A grace-filled reputation?

In his sermon on stewardship this morning, Pastor Perry mentioned that our testimony as Christians is at stake as the world looks at how God's people handle money. This isn't news to any of us: we know that the world is always watching Christians. And unfortunately, many of us give them many good reasons to reject the faith. Our words and our actions often don't line up. Our declaration of faith doesn't translate into a changed life in their eyes. Those outside might be thinking things like "Why should I consider the claims of Christ? There's nothing different about Christians, and there's even lots of things I see in their lives that I don't like, like hypocrisy."

Not only is the world watching Christians, they're all watching each other. And the area of finances and how we deals with possessions and our "stuff" can be a very visible thing to observe. That's why the phrase "keep up with the Joneses" holds true. People notice what other people do with their stuff and their time. This presents God's people with a great opportunity to display a changed life. Rather than seeking after every dollar we can earn, owning every new toy and giving our time to please ourselves, we can display God's character and priorities by giving our time and money away. This is acting like Jesus.

Perry mentioned that those in the Church have the same track record with over-spending and living in financial bondage as the rest of the country. This is a sad fact because not only are we missing an opportunity to show the world our changed priorities, we're missing a key element of discipleship: learning that life isn't about us but is about God. This is a foundational starting point for our walk with God: taking ourselves off the throne of our life and placing Christ there. Saying to God: "You're the boss!" If he is really our boss, he will be the boss of our pocketbook and boss of our day planner.

So I urge us to diligently work at getting out of financial bondage. This isn't always easy: it took years to get where we are now, and it may take years of hard work to get out of. But when we're free from financial bondage, we can be free to obey God. If we're not weighed down by car payments and the downward spiral of credit card interest, we can go where God asks us right away, or give to a need he lays on our heart.

The Church is supposed to be a grace-filled community that gives God's grace to each other and the world. We hinder our ability to do this when we're over-committed in our finances or time schedule. Let's obey God's word when it comes to stewardship, and be free to show God's character to the world.