The Faithful Steward

In our last podcast, we addressed the stewardship conversation with two segments of our congregations: those in financial crisis (Lane 1) and those who are making ends meet but not making real financial progress (Lane 2). We identified their needs for stability and clarity and discussed how we might disciple them toward those goals. The stewardship conversation with folks in Lane 3 looks very diff...

Leading the stewardship conversation in church can be difficult. It can come across as self-serving ("the church just wants me to give more"). Or we can miss the mark by focusing on one financial condition ("I'm not in debt, so this doesn't apply to me"). Biblical principles apply across all financial conditions. Principles of God's ownership, and values like generosity, gratitude, and contentment...

Fear of missing out. Fear of rejection, of not fitting in. Fear of not having enough. These and other worries drive much of our behavior. Marketers and media know this. So they play on our fears to manipulate our decisions or pique our interest. And we find ourselves driven by the things that other people tell us we need to be afraid of. This can lead to bad stewardship decisions. We fear loss, so...

In our last episode, we talked about preparing for retirement. We highlighted the importance of planning beyond the finances and balancing pleasure with purpose. But what happens when we get there? Suddenly, the career is over and the demands of the job are gone - as is the paycheck! How do we handle this important time of transition? Three major areas of focus are finances, health, and lifestyle...

Most of us who haven't reached retirement yet are looking forward to getting there. But how much have we thought about what retirement actually looks like? If all we're thinking about is what we're retiring from , we're not ready to maximize what we're retiring to. Many people find after some time that the "permanent Saturday" they were dreaming about doesn't bring fulfillment. It lacks purpose an...

Is the pursuit of financial freedom a good thing or a bad thing? It depends on your definition. The world's definition and the Biblical definition are very different. In the eyes of the world, financial freedom means being free to spend on whatever we want without worrying. This tends to take one of two forms: either spending recklessly (like the Prodigal Son) or accumulating obsessively to get to...

Each quarter, we discuss the key financial rhythm of a quarterly stewardship check-in. This is where we look at where we are financially versus where we planned to be and identify areas where adjustments might need to be made. Quarterly check-ins are an important rhythm because they give us a longer view than monthly Spending Plan reviews and help us to understand trends. And the mid-year check-in...

This episode concludes our 3-part series on the Enneagram and Stewardship by looking at the "gut" grouping - the three Enneagram types motivated by anger. These three types include: The Challenger or Activist (type 8), who focuses anger outward.  These are the big personalities, who tend to take over a conversation and dominate a room. They're not constantly expressing anger, but when they do, it'...

Last time, we began our 3-part series on the Enneagram and Stewardship by looking at the "heart" grouping - the three Enneagram types motivated by shame. This episode, we're looking at the "head" grouping - the three types that are motivated primarily by fear: The Investigator (type 5) deals with fear by focusing inward, withdrawing from people. This person tends to come across as an introvert, pr...

This episode begins a 3-part series on the Enneagram, a popular personality profile tool. The Enneagram identifies nine different personality types in three groupings and we'll tackle one grouping each episode. What's different about the Enneagram from most other personality tests is that it acknowledges that within each personality type, there are healthy and unhealthy traits. People of any perso...

Midlife crisis. We've heard about it, seen it caricatured on TV. If we haven't experienced it yet, it's likely we will. So how do we understand it and how do we approach it with wisdom in terms of stewardship? The biggest symptom of the midlife crisis is a major life change that doesn't seem consistent with how life has been lived up to that point. The conservative, successful career man buys the...

The stewardship conversation in a church congregation is difficult. People are in different situations and that means different conversations are needed. For people in Lane 3 - those that are doing well financially and building net worth - it can be difficult to even engage them in the conversation. They may feel like they don't need stewardship teaching because they're doing well. If stewardship...

We can only spend a dollar one time. But there are so many things we want to do with it! In our culture, we're not used to "either/or" - we want "both/and". And to get that, we make all kinds of unwise financial decisions. When we realize that we have to make some adjustments, we tend to start with the assumption that our bills are all non-negotiables. But are they really? Some of our bills - even...

People are in different situations financially. That's why one-size-fits all conversations or teachings about finance so often miss the mark. If you're struggling under a load of consumer debt, encouragement to save for retirement isn't going to mean much. On the other hand, if you're debt-free, then cajoling about getting out of debt won't apply. As we consider the path toward financial freedom,...

As spring arrives, nature shakes off the slumber of winter. And it's a good time for us to shake off any unproductive habits we may have built up in our stewardship. Spring is a great time for a deeper dive into our stewardship habits, goals, and progress. Enough time has elapsed since the beginning of the year that we have data to help us understand whether we're on track with the goals we set fo...

Money is hard. Most of us would accept that as an axiom. There's never enough; we worry if we're handling it well; we have to make difficult spending decisions and income decisions. Balancing a checkbook and balancing a spending plan - both seem beyond us. It's true that money is hard - but not for the reasons we typically think. The math isn't that difficult - and even if it were, we have calcula...

Buyer's remorse. We've all experienced it. We bought that thing but it didn't meet our expectations. And we may even still be paying for it. We don't remember why we bought it, but we wish we hadn't. Buyer's remorse results from unintentional spending. And we may not like the feeling of buyer's remorse, but it can be a valuable tool if we'll allow ourselves to learn from it. The key is not wallowi...

Faithful stewards know where their money goes. They can account for their spending, and they understand how they are utilizing God's resources. But, of course, that doesn't happen by itself. The question is, how do we actually track our spending? While a manual system, such as a spreadsheet, is a good starting point for anyone who hasn't been tracking their finances, it's not ideal over the long r...

"Buy now - pay later!" Yep. But how many ways do we pay when we're caught in the trap of accumulation? Besides the initial price of the item we buy, there's the cost of interest if we put it on credit. There's the price of space to store the item. There's the price of time and energy to take care of the item. And there's the mental price of clutter created by our overaccumulation. Buying stuff isn...

If 2025 were to look financially like 2024, would you be OK with that? If your earning,  giving, saving, spending, and debt trended the same in the new year as in last year, would you be in a better position than you are now? If you're hoping to make more progress toward financial freedom in 2025, what would need to change from 2024 to make that happen? Obviously, the starting point for answering...

The holiday season is a busy time of year. Often, there's not much time left over to slow down and reflect on the year we've just completed. But that reflection is important - in stewardship and in life in general. If we're honest, a season of reflection can help us see where we've accomplished key goals and where we may have missed the mark. It can point out opportunities for new goals in the com...

We've said previously that most of the money problems in marriage aren't really problems over money. They're underlying issues that surface as arguments over finances but really go much deeper. In this episode, we'll look at three foundational causes of disagreements over money. The first of these is a lack of shared vision and agreement over how we approach money. Often, this stems from differing...

The holidays are upon us again. And along with the holidays come expectations - our own, and those of others. Those expectations are often built up over years of developing and following traditions - some of which serve us well, and some probably not so much. One reason that the holiday season is so exhausting is that we feel like we're along for the ride. We're driven by traditions and expectatio...

Stewarding our finances is a foundational part of discipleship. But so is stewarding our time. Each week, each day, each hour is a gift from God. And he gives us this time for his own glory and for our benefit. But just like marketers  attempt to control how we steward our money, there are those who demand our time. Children's sports or other activities; work, where we're expected to be constantly...

Generosity. For some of us, the term conjures up images of offering plates and pledge envelopes. Of capital campaigns and fund drives. And this is indeed part of generosity, as evidenced in the Biblical capital campaigns for the building of the tabernacle and later of Solomon's temple and its replacement. But is this really the extent of what generosity means? Or is it something more? Not all givi...