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March 24, 2008
Personal debt and the role of the Church
Perhaps the single greatest opportunity we have as church leaders to make disciples of all nations in modern-day America is by dealing with personal finance. Debt is no respector of age, sex, class or creed. And we're kidding ourselves if we don't think the people in the pew are thinking about it as often as they eat or drink.
But how did we get here? How did we get to a point in our culture when the pursuit of personal pleasure trumped our picture of ourselves as managers of God-given resources such as time, talents and money?
Get Rich Slowly caputres this shift in American thinking brilliantly in his recent post, The Negative Saving Rate and the Age of Easy Credit.
I would add that the theological implications of this shift in thinking warrant a calculated effort by the church to address the personal finance issues our staff members, church members and community residents are already concerned with.
I'd be interested in your response to any (or all) of these questions: (1) How are you helping your members find practical, Biblically based solutions to debt and personal finance issues? (2) Have you used debt as a way to connect with your community who DOESN'T attend your church (or perhaps ANY church)? and (3) What have you learned as a result of your efforts?
Posted by bstroup at March 24, 2008 1:25 AM
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Comments
I have on assisted several churches with a Saturday morning Christian Momey Management
Seminar. Not many people attended these sessions
because they were not promoted very well. I asked the church to promote them but they did not
spend the time and money to alert the community to the opportunity.
We also tried a Friday night and a Saturday event, but it did not bring in the general public. Usually, those who attended were from the church. However, I believe it did help those who did attend. I would suggest that any church seeking to hold such an event that they invest considerable amount of money to let the public know about the event.
In my personal life I have found the following
things have helped me move down the line to getting out of debt.
1. Realize that I did not get in debt over night
and that it will take time to get out.
2. Start a savings account and put something in
it EVERY DAY. I do this every day. Sometimes I will drop money a penny or a dime into a jar at home and then when I have a larger sum then I will make a trip to the bank.
3. Cut up all but one credit card. This card is used only to the extent that I can pay it off each month. I pay the full bill at the end of the
month.
4. Stop buying items on credit. Pay cash or do
without.
5. Spend considerable time praying about a purchase before I close the deal. I ask myself this question: Do I need this or do I want this? If it is only a WANT then I delay the purchase.
6. I increase my giving. I know that seems conter productive, but it treally works. The more I give away it seems the more I have. I pray that God will bless my giving.
7. I leave my check book in the car when I go to the mall. Since I am an impulse buyer (I Know I am)then I will have to walk all the way back t the car to get my check book. I have not made one trip back to the car as of yet. I have found that about half way back to the car the urge to
make the purchase is gone.
Posted by: Jerry Mixon at March 24, 2008 9:18 AM