The Lausanne Global Conversation is on the World Wide Open Network
Author: The Resource Mobilisation Working Group
Date: 19.06.2010
Category: Global Generosity
Editor’s Note: This Cape Town 2010 Advance Paper has been written by Ram Gidoomal in collaboration with the Resource Mobilization Working Group as an overview of the topic to be discussed at the Multiplex session on “Mobilizing Resources for World Evangelization.” Responses to this paper through the Lausanne Global Conversation will be fed back to the author and others to help shape their final presentations at the Congress.
Introduction
At the beginning of the twenty first century, an unprecedented opportunity exists to disciple the church in the fundamental biblical pattern of holistic stewardship. As the church becomes increasingly aware of issues of sustainability, seeks to understand and foster the role of business, and expands the message of the grace of giving as a central motif of the Christian life, an environment for transformation takes root: personal and corporate.
Christ-centered stewardship—that is, management of God’s resources for his intended purposes—will begin to foster more accountability for business and ministry, more collaboration among ministry efforts for greater effectiveness, and healthy motivations and patterns of giving in the lives of all Christians, regardless of wealth, location or status.
Section 1. Kingdom Stewardship: Christ-Centered Steward Discipleship
While most, if not all, Christians employ stewardship language to describe God’s mission in the world, the foundational theological understanding of stewardship varies greatly across denominations and religious traditions.
Some groups think stewardship is tithing. Others think stewardship means volunteering or living a simple lifestyle. Still others identify stewardship with environmental conservation, social action, charitable giving or the making of disciples through evangelism.
Each of these good and necessary activities points to an essential facet of stewardship. But each on its own falls short of capturing the inspiring vision of biblical stewardship as a form of whole-life discipleship that embraces every legitimate vocation and calling to fulfill God’s mission in the world. In this sense, holistic stewardship, transformational generosity, workplace ministry, business as mission, and the theology of work movement all share a common point of origin in the biblical view of mission as whole-life discipleship.
Why has this inspiring vision suffered a setback? It was set back for two primary reasons: (1) because evangelicals siphoned stewardship off from a holistic understanding of God’s mission in order to raise funds for global missions and the local church, and (2) because evangelicals, at the same time, upheld the problematic distinction between clerical vocations and ordinary vocations, which only served to reinforce the age-old wall that had been erected between sacred and secular callings.
In the immediate aftermath of the First International Congress on World Evangelization, John Stott, in his 1975 Oxford lectures entitled Christian Mission in the Modern World, pinpointed the theological root cause of the problem. He discerned that evangelicals seemed unable to integrate satisfactorily the Great Commandment (Lev 19:18), to “love your neighbor as yourself,” with the Great Commission (Matt 28:19), to “go and make disciples of all nations.” God’s mission, Stott urged in keeping with Matthew 5:13-16, “describes rather everything the church is sent into the world to do. [It] embraces the church’s double voc
ation of service to be ‘the salt of the earth’ and ‘the light of the world’” (pp. 30-31). The aim of Lausanne is for the whole church to present the whole gospel to the whole world.
We in the Resource Mobilization Working Group believe that a proper understanding of the scope of God’s mission places a stewardship responsibility on every Christian to join with the Son in the power of the Spirit to fulfill the Father’s purpose in creation and redemption. At its most basic level, biblical stewardship is holistic and missional, touching every area of life and employing every legitimate vocation in service to Jesus Christ, who is “the firstborn of all creation” and “the head of … the church” (Col 1:15-20).
In light of this renewed sense of mission, the charge of the Resource Mobilization Working Group is to offer the global church a robust concept of kingdom stewardship and generosity through the distribution of strategic biblical resources, as well as to advance a global opportunity to increase kingdom collaboration to support sustainable ministry worldwide through the use of today’s emerging technologies and unprecedented connectivity.
Kingdom Stewardship
Stewardship is a central theme throughout Scripture much like the fundamental biblical themes of creation, fall, redemption and consummation. Before we go much further, however, we need to come to a common understanding of the term.
The term stewardship has been abused over the years. Webster defines stewardship as the “management of someone else’s property.” This may be an accurate enough definition for most uses, but the word stewardship is a translation of the Greek word oikonomia, which relates primarily to the financial management of a household. The term is a combination of oikos, house, and nomos, law.
In classical Greek usage, the word had two meanings: (1) to exercise an administrative capacity, and (2) the office of the administrator, or steward. It was used of such things as the arrangement of a building, the disposition of speech, and more particularly, the financial administration of a city.
In the gospels, oikonomia is used principally to mean the management or administration of the property of others (Matt 20:8; Luke 12:42; and Luke 16:2). Matthew’s account of the Parable of the Talents (25:14-30) and Luke’s Parable of the Dishonest Manager (16:1-13) clearly illustrate this usage of oikonomia.
