Generosity

I recently had a visit to California to connect with some pastors and churches in our district and to discuss ministry in Bakersfield with Chad Vegas, pastor of Sovereign Grace Church in Bakersfield.  It was an especially fruitful trip.  We still have a ways to go in raising funds for our church planting efforts but the need was certainly made clear and there are some potential means of securing the remaining funds needed.  Please pray for wisdom and discernment for Laura and I as we consider these possibilities. 

Part of this trip was to attend our districts annual Pastor's Briefing. The purpose of the Pastor's Briefing is really three-fold.  First, the pastor's in our district are given updates on church mobilization and church planting within the district.  There is usually a focus on the overall health of the district and the opportunities the district has in church planting.  Second, the pastor's get a chance to get-a-way with their spouses to a beach location for a few days in January. That is the real sacrifice. Third, the Pastor's Briefing always has a challenge or theme for the pastors in the district.  This year the theme was on being generous.  (As a church planter in the process of raising funds, I didn't mind this theme at all.)

The prevailing challenge that I walked away with is this: we are to be wise stewards in order to be generous givers.  How often has your church had a stewardship campaign or class or seminar with the focus of getting your finances in order.  Probably more often then not.  The shortcoming with  focusing on stewardship only is that it leaves us with the conclusion that financial freedom is the end goal.  Yet, this is incomplete. Why are we to have financial security and freedom?  The compelling case was made that we have it in order to give it away.  Sam Crabtree, the executive pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis nuances this even further.  "We become what we behold, so we behold God to become like him."  Becoming a generous giver is leveraging "every gift, resource, and opportunity to honor God and advance his kingdom." This gives our stewardship purpose.  

It is one thing to talk about being generous; it is something entirely different to actually be generous.  This will require sacrifice and God-centeredness on our part in the way we manage and use our time, gifts, and resources.  John Piper has set the tone for Bethlehem Baptist Church.  Piper is of course a wildly popular author.  What many don't know is that he gives all his royalties away. According to Crabtree, Piper's contract directs the money to go straight to a foundation that distributes the money.  He never sees the checks.  

Wise stewardship in order to be generous givers.