yet, it’s in these discussions about our resources (read as “money”) that we explore and correct the most sensitive of all the areas of personal surrender. I can love God, but do I have to give to God? This is what many Christians question. The problem is primarily this: the church has been overly interested in people’s money for the wrong reasons, while God has always been interested in how well you manage your money for the right reasons.
The task of teaching financial stewardship is difficult. So many commercials and desires pull at our finances. Debt accumulates and our ability to serve God with our money is diminished. We are all called to boldly go after a right understanding of stewardship, tithing, giving and sacrificing all for the cause of Christ. We do this because God (not the church) is interested in our money. I would challenge any believer to use these six weeks of our campaign as an experiment. Try giving to God – give first to him. Then give to an organization. We would pray that God would guide you to support your local church, but that’s between you and God. Regardless of how, we are called to give to God, because God wants to be honored with our finances.
