The Days of Plenty?

Unemployment in Alabama is a frog hair lower than 10% ("Frog hair" means "just a little bit" for you folks not from around here). Mortgage companies are reporting 10% of home owners are in danger of foreclosure because they missed at least one payment. Bankruptcy rates are up 20% in the last year. Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee are among the top four states in new bankruptcy filings (Utah is the other). The average age of someone filing bankruptcy is 38, and two out of three of them have lost a job.

And we wonder why charitable giving is down, why the church offerings are not what they used to be, and why church finance committees are feeling the stress this year?

The fallout is coming. A lot of pastors and ministers will not get a COLA this year. Missions giving will not be increased. Missionaries will go unfunded.

The late Larry Burkett said he believed God had blessed America with great wealth that we might be the funding arm of the Great Commission. Phillip Yancey pointed out that 80% of evangelical wealth resides in North America, more than enough to fund the God called missionaries around the world. Yet the years of plenty were literally spent...on big buildings, big budgets, and big egos. Many churches have spent more money on pizza for the youth over the last ten years than would have been required to build dozens of church buildings in the third world. Let's face the ugly truth...evangelicals still spend more money on dog food than missions.

Our days of plenty may be over.

But don't let my assessment lead to despair. The days of plenty may well be gone for the foreseeable future. Our country may take years, not months, to recover economically. But that does not mean that Christ followers will have nothing to give. I maintain that the financial principles presented in Scripture work in any economy. Diligent work, living within income, saving, giving, and staying out of debt tend toward personal financial success.

A pruning may be in order. Too many houses, too many cars, and too much stuff may need to be cut off. A reordering of our priorities can be a good thing. A little less self and a little more sacrifice could mean a world of difference in how we fund ministry and missions.

Isn't it worth it to drive an older car so you can stay out of debt? Can you even call it a sacrifice to drive a car that's six years old if it means you can give substantially to your church's missionary offerings? How difficult would it be to downsize to a smaller home and use the extra money to build churches for congregations that meet under a tree? Doesn't this stuff matter?

I'm blending my discussion of the national economy with Christian stewardship and missions giving because the three are always connected. In days of plenty and days of lack the  Biblical principles hold true and allow believers the opportunity to continue the work of  giving.