The Underfunded Church

Yesterday Tom Harrison preached an outstanding sermon on how the church is under performing because she is underfunded.
Here is the link: http://www.asburytulsa.org/sermons/archives.html

I lead a study last night on the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says, "You cannot serve both God and money." The word serve is the Greek root of liturgy: you cannot serve/worship both God and money. Thinking through my life and asking some tough questions about my spending habits I am left wondering how in my life I am either serving and worshiping God or serving and worshiping money. I tithe and try to make generosity a daily rule in my life (unless it comes to food- I hate sharing food! I would just assume buy you a whole sandwich than give you a bite from mine).

For the first time in my adult life I feel that I am starting to make positive changes in my finances that transcend my tithe. It used to be that because I tithed I assumed I was not worshiping and serving money. But now, Abby and I are working our way out of debt enough that we have seen how our lives have been spent in service of money instead of having money serve us and ultimately serve God.

I've been experiencing this change through a budget process. Now, I've always had a budget but I've rarely kept to a budget. It was just too restricting. In the past year or so, we've actually been keeping to our budget which means that at times we don't have money to eat out again or buy new clothes or go out of town. In this way, it is restricting. However, we've also paid off enough debt that we have more money to give and to save and invest in things that honor God. I don't make a lot of money, but I'm seeing that even with the small amount of money I make I can actually make a pretty big impact financially for the kingdom. Its just a matter of me learning to live responsibly in all of my life. The key to me living according to a budget is simple: contentment. Am I content with what God has given me? Am I content both when I am in plenty and when I am in want? For me, the evidence of contentment is if I'm living below my means.

If I can continue to grow in contentment and continue to make my money serve me then I get excited about thinking about what I can fund for the kingdom. The church does not have to be underfunded, I can make a difference with my salary as it is now. I can make a difference that changes lives, brings justice, and spread the kingdom of God.