Facing our Demons: The FIFTH of Six Temptations Every Leader Faces When it Comes to Money
The fifth temptation in our role as leaders in relationship to money is to separate our personal spiritual journey from our work as a Christian leader. In our postmodern culture we are encouraged to compartmentalize our private life from our public service. Postmodernism teaches us that It is perfectly acceptable if not downright beneficial to live one life at home and another at the office. We are told that there is no meta-ethic that requires us to be consistent in the application of values across all areas of our life.
As this worldview seeps into the church it quietly encourages us to keep our personal faith separate from our public role as a Christian leader. Surprisingly, this happens even in the church and the Christian not-for-profit world. In working with Christian fundraising professionals I am often surprised at the resistance I face when I tie a person’s personal history of generosity and sacrificial giving to the success of their work of asking others to do the same. We seem reticent to make that connection, believing somehow that we can be personally stingy and professionally successful in helping others be generous.
As Christian leaders our ability to help our organizations deal properly and effectively with money must flow from our own personal and ongoing transformation as followers of Christ whose hearts are rich toward God. We cannot sow richly into the lives of those we lead if our seed bags are empty. Keeping them full requires intimacy with God, personal submission and complete obedience to his will and word. When we empty ourselves that he would fill us up, we can let the overflow stream into the lives of those we lead.
Are you allowing God to cultivate in you a heart of lavish generosity?
