Generous Leadership

We are finishing our series in 1 Timothy today. We’ve been looking at God’s blueprint for leadership. I’ve tried to stress throughout this series that Leadership is Influence and that every Christian is called into leadership in the kingdom. What usually keeps a church from reaching its potential has nothing to do with ineptitude or lack of budget; it’s a shortage of leaders. It’s interesting that Jesus didn’t say there was a shortage of harvest, but that there was a shortage of those who would go out into the fields to bring it in. Our capacity is only limited by the number of leaders who will follow Jesus into ministry.

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If I told you this morning that you could leave here today completely free of money worries, what would you think? Sound like a good deal? In this final message, I want to look at how leaders in God’s kingdom relate to money.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but money is a kind of a big deal. Especially when you feel like you don’t have enough. I saw a report this week that in just the last year, food prices have increased 21%. That’s just one of many things we buy that have been impacted by inflation and price gouging. Of course, no one is getting 21% pay increases. Everyone feels the pinch.

When we feel the pinch of rising prices, what is our tendency? To pull back, to tighten the belt, to try and hang on tighter to what we have. But what if this is exactly the behavior the only increases our anxiety over money? What if tightening our grip on what we have only serves to elevate our stress over what we don’t have?

This morning I want to talk about the counter-intuitive approach to money that is offered all throughout the scriptures. The message of the kingdom shows us over and over that financial peace is not found in holding on but in letting go. Stinginess is not a fruit of the Spirit! If we are to lead well we must learn God’s upside-down approach to money. The Bible calls it generosity.

Why do we need to be generous leaders:

A practical reason - ministry takes money. It’s true that there’s a lot of ministry you can do that doesn’t require money. It doesn’t cost anything to pray for someone. But there is much ministry that simply can’t take place unless there are funds to do it. But the truth is that no ministry can happen without some kind of generosity.

A theological reason - Jesus tells us that following him as Lord means to obey him. Throughout the gospels, he tells his followers to give generously, to provide for others, to go beyond mere lip service, and actually put your money where your mouth is. Generosity is part of what it means to follow Jesus.

A spiritual reason - there are few things that have more influence over our souls than money. How we relate to money says a lot about what’s going on inside of us. About where we are putting our trust and where we are trying to find security. Money has a way of making us its slave. Generosity breaks the grip of greed over our lives.

A leadership reason - we’ve already seen in first Timothy that leaders must not be lovers of money (ch 3). We must not be people who allow money to be our motivation. Outside of sexual sin, money issues are the biggest reason why pastors and church leaders are forced to resign. That’s why I will not lay hands on anyone for an official ministry position in the church without first looking at giving records. Generosity tells me that someone is “all in” with the mission of the kingdom.

I’ve titled the message this morning Generous Leadership. If you want to lead well in the kingdom of God, and if you want to experience freedom from financial anxiety, the Bible consistently points us to a lifestyle of generosity. In his final instructions to Timothy, Paul gives two principles that should guide leaders when it comes to money.

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1 Timothy 6:3–10 “Whoever teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that is in accordance with godliness, is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words. From these come envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, and wrangling among those who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.” The first principle is...

Generous leaders have their loves in the right order

To paraphrase James K. A. Smith, we think we’re thinking things when in reality we are loving things. Driven more my desire/heart than thought/head. We love all kinds of things, and that is how we are made. But we fall into all kinds of trouble when we get our priorities wrong.

Paul identifies a big problem happening in the church: people are loving the wrong thing. There were people with a priority problem, thinking that ministry was a means of financial gain. We must understand that Paul is not demonizing money. Money is not evil. It’s morally neutral. It’s a tool. Most of us probably have chemicals under our sinks that have warnings that they could be harmful or fatal if swallowed. And yet there are useful tools to help us clean. Money is that way as well. It is useful. It’s needful at times. And yet it comes with a warning that it can be harmful or fatal if swallowed. If we allow if to have control over us. In the end, either you will use money or it will use you.

Those who love money become slaves to its temptations. Jesus said it this way, Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Again, money is not evil. But when we love money, when or approach to money is disordered, it becomes a source of all kinds of evil in our lives.

Paul offers an alternative from the love of money, and a path of freedom from the anxiety over money. It’s called contentment. Contentment doesn’t mean you just accept where you are like it will never change. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work to improve your situation when you can. But it does mean that the goal for your life, your driving passion, your constant thought is not always about money. You kind find satisfaction where you are now.

