The Faithful Steward

An fruitful stewardship ministry, who can find? It's not easy. As church leaders, we often struggle to embrace the conversation around stewardship. And usually, that's because we've maintained too narrow a focus when it comes to stewardship.

To have an effective conversation around stewardship, sometimes we need to "undo" the framework we've been using. Three key realizations can help:

1. The conversation is about discipleship. Stewardship isn't about the blocking and tackling of budgeting and tracking spending. Sure, those are important - but they're the "how", not the "what" or the "why".
2. The conversation is for everyone. Stewardship isn't just for those who are struggling financially and it isn't just for those who are well-off. Because it's about discipleship, it's for everyone in the congregation.
3. The conversation is one conversation. It's not one conversation about getting out of debt for those who are struggling and a different conversation about generosity for those whom we're hoping will give more. It's one conversation about honoring God with the resources He has provided - resources owned by Him, not by us.

Podcast host James Lenhoff shows how churches can move from ineffective stewardship ministries based on insufficient understandings and divisive conversations to a holistic, fruitful stewardship ministry that encourages and grows the entire congregation in a key aspect of discipleship.

Related Articles

• Discipling Your Congregation in Biblical Stewardship
• Stewardship for the Whole Congregation
• Training Your Staff in Biblical Stewardship
• How to Disciple Your Congregation in Stewardship
• Seeds of a Fruitful Stewardship Ministry

To learn more check out www.GoodSenseMovement.org

Email James at: [email protected]

Saving isn't exciting - not nearly as exciting as, say, buying that new car or going on that great vacation. But saving does two key things for us. In the present, it grows us in Biblical characteristics like patience, perseverance, gratitude, and wisdom. And in the future, it positions us for obedience to God's leadings into generosity and other areas.

It's possible, of course, to over-save, and some have fallen into the trap of relying on their savings for security. They save and save, resisting present opportunities for generosity and enjoyment because of fear about the future.

But most of us don't have that problem. Bombarded by marketing messages, manipulated by self-centered thoughts about what we "deserve", driven by emotional need, we spend impulsively and rack up debt in the process.

Join us as host James Lenhoff leads us through a balanced approach to saving. James introduces us to key short-term savings goals like emergency savings, a 3-month net, and replacement savings; then he leads us into longer-term thinking about retirement and other more distant goals.

If you're not on a path of consistent saving, there's no time like today to start!

Related Articles

• Successful Saving
• Biblical Wisdom on Saving
• The Wise Saver (The Faithful Steward podcast)
• When Does Saving Become Hoarding?

To learn more check out www.GoodSenseMovement.org

Email James at: [email protected]

Welcome to the final installment of our three-part series on Marriage and Money. In the last two episodes, we looked at the importance of married couples becoming one financially and at the key step of understanding each other's financial backgrounds and motivations. This week, we'll wrap up the series with a discussion of the significance of shared values and priorities.

Built on a commitment to oneness and informed by an understanding of each other's backgrounds and motivations, an ongoing discussion regarding priorities and non-negotiables is the final key to charting a financial course. Two basic skills are needed: identifying priorities, and managing trade-offs.

It's been said that "You can do anything you want, but you can't do everything you want." Any realistic financial priority is achievable, but all of the priorities collectively are not. And back to the discussion about oneness - this is not about his priorities vs. her priorities. It's about shared priorities based on an agreed-on vision as a couple.

It may not be possible, for example, to send children to a private school on only one income - so the priority of private school may be in conflict with one spouse's priority of focusing on raising a family rather than having a career. A priority placed on family vacations may be in conflict with a priority on extensive children's activities such as sports.

Mapping out these priorities as a couple - and later on, as a family - is crucial both for marital and family harmony and for achieving the most important financial goals. And it's foundational for the family's financial stewardship.

If you'd like to check out the FreedUp exercise to help you identify priorities and non-negotiables, find it at this episode's blog entry.

