If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church? 1 Timothy 3:5
“And if any one know not how to rule his own house. This argument, drawn from the less to the greater, is in itself manifest, that he who is unfit for governing a family will be altogether unable to govern a people. Besides that it is evident that he is destitute of the virtues necessary for that purpose, what authority will he have over the people, seeing that his own house makes him contemptible?”
John Calvin in Commentary on Timothy, Titus, Philemon (CCEL) 62.
Why teach stewardship in churches? Calvin puts his finger on the answer. We do it so people are not destitute of the virtues needed to steward their own home or God’s house.
I have returned safely home from attending ETS and SBL though the conference does not end until Tuesday.
I returned home to wrap up the seven GTP on demand courses that welcomed 841 registrants from 40 countries. One of those courses is called Faith and Finances.
A few years ago, a group of seminaries commissioned me to create the course to address the very issue Calvin speaks about.
If you want to learn more, take the course for free in January 2026. Or encourage anyone you know to take it because to learn to manage the resources of God’s house, we must first put our own house in order.
Registration opens in December 2025 at gtp.org/courses.