Category Archives: Stewardship

Investing in people for Jesus’ sake

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I had spent a weekend with a group of investors.

These are the type of people who open their checkbooks and make fairly large gifts to educate and train the next generation of preachers and missionaries and Christian workers of all kinds.

They contribute to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Their gifts built those new apartment buildings constructed after Hurricane Katrina. Their gifts paid for the playground equipment and the renovated evangelism center and the new chairs in a classroom.

Their gifts paid faculty salaries and reduced tuition costs to a bare minimum.

If ever anyone qualified for the term “person of faith,” these good folk do.

In fact, I’m going to make the most stunning statement to come from me in years….

These donors will one day be rewarded by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and they will reap the same rewards as the preachers and missionaries and others whom they are helping along the way.

Get that? The same reward.

Two scriptures….

He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward (Matthew 10:41-42).

To those who obediently give of their means to bless people doing the Lord’s work, Jesus said, You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous (Luke 14:14).  I love that promise.

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What little I know about fund-raising

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“…see that you abound in this grace also” (2 Corinthians 8:7).

This was ten years ago.  We had just finished raising $10,000+ to enable a retiring missionary couple to purchase a good used car.  Immediately, some began accusing me of knowing how to raise money.

Oh my.  What little I know about fund-raising could fill a thimble.

A young pastor moving his family to a distant city to begin a church asked me to advise him on raising support.

Someone suggested I write a book on fund-raising.

Not going to happen.

On the other hand, as any veteran pastor would attest, it’s impossible to log six decades in church leadership and not learn a few lessons on motivating people to give.  Some lessons were learned backwards–that is, by violating sound principles–and I have the scars as evidence. Either way, you do learn a few things.

Okay, then. Here are some things I know about inspiring the Lord’s people to give money for causes….

Pray. Make sure the project is of the Lord.

If it isn’t, no amount of religious talk is going to make it holy, make it acceptable, or make it work.  So, get your decision-makers on their knees and do not go forward with this project until you are convinced the Father wants it.

People prefer to give to visions, rather than to needs.

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On the way to the sea: Our offerings have a long journey!

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I like to use the Mississippi River as an analogy for the great torrent of offerings that flow from individuals into the church offering plates and eventually to the whole world.

I point out that this great body of water–which at the time I first wrote this–was flowing a couple hundred yards below my house–is actually composed of individual drops that fell from the sky in a vast basin extending from Western New York State across the country to Eastern Montana.

Similarly, the hundreds of millions of dollars the churches of our denomination send to the fields of the world each year get their start from a child’s piggy bank, a widow’s pension and a young couple’s tithe.

Then I had an epiphany, one of those moments when you realize there’s far more to this than seemed obvious at first.

I was worshiping at Williams Boulevard Baptist Church, up the street from where I lived in Kenner, Louisiana.

That morning, the church received two offerings. The first, in the middle of the service, went for the regular ministries of their church. The second, at the end, was being sent to our International Mission Board for recovery work in two countries that had suffered devastating earthquakes.

I dropped a few dollars into the second offering and something occurred to me.

Just as there are numerous locks and dams along the great Mississippi River, obstacles we might say, which the waters have to negotiate before they arrive at the sea, the offerings we place in the plate have a number of hurdles to overcome before they reach their destination.

Along the upper Mississippi River–from St. Louis northward–there are 29 locks and dams. Most were built in the 1930s, although a few have been replaced since then due to the larger and longer barges trying to get through those locks.

A lock is a device for allowing ships navigating the river to move higher (if they are going up the river) or lower (if descending the river) at places where the natural features of the river do not allow it. Without these, ships and tows could travel only so far before being forced to turn back.

The rain that falls around Lake Itaca, Minnesota, is said to form the headwaters of the Mississippi River. As it makes its way southward, that stream is joined by rushing torrents from the Ohio, the Missouri, and numerous other rivers and creeks of all sizes. Finally, perhaps a full week after its departure, that water flows past my house on the final 95-mile leg before spreading into the Gulf of Mexico.

