Walk with Jesus on the Earth

Jesus is deeply connected to the earth on which he walks. He observes the forces of nature, learns from them, teaches about them, and reveals that the God of Creation is the same God who sent him to give good news to the poor, sight to the blind, and freedom to the prisoners. He walks from village to village, sometimes alone and sometimes with others; as he walks, he meets the poor, the beggars, the blind, the sick, the mourners, and those who have lost hope. He listens attentively to those with whom he walks, and he speaks to them with the authority of a true companion on the road. He remains very close to the ground.

If I am to follow Jesus, then I, too, must remain close to the soil. Often I look up into the clouds and daydream about a better world. But my dreams will never bear fruit unless I keep turning my eyes again and again back to the dust of this earth and listening to what God is saying to me on the road of life. For I am connected to the earth and to all who walk the earth with me. Nature is not the background to our lives; it is a living gift that teaches us about the ways and will of the Creator.

Jesus Is in the World Not of It

The Beatitudes offer us a self-portrait of Jesus.  At first it might seem to be a most unappealing portrait - who wants to be poor, mourning and persecuted?  Who can be truly gentle, merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker, and always concerned about justice?  Where is the realism here?  Don't we have to survive in this world and use the ways of the world to do so?

Jesus shows us the way to be in the world without being of it.  When we model our lives on his, a new world will open up for us.  The Kingdom of Heaven will be ours, and the earth will be our inheritance.  We will be comforted and have our fill; mercy will be shown to us.  Yes, we will be recognised as God's children and truly see God, not just in an afterlife, but here and now  (see Matthew 5:3-10).   That is the reward of modelling our lives on the life of Jesus!

How Our Sacrifice Inspired Generosity and Commitment

Written by JoHannah Reardon at Gifted for Leadership

When my husband and I came to a new church plant immediately after seminary, we knew there were going to be some financial challenges for the small congregation. They had only 10 members and about 40 attending, including children. But they were a devoted, expansive-minded people, which gave us hope for the future of the church. And they offered us a livable wage, which was extremely important for a family of five. Because of their commitment, the church thrived in those early years. People gave sacrificially and the church grew.

The problem came several years in. We had grown by that point to around 200 people and had rented a larger, more expensive facility to hold everyone. And in the earliest days of the church, the pastor’s office was in our home, but it soon became clear that this was less than ideal since the church needed a secretary and extra space for Sunday school. So when office space opened up across the street from the community center where we met, it seemed the perfect solution.

But as any church plant grows, the congregation’s commitment to that church diminishes. The 200 did not feel as invested and determined to see the church grow as the original 40 who liberally gave of their time and money and who had a clear vision for the church. So after several months of increased expenses, our budget began to run in the red. 

As a result, my husband gave a sermon on giving, but the amount that people gave was not enough to solve our financial woes. After praying about it, my husband told everyone at the next business meeting that the church would give up the office space and secretary, and that he’d move the office back into our home. Most people in the business meeting began to nod in agreement until one of the church founders stood to his feet and gave an impassioned speech about how it grieved him to see the church go backward rather than forward. He challenged everyone there to dig deep and see how they might be able to give sacrificially so that the church could keep the office. The atmosphere in the room changed immediately, and they unanimously agreed to find a way to keep the office.

We learned at least three things about ministry and money through that experience.

When church leaders sacrifice, it’s a powerful example.

The fact that my husband offered to give up something for the sake of the church was powerful. His attitude of humility and willingness to sacrifice for the church moved the congregation in ways that cajoling and making everyone feel guilty never would have. It’s important for the pastor to also cast vision, but if that vision seems to profit him more than the felt needs of the congregation, it is often perceived as selfish. On the other hand, if the leaders are visibly willing to give up something important to them, the people in the church take note.

We found this same principle to be true in other situations. When our church again hit financial difficulty in the downturn of 2008, my husband asked the church to freeze his salary since we had enough to live on. This stance on his salary challenged the people of the church once again to give sacrificially. Most people in the congregation realized they had more than enough to live on and began to increase their giving. The desire to give faithfully overcame their fear of the nation’s economic woes.

Lay leadership is vital in raising ministry funds.

Because my husband took the humble position of sacrifice, the way was open for lay leaders to champion his cause. His willingness to give up something valuable to him opened the door for others to speak up, and in so doing challenged people to give in a way that he could not urge them to. Unless those who are not paid staff wholeheartedly embrace the ministry that needs funds, it’s simply not going to happen. But if at least a few lay leaders who are respected in the church take up the cause as their own, the rest of the congregation takes note.

We found this to be true when we finally moved out of the community center and raised funds to build a church home. As the senior pastor, my husband led the charge, but he also stepped back and gave lay leaders a platform to make their case for why we needed to build. Their impassioned pleas were more powerful than the paid staff’s voices ever could have been.

