It was impressed upon all of us at the outset of our Comprehensive Campaign that the key to God's blessing our efforts would be our obedience and understanding of three basic Biblical principles of stewardship.
- God is the owner of all
We are stewards not owners
We are blessed to be a blessing to others
We made available to all of our churches and pastors an equipping manual for teaching Biblical stewardship. We mailed copies to each of our pastors the book by Randy Alcorn, " The Treasure Principle". In our presentations to churches and individuals we have been highlighting these principles and encouraging Biblical teaching on stewardship in all of our churches. It has been a joy to come along side our churches and offer these resources as we all continue to grow in our faith through giving.
One of the churches I visited quickly captured the vision of the CCCC and in short order pledged a substantial amount over the next five years to the Campaign. I was sure my presentation to them was not any more inspiring then any of my presentation to other churches. I was curious as to how they so quickly came to such a generous amount. So I asked. There answer shouldn't be surprising to any of us. The Biblical principles of stewardship that I had presented to them, they had been practicing for years. In fact three years earlier every member of their church purchased a copy of "The Treasure Principle", and they studied it together over a number of weeks. After that study a significant number of parishioners began tithing. As a growing church they could have easily kept the focus on themselves and found ways to continue to grow their own kingdom with the excess of giving they experienced. But they were convinced that they were being blessed in order to be a blessing to others. They have made a decision to help support existing churches that need redevelopment, and they truly want to be a part of a church multiplication movement reaching people for Christ in ways they never have before.
They captured and put into practice Treasure Principle Key # 6 from Acorn's book, which states, "God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standing of giving". To further quote Alcorn on this key principle , "God comes right out and tells us why he gives us more money then we need. It is not so we can find more ways to spend it. It is not so we can indulge ourselves and spoil our children. It is not so we can insulate ourselves from needing God's provision. It is so we can give generously".
The most vibrant churches are those that understand these basic principles of stewardship. And they are a blessing to others and a blessing to the Conference.
Terry Shanahan, CCCC Northeast Regional Minister |
