Marshall Segal: Four Questions to Keep Close to Your Wallet

1. Is my spending marked by Christian generosity?
2. What does my spending say about what makes me most happy?
3. Does my spending suggest I’m collecting for this life?
4. Is my spending explicitly supporting the spread of the gospel?

Marshall Segal in Four Questions to Keep Close to Your Wallet blogpost on 3 July 2014.

These reflection questions seek to increase our self-awareness linked to how we are spending the money as part of our personal stewardship. Let us each consider them thoughtfully as we prepare to give an account of our stewardship to God.

“May God pour down every blessing on you, your family, your children. He (Christ) who emptied himself with such generosity so as to enrich men and comfort them in every need will not do less for one who loves and serves Him from the depths of his (or her) being. Wait patiently for His consolation.”

Placid Riccardi (1844-1915) in “letter to his brother, 1906” as recounted in The Quotable Saint ed. Rosemary Ellen Guiley (New York: Visionary Living, 2002) 85.

Where do you find consolation? We are learning that the culture calls us to find comfort and consolation in things rather than God and His generosity. But when our consolation is appropriately rooted in God, often He pours out spiritual and material blessings that are better than anything we could sort for ourselves.

“Do you not know that God entrusted you with that money (all above what buys necessities for your families) to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and, indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve the wants of all mankind? How can you, how dare you, defraud the Lord, by applying it to any other purpose?”

John Wesley (1703-1791) as recounted by Charles Edward White in “Four Lessons on Money from One of the World’s Richest Preachers,” Christian History (Summer 1988) 22.

This week I have the privilege of spending time with a brilliant brother who walks in the footsteps of Wesley: J.D. Walt, chief sower at seedbed.com where their mission is resourcing individuals, communities, and movements to love the whole world with the whole gospel.

I echo Wesley’s sentiment: when we keep for ourselves that which is intended for the good of all, we are defrauding the LORD, because gifts to the naked, the stranger, the widow, and the fatherless are gifts to the LORD. May God help us discern the differences between necessities and luxuries!

“The primary purpose of Relationship Development Ministry is not to achieve full prayer and financial support. Rather the primary purposes are to encourage faithful stewardship and participation in the Great Commission. Getting to full support is the byproduct and a secondary goal…

Christ-followers should be faithful stewards of the resources that God has entrusted to us. We should be good managers, not greedy or have undisciplined debt. We should be generous and rich towards God with our giving. Before we ask others to pray for us and support us in ministry, we should be doing the same for others…

How can you practice and teach sharing and generosity? If you are not yet supporting another missionary, please ask God for discernment. Ask SIM country directors or treasurers if there is someone lacking support. There are special needs among missionaries from new sending contexts where you could make a difference.

If you have excess support or ministry funds, please consider sharing with others who have needs. Many SIM missionaries and retirees are already doing this. If you are struggling with money management or debt, seek counsel from a trusted friend or counselor. Once you become a joyful giver, it is easier to encourage others to be rich toward God and invest in the ministries that God has called you to do.”

Doug Christensen, Director of Relationship Development Ministry and Missionary Budgets for SIM in “RDM Tips: Encouraging Generosity and Stewardship while Doing RDM” in July/August SIM US Family News email dated 1 July 2014.

I met Doug at the Christian Leadership Alliance conference in Dallas in April 2014, and it is exciting to see how he is inspiring the missionaries of SIM. This excerpt from their internal family communication was a blessing for me to read. It provides a model for leaders of other mission agencies or anyone engaging in ministry partner development.

Rather than encouraging staff to exhibit possessive attitudes linked to “their” supporters or saying nothing when they urge people to support “their” ministry, he’s following a higher course. He is urging missionaries to model generous sharing with other missionaries in need while inspiring everyone to grow as givers who are rich toward God. Well done, Doug!

“The Old Testament records “tithing” as a means to honor God with your finances. The Israelites were commanded to bring the best 10 percent of their finances (typically their harvest) to God (Leviticus 27:30).

The practice of tithing trained the Israelites to remember who was first in their lives. Realizing that God provided the entire 100 percent, the first 10 percent was given to Him. In fact, life in the Old Testament was replete with various offerings and charitable giving.

There was no denying that all they had came from God. As a result, giving was ingrained into their relationship with God. When they did not give appropriately, their faith suffered. It wasn’t a forced situation. Instead, their faith and their giving (i.e., their finances) were intertwined. The tithe, then, was just a beginning point for their giving, not some budget item that they checked off in order to be right with God.

What does that mean for us today? The compulsory nature of the Old Testament commandment to tithe has been replaced by a greater command to practice generosity at all times (2 Corinthians 9:6-8). For Jesus and his followers who grew up with the practice of tithing, giving to God meant so much more than just a 10 percent offering. Yet there is no exact amount or percentage that is commanded in the New Testament.