In Paul’s letters, however, oikonomia is given its fullest and widest significance. It is applied (1) to the responsibility entrusted to Paul for preaching the gospel (1 Cor 9:17); (2) to the stewardship committed to Paul to fulfill the divine plan and purpose relative to the church which is the body of Christ (Eph 3:2); and (3) to the arrangement or administration of God, which as the letter to the Ephesians states, was “set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph 1:9-10; 3:9; 1Tim 1:4). The meaning here is that God is the Master of a great household (cosmos) and is wisely administering his rule over it; this he is doing through the person of his son, Jesus Christ, who has in turn commissioned his human stewards (Gen 1:28-30) to manage the Father’s household through the animating power of the Holy Spirit.
At its core, biblical stewardship is a coronation of God’s human stewards to fulfill the Father’s mission in creation and redemption. This is a profound privilege and goes well beyond simply being a wise trustee of God’s money and property. In fact, Scripture tells us that each of us is a steward of God’s creation and design for every area of life.
Our management of God’s resources is not a request; it is a fact. We do not choose to be managers of God’s resources; God has already entrusted his resources to us.
The Who of Stewardship
Almost everyone agrees that we need to be effective and responsible managers of money, time, resources and opportunities. Whether we are talking about financial stewardship, environmental stewardship or corporate stewardship, who would argue that we should not manage each of these areas effectively?
Yet, if we go back to the definition of stewardship, that is, “the management of someone else’s resources,” we first need to determine the Who of stewardship. By definition, we are managing for someone else. But for whom are we managing these arenas of life? Depending on whom you ask, you will get a variety of answers. Scripture, however, tells us that we are managers of God’s estate. We see already in Genesis 1 that God is the sole founder and owner of the cosmic enterprise we call the universe. Scripture leaves no doubt about his uncontested ownership and control of all he has made, from the earth itself to natural resources to plants and animals.
At no time in Scripture do we ever read about God relinquishing his ownership of anything he created. Psalm 24:1-2 reminds us, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.” God’s sovereign right to his creation is further reinforced by Psalm 50:10-12, “For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.”
God is the Who of stewardship. We are managing for the living God. Other people or organizations may benefit along the way as we become effective stewards. But our primary responsibility is to the One who entrusted all things into our care.
The What of Stewardship
Having established God as the creator and owner of all that we see and experience, the next question to ask is, “What has God entrusted to our care?” The NIV Stewardship Study Bible reveals more than a dozen distinct areas of life that God has designed for us to steward. These areas reflect the what of stewardship.
A close study of Scripture shows that God’s stewards have been entrusted with a diverse array of stewardship responsibilities as follows: God’s mission in the world; truth; new life in Christ; tangible assets such as money and possessions; grace and forgiveness; the environment; God’s revelation of his will in the Bible; institutions such as the family, the state, and the church; our bodies; time; relationships of all kinds in the family and beyond; our character formation; our various service roles; and our talents, natural aptitudes and spiritual gifts.
This kind of comprehensive management is a profound responsibility and goes well beyond simply being a wise trustee of God’s money and property. When this understanding of stewardship is distilled to its core idea, we see that biblical stewards are managers in trust of God’s design for every area of life. Of course, the privilege of being God’s stewards requires that each of us grasps what he or she personally has been called to manage. And furthermore, as the people of God sent to all regions of the world and sectors of society, we must maintain a sound understanding of the church’s double vocation of service to be “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world,” and the implications for our daily lives and our theology of stewardship.
The How of Stewardship
The first major theme of stewardship recurring throughout Scripture is the fact that God is the author and owner of all things seen and unseen. Closely associated with this overarching theme of God’s ownership is the idea that our effective stewardship of all things must be evaluated by God’s standards. In other words, since God is the Creator of this world, who better to ask about how to manage every arena of life effectively than the author and designer himself?
Stewardship and generosity are two of the Christian’s most profound privileges. They are privileges granted by a God who loves us and wants only the best for each of us. God does not want us to view them as responsibilities to be performed or obligations placed on us by an uncaring God.
Imagine—the God of the universe has called you and me to be his stewards. This curious fact alone should move us to discover not only what has been entrusted to our care, but also how God intends every area of life to be managed for his ultimate glory.
We serve a perfect God––a God who does not have some vague idea of how life best functions. God’s design for life is flawless. Since humanity fell into sin and became separated from God, our tendency is to manage life as if it were our own—as if we know what is best for us and how God’s mission can best be accomplished.
We can only understand the How of stewardship when we seek to know and understand the Who of stewardship. Effective stewardship can only be achieved when we diligently seek the One for whom we are commissioned as royal stewards.
The Why of Stewardship
Why would an all-knowing, all-powerful God, who is in control of all he created, appoint us as stewards over his resources?
God does not need us to be his stewards. God is more than capable of managing his creation. If God does not need us to be his stewards, why has he chosen us to be his stewards?
Scripture reveals seven purposes for which God has commissioned us as his stewards.
First, God wants his stewards to have impeccable character. Our effective stewardship prompts us toward who we are called to be as individuals. We are God’s image bearers. This is a profound privilege and responsibility. Such a responsibility requires a lifetime of intentional stewardship.