To learn more check out www.GoodSenseMovement.org

Email James at: [email protected]

In part 2 of our three-part series on Money and Marriage, host James Lenhoff addresses some of the sources of our conflicts over money and offers insight toward building understanding with our spouses. Our financial priorities tend to be a product of several factors, including how our family of origin handled money and our own money motivations.

James examines how differences in families of origin can create conflicting assumptions and priorities about how to handle money as a couple. One spouse comes from a family where there never seemed to be quite enough and the other comes from a family that always seemed to have plenty (even if that impression was created through debt!). This will impact how each spouse prioritizes the uses of money and, if unexamined, will often lead to arguments based on clashing priorities.

Similarly, different underlying money motivations (some of which come as a result of those families of origin) create further discrepancies in priorities. One spouse is motivated by security (possibly as a result of not having enough when growing up) and so is a hyper-saver. The other spouse is motivated by freedom (having been too restricted when growing up) and wants to spend on experiences and purchases. The conflicts that arise from these tensions present themselves as arguments over numbers, but they're really clashes of priorities.

Join us as James sheds light on these sources of disparate priorities and offers suggestions for building unity out of differences. And check out the podcast blog entry for the Money Motivations quiz mentioned in the podcast.

To learn more check out www.GoodSenseMovement.org

Email James at: [email protected]

We hear it all the time - arguments over money are a leading cause of divorce. But are these arguments really about money? Or are they about something deeper?

What's really behind this is that couples are not following the Scriptural principle of becoming one. Sometimes, this is because one or both spouses haven't ever really left their family of origin - either in physical distance or in mental approach to life. Each one brings into the marriage the patterns of their family of origin - patterns that inevitably conflict. The tension created shows up in many places, one of the most obvious being earning and spending patterns and assumptions.

Other times, couples fall short of becoming one because each spouse has established his or her own financial priorities and patterns. This is particularly true when couples marry later, which is becoming more common. Each spouse has accumulated certain assets and maybe a certain amount of debt - and neither wants to give up their own stuff or take on the other's debt.

This failure to become fully one leads to arguments over many things - one of the most pervasive being fights over money. But the fights aren't really about numbers - they're about control, or shame, or failure to trust.

Join us as host James Lenhoff begins a three-part series on Money and Marriage. In this episode, James highlights the need for oneness as a couple and reflects on the difference that makes in shared vision, goals, and finances.

To learn more check out www.GoodSenseMovement.org

Email James at: [email protected]

Stewardship in the early stages of life is pretty simple - the decisions are simple, the options are limited, and the outcomes are fairly straightforward. That doesn't mean it's always easy - but it is far less complex than it becomes as we move through life.

The early career stage provides the best opportunity to establish life-long stewardship principles and practices. Things like being a diligent earner who adds value to the team and the company rather than just punching a clock. Things like beginning a long-term saving plan and aggressively eliminating consumer debt.

Next up come some key life decisions involving many factors - not all of them financial. Marriage requires us to learn to become one with another person financially as well as in other areas. Starting a family leads to decisions about schooling, one career vs. two, buying a house, and others.

Raising that family provides opportunities to disciple our children in stewardship by inviting them appropriately into key financial discussions and helping them to understand the nature and importance of trade-offs. One of these key trade-offs is the prioritization of saving for children's college vs. saving for retirement.

Stewardship doesn't stop in retirement. This time of life provides even wider opportunities for whole-life stewardship and for discipling others.

Podcast host James Lenhoff continues our discussion of stewardship through the stages of life as he examines these stages and highlights key decisions, disciplines, and opportunities. If you missed part one of this discussion, find it here: Stewardship Through the Stages of Life, pt. 1.

To learn more check out www.GoodSenseMovement.org

Email James at: [email protected]

Like many things, our stewardship evolves as we go through the stages of life. And like many things, the earlier we start on this journey, the better prepared we are to continue the journey throughout our lives.

Many people struggle with stewardship as adults because they were never taught stewardship principles as children. They never had the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them while the mistakes were small, so inevitably they have to learn through much larger mistakes later in life.

