During these times, people, churches, ministries, and organizations are doing everything that they can to get some money from their members and friends. Let me share with you a way that some of them use to get money from people.
Maybe I should rephrase it in this way, “Today I am going to share with you how you can save a life of a poor little girl in Latin America. With a picture of a poor girl, the leaders introduce the little girl, telling the people that she lives in one of the poorest countries of the world, and she does not have food, clothes, and cannot go to school, because there is no school where she lives.”
Sometimes they will use videos showing the girl saying, “I am hungry.” “I do not have toys to play with.” Then, they would say, “Look at her, don’t you feel bad, for having all the comfort in the world and this poor little girl does not have enough? With, only $100 per month, you can save her, send her to school; give her a daily meal, and some used toys. If you will add $20 more, we can include in the package her little brother for one breakfast per day. If you add $10, I will send you her picture, and a monthly letter, sharing with you what she is doing with your offering.”
At the end, they would close saying: “Please send the money to my personal account, but you have to send now. Her time is running out.”
Sometimes people use an emotional appeal to get money from us. This explains how hard it is to talk about money in the church. When we talk about stewardship, we know that that will turn people off. It does not matter how subtle we will be. Some people will be offended and upset.
Stewardship is more than money; it is about love. There is a beautiful text that helps us to understand that. It is a wonderful prayer from king David. We find this text in 1Chronicles 29: 10-20.
He is the great King David at the end of his life, and he has the desire to build a Temple for the Lord, but the Lord did not allow him to do that.
Here it is what David said about that,
“1Chr. 28:2-3 King David rose to his feet and said: “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. [3] But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.’”
Do you struggle or feel uncomfortable when pastors talk about money in the church? This beautiful text helps us to learn that STEWARDSHIP IS NOT ABOUT MONEY, IT IS ABOUT LOVE.In the next weeks we will unpack the wonderful lessons about this truth.
Have a blessed week,
Pastor Lucas