Are people predisposed to being selfish and self-serving? We humans seem to come out of the womb wanting. If you've had to care for a newborn, you understand what I'm talking about. But is that our design, or is there more that explains our selfishness?

You've prepared the right curriculum, got the word out about the upcoming class in every way possible, and the day has arrived. You're waiting with eager anticipation to see the faces of the people that will begin their journey to true financial freedom, but as the class start time draws near, the reality sinks in: no one is coming.

As pastors, we are called to take care of God's flock. The lambs represent people who are young in their faith, and the sheep represent the more mature believers. Our heart should be to provide multi-tiered Biblical Teaching, where some of the content is meaty enough to challenge and disciple the mature believers, and some of the content is proper for engaging the new believer in God's word personally.

It is simple. Help people better manage their financial resources, and they can and will become more grateful, hopeful, and generous! The practice of stewardship can be transformed from an institutional focused approach to a personal and spiritual growth opportunity! Too many times, we tell people they should give rather than teaching them how.

For the last 17 years, I have served on staff at two large churches leading their stewardship ministries. During this time, I witnessed a surprising number of church leaders who also have an awkward relationship with stewardship. It doesn’t need to be this way.

The word “stewardship” is often misunderstood and misused. There are many reasons for this, not the least being that it’s an old-fashioned word we rarely use in everyday conversations. Mostly we see this word used in the Church, but sadly it’s almost always associated with raising money, a short-sighted view of its real meaning. We need a better and more accurate definition of this word because its purpose has profound implications for every Christian.

There are many ways you can assess the spiritual health of your church members. Faith, regular church attendance, and engagement in community groups are just a few of the behaviors that reveal the health of a church member. But perhaps the most revealing indicator is one that’s impossible to fake. 

We are incredibly blessed in this day and age to have so many great resources to minister to people in the area of biblical, financial stewardship. I remember back in the old days when there were limited options for generosity and stewardship materials. Today that is not the case. Before I get into specific tools, let’s take a step back and examine why we use the tools.

Stewardship has more to do with how one manages what he doesn’t give away because once something is given away, it becomes the responsibility of someone else to steward.

Stewardship is a popular word today. Go to almost any church on any given Sunday, and you will most likely hear stewardship used to set up the offering or introduce a building program or a capital campaign.

Being a Christian is not just a title, it’s a position. The position is that of a steward; a person responsible and entrusted with the management of another’s possessions. As stewards, all we do should be directed by the desires of the owner, God.

You’ve realized that having a generosity and stewardship ministry is a major need at your church, but where do you start?

What are the attributes of a generous church and how can you build these into your congregation? A guest post by By Dr. Michael Reeves, Director of Strategic Resources at St. Andrew United Methodist Church, Plano, TX

Christian Stewardship Network has always been a provider of stewardship resources and wisdom on developing generous givers. Now we are making all of our resources on stewardship available to church leaders in our easy-to-navigate blog.