Seminaries don't teach it.
A study
funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. discovered that the vast majority of
seminaries offer no formal course or instruction concerning biblical
stewardship issues and funding issues for future pastors.
Pastors don't speak on it.
One national study discovered that 85% of pastors did not feel
prepared through their seminary or denomination to adequately address
stewardship, funding, and personal financial matters in their local church.
Churches don't program for it. In many
churches, stewardship is the veneer put on "bills, budget, and building"
needs. More than 80% of church leaders recently surveyed in a national
research project indicated their church has no vision or active plan to
advance biblical stewardship teaching in their local church.
Denominations don't encourage it. A
phone survey to National Association of Evangelical (NAE) denominations
discovered that 90% of the NAE denominations had no or minimal effective
programs or resources to help pastors and churches advance biblical
stewardship in their congregations.
Ministry leaders and development officers don't
understand it. In a recent gathering of senior development
officers from Christian colleges and universities, most indicated they had
never thought through a biblical rational and plan for their funding
programs and methodologies. Christian Stewardship Association (CSA) research
indicated that most leaders feel their fundraising skills and average or
weak. The vast majority of leaders also felt board members were NOT helping
them reach the ministry's funding goals through personal giving, getting,
referrals, or solicitation.
Christian universities and Bible colleges don't teach
it. In CSA discussions with higher education institutions
across America, there is almost a complete absence of biblical stewardship
and financial teaching for today's young people. At one leading Christian
university, a recent search in the library discovered that the few books
that could be found on biblical stewardship, money management, fundraising,
etc. were written between 1899 and 1945. This would indicate a 50-year gap
in any stewardship teaching!
Christians don't practice it. The
Empty Tomb Inc. studies have discovered a steady 30-year decline in the
percentage that Christians give to their local church. The percentages of
income that Christians give to their local church has shrunk to 1 1/2% to 3
1/2%. Church studies by the CSA president indicate that in most evangelical
churches, only 1 or 2 out of 10 Christians appear to actively give 10% or
more of their income to the Lord's work. Most Christians are completely
uninformed about the more than 2000 verses in the Bible that speak about
wealth, money, giving and material possessions.
New and strategic initiatives are vitally needed to
reverse the cold winds of stewardship silence that have been blowing across the spiritual
landscape for many years.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Brian Kluth is a national and international speaker and writer
on Biblical generosity and financial matters.
He is also a church pastor and the founder of MAXIMUM Generosity, a public ministry dedicated to advancing Biblical generosity through inspirational preaching, leadership training seminars, writing, resources and the media. Brian’s written materials have been distributed to more than 350,000 Christian leaders in more than 100 countries .For additional materials or to contact Brian, email:
bk@kluth.org or visit:
www.kluth.org
© www.kluth.org.
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