Archives by: Gary Hoag

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? Luke 16:10-12

“Of all the challenges contained in Scripture for the securing of overflowing blessing, none is so striking and unqualified as that which makes obedience to God in our use of money the condition of His favor. There are many individuals and congregations that have accepted this challenge, and through the obedience of faith have entered into the richest spiritual blessing of all their history.”

J. Campbell White as quoted in the opening of “Study Seven” of The New Christian: Studies in Stewardship by Ralph S. Cushman (New York: Centenary Conservation Committee, Methodist Episcopal Church, 1919) 112.

Jesus makes the connection between the stewardship of worldly wealth as demonstration of preparedness for the stewardship of true riches. In White’s inspiring words, those who have accepted this challenge and walked the path of obedience experience overflowing blessing. Have you and your congregation accepted this challenge?

This is not to be confused with prosperity gospel, which gives to get. This is about exhibiting faithful stewardship and receiving blessings (not just material ones) from the Master to enjoy and share. The key, and many people don’t get this, is not to focus on how much you give. The world looks at that.

Focus on how much you keep instead. That’s what God looks at. It took us years to figure this out. We only “got it” when we stopped storing up treasures on earth. God looks not at what we give but what we keep because it shows where we place our trust. God is looking for trustworthy stewards to bless so they can be a blessing.

Are you a trustworthy steward?

The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work. All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing. Proverbs 21:25-26

“The ministers of Christ have led the great revivals of the past, but we verily believe that the next great revival is going to come from the pew, led and sustained by a devoted ministry in connection with the bringing in of our substance to God.”

John Wesley Duncan as quoted in the opening of “Study Seven” of The New Christian: Studies in Stewardship by Ralph S. Cushman (New York: Centenary Conservation Committee, Methodist Episcopal Church, 1919) 112.

God’s design for the redemption of the world is for people to work, give, and teach others how to live in the way of Jesus. God made us to work. The fruit we receive from it supplies us with resources to enjoy richly  and share generously for making known God’s love to others.

How can work and giving contribute to a revival?

There are likely lots of reasons. Perhaps the biggest one is because when the people in the pews work hard and then go give without sparing, they show a watching world that they have taken hold of life. And that’s the one thing everyone’s looking for!

What can each of us do to encourage revival where we live?

It starts with each of us modeling the way and becomes a movement when we engage others. Another thing we can do is networking. I shot the new header photo yesterday outside Estes Park, Colorado, when I was privileged to spend the day with John Stanley, my friend and author of Connected for Good.

We talked about ways God is leading us to encourage revival from the pew. It starts with me and you.

But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. 1 Chronicles 29:14

“We do not give to God a fraction of that we possess, but we loyally acknowledge God’s sovereignty over the whole. Just now the Church has no bigger need than to have Christian men [and women] face this question.”

Harris Franklin Rall as quoted in the opening of “Study Four” of The New Christian: Studies in Stewardship by Ralph S. Cushman (New York: Centenary Conservation Committee, Methodist Episcopal Church, 1919) 52.

Rall rightly states that when we think of giving as sending a percentage of what we possess to God, we are thinking about it all wrong. Instead, when we acknowledge God’s sovereignty over everything, like David, we exhibit generosity.

So what does it mean to “acknowledge” God’s sovereignty. If I work at a ministry and acknowledge a gift, it means in return for that gift, I send a receipt letter. If someone sends a gift of $100, they don’t get an acknowledgement receipt for $5 or $10, do they?

Rall and Cushman argue that most acknowledge only a small portion of God’s sovereignty, and I think they are right. For us to “acknowledge” God’s sovereignty over the whole of life, we must not say that it is true but show that is true with appropriate action in return.

How do we do this? God doesn’t want a fraction of our lives to acknowledge His sovereignty. He wants all we are and all we have to shout of His greatness and abundant generosity!

