Did you know that average church person in America gives 2.6% of their income to the kingdom of God? I’m talking about people who say that they are devoted followers of Christ! Only 5% of Christians actually tithe 10% of their income. As we arrived in Nashville, the Momentum staff provided us a financial assessment of our church. In that assessment, it showed that our church is slightly above the national average. Our church family gives 3.1% of their income toward the kingdom of God. Am I supposed to be satisfied that we are above the average? Are we to be content with the level of ministry and the amount of light we are able to shine based upon that? No way!! Can you imagine what the possibilities would be if we were able to be generous to the extent that God’s word commands? To give you an idea, our total giving last year was $499,369. If we were to increase our giving to 5%, that would mean that we could accomplish nearly $800,000 in ministry! If we obeyed God and gave 10%, we wold have nearly $1.6 million this year to make the name of Jesus famous!! Is that incredible or what?
Over the past three days I have realized that it’s not enough to just teach tithing. It’s not enough to tell people they need to be good stewards of their money. (By the way, all of our money and resources are not ours, they are God’s) What we need to do is show them how they can be obedient. Show them how to get financially free. Show them how to spend, save, plan, and use what God has given them to leverage it for God’s kingdom. Show them how to use a budget. Show them how to get rid of debt. That’s exactly what this momentum principle is going to do. Because when the people of God are living in financial freedom, there’s no limit to what God an do through us.
Momentum is all about change. Changing our attitudes. Changing our behavior. Changing our church. Changing our community. Changing our world. Momentum is all about us accomplishing our God given mission: “Leading people into a passionate relationship with Jesus!” That’s what we are all about and as we embark on this journey together, we will all get to participate in leading many people into this amazing relationship with Jesus. Not only that, but we will draw closer in our relationship with Jesus as well. It’s hard to draw close to Him when we are not able to obey Him. But as we breakaway from the bondage of debt, we will be able to obey Christ and live in close fellowship with Him. I can’t wait! God is going to move in miraculous ways in our church and community. Buckle up for the ride of your life!
Filed under: Church, Discipleship, Finances