Hearts must be touched for people to give sacrificially.

All of this led to the realization that generally people do not give unless their hearts are moved. When we hit that first crisis over the church office, we discovered that people in our church were extremely generous, but they had been giving to other things that tugged at their heartstrings more. When the church founder similarly tugged at their hearts, they responded immediately. They had to be convinced that what they were giving to was worthwhile. At the surface, a church office did not stir any passion in them for giving. But when it was put into context of where the church needed to go in order to have an impact in the community and the world, people responded.

Let me add a final word of caution. None of these things can be manufactured. The pastor’s willingness to sacrifice, the lay leaders’ passion for the cause, and hearts that are moved to give must be sincere. Anything artificial will be recognized as such and ultimately hurt the church much more than advance its cause. Remember that in raising funds, we must have a sincere desire to advance Christ and his kingdom more than to obtain an end result.

JoHannah Reardon has had experience as a women’s ministry director, a pastor’s wife, and a longtime church leader. She blogs at johannahreardon.com and is the author of seven fictional books and two devotional guides.

It’s Complicated

Written by Angie Ward at Gifted for Leadership

Money complicates ministry.

Sure, there is the difficulty of talking about money in your organization – sermons and stewardship campaigns. Salaries and budget shortfalls. But that’s really the easy stuff.

What about a leader’s personal relationship with money?

I am a ministry leader and a pastor’s wife. While I earn money through my writing, teaching and leadership coaching, the bulk of our family’s income comes from my husband’s salary, paid for by our church. It has always been this way for us, nearly 17 years in full-time employment by one church or another.

I am accustomed to making our living through the church. Yet I continue to be troubled by the potential traps and trappings of this arrangement.

Sometimes I am aware that the people in our church watch what we do with our money. Most of the time, however, I don’t feel that they intentionally scrutinize. This is probably partly because we don’t live extravagantly, and partly because a certain standard of living has always been assumed in the communities where we have lived and ministered. If we don’t push the boundaries on either end of this standard, no one bats an eye.

But I continue to be aware that our family’s choices about money speak loudly to our congregation. They communicate our values, our priorities, our theology. Our lifestyle is a teaching tool. The way we use money can negate what my husband preaches on Sunday, or it can foster conversations and challenges that no stewardship sermon can match.

What does my relationship with money, and the possessions and experiences it buys, communicate to the people with whom I work and worship?

What do I communicate if my house is one of the nicest among our membership? What if it is one of the smallest? Would Jesus drive a BMW? Should I? Is a new Camry OK? What about a gas-guzzling SUV? What do I say when someone jokes about my 2002 Civic?

How do we live in our culture but not of it?

I am called to live among the people in my community. Yet I am also called to be set apart as a follower of Christ, and to not conform to the patterns of this world. Do we go along with the culture of our community and sign our kids up for all manner of lessons and camps, or do we forgo some of those experiences in order to give more to the poor and needy in our community and around the world? Should we prioritize involvement in activities with those in our community, or the needs of those we have never met? What do those decisions communicate to our friends, neighbors, and church family?

And those are just questions of lifestyle. What about how money colors my leadership?

Am I afraid to speak hard truth because the givers might leave? I’ve seen it happen too many times: church leadership becomes hesitant to go this way or that, speak this thing or that, because of how the “heavy hitters” might respond. Are my husband and I tempted to acquiesce if we ever sense this pressure?

Or do I lead differently because in the back of my mind, I know this organization pays our salary and therefore our family’s bills? On the flip side, do I experience or express entitlement regarding salary and benefits, believing that the church “owes” us something? What if money weren’t an issue and we were financially independent from the church? How might we lead or speak differently?

I’ll admit that I have many more questions than answers. My husband and I continue to pray for wisdom and direction in these areas, learning as we grow. We have chosen a smaller, simpler house and fewer possessions. Sometimes we decline opportunities for ourselves and for our children in order to give that money to other needs. We have learned to redefine needs and to distinguish between true needs and personal wants. And I dream that our family will one day be financially independent of our church, or in a position that we can “reverse tithe,” giving back to the churches that have given so much to us over the years.

Those are decisions and dreams for our family; they are descriptive, not prescriptive. I know that my answers will be different from those of anyone else. But I believe that each ministry leader, couple, and family must at least wrestle with these questions. Money complicates ministry. How does your own relationship with money hinder or further your ministry?

Angie Ward is a leadership writer, teacher, coach, and consultant with 25 years of ministry experience. She blogs at Leadership Connections and teaches at a number of Christian colleges and seminaries. Angie and her husband, Dave, a pastor, live outside Indianapolis with their two delightful sons and one adorable beagle.