Second, God seeks to develop in his stewards a sense of unflinching commitment. Our effective stewardship prompts us toward obedience to God regardless of the cost. God entrusts resources into our responsibility—money, assets, intelligence, time, freedom, institutions, relationships of all kinds, children and the possessions that can sometimes clutter life. In return, he expects our management of these things to reflect our unflinching commitment to him.
Third, God wants his stewards to exhibit conformity to his will as we become more conformed to his image. Our effective stewardship prompts us toward conforming to God̵
7;s will and desires. It is only in our relentless and consistent pursuit of God that he reveals his good and perfect plan for our lives. And his perfect will for our lives is far beyond what we can dream up on our own.
Fourth, God desires his stewards to embody compassion as we act on the Great Commandment to love your neighbor as yourself (Lev 19:18). Our effective stewardship prompts us to place others’ needs before our own. Throughout Scripture we read of God’s desire for us to be generous givers, to live life open-handedly. The apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 8:7 that God further desires us to “excel in the grace of giving.” We were designed to live in relationship, in community with others. And God desires that we share his heart for those he places in our path.
Fifth, God has gifted each of his stewards with a unique calling. Our effective stewardship prompts us to fulfill our unique role in the Body of Christ (1Cor 12:12-30). God lovingly informs us in Psalm 139:13 that he has knit each one of us together in our mother’s womb. Individually we are unique creatures, and as a species we are unique among all of the creatures God brought into being.
Sixth, God wants his stewards to have a sense of unparalleled commission. Our effective stewardship prompts us to recognize the privilege of sharing in the fulfillment of God’s mission. As we seek to become effective stewards in every area of life, we become much better equipped to play a part, however small or large, in the unparalleled commission of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Seventh, God wants his stewards to engage in unending celebration of his glory. Our effective stewardship prompts us to glorify continually the One who has chosen us to be his stewards. As we mature in our stewardship, our motivation for the management of his gifts increasingly reflects our desire to glorify, honor and praise him simply because he is worthy of that expression.
Becoming Kingdom Stewards
God’s purposes for stewardship may best be understood through the lens of his plan, his people and his process:
God’s Plan. God has entrusted us with his Son to repair our broken relationship with him. He entrusts us with a relationship with his Son. Our response is perhaps the greatest stewardship decision we will ever personally face.
God’s People. God has also entrusted us with the momentous responsibility to implement his mission in the world. He could have chosen a multitude of other ways—including options that we cannot humanly conceive of—and yet he chose you and me to accomplish this urgent task. Think of it—God, knowing that we have a tendency to fail him on a regular basis, chose and still chooses us to spread the gospel and to make disciples of all nations.
God’s Process. In his infinite wisdom, God has also entrusted his resources to us to accomplish the tasks he set before us. He provides us with everything we need to accomplish his divine purposes. He chooses to rely on us to share our resources, and to exercise our God-given vocations and callings to fulfill his mission in the world.
All of us have been entrusted with resources designed and created by God. Each of us has the opportunity to serve and glorify God with what he has entrusted to our care. Every individual is a steward by God’s intention. But God does not want us to manage his creation by default. He wants us to manage it by design––his design. God’s design to complete his mission in and through the church requires a significant degree of collaboration and generosity among his people in order to create effective and sustainable ministries worldwide. It also requires a savvy and aggressive use of technology in order to mobilize resources and to share valuable information across wide geographical regions.
Section 2. Kingdom Stewardship: Technology and the Internet in the Christ Following World
Current Trends and Opportunities for Growth in Generosity and Resource Mobilization
The Internet, much like the Gutenberg Bible, continues to revolutionize how Christ followers around the world get access to information, inspiration and community. We in the Resource Mobilization Working Group see this trend accelerating at unprecedented rates. With the advent of the ‘Web 2.0’ sites––sites that offer fluid flow of information, targeted communication, and immediate dialogue via dominant platforms of internet communication––as well as the ever-increasing access to mobile technology worldwide, the continued innovation of internet capabilities can and will dramatically impact the Christ following ministry in the coming twenty years.
Nowhere do we see this trend having more of an impact than in resource mobilization. Christ followers at organizations like Kiva.org, CharityWater.org, and GlobalFast.org, as but a few examples, are leading the way using their God-given talents to bring innovative giving tools to the world.
One of the great aspects of the Internet (and technology developments as a whole) is how it democratizes content and community, providing information and e-commerce applications for both the modern day Widow and her mite, and the Rich Young Ruler and his fortune.
If the current crop of resource mobilization platforms that have come into prominence over the past several years is any indication, we know that the leading platforms twenty years from now are likely to be entirely different. Many of those future sites, however, are likely to be inspired by the current crop of platforms that impact resource mobilization:
Such websites include, but are not limited to:
We believe there are a number of essential ingredients that any leading resource mobilization website must have to be successful:
The current state of Christ following Web 2.0 sites looks a lot more like a post Tower of Babel reality than a potential Acts 2 environment. If you are a Christ follower in Lisbon, Portugal, and have a passion for church planting movements in Cameroon, you are not currently likely to find a Christ follower in Manchester, England who shares that passion or one in Chicago who cares about Christ-Centered Economic Development in Cameroon. With thousands of current ministry sites, they are likely to be going to different websites to get their information.
