As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who utters oracles of God; whoever renders service, as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies; in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. – 1 Peter 4:10-11
Dear Disciple of Christ,
The focus of today’s reflection is that of stewardship. I wanted to tell you that up front and ask you to hang with me as I share some of what I learned in ministry about giving. It’s not even directly about an amount of money but is how a church needs to be a steward of gifts if they are to model stewardship for its members. I’ve not found stewardship programs presented by committees to be more effective than policies to show members what we believe about stewardship.
One of our core principles (and policies that I’ve had in ministry in each of my churches) is that we are to be stewards of all that God has given us. That means we simply use what God has given us to the best of our abilities to accomplish the “cause of Christ” (making disciples of all nations, loving others as we have been loved by Christ, etc.). When I first came to my churches in Brooklyn and Queens, there was little or no usage of the facilities by the church for the service of others. There were also few activities scheduled by the church. So, in effect, the buildings were empty mostly except for Sunday mornings (and in Queens for the day school that used our facilities) and a few scout groups.
I believed that was poor stewardship and it was having a direct impact on the witness of the church (or lack thereof) in the community. The churches were not known in their communities. If the church was going to “show” stewardship (not just talk about it), we would need to use our facilities (and allow them to be used by outside ministry groups). That took some convincing since congregations will (especially when in “survival mode”), try to protect the building from abuse and and even from use. “Use” will mean that the building needs to be maintained and cleaned and even repaired more frequently than if it sat empty. But when it is empty it is no witness at all. OR, it is a bad witness, looking like a vacant building. So, in both Brooklyn and Queens, by the second year of my pastorates, we established the policy that “outside ministry groups would be invited to use our facilities at no cost”. Some of the groups were regular weekly or monthly groups and some were special requests. That was the basis for what turned into a very “interesting” experience in Queens. Some of you will remember the Iran hostage crises (November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981). Those 444 days were tough on the hostages as well as their families and all Americans. But it also had an impact on others, some of whom may surprise you. I was contacted one day at church, by two Iranian men. They had heard that our church was open to allowing outside groups to use our facilities and they had need for a meeting place. They described their need. Although the crises ended before I got to Queens in June of 1982, the impact continued for years. You can understand the problem students from Iran had with their student visas. They were living in the “hated” America and friends and families were no longer able to send funds and support to them. They had no work visas so they could not work and soon found themselves financially strapped or “desperate.” So the request seemed reasonable to me (and fit our policy).
The gentlemen asked if they could use the basement of the church for a meeting “once in a while.” They wanted to invite students to meet and learn about Iranians in America who did have funds and who were willing to assist those students. It made sense to me and we agreed they would let me know when they needed the room. I didn’t hear from them for weeks until one Sunday afternoon the two men showed up after church and asked if they could use the building… that afternoon!. I thought that was a little odd. If we were holding an occasional meeting like that, we’d need to advertise for weeks ahead of time if we expected people to be able to attend. But, considering the needs involved and the opportunity to have some help with their finances, I figured it might be different for them.
And different it was. I went back to church later in the afternoon and sure enough, the meeting was going on. The basement was near full. It was well organized and people were talking up front and the others were intently taking notes. It felt good to be able to make a difference and help people in need. We were helping them regardless of their ethnic background or their connection to a country that had such a negative impact on America. It felt good that we were making a difference. “Good” that was until, after some more meetings and a few months later, my secretary stuck her head into my office and said sheepishly, “Pastor, there’s a man here from the FBI who would like to speak to you.” Things were about to get deeper and darker. Helping is not always all that easy. Have you ever heard the saying, “If there’s a 50-50 chance that something can go wrong, then 9 times out of 10, it will.” And next week, as Paul Harvey would say, “You’ll know the rest of the story!”
Peace in His service,
Pastor Johnson