Skinny Cows

Last fall Christianity Today published an article called “Here Come the Skinny Cows.” The authors present several cautions as well as valuable reminders as they look at trends in the church and culture. However, I admit I struggle with their concluding assessment, “To position our churches for long-term sustainability we must avoid unnecessary fears and the intrinsic limitations of a scarcity mindset.” The question for me is: what are unnecessary fears and what are realistic concerns?

I agree we can’t just hunker down and only do the bare minimum of ministry to try to make funds last. We always need to exercise faith in the One who gives us all things. But at the same time, we need to be good stewards of what He has already given us. Just as Joseph helped Egypt conserve grain for seven years before the seven years of famine came, we need to plan carefully for what seems likely to come. God put Joseph in that position for that very reason (Genesis 50:20).

Jesus, in His parable, commended the steward “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much” (Matthew 25:21 ESV). The servant who was chastised was the one who buried his talent in the ground so it couldn’t be lost or used for anything. He wasn’t willing to try something and risk failing.

At another time, Jesus said, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:28). While it is tempting to claim this as a divine mandate for strategic planning, that is to ignore the greater context of counting the cost of discipleship. “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple… So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that He has cannot be My disciple” (27, 33). Perhaps then our planning needs to take the form of reminding church members that what they have is not their own.

The early church was fully invested in following their Savior as a united body. “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:44-45). The “rugged individualism” of America today makes this seem like an impossibility. In many cases our churches are funded by what’s left, not what’s first. We are reluctant to surrender any of our comforts or advantages in order to follow Christ wholeheartedly and contribute freely to the ministry He has given us. It’s hard to even get church members to give of their time to assist in the functions of the church, much less contribute sacrificially.

If the “skinny cows” are indeed coming in the near future, we as leaders need to begin preparing now by clearly teaching the cost of discipleship and all that means for our tithes and offerings, our time and talents, and our daily priorities. If members aren’t willing to commit to their church body while things are easy, what will they do as our culture continues to turn away from Christian values? In some countries around the world the decision to be a Christian is a choice of life or death, not a choice of whether to go to church or to the kid’s ballgame. We’ve had it easy for a very long time when compared to the majority of church history.

I believe the other tangible step that we as churches and denominations can take is to assess the true needs for ministry in our communities. Do we need to have church buildings, land, and parsonages that require maintenance? Do we need to purchase Sunday school materials and bulletins? Do we need as many paid staff members? Are there things we should be doing that we aren’t? Are there less expensive ways to do what we believe God has called us to do? We should count the cost, not just in dollars and cents, but in obedience to the One we claim as our Savior and Lord. If we are not following His lead both individually and collectively, we are not being faithful stewards.

Even as we see the trends and evaluate where we are, we can find hope and peace in the fact that God will build His church “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Our favor with culture may disappear entirely, but God’s purposes will prevail. We may lose everything else, but no one can take us out of the Father’s hand (John 10:29). If we continue to plant and water by faith, God will give the growth as He has determined (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Giving With Gratitude

In Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Matt shared the example of Rick Warren’s decision not to increase his standard of living as he started receiving significant income from his book sales. We were challenged to increase our standard of giving rather than our standard of living. This reminded me of a quote I read several years ago that has influenced the way I budget for each year. In Revolution in Generosity, Daryl Heald (President of Generous Giving) writes:

“Early in our journey of generosity, a friend challenged Cathy and me to give more. We had just finished a Crown Financial Ministries course and decided to increase our giving goal to 20 percent. Each year we would increase that amount by 1 percent. I felt pretty good about that and mentioned it to a friend, hoping he would be impressed with our commitment. After ‘boldly’ sharing, I asked him at what level he and his wife were giving. He told me that they were giving 40 percent of their income and suggested that Cathy and I could do the same. Talk about feeling humbled! At that point in our journey, I didn’t know people gave that much. His openness and lack of arrogance or condemnation appropriately challenged me. He was a motivator. His model eventually allowed us to do the same. Cathy and I talked and prayed about this decision. Our conclusion was to set our new goal at 40 percent and by God’s grace to increase it every year.” (392-393)

I wouldn’t say this is necessarily the goal of every Christian, because every family is different. Adding kids or losing jobs can quickly change the needs of a family. But I do think every Christian needs to give careful consideration to their plan for giving (and yes, it does need to be a plan). Many Christians ask “How much should I give?” The better question is how much should I keep? What do I really need to meet the basic needs of my family now and for the foreseeable future?

Jesus spoke of giving as something that was expected—when, not if:

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven... But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:1, 3-4 ESV).

