CAN
CHURCH FINANCES BE SPIRITUAL?
You may or may not know, but I am a
Certified Public Accountant, and when I’m wearing that hat, I think things
should balance, we should be budgeting and doing things practically. And I
spent a lot of years in church Finance meetings thinking exactly that way. How about
you?
Well, as my faith grew, and I
started feeling a call to dedicate what I “did” to God, I started thinking a
little differently. Maybe church finances isn’t just practical, but it’s also
spiritual.
An article I read recently from the
Lewis Center for Church Leadership opened this way: “when it comes to money
matters or budgeting, does your church split into two camps? On one side are “the
green eye shades” who believe the church should think and act like a business. On
the other side are “the holier-than-thous” who decry any money talk as akin to
money changes in the temple and believe God will provide if the church just has
enough faith. These two camps often talk past each other, preventing meaningful
dialogue and decision making.”[1]
It really resonated with me because I’ve
been both, and sometimes at the same time! It took me a while to understand
that thinking spiritually about money doesn’t throw out the practical
perspective. What if we approached money from a spiritual perspective. Jesus
talks about money a lot in the Bible, more than anything else, in fact. Some of this is coming back to hit me as I’m
currently leading a small group of clergy in working on their financial
wellness by participating in a study based on Saving Grace: A Guide to
Financial Well-Being put out by Wespath.
We talk about budgets and spending
plan, reducing debt, increasing income, but it’s all from a spiritual perspective.
Many of the worksheets and discussions have been held before in other secular
budgeting and getting out of debt classes, but the approach here is so
completely different that it’s made be think twice about things.
We have to put money in the proper
perspective. Money isn’t inherently evil, but because living properly in
relation to money is matter of spiritual importance. We are to use the
resources entrusted to us by God in a way that demonstrates our faith and
growth in discipleship.
Stewardship is an instrument of God’s
abundance. We have faith in God, of course, but that faith doesn’t excuse us
from being responsible stewards. If we believe God lovingly provides for our
needs, we have to align ourselves with God’s purpose—both in caring for our own
financial needs but also the financial needs of our church community.
Think
about this!
If you wish more information on anything
you’ve been reading about, please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or sranousacctg@twcny.rr.com or susanranous@unyumc.org. I’d be happy to help or answer any questions.
[1] “Can
Your Approach to Church Finances be both Spiritual and Practical”, by Ann A.
Michel, Lewis Center for Church Leadership (October 1, 2024)