A new initiative has arisen among more than a dozen leading websites to share content and community among a federated yet independent and autonomous group of websites. Aside from the shared development costs (why build twenty different mapping modules or Facebook applications?), this presents a great opportunity to share content and community through APIs and shared contributions to a back-end, behind-the-scenes platform administered by a not-for-profit with a governing board made of ministry leaders and Christ following technologists from the for-profit sector. For more information on this initiative, please contact RWMG member, Henry Kaestner.
Finally, Web 2.0 sites are not the only means by which technology is impacting resource mobilization.
Some examples include the new podcast from the people at MinistrySpotlight, and the digitization of the NIV Stewardship Study Bible and related resources by the Stewardship Council.
In the Resource Mobilization Working Group, we do not believe that God needs our money to do his work, but we do believe that in marshalling our resources for his glory, we are brought closer to God. When used in giving/resource mobilization, technology is a ministry in and of itself, seeking to transform efficiently the life of the recipient AND the giver.
© The Lausanne Movement 2010
Keywords: kingdom, stewardship, resources, technology, mission, Christ-centred, discipleship, holistic, sustainability, management, responsibility, entrusted, generosity, privilege, commitment, compassion, image, calling, equipping
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Australia
Thanks....the beginning of the paper is quite powerful and then it seems to lose its focus. Perhaps the "whole- life discipleship" concept should have been expanded more and its link to the new technologies should have been explored.
17.09.2010
Jamaica
I’m already sharing this paper. So much good stuff. In the end it boils down to what God wants to achieve in us and through us. The final section on technology was a bit blurry for me so maybe that could be reviewed. I know it represents a modern (technological) medium to accomplish but it almost seems like an appendage to what was an already complete presentation.
14.09.2010
Kenya
It seems that this discussion ought to link in to the one about prosperity gospel. As long as powerful players in the Christian West are so oriented to giving of resources, the fans of prosperity Gospel, surely, continue to be fanned? Of course the same concern should also go beyond those in the church.
Giving has always been considered a virtue I guess. The problem is with the ’receiving’. We know that in Islam, beggars must be there, because the faithful are required to give to beggars. If Christianity is not different, then for us also - beggars must be there. Yet, we don’t like to encourage for there to be beggars, as we want our giving to be strategic in such a way as it precludes the need for more giving. This is in a sense unrealistic.
This is where massive building projects and the like have often had a role to play. Buildings (the Jerusalem temple, St. Peters in Rome etc.) require a lot of giving without spoiling a section of the population by turning them into beggars. The buildings arising are architectural reminders of God’s presence and glory.
The thinking that ’the labourers are many but the money is few’ I am afraid is misguided. In the Third World, money is hard to come by, so yes if you pay them there are endless people who will be ’evangelists’. But, that is not the nature of ’good evangelists’. God’s servants are called to make sacrifices, not to rise to the top of the economic pile, surely? If serving God becomes the same as ’making a lot of money’, of course there are a lot of labourers!
06.08.2010
United States
I enjoyed this article and think it has some very useful conceptual work.
I’d like to echo and affirm another comment regarding the disjunct between section 1 and section 2. It does seem like Section 1 offers a broad, biblical overview on stewardship, but section 2 does focus very narrowly on technology and on giving.
I’d also be curious to see some reflection on the hindrances to a reliance on technology: what are some of the drawbacks and concerns? If more giving goes to ministries that can afford professional websites, bloggers, and great youtube videos, what will that mean for ministries without those resources? Is there a risk of excaberating a disparity between those who are gifted at fund development and those who are gifted in ministry? (I recognize that this is not a strict either-or!). Or of people getting pulled into online social worlds, connecting with Christians around the world, at the expense of evangelism, social justice, and participation in their families?
Thanks, again, for a helpful article!
06.08.2010
United States
We posted the following quote from the Advance Paper on facebook and recieved the responses below:
"In the Resource Mobilization Working Group, we do not believe that God needs our money to do his work, but we do believe that in marshalling our resources for his glory, we are brought closer to God. When used in giving/resource mobilization, technology is a ministry in and of its...elf, seeking to transform efficiently the life of the recipient AND the giver."
Alison Swihart What I’ve been thinking about over and over lately is where Jesus says, the harvest is ready but the laborers are few. I see a world where the laborers are many, the money is few. I don’t know what happened. It is true that God does not "need" our resources, but unless the resources are there, the "harvest" can’t get done.
David B. Doty God does not even need us! But the fact is, He chooses to work through us.
The way this is worded it almost comes across (unless read carefully) that the group is excluding money from their "resources." While I am sure that is not the case,... the jump from money to technology seems to jumble the meaning to the point I almost want to ask, "What are you trying to say?" That is, it could probably be clearer because I would assume sharing technology would require some capital investment.
Nell Green I agree with an asset based approach. Money isn’t everything, but it is a component. Everyone has something to contribute....
Averell U. Aragon Evangelism/Missions always involves three components: sender, sent ones, and cents.