When we discussed these verses in Sunday school recently, I thought about the ongoing debate in Congress about doing away with the charitable giving tax deduction. It is unfortunate that tax laws play such a big role in how people use their money. For Christians that should never even be a consideration. Christians living in nations where their faith is illegal have far more difficult choices to make about how to care for the needs of orphans, widows, and fellow believers.

We in America are blessed with so many resources that we quickly lose sight of the fact that none of it belongs to us to begin with. We are merely temporary stewards of God’s resources. We are quick to make excuses not to give. It’s easy to ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit while we’re distracting ourselves with the latest gadgets and the football game of the day. I have to say, I have sometimes regretted not giving more to a particular need, but I have never regretted giving “too much.” In one instance in college, I gave some money to a collection but then immediately felt that I should have given more. So God arranged for the collection bucket to go past me again!

In the end, it comes down to a matter of the heart. A gift grudgingly given does not honor either God or the giver. “You shall give to [the poor] freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake” (Deuteronomy 15:10). “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, bot reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful give” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

May our giving this Christmas and all year round be inspired by the grace that God has lavished upon us, and not hindered by fear, selfishness, or pride.

© 2015 Dawn Rutan. 

Unencumbered

Recently I was presented with an opportunity to buy a nice house in a good neighborhood not far from work. I started researching all the costs of buying and owning even before knowing the asking price. The more I thought about it, the less comfortable I was with going in debt for something I don’t really need to have. The tipping point came when I thought about the monthly obligation of a mortgage as compared to the flexibility of having money in the bank. I’m not saying home ownership is wrong for everybody, but here are some of the reasons I think it is wrong for me at this time:

“I want you to be free from anxieties… The unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit” (1 Corinthians 7:32, 34 ESV). Although home ownership doesn’t have the same permanence that marriage does, it is still a long-term commitment to the welfare of something other than God. As a renter, I know that my residence will be taken care of when issues arise. It may not be done exactly the way I would choose to do it for myself, but I also don’t have to figure out how to pay for it myself (except for the fact that my landlord is also my employer, and I’m the one who writes the checks!). The anxieties of home ownership could easily sap the joy and peace out of daily living.

“Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called… For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise, he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Cor. 7:20, 22-23). Owing money can be a form of slavery. In New Testament times, at least some of those who were slaves were people who sold themselves into slavery in order to pay debts. If a mortgage payment forces me to change or limit how I would otherwise use my money, it has become my master.

“For they [the Macedonians] gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us… For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have” (2 Cor. 8:3-4, 12). I can’t give what I don’t have. Giving financial support to ministries has always been a high priority for me, and tying up money in property would hinder my ability to respond to needs I see. While considering mortgage payments, I started thinking of a special project that I could donate to instead, and that stirred my passion far more than the possibility of home ownership.

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? …Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring” (James 4:3-4,13-14). The American dream is all about investing today in order to provide for tomorrow, but there are no guarantees. Stock markets and housing markets crash; houses burn down; people lose jobs or die unexpectedly; and someday the Lord will return and put an end to all our buying and selling. What will really matter when that day comes?

In the midst of these internal debates, I’ve been reading two books that have helped to confirm my decision. One is John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life. He relates the story of a man his father ministered to who neared the end of his life and realized “I’ve wasted it! I’ve wasted it!” Piper includes the old poem, “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last” (p. 12). I can’t reconcile in my own mind how buying a house can be done for Christ in my current circumstances. (Hospitality is not one of my strengths, so I can’t justify it by means of serving people who need a place to stay.) I don’t want to come to the end of a mortgage and find I’ve wasted years of joy and peace for the uncertain future of a few years of retirement.

The other book that spoke to me was I Want God, by Lisa Whittle. She quotes a sermon by David Wilkerson, “A Call to Anguish,” and her response, “‘There’s nothing of the flesh that will give you joy. I don’t care how much money, I don’t care what kind of new house. There is absolutely nothing physical that can give you joy.’ I’m fresh out of good, churchy answers. What I do know is that the world has gotten to us. The church. All of us. And we look scary normal” (pp. 150-151). She goes on to quote Deuteronomy 8:11-14:

“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His rules and His statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

I’m convicted anew that many Christians today are indistinguishable from the world. We’ve adopted the same standard of living and priorities, and aren’t willing or able to make some of the hard choices. Again, I’m not saying that home ownership is wrong. Under certain circumstances it may be more fiscally responsible than renting, particularly for growing families or for those who wouldn’t require a mortgage. But we will each have to give an account for our stewardship of all that God has entrusted to us, and I don’t want to have to explain having chosen something that I’m not entirely comfortable with.

