Pastor's Page"It's the Money, Stupid!"
Community Church this April is going through that annual exercise known as "Stewardship Campaign" or by other similarly anodyne slogans. In actuality what stewardship campaigns are about is: "It's the money, stupid!". Naturally, churches and pastors are disinclined to be so bald and bold in stating this reality, but, truly, isn't it about money?
To be sure, there are nowadays means to support the church, other than giving money: you can donate shares of stocks or parcels of land and other real estate. But church budgets operate on the need for regular monetary support through the year. It's about money.
And in an affluent congregation like CCHK where I would guess the average monthly income is over HK$l00,000, stewardship has to be about money: how much each person will decide to give/pledge to the church's budget.
But how about the "stupid?" That's strong language though it was a popular phrase in the last two U.S. presidential election when it came into electoral success under the rubric of "It's the economy, stupid!"
Of course churches and their pastors hesitate to call their worshipers "stupid" especially when they want to motivate them to be generous. But "stupid" is more or less what Jesus called the affluent young man in Mark l0:l7. That fellow was much like upper income worshipers at CCHK: He was rich, he was successful, he had social status, and he was sincerely pious and looking for some meaning to his life beyond his outward achievements.
Jesus told him what he needed to do to attain what he sought, and he couldn't do it. He was "stupid" or, if you prefer, he was silly, naïve, superficial. Whatever you call it, when someone says they are looking for more of God in their lives, and Jesus invites pursuit of a course of action to attain that goal, and then the person turns away downcast, it is stupid, and it's also sad.
Pastor Gene Preston
The Rev. Gene R.Preston
14th Floor, Blk 36, Lower Baguio Villa Tel : 25516161 Fax: 25512114E-mail : gpreston@netvigator.com
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