Scott Stoops First, "our" money is really God’s to begin with. He asks only what he has entrusted to us anyway. I agree that bringing anything that we have for the kingdom of God brings him glory and draws us nearer to him. All of these things are acts of worship to our God and ministry to those to whom we’ve been called.
06.08.2010
United States
Thank you, Ram Gidoomal and the RMWG, for your paper. Your list of resources reminds me of how much God has given us and that we must live every dimension of life in response to God’s grace. How daunting, if it were not for the power of the Spirit! While I appreciate that you highlighted multiple resources of which we should be stewards, I would like to comment as a woman from the West on stewardship of financial resources.
More than thirty-five years ago, Christians endorsed the following statement in the Lausanne Covenant: “Those of us who live in affluent circumstances accept our duty to develop a simple life-style in order to contribute more generously to both relief and evangelism.” I believe that as a people, we in the West have not fulfilled our duty. Will we do so within the next thirty-five years?
That you can refer in your paper to some who understand stewardship as living a simple lifestyle means there are people who have fulfilled this duty. However, I think it is safe to say that most people living in affluent circumstances continue to create their budgets and evaluate their lifestyles against the norm of affluence surrounding them, rather than the norm of nonaffluence around the world.
One example that reflects this practice is seen on GlobalFast.org, which you mentioned in your paper. Know that I am excited about the work and mission of Globalfast and I do not discourage anyone from participating in their mission; however, their website presents the following description of sacrificial living under its “Why Us” tab that I highlight to illustrate my point: “Globalfast is a totally new way to give. By giving up one meal each month, you change lives without changing your budget. You give off your plate, not out of your wallet.”
This description accommodates a Western understanding of affluence, even if Globalfast does not endorse that understanding, because it allows us Westerners to continue thinking we do not have anything to give from our wallets; sacrificing a meal is enough—we do not need to revise our budgets. Is one meal a month sacrificial giving for an affluent people? Or is it a reflection that we do not consider it necessary to modify our budgets, perhaps because we think we cannot without being financially irresponsible?
I think that, unfortunately, many of us from affluent peoples do not think we have anything to give from our wallet because, in part, we continue to function according to an affluent definition of affluence; we do not recognize that our norm is affluence, because we do not recognize how much we could live without.
Changing our understanding of affluence is difficult, and possibly more difficult is living under a revised budget and then actually giving away the money that was saved. But we must fulfill our duty in the Lausanne Covenant and our calling as stewards to revise our budgets so we have money to give. That, for the affluent, would be a more appropriate form of sacrificial giving.
Again, I do not want to discourage people from sacrificing a meal a month or contributing even more to Globalfast’s efforts. I am simply using Globalfast.org to highlight a misconception that seems to permeate my culture and people.
Perhaps we need to revisit the financial aspect of stewardship in Cape Town. By doing so we may benefit from the help of those with a different definition of affluence to help us recognize our affluent lifestyles. Redefining affluence will not suddenly make us generous, or people who tithe more than a mere 2.8 percent, but at least allocating our resources differently will create freedom for our generosity to express itself when it has developed as a new norm.
13.07.2010
Nigeria
@ kande:
Thanks Deborah for this frank review. may I add that its not just in the West that we need adjustments in our budget. If we are serious with our heavenly calling, we need to do a lot more. What informs our building designs? What informs our vehicle types and models, even our clothings and shoes? Modesty is dead even among professing Evangelicals. I completly agree with you but ask for a wider application.
13.07.2010
United States
@ besoman:
Hello Mbah Chukwu. Thank you for your comment. If you don’t mind me asking, do you prefer to be called by your surname or your first name? I’m not very familiar with West African culture, but some people I know from East Africa prefer to use their surname. Anyway, let me respond to your comment.
First of all, thanks for supporting my position. I appreciate that you were willing to comment and expand the application to other parts of the world. Yes, people certainly live extravagantly outside of the West as well. However, I feel led to critique my own society, as I think we find ourselves in a slightly different predicament because of generally living on a day-to-day basis removed from the economic level that is considered normal in most of the world. Our situation may require a different approach to lifestyle change than yours would.
For example (essentially the flip side of what I originally said), I think my people see lifestyles of lower economic levels as unsatisfactory and abnormal, and we therefore think we should strive to bring people to our own economic level. But why should we not meet somewhere in the middle? A solution to our situation, then, may need to start with redefining affluence and learning to be satisfied with less. But if in your context people recognize their wealth because they have the contrast of poverty right next to them but still live extravagantly, your solution must be different to address a different cause.
What do you see in particular that holds people back from living more simply in your context?
I know this goal is idealistic and people have pled with us and instructed us to adjust our lifestyles many times before, but why should we give up and say it is not possible? God has worked in people just like he can work in anyone else to try to be better stewards. This change is about the Holy Spirit at work in us, so surely we can do better than we have. I ask that we reopen for discussion, here or at the congress, how we can at least make a concerted effort to progress towards change.