Along the way, part of that water is diverted into dams and through locks before flowing onward.

And now to the offering.

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The delicate art of giving to the Lord

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When we give to the Lord, so many things can go wrong.  The world looks askance at it, even friends wonder about all the money we’re giving, and so many questions arise.

I call it a delicate art, this business of giving to the Lord.  Here are some reasons for that.

One. It doesn’t look like what it is.

It may appear you are giving to poor people, to the needy, to the gospel worker, or to the church itself.  Someone may even say you’re “paying the preacher.”  One of my uncles was known to say, “I don’t owe the preacher anything; I’ve not been to hear him preach in ages.”

In giving to my Savior, I am laying up treasure in Heaven (Matthew 6:20), I am ministering to the saints (2 Corinthians 9:1), I am honoring my Lord by my faithfulness (see Mark 12:41-44), and I am honoring His name (see Hebrews 6:10).

Two.  Outsiders will accuse you of wasting your money.

Judas said, “What a waste!”(see Mark 14:4).  He was a thief, say the gospel writers, and cared little for the honor of the Lord.

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How Christians insult Jesus

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Sally had been a teenager in a church I once pastored, and her parents were dear friends. Her father, a former Marine, is in Heaven now, and her mother, then in the care of Hospice, was having a little trouble coming to terms with her own impending departure.

I sent the mom a note by Sally, suggesting that she read it to her.

The note to her mother and my Facebook note said: “If we could interview a baby in the mother’s womb about to be born, we might find that he/she is frightened by what lies ahead. It’s about to leave the only world it has known–warm, soft, safe–and emerge into a strange unfamiliar world with people it doesn’t know, who all speak an unintelligible language. To the baby, it would be death. But to everyone else, it’s a birth. When you get to Heaven, you will look back and say, ‘I was afraid of THAT?!’”

Had there been room on Facebook, I would have added something more. So, two hours later, we tacked on the following:

The Apostle Paul literally taunts death. ‘O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?’ (I Corinthians 15:55) In college football, he would be flagged for showboating. Followers of Jesus Christ, you are not allowed to fear death. To do so insults the One who went to the cross and experienced the grave for you. Laugh at death. Like a honeybee that has lost its stinger, death still flies around scaring people, but it can’t do you any permanent damage.

For a Christian to fear death is to insult the Lord Jesus Christ.

I suppose the biblical word for this would be “blasphemy.” But since that word is used almost exclusively in theological realms and associated with falling from grace and incurring God’s wrath, and not a term we use in our everyday life, I’d just as soon not conjure up images of the Inquisition.

We are not talking about apostasy here. Just poor discipleship.

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Getting people to “buy into” the kingdom of God

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Some years back, while watching a news program, I was struck by a statement about our country’s war in Afghanistan.

Less than 1 percent of our (military) people are in that country fighting. The American people are not invested in this war.

I thought that was an interesting phrase.  Invested in a war.

What exactly does that mean? and is there a message here for those of us in the ministry?

The statement meant the American people were not aware of what was going on in that Middle-Eastern country, which meant the struggle there felt remote and distant, and consequently were not supporting it as they would normally.

Most Americans had no personal stake in that war. When we’re unsure of the issues and uncertain of our goal, when we do not know anyone who is putting his/her life on the line there, and when we have no personal ties to anything, we are uninvested.

Who remembers the Second World War? 

World War II movies, especially those made during the early 1940s, actually pulled American citizens together to support their fighting men and women.

In the 1940s, every town in America sent the cream of its youth to the fight. Every radio was tuned to the latest news. Gold stars shone from windows to say this family had lost a son in the service of his country. Dads and grandfathers followed developments with maps on the wall. Drives for metal, rubber, paper and even fats and grease were conducted in every community. Schoolchildren bought savings stamps and housewives contended with ration books.

It seemed that every citizen of this country was enlisted to fight that war. They were invested.

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Integrity in the ministry

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We turn now to the ministry.