But like any other activity in life, becoming more generous requires a level of discipline. We don’t become generous overnight. We need to develop practices in our lives to train us to be more openhanded and charitable with our finances.”

Andy Stanley in Balanced: Gaining & Maintaining Financial Stability (Alpharetta, GA: North Point Ministries, 2010) 25.

If you have examined some of the popular boxed stewardship programs available today and found their content sometimes sounding more like the world than the Word, then this workbook and six-session DVD is for you! Stanley does not shy away from the difficult topics, but rather, addresses them in light of Scripture, including the fact that the OT tithe has been replaced in the NT by the exhortation to generosity at all times.

I have come to see that the tithe is actually one of the greatest hindrances to grace-filled, Spirit led generosity. When I embrace the notion (albeit mistakenly) that 10 percent belongs to God (like I did for years) I become a greedy, lover of money, who thinks the other 90 percent is mine. When I understand that 100 percent comes from God, belongs to God, and is to be enjoyed and shared according to His instructions, I embark on the path of faithful, generous stewardship and begin to take hold of life in the kingdom.

“If you listen to the chatter of our culture, it’s easy to think money is mostly for stuff we want for ourselves: cars, clothes, vacations, and such. It isn’t that we should feel guilty for spending money on those things. But God’s Word teaches us to make generosity a higher priority, to orient our use of money in an others-centered way. At first, it feels countercultural to live like that. But the closer we walk with Christ, the more we get it. We know we were made for a bigger story. We just forget sometimes.”

Matt Bell, associate editor of Sound Mind Investing in Navigator’s blogpost entitled “Living a Better Financial Story” on 1 July 2014.

My dear friend, Tom Assmus, shared this article with me. This morning Tom and I are headed to Starbucks for coffee and REI for their monthly garage sale. We love having coffee to connect as brothers, and we enjoy getting steep discounts on returned shoes or clothing so that we have more money for generosity. This monthly rhythm (whenever we are both in town) positions us to remind each other to stay on track with God’s bigger story. Participating in the gospel is a communal effort, not an individual one!

“While biblical principles will result in financial health–which may mean having more–wealth is never a biblical motivation. Financial stewardship is about a life of worship.”

Jon Wiebe, president and CEO of the MB Foundation as quoted by Myra Holmes, a writer and friend who attends Trailhead Church where my family worships. To read the full article, visit: “Discipleship is Putting our Money where our Mouth is” in Christian Leader, July/August 2014, 20-22.

This is a great article, and a must-read if you are responsible for stewardship instruction in your church. Drawing on insights from Wiebe, Holmes thoughtfully shares what’s working in inspiring Christian generosity while unashamedly voicing concerns related to some pretty popular stewardship tools.

She specifically brings to light how many boxed programs that teach financial principles actually stray from the Scriptures and promote things like building wealth when Jesus explicitly instructs us otherwise. She also keenly notes how Wiebe emphasized the motivational danger associated with such thinking.

Responsible stewardship results in financial health and may take the form of material blessing; however, amassing wealth must never be our motivation. Instead let us worship and glorify God by enjoying and sharing His spiritual and material blessings all around!

“I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity. I am certain there must be a patent American article on the market which will suit you far better…”

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) in God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics in “Answers to Questions on Christianity” (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970) answer #11.

Why share this today? It is fresh in my mind as I quoted Lewis in a blogpost I wrote for the Christian Leadership Alliance which posted yesterday entitled: “Should Christians Save for Retirement?” I hope you find it helpful.

“What does it mean to follow Christ? I think a lot of us end up only admiring Christ instead of truly following Him. Admirers are only linked to the admired through the thrill of the imagination. But followers end up doing as the leader does.

In an attempt to look like Jesus we have simply not looked like the world but very little like Christ. Our obedience has been defined by what we don’t do, when our obedience should be defined by what we do for the world our God so loved.

You see God loves the world, so a Christian does too. But to reach the world, we need not to become big but small, because when we need less, we can give more. And because we have given to those in need, they now need less for themselves and can give more too.”

James Barnett in the video on the Cloth Your Neighbor as Yourself website.

Click to learn learn more about his story and how CYNY was launched. I think I want to get one of their t-shirts to help me share the CYNY story.

“If we wish to make any progress in the service of God we must begin every day of our life with new eagerness. We must keep ourselves in the presence of God as much as possible and have no other view or end in all our actions but the divine honor.”

Charles Borromeo (1538-1584) as recounted in Extension: The Official Organ of the Home Missions, volume 96-97 (Madison, WI: CCES) 387-388.

Do you seek God’s presence daily?

This can be difficult in the summer months when schedules vary week after week and the calendar is filled with a variety of activities. Mark 1:35 reminds us that Jesus had to get up early and go to a solitary place to spend time with God.

To grow in Christian service and generosity, I concur with Charles Borromeo. We must keep ourselves in the presence of God as much as possible, even if we have to lose some sleep.

And we must have no other aim but to glorify God.