By: Generis Team
If the only time your church talks about money is when you need money, you aren’t leveraging the worship service to create a generous church. There is a place for honest dialogue about the state of the church budget, but it is not healthy for pastors to speak about finances only when the church is in need. This is why it’s important to regularly preach about generosity and stewardship as an essential aspect of discipleship and following Christ.
Sometimes the way we approach the connection between ministry and money makes people uncomfortable. We should view money not as a necessary evil to be reckoned with but as a partner for ministry. No ministry thrives without needed resources. If ministry is the vehicle for accomplishing our mission, financial resources are the fuel.
Pastors who lead generous churches, who always seem to have abundant resources at their disposal, have had to come to terms with their apprehensions about money and ministry. Once they accept that the two are not polar opposites, they find freedom and confidence to lead their churches with clarity, care, and conviction.
Churches should incorporate generosity teaching into every part of ministry. Talking about money should go beyond occasional need-based appeals. It goes beyond learning fundraising strategies and techniques. Churches need to think about ministry and money in the context of discipleship, considering the broader implications of the Bible’s teaching on money in the life of the believer and in the work the church has been called to carry out in the community and in the world.
Surprisingly, the biggest objection we hear from pastors who are uncomfortable talking about money is that they don’t want to be like “this” pastor or “that” pastor who they believe is only concerned about bigger buildings or their own financial reward. In response, we gently remind pastors that a focus on generosity does not have to be an “unholy shakedown” of the congregation.
Your invitation to give should not be a ploy to get as much money as you can from your members. In fact, rather than being about money, a healthy pattern of teaching on generosity trains people in kingdom priorities. Giving generously helps us avoid becoming so attached to this world that we end up forgetting our true purpose: building the kingdom of God.