How can we learn contentment? By committing to the practice of giving thanks to God for what we do have instead of what we don’t. As we do this, we increasingly find ourselves delivered from the anxiety over money.

The truth is that we often give lip-service that money can’t buy happiness. But our life-service shows that we are willing to give it a try. Generous leadership is one that has our desires about money properly ordered. Money isn’t bad, and can even do great good. But loving money always disqualifies us from the life of God and leadership. Generous leaders have their loves in the right order.

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1 Timothy 6:17–19 “As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.” The second principle is that...

Generous leaders trust in God’s greater generosity

Money is uncertain. Did you know that? There is nothing you have that can’t be taken away. I hope I’m not freaking anyone out with something you didn’t already know. Not only can it be taken away, but money can give us a false assurance. It makes us think were secure or even invincible when we aren’t. Even if you don’t have much money, the idea that if you had more then you’d be secure creates a false idol. Wise leaders know that only God is certain and they put their trust in him instead of on their wealth.

Paul says two things about generous leaders. First, they are upward-facing. They recognize that their money can create a false sense of security. Rather than being confident in their ability to provide for themselves through their wealth, they keep their confidence on the certainty of God’s character. We need to notice that Paul does not say we need to live as Puritans. Instead, we recognize that our God is generous, more generous than we are, and he richly provides for us. God often gives us more than just our needs. Whether it’s a vacation, a newer car, tickets to a concert, give God thanks for the gift and honor him by enjoying it.

He also says that generous leaders are forward-facing. They invest for the future. They understand that real life is not found in the good things of this life. Jesus warns us to, Luke 12:15 “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Instead, we are to lay up treasure for the future by how we use our treasure now.

One of the false either/or beliefs that exists among Christians is between giving our time vs. our money. I’ve heard many say something to the effect that, “I don’t need to give any money to the church because I give my time.” Is this true? Is that what Paul is saying? No, it’s not an either/or but a both/and. We are to give generously of our time, AND we are to give generously of our money. It might be easier for you to do one over the other, but no one gets a pass on being generous.

Jesus calls us to a generous leadership because his Father is generous. As we turn in trust toward our Father’s greater generosity, we begin to relate to money rightly. And several things happen:

You begin to find joy of investing your money - and your life - in things that has eternal significance.

You discover that you lie down at night in peace having your confidence in the certainty of God over the uncertainty of money.

AND You experience true freedom from anxiety over money as you practice contentment with gratitude.

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Friends, we don’t need to worry about money. Our God is generous. Paul writes that, Romans 8:32 “He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?”

Let’s be generous leaders. Let’s be the kind of people who put our confidence in God and not in money. Let walk with open hands, trusting that as they empty, God will refill them. And in doing so experience his peace and freedom that leads to a life that is actually worth taking hold of.

Prayer...

Listen to what the apostle Paul wrote in another letter, 2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” His poverty brought us heaven’s riches. Everything he did, everything he gladly gave up, was so you could be reconciled to God. That you could walk free of any guilt or condemnation over sin. So that you could experience a life that is really life. If you have never surrendered your life to Jesus as Lord, today would you accept his invitation to “Come, follow me”?

Ministry...

Friends, living in stinginess, living in anxiety over money, living constantly consumed with the pursuit of more, is not a life worth living. If you are tired of that kind of life, Jesus continues to make the same offer; “Come, follow me.” Maybe this morning what the Spirit is saying is to grow in gratitude. Right now, what could you begin thanking God for. How can you begin making a practice of noticing what you have and giving thanks instead of seeing what you don’t have?

Or maybe the Spirit is convicting you about your relationship with money. That you are holding on too tightly. I am not standing before you today wanting you to give money because the church is in a bad place. We’re not. We are OK. This is about your soul, not the church budget. If you recognize that money has too much priority in your life, take a brave step and release it to God. Trust that you really can’t out-give the one who gave us his Son.

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*** Announcement reminders ***

As has been our habit during this series, we’re going to close our service by praying together an ancient prayer of the church called the Prayer of St. Francis. It expresses the kind of leadership God calls us to and that the world is desperate for. Let us be formed by this prayer.

Lead in Prayer of St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Now as we prepare to take this time of worship into the week ahead, the Lord who loves you says in 2 Corinthians that He:

2 Corinthians 9:8 (NRSV)

… is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.

GO BE THE CHURCH!!