A few weeks ago, I spoke to our men’s group at church about my testimony in the area of stewardship.  I talked about how I was raised in a family that taught Biblical principles of handling money—and how I saw stewardship as an end rather than a means for many years.

I spoke the next week on the top 10 things we can do to treasure Jesus more fullywhen it comes to handling money.  There were 12 items on the list.  Here’s the summary:

1.  Study the Bible for ourselves to see what God has to say about money.

2.  Make the connection between the gospel and our use of money (see 2 Cor 8:9, Phil 2:7-11).

3.  Make a budget…to the glory of God.

4.  Never make an emotional financial decision (see Luke 14:28-30).

5.  Limit, or eliminate, our exposure to debt (see Deut 28:1, 12-13, 15, 44, Prov 22:7, Rom 13:8),

6.  Learn, with Paul, to be content (see Phil 4:11-13).

7.  Work to the glory of God, and understand it is the Lord who prospers (see 1 Cor 10:31, Col 3:23-24, Gen 13:1-12).

8.  Teach our children to be good stewards (Prov 22:6).

9.  Give generously.

10.  Give wisely (see 2 Thess 3:10, Mt 5:42, 1 Tim 5:8, 1 John 3:17-18, 1 Tim 5:17-18, Lev 19:9-10).

11.  Be courageous when you encounter God’s teaching (see Ezra 7:10, 8:21-23).

12.  Use your money to make God look glorious (see 1 John 2:16, Mt 6:28-30, 33).

Roman was a pretty average student at the after school teen center where we met nine years ago.  He was timid but he liked to joke around. As neighbors, I still saw him after graduation.  He worked here and there and was always trying to keep his sister on track. 

At the community center, church volunteers are great about helping kids with their homework.  Volunteers coach kids in soccer.  They teach Bible studies and put on Vacation Bible Schools.  Our volunteers truly want good things for our students.  They plan field trips and college visits.  They take kids to the theater and sporting events to expose them to culture and our community. 

People love to be a part of seeing an immigrant kid be the first one in his family to go to college.

On occasion, I've asserted that churches should have the most environmentally friendly facilities in the world! The pushback that I get at times is that it is too costly and would take money away from reaching people.

These frequently vioced concerns touch on two aspects that I would like to respond to:

1) Being environmentally friendly is expensive, and

2) Taking care of the environment is inferior to reaching (or perhaps taking care of) people.


While my response to these two points is not intended to be exhaustive or perfect, I have at least four things Christians should think about:

1) Yes, there are very expensive, environment things one could do, like installing solar panels or a windmill. Many of these things are, unfortunately, currently cost prohibitive for many people and churches. However, awareness and intentional behavior modification goes a long way. Being environmentally friendly can help churches reduce costs! My church, Eastwind Community Church in Boise, Idaho (www.eastwindcc.com) has had three people from local businesses (a power company, a recycling company, and an electrical installation company) come to our church and help us develop a system that reduces our impact on the environment and helps us save money as an added benefit. During an economic recession, every little bit helps.