15.07.2010
Nigeria
@ kande:
Hi, Deborah, Sorry, I thought that I had responded to this comment. In the first place I accept whatever I’m called. However, here (West Africa) we prefer to be addressed by our second name. This is because we believe that it links us to the family but i have discovered that first names are more informal and possibly mor imtimate.
I still think that the issue is global. yes people live with poverty right before them and yet they are afluent, however sometimes ignorantly. Let me give an example. i have discovered that many of my friends were not properly informed before choosing the cars they use. they bought vehicles they thought were cheap only to discover that its running cost was inhibiting. Some were not informed about their diet and spend so much money on things that have very cheap local substitutes. The greatest inhibiton to giving that I have found here include ignorance, lack of planning or proper planning, lack of contentment (afluence) especially what you identified as the believe that a lower lfestyle is ungodly. I will not forget the lack of accountability that is observed among Christian leaders especially as they live clearly above their means. i pray that we improve on these!
26.07.2010
United States
I very much appreciate the original paper and the comments by Cody and Erin.
Cody is right, the LGC (and the underlying WorldWideOpen.org) platform do not get their due in the technology section of this paper. I know, because I wrote that section :), the LGC didn’t yet exist when we wrote it, but you are very right it needs to be a part.
Erin is right to want a smaller, more concise version of the paper. I hope that Ram will permit me a chance to paraphase a bit:
There are 3 major questions about GIVING (stewardship is a bit of a larger animal, I hope you’ll permit me to just focus on the GIVING, rather than managing side): WHY GIVE? WHERE to GIVE? HOW to GIVE?
Of the 3, the most important, by far (I believe), is WHY GIVE? Do we give because of the OT tithe....out of guilt, because it’s what our friends do? OR, are we giving out of gratitude for the incredible GIFT that’s been given us....that though we are justly deserving God’s displeasure (I am increasingly aware of just how much in my case), that he GAVE his only Son so that we might be reconciled to him. WOW!! Once we see this clearly, we can then look at the very important (but subordinate) questions of WHERE and HOW and then the related questions of stewardship.
Friends, the WorldWide Church gives 2.8%....and much of that is to serving the debt of domestic (US) church building campaigns. Something is wrong...very wrong. Until we as a church focus on the BIBLICAL message of generosity, particularly that laid out in the NT, then I believe we are very, very far away from seeing God’s will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
25.06.2010
United States
@ henrykaestner:
Henry, can some documentation be provided to support the 2.8% and, in particular, its being directed towards building campaigns? That would be extremely helpful as it is a compelling statistic.
25.06.2010
United States
@ henrykaestner:
Thank you Henry, for that clarification. Your last paragraph sums up the focus really well. I apologize for jumping ahead and possibly distracting others from hearing the truth you are sharing. There is a lot to learn and I do hope many people write in and build upon this as we move in the direction of unity. You are spot on when you mention the end goal as God’s Will being done here on earth. We can only get there by beginning with being good stewards, as your article declares. May God be with you as you speak His truth on this---I am immersed in the American church and have watched the wrongs you mentioned and standing up for The Truth is not easy here. However, if I love Jesus then I must put on His armor which includes the sword of Truth and as my dear Brother in Christ , Oguazi Onyemobi, often says, I must do so not just to defend the oppressed but to be victorious...so that God’s Will is done here on earth as it is in heaven. You have my support as it is time for the truth you are speaking to be on the front burner. My two cents on WHY GIVE? So that we can learn God’s Way...for by giving, our love is brought to maturity and when our love is mature, we have no fear. Thus, we have confidence for the Last Day. Deducted from 1st John 4:17-18. Just one of a myriad of reasons to give:)
25.06.2010
Nigeria
@ Cody_Lorance:
Can I send the burget and/or financial accounts of a group. 2.8% I cannot prove but that its used for building and maintainance is easy - see the account papers of even missionay organisations.
06.07.2010
Nigeria
@ henrykaestner:
While commending you and the team for an excellent work in progress and completly agreeing with the three questions and their order of importance, I feel that the question of WHAT is not completly settled in the HOW. It still seems to me as if we are begging Christians to ’give’ to the one who needs nothing from us. Are we giving to God or working for ourselves when we give?
06.07.2010
United States
@ besoman:
Hey, brother, sorry for the delay in replying. Actually, I don’t think I understood your comment here. Can you rephrase? By the way, I do not doubt the 2.8% figure. However, I am trying to be more responsible in the way I use stats.
15.07.2010
Nigeria
@ Cody_Lorance:
I have statistics that could prove that most of the funds is used for buildings and building maintainance. The budget of most organisations will easily prove it. I don’t think we have any disagreement Cody.
26.07.2010
Taiwan (ROC)
I loved the start of this article but from page 6 got lost. The first 5 pages were about defining what we’re stewards or and for whom ...and suddenly we were talking about internet technology. This resource is one from which many are cut off due to poverty (they don’t own a computer), education, lack of interest or language -basically you have to read and write English for many websites or culture (a resource is often only suitable for a narrow cultural range).
