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by
Andy Gustafson, Associate Conference Minister for Stewardship
& Financial Development
November, 2004
God is still speaking, “Behold, I am doing a new thing.”
(Isaiah 43:19). It is said the only constant is change. That
is as true today as it was in the days of Isaiah. Like all
of life, the role of the church in society is constantly changing
as well.
Anthony Robinson, in his book Transforming Congregational
Culture, describes how mainline denominations have changed
from being the “civic faith” of our society, to
being only one of many choices, in-cluding secularism. We
can no longer assume that most people are Christian, or have
a basic understanding of Christian principles.
Within our own churches we see increasing numbers of seekers coming from different traditions and even from no tradition. The implication for this is that we can no longer assume that our members know the basics of our teachings. For stewardship, this means we must be ready to teach, and to re-teach the basic Christian principles of giving, such as pledging, proportional giving and the tithe. Many may not ever have heard the Gospel accounts of Jesus, such as the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-11), who was so overcome by joy in his encounter with Jesus he gave away one half of all he owned. Another example of early church giving takes place in Corinth, where townspeople – although extremely poor – gave generously to the relief of the saints (II Cor. 8:1-9). And it is not only the Bible stories we need to tell and re-tell, but also the stories from within our own congregations of God’s faithfulness and grace in our lives, collectively and as individuals.
Change can be scary. Yet as Christians we can face the future
confidently, knowing Christ is with us always, to the close
of the age (Matt. 28:20).