Stewardship

God certainly doesn’t need our money for himself.  He simply requests to route it in direction he wishes for ministry, and we appreciate the privilege of being in business with him.  He is no person’s debtor. My wife and I learned to live by percentages.  Especially did we adopt our 10-80-10–Plan.  I began to preach about it in family conferences and some leading persons said afterwards that they adopted it.  The idea, inspired from Scripture, slipped into other books than mine, here and there, with some slight amendments.  The plan was simply that one should give ten percent to God, and save ten percent for the family.  The remaining eighty percent comprised the amount the individual would apply to living expenses.  Of that amount, the 80%, I also suggested divisions – not more than 25% for domicile, not more than 25% for food and personal articles.  From the remainder comes clothing, transportation, and whatever.  When I began the program the cost of medical care was about two percent.  It is now more than three times that much, so something must be adjusted – keep the car several more years, live in a lower cost home, or whatever needs to be amended to keep the policy of percentage management.

During 1997, I visited my younger daughter, her husband, and their children while they were in attendance at a well-known conference grounds.  In interim-ministry, I was serving a Church not far away.  When the Director of the Center heard that I would be on campus for a few hours he requested my daughter to invite me to his office.  We went.  After exchanges of friendship he told me that nearly thirty years earlier he heard me speak on the issues of biblical stewardship as it applied to all of one’s life.  He and his wife went home and covenanted to follow the program.  They did, and although his income was never really large, he and his wife had accumulated a savings that made them, at this point in their lives, independent if they wished to retire.  He said he had always wanted to thank me for the counsel.  His words made my day.  These kinds of remarks have made me aware how one is greatly comforted when informed of impressions.  Confidence grows in us to press on when our work turns out well, and we are informed.  An event seems to have had broad family value – if responses and my own experience are proofs of effective ministry.

One wonders why Christians may not find a secret to life success by planning their lives through percentages.  It is not only a way to serve God in a spirit of loving obedience, but a way to make life effective in management.  The system can be extended even further.  For example, if I apply the principles of tithe to all of my life I find the results to be satisfying.  Tithing my days I find the right amount of time for prayer, for Church attendance, for time to serve on Christian boards, for counsel related to Christian life, and so the list may be extended.  I know of no other source than Scripture that provides so much wisdom in this concept, and others, for gaining the balance one should cultivate in personal life. It helps us to make practical the concept of moderation (biblical principle) in all things.  What a simple and practical way it is to construct a schedule for the necessities and pleasures of life.  What a great truth for students to learn, for members of families, for individuals in their jobs, for the schedule of recreation or anything else – and so the plan can be extended.  It is a plan for balanced life.  Studies of life formation adopt and vary the practice.

The plan is not cast in legalism. I give more time to spiritual exercise on Sunday than on Monday.  It averages out.  I invest some of my giving in a way that it will assist my children on my demise, and they will assist their children, perhaps in the same manner.  It is a part of my retirement programming and is partly invested through the offices of a denomination I believe in.  Having lost my retirement in a friend’s business to build churches, a business hit by a national downturn, I have been rescued by my stewardship arrangement.  I am able through a lengthy period to make payments so as not to fail the integrity of my signature.  I cannot say enough to express my admiration for a biblical approach to materialism.  That includes the money and time we possess, and virtually anything else identified with us that may serve to model the care of God for his children.