That’s my greatest concern. That’s the thrust of practically everything on this blog. After nearly six decades in the ministry, my strong hope is to say something to help church leaders do a better job in serving God’s people.

“Be on guard for yourself,” Paul told the leaders of the Ephesus church in Acts 20:28.

The Apostle Peter reminded another group of such leaders that “your adversary, the devil, is on the prowl like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Therefore, they were to “be self-controlled and alert.” (I Peter 5:8)

Here are my top ten suggestions for pastors and staffers of local churches. In fact, they are more than suggestions. They are great concerns.

1. Learn to live within your income and do not fall prey to the lie that “pastors of my stature are expected to live at a certain level.” It’s not so much the love of money that has driven many a pastor to cross the ethical line, in my opinion, but a need for money to sustain the way of life they have chosen for themselves.

Learn to live simply.

2. Set the example for the rest of the staff and the church leadership.

The inimitable Tony Campolo has infuriated a lot of preachers by saying, “No pastor should ever drive a Mercedes.” He’s not picking on a particular car, but making a point about materialism and our example.

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Things the New Testament does not tell us

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“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable….that the man of God may be complete” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Those who demand a Scripture verse for everything they do place an intolerable burden on the Christian life, something never intended by the Heavenly Father. 

Some among us have all the answers about the Christian life and have solved all the mysteries of doctrine and theology.

Is there a verse of Scripture on that?

Stay tuned.

These “super-apostles” write me, taking issue with our positions in these articles.  They have it all worked out and find it incredulous that we do not see matters their way. The only explanation, they conclude, is that I must be a) unsaved or b) willfully blind.

Case in point: I wrote something about tithing for this website.

One of several online preachers’ magazines picked it up and sent it out to their 75,000 subscribers.  The tithe-haters came alive.

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What a resounding testimony will do for you

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A resounding testimony of faith in Jesus Christ will get you into more trouble than you’ve ever been in, in your life.

You thought we were going to say how good life would be if you went “all in” for the Lord and told everyone about Him?

Let’s say it again…

A strong outspoken witness for the Lord Jesus Christ will box you into a corner and make you put up or shut up.

That’s why you ought to do it. That’s why you ought to erect a neon sign in your front yard declaring that “Jesus is Lord at 203 Garden Cove” or wherever you live. You ought to put a Bible on your desk and wear t-shirts that celebrate Jesus and put Him in your conversation.

Pray in restaurants before meals, speak to waitresses about their spiritual welfare, and witness to your colleagues at work.

So live and speak that when someone wants to attack the Lord Jesus Christ and can’t lay hands on Him, they start looking for you. (Acts 5:41 comes to mind.)

In declaring yourself for Jesus, you ought to remove your safety harness and throw yourself totally into God’s hands.

Quit being so cotton-picking careful.

What are you afraid of?

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For church leaders: “How to cook the books”

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A few years back, an ex-con spoke to business students at Tulane University to instruct them on how to cook the books.

Well, okay, he warned them against cooking the books.

Aaron Beam served HealthSouth as chief financial officer until the shenanigans of CEO Richard Scrushy became public and that company dissolved into bankruptcy. For his part in the crimes, Beam served only three months in prison for the assistance he gave the feds in their case against his boss.

Beam’s message should resonate with every pastor and leader of the Lord’s churches across our land. Most congregations do not know what their church’s actual financial situation is.  Furthermore, the pastors do not know either, and the record-keepers–bookkeepers, treasurers, however they are known in the various churches–are either in over their heads or have developed their own system which they alone understand.

Consider this a wake-up call.

What percentage of churches are being victimized by unscrupulous treasurers and bookkeepers? No one knows. But I venture to guess that the ones we hear about are merely the tip of the iceberg.

The culprit is poor leadership. The problem lies with those at the top.

The financial conference I would attend, one I’m betting every pastor in the land would fight to get in on, would be titled: “How to cook the church books and recognize when your church is being ripped off.”

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