Developing Stewards in an Age of Philanthropists

By Mike Winter, Stewardship Pastor

According to Christian researchers John and Sylvia Ronsvalle, “If giving patterns don’t change, Christian churches face extinction in 2048.” From God’s perspective (and mine), that will not happen. Yet, the trends are there.

Why have contributions as a percentage of income, been going down for nearly 30 years? I believe there are two primary reasons. First, our Christian culture continues to shift from one guided by biblical stewardship (God is honored by our use of His money for His interests) to one motivated by philanthropic motives (God is honored by our use of money for our interests). Second, the relative silence in the church about subjects related to biblical financial stewardship (therefore allowing the culture to define our thinking) means that Christians increasingly look to secular culture for definition.

The stewardship vs. philanthropy dichotomy is a large (but often unseen) issue for the church. Virtually all Christians willingly attribute to God His ownership of all, however, the implication of how His ownership affects our stewardship is not well understood. The philanthropic ethic does not look to God for primary instruction but rather to personal choice—my money, my choice.

Consider the church budget presentation as an example. We often feel the pressure to present the budget as a “good investment,” and “good stewardship,” achieving a strong ROI (return on investment). This approach can erode right thinking and the church family often ends up viewing good stewardship as “meeting the budget” rather than honoring God through a church wide “missional” effort. The bottom line is that we may define being good stewards according to what we value rather than according to what God values!

Then there is the silence in many churches about the subject of biblical financial stewardship. Might it be that we too often talk about giving in the context of “crisis” or “meeting the budget” rather than in the context of a spiritual discipline? Part of the silence may also be due to an absence of training in churches and Christian colleges and seminaries about biblical stewardship. As a result the connection of faith to money is stretched beyond the breaking point.

Christ is emphatic that He will build His church. It seems to me that we all would do well to enjoy the fruits of a correct understanding and practice of biblical stewardship as relates to money. One significant way to accomplish such an understanding is if for us to treat the subject of stewardship in the same way we treat other spiritual disciplines. I Timothy 4:7 suggests that Christians should, “…discipline [yourselves] for the purpose of godliness.” The spiritual disciplines that have developed over the centuries from that idea have been practiced for just that purpose…to get closer to Godliness. Spiritual disciplines commonly include the following habits: bible study, prayer, worship, evangelism, serving, stewardship, fasting, journaling and learning.

The result will undoubtedly be that this generation and future ones will exhibit a more contagious life-changing vitality in all matters of biblical stewardship including financial stewardship.