Mission over Money

 

Fixation on Money

 

Something unhealthy is afoot. It is a fixation upon money.  You have reason to keep an eye on the funds entrusted to us.

Money (I hope I’m preaching to the choir here) is neither appropriate as the main session goal nor should it be the driving force. Stewardship is a good quality, but all resources must be focused on the goal, not on accumulating worldly wealth, including money.

You will likely have some savings in the course of your search for a pastor, but the mission of the church remains our God-ordained focus, the goal. The church and those trusted in its local administration must be focused on sharing the gospel and making disciples. Our denomination has placed some restrictions on baptism, but this is hardly prohibitive. Help is available.

For some of the older ones among us, we had an encounter with Albert Dugeon upset that we didn’t have a bankroll stored up from the year we didn’t pay a preacher.

In theory, we should have an extra $40-50K based upon Duawn’s remuneration that was not paid out during the year after he left.

Be careful of such expectations. They must not be the focus.

I wrestled with money as an elder during Duawn’s tenure. We had a declining balance for much of the time, and it included not only funds from offerings but also borrowed money.

I believe that borrowing more than we owed on the building was wise. It’s start-up smarts. You have to have something to prime the pump.

I watched the balance and had a tipping point in my mind where I would address a concern to the rest of the session. I don’t remember the number. We got close but never hit it, eventually turning the tables when offerings picked up enough that we had a little breathing room.

We did have to make some adjustments to things like F4 where we had a major feast for very few people most weeks.  We tracked expenses and trusted God for the increase in giving.

God provided.

I say “we” but can only speak for me. I presumed we all were in this mode and trusted God,

We have avoided the mindset of money being the mission for much of the past 25 years, but not always. What we have, we should leverage like the first two servants in my favorite parable.

We should be much more proactive in addressing our expenses with the provider of goods and services. Simple negotiation can save money as much as arbitrary cuts, but we must not make money central.

Awareness and action as needed for sure, but don’t let money drive you away from your mission.

Choose Mission over Money.