Financial Management as a Spiritual Discipline

by Matthew Soper

I was baptized into Christ at age 21 and moved to Houston for my first job after college. My second job was 100% commission sales. I had already committed to first-fruits tithing but I was earnestly perplexed about how to do that with uncertain income. I approached an elder at my church and asked him for guidance. He told me, in essence, “Just pray about it.”

I spent 2 ½ years at this (very fine) congregation and never heard a sermon about giving, saw a class offered about handling money as a Christian, or even heard it mentioned in the Lord’s Supper (and contribution) prayers.

My impression is that this is not unusual in the local church. But isn’t money management a kind of spiritual discipline? And doesn’t Christian discipleship include managing our money?

In her article, How do You Preach About Money? Margaret Marcuson, a minister and coach, offers this help: 

Instead of limiting our discussion of money to stewardship week, it may be more productive to 1) preach sermons about money more often and 2) focus more on ourselves and our own thinking than on influencing others.

First, preach on money regularly. People are struggling mightily with money matters, and this is a pastoral opportunity. They need help and hope. They need to hear from us about money at a time when we are not asking for money. And most preachers need to get more comfortable talking about it, from the pulpit and elsewhere. If you’re not asking for money, and you speak with a compassionate not a judgmental heart, people are likely to be grateful for the support, encouragement and guidance.

Second, focus more on yourself than on changing others. Rather than trying to push others into giving, instead share what you truly think about a faithful and thoughtful relationship with money. This requires you doing some up-front thinking about your own views and principles (not to mention your actions) related to money. This is hard but important work. And then you have to have the courage to deliver the sermon.

I make a point to preach a message related to money twice per year. These stand-alone messages have nothing to do with budgets or a capital campaign (though there are times for those). These are simply general messages about various aspects of dealing with money as followers of Jesus. 

Other things congregations can do are below:

1. Periodically offer financial management classes or small groups (e.g., Dave Ramsey, Crown Financial, etc.)
2. Make available literature about basic healthy financial practices, even if it’s just a summary of a message you preached.

I recently preached a series from Proverbs on “Living Wisely” and one of the messages was about money. Proverbs offers nothing fancy or stylish:

1. Give to God first (3:9-10)
2. Work hard and save (10:4; 6:6-11)
3. Beware of debt (22:7)
4. Be honest (13:11; 16:11)
5. Be generous (11:24-25; 22:9)

Numerous people told me afterwards, “I wish I had heard that when I was younger” and/or “I wish my children could hear that.”

People want help, guidance and encouragement about money! We should give that to them in the local church.