Ray Linder, MBA, is a pastor, CEO of Goodstewardship.com, and author of three books, including What Will I Do With My Money? Ray serves on the ministry staff of Cornerstone Chapel, Leesburg, Virginia.
Building Church Leaders, a leadership-training resource published by Christianity Today International, asked him how church leaders can help their people be responsible with God-given resources.
Q: How can we help people in our church learn to be good and faithful stewards?
A: Too many Christians don’t know that money is a dominant topic in the Bible. One survey found that only 51 percent of people believed the Bible contained guidance about money. But the Bible has more than 2,500 direct references to money. The New Testament says more about money than about heaven and hell combined. Five times more is said about money than prayer and faith.
Therefore, church leaders need to emphasize teaching about money because God has given great emphasis on it in his Word.
Q: For a Christian, what does it mean to spend money wisely?
A: 1. Develop a proper respect for money. We have to understand all the money we have comes from and really belongs to God. Therefore, each spending decision is a spiritual decision. Think about that the next time you go to Starbucks!
We also must understand that a dollar, once spent, can never be spent on anything else. If we want somthing else, we have to spend a different dollar. This means every time we say yes to spending money one way, we are saying no to all others ways we could spend that amount. Maybe that’s not a big deal when it comes to a cup of coffee, but it is a big deal if we spend $30,000 on a new car financed over six years. That car forever precludes a lot of ways of spending $30,000.
2. Understand the difference between needs, wants, and desires. The Bible explicitly names three needs — food, clothing, and shelter. I’d say we could add transportation and health care. Good and faithful stewardship demands we understand the difference between wants and needs. Financial problems are lurking when you say things like, “We need a large screen TV.”
3. Orient your life around the fulfillment of what matters most. Since you can’t have everything, use your money to buy things that have the most meaning to you. I happen to love books and CDs. Someone else may love computers. Another person likes designer clothes, while others love crafts, gardening, dining out. We will spend money wisely when we look to own the things that matter the most to us rather than wasting money on things that don’t matter that much. That way, we spend less money and enjoy it more.
Excerpted from our sister publication LEADERSHIP journal, © 2002 Christianity Today International. For more articles like this, visit www.Leadershipjournal.net
