I retreated like a man

Last Thursday night and Friday, I was finally able to peel away for a personal retreat - 24 hours alone with the Lord and His Word at a retreat center nearby. These retreats are for turning off the world and focusing on prayer, reading, and even just resting. During these retreats, I also love to take long walks or go for bike rides, although I was a bit discouraged from that by the single-digit temperatures! I used to be in the habit of taking about one a month (plus a three-day retreat once a year), but fell out of the habit when I went back to school. I have yet to get back in the habit.

These retreats are almost always beneficial (I've had a few clunkers!) - there is a depth of relationship with the Lord that's just harder for me to experience in the midst of the hustle and bustle of life. I believe that's the model Jesus set for us when He would get away from the fray to be alone with His Father.

This retreat was by no means a clunker. I certainly could have been more focused during my time, but there were some rich times in the Word and in prayer. Some issues in life took on some good clarity, and there was just a sense of exhaling, instead of what feels like holding my breath for the last several weeks. I spent Thursday night just reading through Ezra, summarizing it, looking at the structure (which always helps me understand a book or a passage), and focusing in on his great prayer in chapter 9. You heard a little about my benefit from Ezra during the worship service on Sunday.

On Friday, it was also my goal to go through the stewardship worksheets that we've been handing out each week during our sermon series. I thought that maybe I could get some benefit from it, even though I'm the one who put the worksheets together. I was amazed at how much benefit I actually did get! I came to a lot of life decisions as a result - shifting priorities, clarifying my focus, adjusting our financial management, all kinds of good things.

One of the most important benefits is something I was already planning on talking about this Sunday, but the concept took on a far more personal, impacting, and even convicting nature during the retreat. The role of pastor's wife is difficult because it's hard to be of help when the husband simply cannot share much of his week because of professional confidentiality. Lynne and I have persistently looked for better ways for her gifts to make me more fruitful despite this limitation. The retreat yielded fruit here - one clear way that we can improve is to complete these worksheets individually, but then also  walk through our individual worksheets together and discuss them. Even more beneficial, however, will be to generate another set of worksheets for us as one flesh. Not just two full sets of worksheets, but one additional set that is for us together as a family, pulling ideas from the other two.

This is great for any couple, but I see particular benefit for a pastor and his wife. It will be a way for both of us to help the other, a way for us to draw closer together, a way to pull our "one flesh" lives into clearer focus, and to set our sights on stewarding the various arenas our lives for Christ more effectively than ever before.

I highly encourage you to do three things:

1. Complete the stewardship worksheets (or some other similar exercise to assess your life's priorities). We have copies available of all the worksheets we've introduced so far.
2. Per the message coming up on Sunday, go through the worksheets together as a couple, as a family, or with a trusted friend. Also consider coming up with a set for the family as a whole.
3. Make time at least once a year to spend alone with the Lord - away from all the noise, with nothing but a Bible and a way to journal, for no less than 24 hours. I usually have to get through at least two hours of "boredom" before I'm really ready to focus - that's just my body and mind going through "noise detox," but then finally I'm ready to meet with the Lord. Some of my richest times with the Lord have come during personal retreats (most of which started off "boring"!).

If you have any more questions about any of these three things, I'm here to help - just ask.

One Tithe Fits All?

Last week, we talked about being "crazy good givers" - being the kind of giver God wants us to be as a heart issue. There were also a number of things we didn't say - we didn't recommend a percentage, we didn't suggest that you are giving too much or too little, we didn't talk about all the good things we can't do until you cough up more. We didn't talk about these things, because we have no interest in teaching giving in this way. Considering that God doesn't need anything from us, we focused on the idea that God's plan for giving is more about developing us into a more Christlike character than getting more cash in the till.

A few days later, I received a very thoughtful, respectful question about this teaching, especially the idea that I was not teaching that we should endeavor to give a minimum percentage as a tithe. Many of us were taught to tithe, and it's a discipline that helps us to give with good motives. The person sending the email clearly cares about the health of the church, the need for us to be good givers, and the negative consequences if the members of a church didn't endeavor to give a certain percentage as a minimum. I appreciate the question, the attitude, the concern, and the commitment to support the ministry financially.

I received permission to discuss this question with you.

The idea of tithe is something that was specific to the Old Covenant. The English word shows up 30 times in the NASB, and only five of those occurrences are in the New Testament. In every case, the New Testament is referring to the Old Covenant practice. The tithe was tied to the temple and to the theocratic government of Israel.

In 2 Corinthians 8-9, Paul teaches voluntary giving that flows from first giving oneself to the Lord for the privilege of participating in God's mission for the Church. No law, just liberty. (The email I received was rightly concerned about the third "L" - license, turning liberty into an excuse for sinful attitudes.)