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace… in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:10-11).

-------

Funnily enough, several weeks ago I was asked to write a post for today our denominational prayer blog, and the following is what I had written...

With all the books, magazines, blogs, and conferences on prayer, you would think we’d have it all figured out by now. Even though we know that God’s answers may be yes, no, or wait, we still fall into the trap of thinking we’ll get the answer we want if we just pray the right words with the right attitude, if we pray more fervently and frequently, if we just had more faith… And if we’re honest, we would have to admit that we’ve been disappointed at times.

On more than one occasion Jesus was asked to heal someone, but He didn’t do so until after they had died (Mark 5:21-43, John 11). He healed some people but not others (John 5:1-9). He slept through the storm while the disciples were terrified. When they woke Him and He calmed the storm, they wondered, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:27 ESV).

God is so powerful and so unpredictable that it’s amazing to think we can influence Him in any way. And yet we’re told to present our requests to God (Philippians 4:6) and to cast all our cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). He knows all that we think and desire, but He wants us to verbalize those desires in communication with Him. We need to have enough faith to trust Him with our concerns, and yet our faith is often strengthened by not receiving exactly what we want when we want it. Faith requires us to believe that God’s plan is far bigger and better than we can yet imagine. That should not prevent us from asking God for what appears best to us at the moment, but may in fact allow us to ask more boldly because we trust the Father’s will.

I remember when they were small my nieces filled up on goldfish crackers because they were too hungry to wait for Thanksgiving dinner. Their immediate need felt far more important than waiting patiently and trusting that something better was coming. We don’t change much as we grow up—our needs just feel that much bigger and more important. But hopefully our faith in our heavenly Father grows even bigger.

May we learn to ask boldly, but wait patiently for whatever God has in store for us.

Give It Away

A couple things have occurred today that have gotten me thinking about stewardship. I’m reading Ken Shigamatsu’s book God in My Everything, and he has a good chapter on finances. He talks about “proportionate giving,” meaning “we first determine the amount we need (adjusted regularly for inflation) and choose to live on that alone. We then commit to giving the rest away.”

While I haven’t gone that far, I have made an effort to increase my giving each year, even when I don’t receive any increase in salary. I will say up front that money does not hold a great attraction for me, and being single allows me the freedom to live as simply as I choose. It is nice to see my bank and pension balances increasing, but I don’t spend a lot of time obsessing about it. Since I have to spend most of my work hours looking at finances, by the time I get home I don’t want to be bothered with balancing my checkbook or paying bills. (I just entered about 8 months of receipts into the computer, and I wouldn’t do it at all if I didn’t have to file taxes at year end.)

Over the past several years I’ve noticed certain trends in my decisions about charitable giving, and my choices are probably not unique.

• I give to fewer organizations than I used to. I’m giving more of my funds to those that impact me directly and eliminating others that I’ve had only distant ties to. Although I appreciate the work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, it isn’t that important to me.
• I have also moved toward organizations that are overtly Christian. Anybody can support humanitarian organizations, but only Christians are likely to support churches and Christian non-profit agencies.
• I give more to organizations that have fewer donors. My alma maters are great, but they have a pool of thousands of donors. My church only has about a hundred, so comparatively its need is greater.
• I direct more funds toward organizations with a proven track record of good stewardship of their own resources, including their finances, properties, and personnel. Financial management is great, but if that comes at the expense of deteriorating buildings or staff that is either overworked or underworked, they may need to adjust their priorities.

It’s kind of surprising to me as I think about this to realize that many of these choices were made subconsciously. I never sat down and wrote out a budget of who deserved what amount from me. I will say that it helps to have an unlisted phone number and caller ID, so I never have to listen to those passionate calls to make an immediate contribution that I would never otherwise make. I rarely give to any special appeals outside of my church.

Financial stewardship is something we should all give more thought to, with at least a periodic review of where our money is going and how that reflects our priorities and our faith. I made the decision some time back that cable TV was not worth the investment of my money and time, so I downgraded to just the broadcast channels. (Ironically, the cable company has never removed the extra channels, so I’ve had several months of free cable.) I’ve also cut out some other conveniences and unnecessary clutter. It’s getting to be fun asking, “What else can I get rid of or give away that I don’t need?” Since “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7) I might as well enjoy it!

I don’t look at giving as depriving myself of something good, but as making room in my heart for something better—building my own relationship with God and helping others to do the same.