This weekend I am preaching on the subject of giving and generosity. Sadly, speaking about handling money is one of the most unpopular topics for pastors to preach on. Often if we touch the subject at all, we do so with the awkwardness of a 16-year old chess club member asking a cheerleader to the junior prom! And the televangelists don't help us any. Many people filter their views about Christianity through the skewed lense they see in the Big-Haired, Rolex-wearing, Benz-driving guys begging for money on TV. Please understand, I'm not judging you if you drive a Benz or wear a nice watch.....unless you are simultaneously begging for money!
Back on topic, the reality is that generosity (with our money, talent and time) is a deeply spiritual issue and is addressed in hundreds of places in the Bible. Yet (along with "Hell" and the Book of Leviticus) generosity is usually one of our least favorite subjects. This should not be so! As the soon-to-be-installed new lead pastor of our church, it is my responsibility to teach the whole counsel of God - both the comfortable and the uncomfortable. You might be thinking, "Isn't that a dangerous thing to tackle before you've even been officially installed - especially in the midst of an economic recession?" My answer would be "NO WAY!" (C'mon, I recently taught a 4-week series on SEX - and nobody ran me off for that!)
Next month, our church will celebrate the 30th year of ministry of our founding pastor - and shortly thereafter he will hand the ball off to me. I am humbled by this and reminded of what life was like 30 years ago when he began at Valley Church. America was facing deep economic recession, the wake of an unpopular war, and the heat of moral upheaval generated by the 1960's and 70's. (Does any of this sound familiar?). And through it all, Valley has become one of the most influential and impacting churches in our city. Ultimately it has been all God's doing. But God works through people! Specifically, people who learn to be increasingly generous with the precious resources God loans to us in this life - our time, talents and treasure. Our founding pastor never let the challenges of the day quench his faith in God's ability to do great things - and I pray for that same grace for myself and the people who join with me on the next leg of our journey!
If you don't have a church, come join us this week at Valley or visit us online at www.valleychurch.com. And keep checking back for our new web site coming soon!