Do not be overawed when others grow rich, when the splendor of their houses increases; for they will take nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them. Psalm 49:16-17

“A rich man drove me out to his fine estate in the country. After we had gone over its splendid acres, he turned to me and said, ‘Does that place belong to me?’ I said, ‘Ask me that a hundred years from now and I will tell you whether it does or not.’ The fact of divine ownership never changes — only the circumstances differ. One hundred years from tonight none of us will own any bank stock; the angel of death will pry open our hands; we shall return unto God His own. God is the great Evictor. When we stand and sing, “We give Thee but Thine own,” we are stating a solemn truth. God never signs any quit-claim deeds; He only says, “Another steward to test.”

Edwin H. Hughes as quoted in “Study Three” of The New Christian: Studies in Stewardship by Ralph S. Cushman (New York: Centenary Conservation Committee, Methodist Episcopal Church, 1919) 48-49.

I can think of no greater witness in a world captivated by the myth of human ownership than humble obedient stewardship. In this lesson, Hughes reports that in addition to sharing this “one hundred years” illustration he also recounts the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21. In that text, we hear Jesus pointedly say: “Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” to the person who stores up treasures for himself because he does not understand divine ownership.

Psalm 49 contains the understanding that must accompany anyone with riches. They can’t save us, satisfy us, or give us the security we seek; only God can. This is why we must be rich toward God. Likewise Jesus in the parable of the rich fool reveals that He is watching each of us. Will you pass the test? I am asking not because of what I want from you, but what I want for you. Don’t just say with your lips that you understand divine ownership; show it with your life.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21

“My definition of money for my purpose is simply this: Money is myself. I am a laboring man, we will say, and can handle a pickaxe, and I hire myself out for a week at $2.00 a day. At the close of the week I get $12.00, and I put it in my pocket. What is that $12.00? It is a week’s worth of my muscle put into greenbacks and pocketed; that is, I have got a week’s worth of myself in my pocket.

Now the moment you understand this, you begin to understand that money in your pocket is not merely silver and gold, but is something human, something that is instinct with power expended. Now, money is like electricity; it is stored power, and it is only a question as to where that power is to be loosed. What am I coming to is this — that this matter of the stored potentiality of myself in my pocket is so very serious that I need God’s Holy Spirit to guide me in it.

Do you see what a blessed, what a solemn thing this giving is, this giving of my stored self to my Master? Surely we need, in the matter of giving, consecrated thought as to where to loose ourselves; earnest prayer in the guidance of the choice of where to loose our stored power, and earnest prayer to God to add His blessing to the loosed personality in this money we have sent abroad, that there may come a tenfold increase because of the personal power we have sent.

When we think of money that way, and pray about it that way, and give it that way, and tell others of it, then we will have the Church of God saying: ‘Hasten the collection in the church. Quick! Let the ushers pass down that we may loose ourselves for Jesus’ sake, and send out stored power the world around for the sake of Him who gave Himself for us.’ That is consecrated use of money.”

A. F. Schauffler as quoted in “Study Two” of The New Christian: Studies in Stewardship by Ralph S. Cushman (New York: Centenary Conservation Committee, Methodist Episcopal Church, 1919) 25-26.

As I read through this stewardship series that’s nearly a century old, I resonate with the unashamed zeal of the writers who communicate with clarity and candor. For example, I love the expression “stored power” referring to money. Money does not define us, but connects with the deepest parts of us. When we store it up on earth, our heart remains here with it. When we store it up in heaven, our heart goes there with it. When we realize it is stored power and consecrate it to God, we become eager to put it to work in a manner that pleases our Master, the Owner of it.

What about your stored power? Does it need to be loosed and put in play?

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? Luke 16:10-11

“We hear a great deal these days along the line that when the church gets right spiritually, there will be no trouble about the money. My experience clearly teaches me that when Christians get right with reference to money, there will be no question about the spirituality of the church. Selfishness and devotion to Christian service will never be found in the same life. There is no room for the prayer life in a heart filled with selfishness, and no possibility of Christian growth without the prayer life.”

E. M. Runyan as quoted in “Study One” of The New Christian: Studies in Stewardship by Ralph S. Cushman (New York: Centenary Conservation Committee, Methodist Episcopal Church, 1919) 22.

