By Gary D. Robinson
In our debt-ridden culture, many might respond positively to a preacher’s confession of poor financial stewardship. Of course, its positive impact can be still greater if he’s determined to…
Keep it true.
I once heard Dr. Laura Schlessinger say that “Do as I say not as I do,” does not preclude, “Do as I say, not as I used to do.” As I’ve mentioned, some folks thought we had no business confessing. In our view, however, we weren’t simply ’fessing up but proclaiming the power of God. Our desire to confess was no greater than our desire to share what God had taught us.
Advertisement
It’s one thing to confess a sin. It’s another to stretch the truth. We didn’t spout wishful thinking about our finances. Though we were working hard to become debt-free, freedom was still in the future. As simply and briefly as we could, we told them what we’d been doing wrong and what we were now doing right.
Keep it short.
I’ve heard preachers go on and on about their sins and shortcomings. The result is usually painful and embarrassing. Though our hearers want to know we too are men, they’ve no wish to smell our dirty socks.
Speak “in” before speaking out.
Talk with trusted counselors first. Blessed is the preacher who has such within his congregation. They know the body. They know what the body can bear to hear. They can make helpful suggestions on wording and editing.
Don’t let the negative reaction of a few discourage you.
If you’ve been honest with yourself and with God; if your aim has been to please Him and help people, God will bless the word you bring.
One last thing emerging from the desert of debt taught me. I’d heard it before, but I hadn’t realized the power of this simple truth: Leaders can’t take people farther than they’ve been. How many of us really know, and thus can confidently preach, that God can be trusted? How many speak with joy? May God lead us to preach like Job: “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you” (Job 42:5).
_______________
Gary Robinson is Senior Minister with North Side Christian Church, Xenia, Ohio.
