What you believe about money is as important as your theology. Here are a couple reasons why I make that statement.
- Financial literacy is equal to “theological literacy,” More people are taken out of the game due to financial illiteracy than the inability to read Greek. Over my 30-plus years in the ministry, I’ve watched fantastic Christians bursting with potential, then sidelined and under-utilized because they were poor at finances. These wonderful saints had high spiritual competency, true servants’ hearts, and faith that could move mountains. Some even had advanced degrees, but their inability to implement a simple budget eventually tanked them. The stress of debt swallowed them up. Some blamed the church, some lost their faith, some got divorced, most dropped out of ministry entirely. In the final accounting, it didn’t matter how skilled or what powerful preachers they were, what amazing worship experiences they could create or how precise their theology – it was a simple balance sheet that did them in. And in each case, the church watched it unfold, right down to the implosion. We could have said something. We could have promoted a finance course instead of the next Bible study. We could have created accountability for financial stability – but we didn’t. More meltdowns are likely.