Money and the Church Part 1

We are doing a series of messages currently at New Season that talks about how we are stewards over all that God has given us including our money and possessions.

I have found that there is great confusion in the church world when it comes to talking about money and possessions in the church. For some the only time they have heard money talked about in the church was when it was October and time for the annual stewardship campaign. And, when money was talked about the it was always in the context of "give us more money so we can keep the lights on, pay the mortgage and pay someone to cut the grass at the cemetery and do other maintenance things because God says so." Rarely was stewardship tied to vision and ministry. Because of things like this some have gone to extremes now and refuse to talk about money at all. Early on in the seeker sensitive movement and because of one survey Rick Warren did in one particular mission field people got the mistaken notion that those not at the church hated when the church talked about money.

This week I hope to do some posts about money that will be expanding on what I talk about on Sunday mornings. I will be writing about how what we do with our money and possessions is a profoundly spiritual issue and one Jesus talked about all the time. I will be writing about how to tie a holistic view of stewardship to vision and mission and sharing some practical ways to do it. I will talk about how unchurched people don't care if you talk about money, want to hear about the spiritual side of managing possessions, and who it is who is really opposed to the church talking about money and possessions. I will be writing about how debt can be a bondage that we can be freed from so when God calls we can say "yes!" All that and more, quite possibly this week.

As I have said Sunday after Sunday. I am no expert on this stuff and am growing and working on it like everybody else and do indeed at time needs to practice what I preach as the saying goes. However, I want to share what I am learning and then hopefully we can all learn together and be transformed to use the resources God has given us to love him and others.