Good stewards have faith.

Bad Economic Times can provide a Healthy Perspective

“It is the heart that makes a man rich.
He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.”
-Henry Ward Beecher

Whether or not we are in an official “recession,” there is now no denying that our country is experiencing an historic and catastrophic downturn in the economy. While it is the large banks and Wall Street firms that have received all the publicity and “bailouts”, it is in the individual family wallet and budget where we all are feeling the pinch of the tough economy more acutely than anywhere else. When difficulties are experienced and our safety is threatened, we find out if our religious beliefs are more than mere slogans or platitudes. Is it possible to find a silver lining in the economic rain cloud hanging over our heads?

If we are to find our way through these tough times, we must first understand the “motivation of crisis.” You know the old saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Well, bad economic times can create the pressure needed for us to finally review our financial stewardship and how faithful and disciplined we are in the way we use our personal financial resources. The economists tell us this particular crisis was brought on by unwise debt and mortgage lending. If we have personally overextended our family finances with too much debt, these times will be very tough for us indeed and we will have to make serious cutbacks in our expenses. But if we learn this painful lesson and begin to live within our family’s financial means, the future can hold great promise. When finances are flush and times are good, it is easy to be less disciplined in our spending and how we use our money. Yard sales are testimonies to how much “junk” most families have and could easily live without. When times are difficult, we are much more careful how we spend our money and we come much closer to limiting our purchases to useful necessities.

When we experience financial woes, we must remember Jesus’ teaching in Luke 12:13-34 that if we build our treasures here on earth, moth and rust can destroy them and thieves can break in and steal them. But treasures built in Heaven are safe from these dangers and will provide a safe and secure foundation upon which a life can be built that will endure the financial struggles that will inevitably occur. Further, Jesus promises that just as the birds of the air and the flowers are provided for by God, so too will He provide our basic and essential needs. To worry about these things, Jesus taught, is folly and doesn’t help the situation at all.

As times improve, and they eventually will, good stewards will remember the lessons learned and the more disciplined priorities of these lean times. We will keep our future expenditures under control and representative of the teachings of our Lord. These economic times will pass, although we don’t know how soon. But people of FAITH will make the most of the time to review and re-order their lives and stewardship, and will look back on 2008 as a great year when they rediscovered the power of their faith and trust in their Lord to provide their needs.

A Capital Campaign for needed improvements or additions can provide an excellent opportunity for your parishioners to step out in faith and make a Statement of Intention that will be a testament to their faith in the future and their trust in God to provide their needs

Article by: Ralph Salzgaber. Cunneen consultant, campaign director and author of Cunneen's Stewardship in Motion newsletter