From the Pastor…
Did you know that, according to one study, brand loyalty begins at age two? That at age 6 months babies start to recognize brand logos? That by age 3, children recognize 100 different logos? That in an average year, kids see between 25 and 40 thousand advertisements?
You don’t have to tell the average marketer twice that herein lies a huge potential market, though the average parent probably already is feeling the effects of this.
Did you know that of the 38 parables in the Gospels, Jesus talks about money or possessions in fully half of them?
Did you know that when you go to the grocery store and purchase bananas for 49 cents a pound, chances are that the person who harvested those bananas is not even coming close to making a living wage?
You can probably tell by now that I’ve come back from a week-long workshop on Stewardship armed to the teeth with statistics. Cold, hard statistics, right? Well, you gotta start somewhere.
Jesus never talked specifically about money in terms of how to manage it with regard to a Stewardship campaign. He talked about it in terms of it being an impediment, a stumbling block- a god, a master in its own right.
And let’s not forget that the saying isn’t “Money is the root of all evil.” In 1 Timothy 6, we read, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil… (v. 10).”
Money is often lumped in with religion and politics as items we don’t like talking about. So let’s include it in a larger discussion of possessions and recognizing the source of our blessings, along with an understanding that stewardship is and always has been bigger than the money we give to the church.
Being good stewards is being mindful of the needs of others. It means opening our ears to the discussion surrounding fair and equitable wages- and not necessarily the $15/hr being bandied about in this country. I’m talking about the laborer in Ecuador or Guatemala working for peanuts and as a result making it possible for us to buy bananas for that palatable 49 cents a pound.
Being a good steward means, at a more personal and challenging level, shifting our understanding of terms like “scarcity” and “abundance” and “sufficiency.” It means moving the line when it comes to what we understand to be “enough.”
We will get zero help from the army of marketers who do their demographic studies and view us primarily as consumers. With commendable zeal, they will do their best to convince us that there is no such thing as “enough.”
Many of us may make assumptions about where a discourse on money and giving is headed. Might not be where you think. Let’s leave it for now that, biblically, it’s not about entitlement or having a say because we’ve worked hard for our money.
It is all about faith and trust and gratitude, recognizing from where and whom our blessings come, and that God loves the whole world.
Peace,
Pastor Jeff
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