Runyan gets it right! We must steward money faithfully before we can expect to be entrusted with true riches. Nearly a century ago he voiced concerns of selfishness as a competitor to Christian service. He also astutely connects the state of a person’s prayer life to their level of selfishness. How would you rate on such a scale?

When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments. 2 Timothy 4:13

“If the stewardship revival is to lift the Church to a new and permanent level of spiritual life, it must be steered between the bald legalism, which can see in Christian stewardship nothing larger than the tithe, and the sophistry of the really insincere man who is ready to acknowledge only with words “All that I have belongs to God.” Of course, the stewardship of the entire life must be the end of the vision…”

Ralph S. Cushman in The New Christian: Studies in Stewardship (New York: Centenary Conservation Committee, Methodist Episcopal Church, 1919) 5.

Today’s Scripture reveals that the Apostle Paul likely shared his scrolls and parchments with Timothy. As one who fancies books and happily shares them, I appreciate texts like this one. Speaking of books, I just acquired this classic for under $10 (shipping included). It’s 98 years old and contains seven stewardship studies. I can’t wait to read them. Today’s post comes from the foreword section of the book.

With eloquence, Cushman calls us to abandon the “bald legalism” of the tithe and the sophistry of the insincere person who acknowledges only with words “All that I have belongs to God.” Alternatively, he exhorts readers to embrace the vision of “stewardship of the entire life.” What about you? Does stewardship touch only a percentage of your life? Are you all talk and no action? Or are you prepared to give an account for the stewardship of your entire life?

Regardless of how each of us started this life, what matters is how we finish. Resolve to finish strong. Perhaps meditate on Psalm 24 today, which starts with the proclamation that God owns everything and maps the pathway to ascending to the mountain of the Lord. Make stewardship of your entire life your vision. Invite others to join you and bring renewal to your church. Like Paul, share books with others on the journey. Prepare together to give an account for your lives to God!

On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 1 Corinthians 16:2

“That the liturgical act of offering is properly placed after the proclamation of the Word points to this: receiving the Word excites the desire to serve, to give, to share the divine abundance. Likewise the formal service of Christian worship ordinarily concludes with a sending forth in love and service to the world. Such a sending forth to give is not premised in one’s acquisitive power or capital holdings. Rather, it is expected that all will give because all — rich and poor, able bodied and otherwise, the young and old — have received of God’s abundance and so have more than enough to give and serve, be it in the form of material wealth, time, wisdom, strength, compassion, presence, prayers…

Care should be taken, however not to mistake the character of God’s abundance. The opposite of scarcity is not “unlimited” in the sense that God will satisfy our avarice, gluttony, and all the cravings of our disordered or fallen desire. Rather, the abundance that God gives is a matter of enough. God graciously gives all we need for flourishing. Therefore, God’s abundant provision should not be confused with a “prosperity gospel.” God’s abundance is not about meeting our wildest consumer dreams. Rather, God’s abundance takes form in the disciplines that heal our desire so that it moves in accord with its true end, so that we desire what and how we should desire.”

Daniel M. Bell Jr. in The Economy of Desire: Christianity and Capitalism in a Postmodern World (The Church and Postmodern Culture; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012) 179-180. Special thanks this morning to my friend Philip Eubanks, who is working on his PhD in the UK, for reminding me of the richness of Bell’s research this week.

In today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul outlines the biblical definition of saving. It’s living on less than we make, so we can share from that which we have received from God. Search for yourself, you won’t find any biblical support for stockpiling treasures on earth. That’s the world’s definition of saving. In God’s economy, saving helps us avoid debt, make purchases with cash, and live intentionally with margin so we can give when we gather to worship.

Pastors often ask me when the “liturgical act of offering” should take place in a worship gathering. I echo Bell’s answer: invite people share in response to receiving the Word, after feeding them spiritually. And then send the gathered church forth as the scattered church to generously share more than just finances. Send everyone forth to live, give, serve, and love wherever God takes them each week as workers for Him.