One of the key stages in life is the college years, when students begin to be barraged with credit card offers and opportunities to spend resources they don't have. Pile this on top of student debt, and those mistakes can take years - even decades - to recover from.

Debt racked up while in college plagues many believers into their early careers, forming a major obstacle to key stewardship elements such as giving and saving. Money becomes a key focus, and making ends meet consumes the thoughts and energy - keeping believers from wholeheartedly pursuing knowing and serving God.

Join podcast host James Lenhoff for a look into key principles of stewardship in these earlier stages of life and some strategies that will set us up for financial freedom throughout our lives. This is the first of a two-part series on stewardship through life's stages; join us next week for part 2!

To learn more check out www.GoodSenseMovement.org

Email James at: [email protected]

When people are in trouble, they often turn to the church for help. And many churches are prepared to respond through their benevolence ministries. Serving people in dire financial circumstances is a key way of showing Jesus' love and compassion.

But often, these difficult situations are caused by financial habits that will continue to foster crises until they're addressed. While aid in a crisis is important, a stewardship ministry that addresses the deeper financial issues can extend that aid into life-changing financial patterns. And while immediate aid reflects Jesus' love, training in stewardship forms a basis for lifelong discipleship.

To make a lasting impact, a benevolence ministry needs to help people connect stewardship principles with their financial situations. Benevolence ministries that offer stewardship training can often prevent recurring crises and take people from the bondage of financial instability to the freedom that comes from following Biblical financial principles.

Benevolence by itself can create a sense of dependence; but calling beneficiaries into a lifestyle of stewardship empowers them on a journey to financial freedom. This journey gives them more than financial stability; it engenders hope. Two key elements of this journey are a solid stewardship curriculum and a stewardship coaching ministry.

Podcast host James Lenhoff discusses how your church can transform benevolence ministry into a discipleship-empowering agent. If you'd like to learn more about stewardship coaching, check out the Good Sense Coaches program.

Check out www.GoodSenseMovement.org

Email James at: [email protected]

So often, we think of stewardship in the narrow sense of addressing specific financial situations. If we're struggling with debt, then stewardship means being disciplined in our spending and getting out of debt. If we're well-off, then stewardship is all about giving and generosity.

And in the church, we tend to separate people in different financial situations and have separate conversations that address those specific financial conditions. We run programs designed to help people get out of debt. We run giving campaigns to encourage people to give. Maybe we even address our top donors with specific giving opportunities.

In the process, we fall short of an overall understanding of stewardship. Whether we're struggling or well-off, stewardship principles don't change. God still owns everything we have, and he calls us to honor him through faithful stewardship - whether we have a little or a lot. God still calls us to gratitude, to faith, to Biblical wisdom regardless of our financial position.

In the context of a wholistic view of stewardship, specific conversations do need to be held around establishing stability, gaining clarity, and leaving a legacy. When we think of stewardship as an element of discipleship, these conversations grow deeper than numbers. They go to purpose, character, and how we manage all that God has provided.

Podcast host James Lenhoff summarizes these conversations and shows how churches can maximize discipleship in the area of finances.

Check out the FreedUp app mentioned by James, at getfreedup.com.

To learn more check out www.GoodSenseMovement.org

Email James at: [email protected]

Join us as podcast host James Lenhoff paints a wholistic picture of stewardship and invites us to envision and commit to whole-life stewardship in the new year.

Stewardship starts with our finances. Jesus taught that we have to choose between serving God and serving money, and this is a lifelong journey.

But stewardship doesn't end with finances. All that we have is from God - our time and talents, our spiritual gifts, our education and knowledge, our opportunities, our influence and relationships, and so much more.

The new year is a great time to engage the conversation around how we will steward all that we have in the coming year. How will we utilize the resources God has given us? How will we care for and multiply those resources (including such basic things as our health)? How will we make them count for God's glory, the good of others, and our own benefit?

When we manage our finances faithfully, we open the door to honoring God with our labor, our influence, our experience, and so much more.

To learn more check out www.GoodSenseMovement.org

Email James at: [email protected]