THE SPIRITUAL INVENTORY

by Donald L. Bubna

In my previous pastorate, Bill, a young believer who recently had joined the finance committee, made an appointment with me.

"Pastor," he said, "I'm concerned about our church finances. If all our people were on welfare, yet tithed, we would have more than sufficient income to do all we need to do at the church. But here we are, a middle-class church with a modest budget, and we're behind. There's something wrong with the spiritual vitality of our people."

Then he proposed an idea similar to one he'd learned in the insurance industry: "The reason my insurance business is doing three times the new business of the average agency is that every six months I do an insurance inventory with every client. We meet so we can be sure their coverage is up to date and I can tell them about some new forms of protection in the industry. I come prepared, knowing where their insurance has been, and I'm ready to help them.

"It seems to me," he continued, "it would help ...