Why do this? We get to help those we serve have their desires rightly ordered, their role in God’s economy properly understood, and their relationship to resources biblically oriented, so that they are not slaves to money, but rather, slaves to God. When we have done that, then they will be generous, regardless of their “acquisitive power or capital holdings” as Bell so keenly puts it. God help us to this end!

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31

“The number one enemy of Christian spiritual formation today is exhaustion. We are living beyond our means, both financially and physically. As a result, one of the primary activities (or anti-activities) of human life is being neglected: sleep.”

James Bryan Smith in The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows (Downers Grove: IVP, 2009) 33.

It’s the weekend. Hopefully we can all get some rest.

For years, when our children were at home, we had to plan diligently so that we would eat meals together and get a decent amount of sleep. Too many families are “coming and going” with so many activities that they don’t have time for meals together, and they don’t get adequate rest.

Jesus invites us to slow down, to cut out the noise, and find rest with Him.

For some of you, this might mean that it’s time to unplug the cable or satellite TV pumping into your home. We did that a few years ago. There’s plenty to watch on the internet for free. For others, it means limiting kids to one extra-curricular activity at a time so that the nights and weekends are not all washed out with rehearsals and productions or practices and games.

What does this have to do with generosity?

If you are living beyond your means physically, you are likely doing it financially too. It’s not just hard, it’s impossible to live generously if you are over-extended in many areas of life. It does not mean you can’t have a full schedule. Generous people have very full schedules. It’s about having priorities in line. Do you?

If you are weary, perhaps it’s time to reassess your priorities. Start with getting some sleep this weekend. Then find a quiet place, spend some time with Jesus, and ask Him about your priorities.

We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man. 2 Corinthians 8:20-21

“Here Paul further explains the rationale behind the procedures in place for this fund-raising campaign, which amount to complete transparency before everyone involved. When other people’s money was at stake, it was not enough for Paul to be confident before the Lord of his own good intentions and the appropriate distribution of funds. Paul understood that others needed to be confident as well, and so he instituted measures to ensure openness and accountability.

First, he assembled a team of individuals, rather than simply having Titus handle matters on his own. Second, he made sure each of the individuals were men of experience and proven character. Third, this team did not consist simply of Paul’s handpicked cronies, but included delegates selected and approved by “the churches.” These measures were designed both to safeguard the collection from misuse and to avert criticism, by openly demonstrating to everyone intentional and determined accountability.”

Moyer V. Hubbard in 2 Corinthians, Teach the Text Commentary Series, ed. Mark Strauss (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2017) 139.

Complete transparency builds confidence to participate in collections, but it takes hard work. The Apostle Paul testified that they took “great pains” to put such structures in place. Hubbard smartly summarizes the procedures that were implemented, and shows how the effort engaged numerous proven people. Many don’t realize that this collection spanned churches in many nations across the Mediterranean world and took six years to orchestrate (A.D. 53-58). Doing the hard work of putting accountability structures in place undoubtedly increased giving and participation, but more importantly, made sure everything was handled with integrity before God and man.

As you may know, I serve about four days per month as ECFA International Liaison helping establish peer accountability groups around the world. I have a ministry much like the Apostle Paul working with Christian leaders in various countries to help them form coalitions of Christ-centered churches and ministries committed to following standards of faithful stewardship (doing what is right before God and man) regardless of what others are doing. It’s been a privilege to help catalyze CCFK (South Korea), CCTA (Philippines), CMASC (Australia), and AfCAA (Kenya).

Good news! God has worked in local Christian leaders in Guatemala to form CONFIABLE. CONFIABLE means “trustworthy” in Spanish and is an acronym that stands for “Concilio de Organizaciones no-lucrativas, Financieramente Integras, Auditables, Bíblica y Legalmente Establecidas” or “Council of nonprofit organizations, financially integrated, auditable, biblically and legally established.” Please pray with me for the newly-formed board and general assembly of CONFIABLE to have wisdom and strength as they “take great pains” to draft standards for Christ-centered churches and ministries in Guatemala to exhibit “complete transparency.”