Relationship with Money

No servant can be the slave to two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or be attached to the first and despise the second. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money." (Luke 16:13)

What is our relationship with money? Henri Nouwen asks that question in his book, "The Spirituality of Fundraising." Is it something we are comfortable talking about? Was money something your parents talked with you about? Do you talk about it with your children? Why is money so secretive?

The United Methodist Church passed a new rule in the discipline (Paragraph 340.2.c.(2)(c)) that the pastors will have access to giving records of members. Why do you think the person who is essentially the CEO of a church wouldn't have access to giving records? And why did we need to pass a rule that provides for that access? Why are giving records a secret from pastors who have a responsibility in fundraising? And why is it that there are pastors to don't WANT that information?

The most common response I hear to that question from pastors is that he or she is afraid that information will lead to the pastor treating people differently. Could it be that they are already are, based on what they think they know? 

Why are people afraid for their pastors, who know everything about them, including their addictions, their family issues, their grief, their medical complaints - to know about how much they give to the church?

Why is our relationship with money? Do we see it as security? Do we equate money with personal worth? How does God enter into that equation?

Nouwen's thesis is that we, as church leaders, will be uncomfortable inviting people to give if we ourselves don't know how to relate to money. That's true, but it impacts much more than that, don't you think?