I was expecting the article to perhaps go in a practical direction in terms of perhaps questions helping us to see the principles in terms of the resources we have -time, gifts, energy and health, things/money, education...if our whole lives belong to God and are to be used in service on His purposes and eternity, how will that affect our decisions about money, time ...?
In some ways, it seems to me that money should be the last thing to discuss because it has a tendency to dominate. People who live in poverty need to recognize that God gives them resources to use for His Kingdom and it is wonderfully exciting for them to realize it.
For the ’wealthy’ among us (in world terms), perhaps we need to discuss money first because it is such a blind spot and stumbling block for us. The book I found most helpful on this area was "The Treasure Principle" by Randy Alcorn.
I have been inspired by the examples of people who lived simply and used everything they had for eternity. I think of John Wesley who determined early on what he needed to survive and gave away the rest. That meant over his life he gave away a larger and larger percentage. As my Dad would say, if Old Testament believers were asked to give 10%, then we must give far more than that because we’ve had even more blessings, this side of the Cross.
26.07.2010
Kenya
Thanks for this post. I wonder if you have considered that much of the world operates on a patron client system? According to this system, the one who distributes resources is assumed to be doing so in exchange for some ’servitude’ on behalf of recipients? He / she can appear to be a god (see Acts. 14:8ff). I don’t think Christians want to receive such ’servitude’. There are two sides to sharing resources - the donor side, and the recipient side. There is no guarantee that recipients will receive with the same spirit as the donor has contributed. See David Maranz book ’African Friends and Money Matters’ for more details of the ’recipient context’ in Africa.
30.06.2010
United States
@ Jim_Harries:
I’m not sure this is directly related to your comment, however, I was to testify that I’ve seen some of this lack of reciprocity. In our urban context of mission, we have little choice but to share real estate -- that is, as we plant churches, we end up putting multiple plants in the same building. Without exception (so far) I have seen that the power balance among the various churches meeting in the space is only a function of the amount of money each church can give towards the building expenses. No weight is given to other kinds of resources that are brought to bear (e.g. prayer resources, expertise in particular facets of ministry, wisdom and spiritual maturity, zeal, etc.). Reciprocity seems right now only attainable if each plant sharing the same building gives and equal share of money.
15.07.2010
Kenya
@ Cody_Lorance:
This is interesting. It seems to be ‘wrong’ that money be so much the ‘bottom line’ in issues concerning the church. My experience in Africa, and in mission, has been that this often is the case. Numerous examples could be cited … This is very much unapologetically the case in many of the church contexts that I have found myself in on the African continent, where the church ‘came with’ the people with money, i.e. Westerners.
In some of the ministries in which I am involved, we do not pay money. For example, churches allow us to use their property to teach our classes free of charge. On the other hand, our classes are generally considered to be low-prestige classes.
Not sure if I have already pointed you to the Alliance for Vulnerable Mission (AVM)? See www.vulnerablemission.com
20.07.2010
United States
Thanks to Ram and all in the RMWG who have contributed to this paper. Excellent. I’ll highlight a few quotes and add a question to this:
--"At its core, biblical stewardship is a coronation of God’s human stewards to fulfill the Father’s mission in creation and redemption."
--"Biblical stewards are managers in trust of God’s design for every area of life."
--"Effective stewardship can only be achieved when we diligently seek the One for whom we are commissioned as royal stewards."
I like the way that stewardship here is holistic and God-given/designed/empowered. In short, everyone has a "plug-in" point to what GOd is doing both by command and by design. Great work on this.
Now here’s a question:
As I was reading the paper, I felt very motivated to give, but found myself looking for orientation points to figure out, "...now what?" There are literally millions of places I can give, church/agency being only part of the larger field. Has the RMWG discussed some of the infrastructure required to harness/leverage/sustain a global generosity movement? What might be required to engage both donors and implementors in collaborative, strategic, widely informed, well resourced mission beyond what is happening now? I think the internet is an important mechanism for people connecing with people as well as giving opportunities... but is there more to it?
This Q really comes from the first half of the RMWG charge: "The charge of the Resource Mobilization Working Group is to offer the global church a robust concept of kingdom stewardship and generosity through the distribution of strategic biblical resources..." A robust concept of Kingdom stewardship we definitely have here... but the means of "distribution of strategic Biblical resources" is still really fuzzy. The wording is a little grey also-- is there such a thing as a non-strategic Biblical resource? Or are we talking about the strategic distribution of resources... if so, what is ’strategic’?
Thanks everyone!
28.06.2010
United States
@ Rinchen:
Good questions. I cannot answer the one about infrastructure on behalf of the RMWG, but I can give you my understanding of what they meant related to your second question. I think they were saying we should distribute “strategic biblical resources” that will help people understand the full concept of kingdom stewardship. These could come in various forms, such as books, sermons, radio broadcasts, formal and informal courses, etc.
If that is what we are distributing, then we are probably talking about options such as the internet for downloadable material, possibly utilizing payment systems that suit the context. For example, you can now use mobile phone credit to purchase online in Kenya, because not many people there use credit cards, but they do use pre-paid credit on their phones. (See http://www.enrakenya.com/rachelsbargaincorner/index.php.) It’s a system similar to PayPal, but with a different payment option. This option could be used elsewhere to give more people access to these “strategic biblical resources.”
