Nov 08 2007
gripping talk – six
We are approaching the final sermon in our series on finances. As we have tried to “Get a Grip” on our finances, I have been pondering. This is a series that goes beyond teaching about materialism and generosity. We have been discussing specific financial situations and offering some specific financial advice. This has left me wondering about a few basic questions.
Should we preach about specific financial crises?
How much advice should the church offer for those struggling with finances?
Is it appropriate for the church to give specific suggestions about financial strategies?
I didn’t start my thoughts with many preconceived notions, because I really hadn’t given it much thought before. I probably was a little biased to think that advice about interest and debt reduction didn’t belong in the pulpit. It all seemed too “secular.” But I have given it a lot of thought lately. I am still processing but before these thoughts slipped away, I thought I would share. These thoughts are still a little random and disconnected.
During the second Great awakening, a great emphasis was placed upon personal Bible reading. However as this movement spread, it was recognized that one obstacle to this spiritual challenge was the very practical issue of illiteracy. Churches recognized that this practical matter was a worthwhile investment because it had significant spiritual promise.
In a similar way, I think that our current cultural climate is hurt by greed and consumerism. I think it is possible that the Christian literacy movement is a fitting model for us. Those leaders recognized that it was not enough to challenge people to read their Bibles. They the skills to read them. So they invested great time and resources into the entirely secular activity of literacy skills. Being illiterate wasn’t a sin, but ignoring scripture was and literacy was a tool to address that. I wonder if some at the time complained that they should focus on the gospel.
Is that what we are doing?
Greed, consumerism and selfishness are sins. Financial incompetence, and ignorance aren’t. But they are weakness that make it harder to address the sin issues even if we wanted to. So we must not only teach freedom and righteousness, we must also teach financial literacy. We must proclaim that people should have compassion on the poor and give the budgeting skills so that they can act on their newfound compassion.
As you can tell, I have become convinced. We need to preach the broad principles of a Godly relationship with money, but we must add to this very concrete tools and training. As a culture we are as financially illiterate as our great-great(and more)-grandparents were truly illiterate at the turn of the 19th century. We have benefited immeasurably because the church was not too proud to involved itself in such “secular” matters.
I have one remaining big question. This is purely hypothetical. What would need to do if we preached on gluttony? :)
on the walk
-Ethan
