A few weeks ago, our son Bayly could barely swallow. Suspecting he had strep throat, I took him to the clinic, and the doctor looked into his mouth. Then the doctor had him lie down and pressed his fingers around Bayly’s stomach.
“Does this hurt?” he asked. Bayly shook his head.
Then the doctor’s fingers explored his armpits and his neck. “Does this hurt? How about this?”
“No. No.”
The doctor’s fingers detected some enlarged glands, and yes, Bayly did have strep throat. But if Bayly had complained of pain in the areas where the doctor was pressing, one of two things would’ve been true.
Either the doctor had pushed too hard, without the right sensitivity. Or, more likely, there would have been something else wrong, and the doctor would have said, “We’d better do some more tests. It’s not supposed to hurt there!”
Bayly’s exam reminded me of Ben Roger’s sermon illustration that Leadership published in 1983, pointing out the parallel to what churches experience whenever the pastor presents what the Bible says about money and giving and being faithful with finances.
In some cases, people will cry out in discomfort: “We shouldn’t talk about money in the church” or “That’s no one’s business but my own!”
When people squirm like that, one of two things has happened: (1) either someone pushed too hard, or (2) there’s something wrong inside the people.
As I observe churches, most are careful not to push too hard. In fact some, out of fear of offending, avoid talking about this important area entirely. But this topic is too important to ignore.
Wesley Willmer in his book God & Your Stuff: The Vital Link Between Your Possessions and Your Soul points out: “17 of Jesus’ 38 parables were about possessions. Possessions are mentioned 2,172 times in Scripture—three times more than love, seven times more than prayer, and eight times more than belief. About 15 percent of God’s Word deals with possessions.”
Why? Not because God thinks our stuff is the most important thing about us. But because how we handle our stuff, especially our money, is a diagnostic tool that reveals how we’re doing with the things that truly are important. And where we invest our treasure on earth plays a huge role in our spiritual health.
As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 8—”Just as you excel in everything else—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in earnestness, and in love—see that you also excel in the grace of giving.”
Giving generously is repeatedly emphasized in the Bible. So faithful church leaders will probe the ways their people handle money and make clear what the Bible says about finances, not because they’re trying to make people uncomfortable, and not just because the church needs the money, but because giving is an important part of “the normal Christian life.”
If that produces discomfort in your church, consider the alternatives. Maybe you’ve pressed too hard. (Faithful physicians of the soul will try not to do that.) Or maybe it means, my friends, that your congregation is in need of the Great Physician, because it’s not supposed to hurt there.
Marshall Shelley is editor of Leadership.
Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
