Pastor John Boldt, who serves on the Mission Support Table for our synod, sent us a link this past week to a conversation about Christian stewardship between Pastor Bill Hybels of Willowcreek Church and a member of his congregation, who also serves as a stewardship consultant with RSI, one of the country’s leading stewardship consultation companies.
Their conversation was encouraging, enlightening and challenging. Pastor Hybels has a unique ability to think and lead with creativity and then to communicate with clarity in a way that leaves us thinking, “Hey, we could do that too.” Which is, of course, his goal. The conversation runs about 40 minutes. I encourage you to listen to the whole thing.
http://www.rsistewardship.com/wca-webcast.html
And for those of you without the time or patience to sit through a 40 minute webcast, I share here want I found to be the real highlights.
There are inextricable links between spiritual transformation, spiritual formation, and healthy Christian stewardship. Lutheran theology here is solid, grounded in scripture and the way life really works – giving our time, talents and financial treasures really is our response to the gifts of God in our lives.
Helping people to make those connections – life giving connections to God, discovering their gifts, using those gifts of God to further the purposes of God – is why we work hard to develop a culture of healthy stewardship in congregational life.
Pastor Hybels told of the transformational moment in his life as a pastor when he realized that leading and teaching healthy stewardship was essential to his work as a Christian leader.
He grew up working in sales in his family’s business. He would do the work, earn his commissions, submit his expenses, be reimbursed, and maybe, at the end of the year, if all went well, he might receive a bonus. That was his early education. But then he and a group of friends decided they wanted to start a new church, an Acts 2 church, that would become a spiritual adventure in people’s lives and that would change the world.
Several weeks into starting that new church, Hybels looked at his desk and realized that he was holding several bills. And he realized that he didn’t have anyone else to pass those bills on to. He realized that ministry cost money and that, as the lead pastor, it was to be his responsibility to be the primary “resource raiser” and “resource allocator” (his words) for the sake of the people in his care. He decided, at that moment, that he would accept that responsibility and do it to the best of his ability.
He then goes on to describe the way that he has worked through the years in developing a culture of stewardship in the life of Willowcreek Church. He uses the metaphor of a multi-leveled wedding cake.
The First Level is sound, consistent, Biblical teaching about the giftedness of life and our responsibilities for exercising prudent management of God’s gifts to us.
The primary image that guides his thinking about stewardship as sound management of God’s resources is the idea of hiring a plumber when you build a new house. You hire the plumber to bring water into your new house. You have a choice: you could ask the plumber to just one a big pipe into your basement and you’ll take it from there or you could ask the plumber to run pipes throughout the house to route the water where you need it to be, the kitchen, bathroom, etc.
Clearly a wise person would want to route the water to where they need it. In the same way, God gives us life and all that we have. Sound stewardship means routing those gifts into the various places of our lives where they need to go.
The key principles he consistently teaches include:
– All of life is a gift that God gives us to manage.
– Sound management (healthy stewardship) means living within our means.
– Sound management (healthy stewardship) means staying out of debt.
– Sound management (healthy stewardship) means saving for the lean times.
– Sound management (healthy stewardship) means giving 10% or more to God’s work through our local congregation.
He teaches those principles on an annual basis, usually a 3-5 week emphasis, early in the year. He also has always practiced what he preaches and expects that other church staff and leaders are tithers.
The Second Level is giving people opportunities to give above and beyond the general fund needs of the congregation. He likens this to “stretching their stewardship muscles.” Often this will mean something significant for the ministry of the congregation being lifted up in the spring and something significant for a global concern at the end of the year.
The Third Level is providing on-going education in the practical “how to’s” of sound money management throughout the year. Hybels was raised in a strict Dutch family where careful money management was a primary value and taught at a very young age. He is amazed by the people he serves with college degrees who don’t know how to create a budget (how to route God’s resources through their lives), how to make a plan to work their way out of debt, etc.
Especially now, in the midst of a difficult recession, people are hungry for that kind of training and the church is well positioned to provide it.
The Fourth Level is asking people who are joining the congregation through their new membership experience to sign a covenant that includes a provision to tithe. Over the years, Hybels learned from people that they didn’t make a significant forward move in their personal stewardship based on sermons they heard or encouragement they received. It wasn’t until they made the commitment to membership that they also made the commitment to practice healthy stewardship.
The Fifth Level is leadership development. Hybels calls it “Offering strategic discipling to those afflicted by affluence.” Just as the music department at a church would look for people with musical gifts and then come alongside them in developing those gifts, Hybels looks for people with the spiritual gift of giving and then works with them.
Some people in the life of a congregation have the spiritual gift of giving. Often that spiritual gift is accompanied by the desire and the ability to make they money that allows them to give.
When Hybels would learn about people with such abilities and desires, he would personally meet with them. Often he would tell them, “I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes. God has given you great resources and calls you to manage them well. If you need help, I would love to help coach you in how to make the best use of the resources you have to give.” In his experience, many people are grateful to hear that and receive it as very helpful. They felt cared for, rather than used.
Finally, Pastor Hybels ended by listing some mistakes we often make when it comes to the stewardship leadership we exercise. Among these mistakes:
– We avoid talking directly about money and money management for fear that it will drive people away. This doesn’t happen. Our leadership, based on sound biblical principles, are helpful to people. This is what they really need to hear and do.
– We sometimes lack sensitivity to the real economic hardships that people are experiencing. We need to admit that times are tough and then allow tough times to providing the kind of financial coaching that people need. People might even listen more closely in tough times.
– We don’t practice what we preach. From the pastor’s home life, through the congregational leaders, to the congregation itself, we need to all model the basics of living within our means, staying out of debt, saving for the lean times and giving to God’s purposes beyond ourselves. This prevents our stewardship conversation from regular “fire drills of distress.”
Mission Possible Network 