Does this answer your question at all? Do you think I have understood the RMWG correctly?
15.07.2010
Kenya
@ kande:
I think in discussing what is a ’strategic’ resource, one needs to consider language. It is going to be very difficult to get biblical resources that speak closely to, say, the Kenyan context, in English.
The reason I say this, is because English-language resources are invariably and by necessity rooted in Western life styles one way or another. This is causeing difficulties for us in Africa - becasue we are ’building theology’ on someone else’s foundation, that often leaves our day to day lives untouched.
15.07.2010
United States
Thanks so much for the work that you have done and for this excellent paper. I have a number of thoughts, I will try to be brief here and write more at length in my own blog posting.
1. In your opening paragraphs, you speak of a “problematic distinction” and an “age-old wall” between “sacred” and “secular” vocations. If by this, you are really suggesting that distinguishing between clergy and laity (whether you use those or other terms) is Biblically illegitimate, I want to take issue. I believe that the Bible is quite consistent (OT & NT) in describing and prescribing such a distinction. Particularly, Eph. 4 is clear that God has provided specific vocations of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor/teacher (Eph. 4:11) in order that those serving in that capacity might equip everyone else. To be sure, the notion that the clergy should do all the “spiritual work” is an aberration. But this unfortunately prevalent misapplication does not illegitimize the foundational fact that God has established the distinction between so-called clergy and laity. As a matter of fact, aforementioned passage actually makes it clear that God’s purpose in instituting these vocations (i.e. apostle, pastor, etc.) is to facilitate exactly what you are calling for—every Christian utilizing every resource to accomplish God’s purpose in creation and redemption. In my view, it would be appropriate to affirm the legitimacy of the Ephesians 4 vocations and especially to charge those of us serving in those vocations to commit to equipping the saints for the work of ministry and to diligently resist the temptation and pressure to do it all ourselves.
2. Secondly, while I appreciate the various points you have made regarding the utilization of technological resources in our stewardship, I feel that the omission of any mention of the Lausanne Global Conversation (LGC) is a glaring problem. We simply must talk about how we can work together to make the LGC the absolute best resource that it needs to be to facilitate the kind of global stewardship that you are talking about. How does LGC better serve the local church? How does LGC get to where it effectively partners, integrates and shares with other similar sites so as to avoid needless duplication? How does LGC become the central place – the best place – for your hypothetical Cameroon-bound workers? How are the RWMG and other Lausanne leadership modeling the level of participation in LGC that they hope to see in the global church? At Cape Town, there must be a greater and more impassioned call for each delegate to utilize the LGC as a primary channel for engaging in the Biblical stewardship you are describing. And we all must continue to work hard to make the LGC a truly great resource for Christ’s Church in the world.
24.06.2010
United States
@ Cody_Lorance:
I’ve completed and posted my full blog response to this article for consideration. I welcome your feedback.
25.06.2010
United States
This is a long and well-considered treatise on the subject of stewardship and I first want to thank you for your energies and time invested to put this forth. May I also encourage you to speak in simple terms so that the people who are busily trying to work and provide for their families are able to digest all that you have written. For example, stewardship as discussed in the Bible is about managing properly the provisions and blessings God gives us. However, I believe that there is a gap between good stewards and good shepherds in Christianity today. We teach people with our words to be good stewards of what we have and how we care for others, but what then? Many churches leave people "standing out in the cold" after that. I believe the second developmental stage of that is shepherding. That is based upon my total acceptance of Christ’s command to " Love our neighbor". We can give out, as good stewards, these portions of blessings/talents to those in need, but we can easily do so without caring what happens to them. I believe if we bring up the topic of stewardship we must also be ready to fully discuss a plan for building up shepherds for all the areas of the world so that our sheep are not led astray after they learn stewardship. We already know that " the Harvest is great and the workers are few". I believe that in these times, the Holy Spirit is moving in us to move us from good stewardship, to good shepherding as part of our daily lives. Caring for someone when they are down and out day after day is what builds those skills of shepherding. We can’t just focus on getting them into school, or even "graduating " them into His Arms, but we have to teach them how to be fully functioning parts of the Body of Christ. Having loads of resources is wonderful for all those answering the call of God. Can we also provide for them companionship, fellowship, love, and worship? After all, God made us to need Him and to need one another. I believe that in being good stewards, we have the energy and time left over, like the loaves and fishes, to fully meet the needs of those in our flocks. Not because we are "super -fueled" but because God gives us that free time and energy to love others. I believe in preparing to care for His Flock by being good stewards, that we have to understand that we will be asked to do something far harder than being a good steward... love our neighbor.
Again, I thank you for your time on this and am aware at how much energy you have poured into focusing people on stewardship and just coming together . Having seen your passion in this matter on your website, I encourage you to remember we are His Sheep as you march onward for I believe you have the attention of many people.
19.06.2010
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