Stewardship
Checkbook Theology
Do you ever think about how your checkbook reflects your
beliefs? What would someone looking at our check registers and credit card
receipts assume were our priorities?
In the law of Moses, the people of Israel were taught to bring
their first fruits to God as a temple sacrifice, and these first fruits were to
be the best-a lamb without blemish, the purest grains, the most luscious fruit.
God was to be given the first and the best. That was the nature of the tithe- a
tenth portion given to the community in God's name-ten percent of gross income
in today's language. It was a given.
Our checkbooks, net worth statements and estate plans reflect
our theology. The custom of American culture is to take care of your own needs
first as well as the needs of your family. Leaving something to the church or to
other charitable causes in our estate plans seems to be a new thought. Recent
estimates indicate that ten to thirty trillion dollars of wealth will be
transferred from one generation to the next in the coming two decades. How much
of that will go to support the institutions that have nourished us-our churches,
schools and communities? How much will be left to strengthen our common life or
to care for God's creation?
- How do we decide what to give?
- Is it whatever is left over when we've satisfied our own
desires?
- Isn't this just the opposite of what our faith teaches us?
How do you spend your money?
Scripture teaches us that all we have is a gift from God and
that we live by the grace of God. This perspective helps to keep us humble when
we come to make decisions about how we will use the income and assets we
control. A theology of stewardship must bear in mind that all of creation is
under the reign of God. Caring for God's creation by using our treasure, our
time and our talents for the good of the whole will move us closer to
accountability. It will also draw us nearer to God and to all that God has
created.
Excerpted from Graceful Living: Your Faith,
Values, and Money in Changing Times by the Rev. Laura Dunham, Certified
Financial Planner. Published by RCA Distribution, Inc., 2002. Order at
800-968-7221. More information at www.gracefulliving.com PDS #68700-02-105
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