But that's the technical, theological view, and doesn't do justice to the strong concerns behind the question I got. The questioner respectfully holds a different view, and I completely support the motives and conclusions that they been drawn as a family.

When we talk about a tithe, the most common number discussed is 10% (of total gross income). Although I'm not a proponent of a New Testament tithe in the technical sense, I think this is a great target. Not everyone can do 10%. God will lead some to give more. But as a general rule of thumb, unless you have a strong sense of God's leading, otherwise it's a pretty good, challenging goal to set for one's financial stewardship.

If members of the churches across the US would give 10%, we could easily more than double ministry here and abroad. Plus, we would go a long way in developing hearts that were sacrificial and more Kingdom-focused.

As a practical goal, something like 10% minimum is a fine practice. However, I still choose to avoid the term tithe, and encourage every family to prayerfully, submissively consider what God would have you do. Read 2 Cor 8-9 carefully and determine to the best of your ability what kind of giver God wants you to be. And remember that generosity is not measured by quantity or by percentage, but in Christlikeness of one's attitude and actions (2 Cor 8:9).

There are several good articles on the topic at http://bible.org/topics/367/Tithing and http://bible.org/article/financial-faithfulness.

If you're not willing to be God's steward of it, don't buy it

In last week's message, one of the principles was, If you're not willing to be God's steward of it, don't buy it. Everything we buy, we should understand that we're volunteering to be God's steward of whatever it is. If we're not willing to fulfill the role of being God's steward over something, we have no business buying it. Am I crazy?!? What was I thinking? Am I serious?

I have to admit, this is a tough thought for me. I certainly have not had this attitude for most of my thing-buying career. For those who helped us unpack a year and a half ago, you can verify that we have more things than two people should. We never thought of ourselves as out-of-control shoppers or being caught up in rampant consumerism. And yet, a big truck and a POD were almost not enough to haul our stuff. Ridiculous. And embarrassing. (I take a little solace in the fact that we don't have many nice things, just too many of them. In other words, we've got a lot of junk.)

Asking the stewarding question before buying is an admittedly new thought for me, relatively speaking. But I can't get around it. I can't ignore it, argue against it, or throw it away. It's still there. Kinser, if you're not willing to be God's steward of it, don't buy it. Yeah, I'm crazy. But I'm pretty sure I'm right.

Being God's steward of something does not mean that we need to go to the temple, perform an animal sacrifice, sprinkle it with blood, and dedicate it to the Lord. Neither does not mean that it can only be used for church functions or evangelism.

What does it mean to be God's steward of something, then?

First, it means that I won't use it for sinful purposes. I won't use it for activities that go against God's will or God's mission. But that's pretty obvious (and sadly, not enough to stop us from using things we buy for sinful purposes). Using an object for sinful purposes also includes buying it in a vain effort to draw security, comfort, or meaning out of it, rather than from God alone.

Second, it means that I will use it for things that advance God's purpose. Of course, this can include using something directly for ministry, such as using your car to bring visitors to church. But this also includes "normal" things that God expects us to do - feed and clothe our kids, have guests in our home, give gifts generously, support those in need, educate our kids, keeping informed of what's going on in the world, and a whole host of things.

In short, being a steward of something is to use it as your Master would use it. While on earth, Jesus did a lot of "normal" things with possessions. He wore clothes and sandals that someone had to buy, including during those times when He wasn't actively ministering. He ate food and drank wine. He stayed in homes, both modest and expensive. He ordered take out food once (sort of). He read books, went to weddings, and walked on stone paved roads. Before His ministry began, we assume that he worked in his father's "secular" business. Luke gives us the idea that there was a lot of normalcy during Jesus' upbringing.

But here's the key: all of it contributed somehow to advancing God's Kingdom, directly or indirectly. Everything Jesus did, and therefore everything He did with stuff, He did to advance God's purpose. Even just growing up and being well-fed and healthy allowed Him to minister more effectively. I think it's a fair assumption that Jesus didn't own anything of which He didn't consider Himself to be God's steward.

This is not the same thing as just doing what we want, making sure it's not sinful, and then baptizing it as "consistent with God's purpose." It's a mentality that everything I possess as a steward I use for the purpose of advancing God's will in my life and in the lives of others. Furthermore, if I can't use it to advance God's will, then I have no business buying it. As a citizen of God's Kingdom, why would I want to bother with something that does His Kingdom absolutely no good? Why would God want me to have something that does nothing to advance His purpose?

I want to personally explore this idea more. I know I'll be thinking about it the next time I buy something, big or small. And it may mean I need to ... gasp ... throw out some junk.