Contextual Generosity

In pursuit of the almighty dollar, many church leaders insist upon canned stewardship sermons and deceive themselves into thinking everyone will respond generously. To the dismay of those counting the offering, these formulas often lack a depth of Scripture and ignore the context of individual lives.

Doug Pagitt tells the story of a giant goose that hangs in his church- the goose is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit based Celtic tradition and is a reminder that everything is contextual. The Apostle John understood this as demonstrated by his unique telling of the Gospel.

Pagitt writes:

“John was telling the story of Jesus in a particular way so that story would make sense to a particular group of people living in a particular culture… He arranged and built the story of Jesus to connect with his readers… What is true for the Gospel writers is true for us: the gospel is to be told in a way that makes sense in our day and time so that we too can find life in it.” Source

Contextualization is tough for some folks; so rather than tackling something like absolute truth we can try something a little easier to swallow. Frankly, for some, tithing is as sacred as the virgin birth; so we won’t zero in on that either.

Sometimes I just want to tell pastors, look there is another way – you really can effectively teach Biblical stewardship without accusing everyone of theft or sounding like an infomercial with promises of riches raining down from heaven. To do so requires a broad understanding of the Scriptures and an understanding of the people we are teaching.

An understanding of biblical stewardship requires us to move beyond Malachi 3, Matthew 6, and 2 Corinthians. I would suggest we get to know people like the Rich Young Ruler and Zacchaeus. As a complement to the scriptures, I would suggest Craig Blomberg’s Neither Poverty Nor Riches. I would also suggest Randy Alcorn’s Money, Eternity and Possessions.

In consideration of the people we are teaching, I am reminded of the first sentence in Stephen Bevan’s Models of Contextual Theology, There is no such thing as “theology”; there is only contextual theology: feminist theology, black theology, liberation theology, Filipino theology, Asian-American theology, African theology, and so forth.

To Bevan’s list, I would add millionaire theology, middle-class theology, single-parent theology, and overwhelmed-with-debt theology. To ignore the realities of individual economies is to diminish our ability to effectively teach. We have to learn when and how to see beyond our own circumstances.

To echo my thoughts in an earlier post, sermons are not typically the best way to speak to these different audiences.  I encourage church leaders to develop stewardship initiatives that address the diverse needs of everyone in the church. We should maintain a whole-life stewardship perspective and consider not only what we give but what we receive and how we receive it. And regardless of the context, we all want to experience the Generous God who has given and will continue to give far more than we can ever give back.  

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