I often try very hard to find the least expected passages of Scripture as starting points for conversations about Christian stewardship. Frankly, most of us know good and well where we are headed when the pastor asks us to open our Bibles to Malachi 3, Matthew 6, or 2 Corinthians 8 or 9. When speaking to ministry leaders, I have always found 1 Peter 5:2-3 a great place to start.

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers–not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. (NIV)

This passage very easily points us towards Christian stewardship- Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers… we need not read any further in order to understand that as ministry leaders we are called to be wise stewards of our people and the resources that accompany each of them. God has trusted us to care for and oversee those who are His, not ours.

I have recently discovered Richard Borg’s The Chief Steward which admirably confronts pastors in their neglect of stewardship responsibilities. With experience as a senior pastor, church planter, capital campaign consultant, and leader in the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, Borg insists that pastors are in the most influential position to disciple their flock in Christian stewardship.

Borg describes his book as …an in-depth look into the one role most often avoided by pastors. It’s about overcoming the rational and irrational fears pastors harbor regarding money. It’s also about leading change, which requires strategic thinking and courageous actions…

Borg begins by describing three diversions of pastors not assuming their roles as chief stewards. The first and, undoubtedly, the most talked about in recent years, is that pastors are not trained in this area of leadership. Bible colleges and seminaries have now seen the light and have begun to offer courses in this area.

I have learned that pointing out problems without offering some measure of a solution is unprofitable. I have also learned that quick-fix, canned stewardship programs don’t stick. Borg quotes Harvard business professor Joseph Badaracco who said "The most effective leaders accomplish great things quietly and incrementally behind the curtains." Borg encourages pastors to face the challenge of changing their church’s stewardship culture not quickly or easily, but rather quietly and incrementally.

Borg asks: Do we intentionally with excellence disciple our people in financial Christian stewardship, or do we cower in fear, blaming influences beyond our control? God is anxious to bless the teaching of His Word, but will we teach what He commands?

Our silence over money allows [the flock’s] worldliness to remain unchallenged. Transforming their secular values into a biblical counterculture mind-set is our calling.

Jason Lewis has served Christian ministries in a variety of leadership roles, trained hundreds of non-profit leaders, and shared relationships with a continuously growing number of generous individuals. You can read more about Jason’s ministry at www.theGenerousLife.net