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Fall and all of its
unique trappings is upon us. Brilliant colors
adorn the trees. Mornings and evenings invigorate
s with crisp air. Squirrels dart about
provisioning for the coming winter. Football
dominates the attention of many. And we await the
arrival of pledge cards. Pledge cards!?!? Yes,
pledge cards.
Did you ever wonder
why the annual pledge appeal in most churches
takes place in the fall? Look at our own church
and you will see that there is a very practical
reason. God has called the members of our
congregation together at this unique place, our
church, in this time, to do specific work to his
glory and in love for his creation. And he has
provided an abundance of resources to do that
work. But there is a little complication.
When God calls us
individually or as a congregation to do his work,
he also provides the resources to carry out that
work. In the case of a congregation, though, he
gives a portion of those resources to each
individual member of the congregation. This
provides each of the members of our community the
opportunity to express their thanksgiving for
God's abundance and his for his infinite love by
dedicating a part of what God has provided them to
his work through his church. As a further twist,
what God desires that we give to his work in the
world is what he gave us for that purpose. In
effect, we are just safeguarding it.
You see, what God is
really seeking from us is a sign of our love and
faithfulness. He could easily provide for his work
without giving the money to each of us. But, money
is one of the hardest things for us to let go of,
even if it is given to us to be applied for a
specific purpose. When we freely let go of money
with which God has entrusted us to use for his
purposes, we also let go of the shackles of our
marketplace that promotes a mentality of
scarcity. We boldly state that we believe God’s
promises above the seduction of the marketplace.
At the same time
that we struggle with money individually, the
leaders of our church deal with the responsibility
of planning how we will carry out God’s work in
the coming year and allocating the church's
resources to support that work. That is the
stewardship of our congregation’s resources by our
leadership. Since churches are typically on a
calendar year financial basis, that requires
determining in the fall how much of what God has
provided the individual members of the
congregation for his work they are going to give
to the church during the year to carry out that
work. Until we tell them with our pledge cards,
anything that they project is just an educated
guess.
In most
congregations, it is often heard that the church
is always asking for money. Just like pledge
appeals in the fall, there is a good reason for
that. The world’s need for the expression of God’s
love and involvement in broken lives is without
limit. He makes every effort to stir us to pass
on the financial resources he has provided each of
us to support that work. But, the messages of our
consumer culture are more demanding, more
frequent, and more alluring. Rarely does any
congregation ever have the money that is necessary
to do the work to which God has called it. To be
heard over the constant noise of the marketplace,
the church must repeat its messages regarding our
“treasure” frequently.
Here is a final
thought as we near the time to prayerfully make
our pledges in support of God’s work in our
congregation. Some faithful members of the
congregation won’t pledge because they honor such
a commitment and are concerned that they may not
be able to fulfill the pledge that they make. A
wondrous thing happens when you pledge, though.
Rarely, is anyone unable to make their pledge,
unless there is some major upset in their
finances. And, if there is, God is right there
with those affected and knows their circumstances.
There is nothing wrong with revising a pledge up
or down as your circumstances change. Again, the
pledge is a planning tool for those managing the
church’s finances, and a spirit-freeing exercise
for each person who pledges.
Prayerfully consider
the work in the world to which God calls our
congregation and what he has blessed you with to
support that work. |
