Are you “stepping out in faith,” or simply listening to last night’s pizza? Are you training disciples, or spiritual Navy SEALS? Pastor Larry Osborne—the live speaker at the 2013 Resurgence Conferencebroadcast location in Reno, NV—shares what he wishes he’d known about faith, finances, discipleship, and pastoring.
WHAT I WISH I’D KNOWN ABOUT FAITH
Early on in my walk with God I confused faith with risk. I thought they were nearly synonymous. Thus the greater the risk, the greater the amount of faith I thought I was exercising. That led me to go way out onto some dangerous limbs in the presumption that God would rescue me—as long as I’d crawled out there in faith and my goal was to bring him glory.
But that was goofy thinking. It led to some terrible decisions. And it caused me to blame God for things that had nothing to do with his lack of protection—and everything to do with my own stupidity and presumption.
The greater the risk, the greater the amount of faith I thought I was exercising.
I wish I’d known that faith is primarily about obedience, not risk.
Faith is simply trusting God enough to do what he says, no matter what the consequences. It starts with his clear and unequivocal leading (either through the Bible, the Spirit, or godly counsel). It doesn’t start with an off-the-wall idea I think God might want me to do. That could be God, or it could be last night’s pizza.
Faith is manifested when I know God wants me to do something, and I do it. It might be risky. It might be mundane. And if God hasn’t spoken explicitly, it’s not a step of faith to launch out. If he hasn’t spoken explicitly, it’s time to move slowly, use my brain, measure twice and cut once. Because going out on a limb God hasn’t told me to go out onto is not faith—it’s credulity.
Faith doesn’t start with an off-the-wall idea I think God might want me to do.
WHAT I WISH I’D KNOWN ABOUT FINANCES
I’m married to an accountant, so the personal side of finances has always come easy to my family and me. From the first years of our marriage we followed a solid pattern of generosity, living within our means, and setting aside a margin. It worked out well.
But when I became the pastor of a church plant, I made the mistake of casting all those principles aside. It was as if I saw no connection between personal and ministry finances.
Each year we set a budget that presumed upon growth. We launched new ministries and hired staff on the assumption that God would provide. And we spent every penny that came in.
We called all this “trusting God.”
If God hasn’t spoken explicitly, it’s not a step of faith to launch out.
I wish I’d known that a church’s finances are no different than personal finances. The principles that lead to success in one lead to success in the other. And the principles that lead to disaster in one will eventually lead to disaster in the other.
The same two principles that guide my personal budget and finances now guide our church budget and finances.
1. We don’t presume upon the future. We set our budget based on what we have, not what we hope we’ll get. James 4:13–16 warns against presumption. In my personal life, that means not assuming I’ll get a raise every year. In our church, that means setting our budget in light of what God provided the previous year, no longer assuming that attendance and offerings will automatically grow every year.
2. We don’t devour all we have. Proverbs 21:20 says that a wise man has stores of treasure and oil stored up, but a fool devours all he has. In my personal life, that means living below my means so that I can be generous and prepared for unexpected crisis or opportunity. In our church, that means living below our means by setting a ministry budget based on only 90% of the previous year’s income. That leaves us with a built-in margin. It sets us up to be generous and it prepares us for unexpected crisis or opportunity.
I wish I’d known that a church’s finances are no different than personal finances.
While this means that we may have fewer staff, buildings, and programs than most other churches our size, it also means we have a lot less stress and a lot more flexibility to respond as God leads.
What works at home works at church. I wish I’d known that from the beginning.
WHAT I WISH I’D KNOWN ABOUT DISCIPLESHIP
I once thought that discipleship was something for super-saints. I thought that when you made a disciple, you made a leader. So I pressed everyone to become the equivalent of a spiritual Navy SEAL.
That worked out great for those who were cut from the cloth of leadership, high drive, and type-A personality. They loved it. But it also left a lot our sheep beat up and bleeding. Those with quiet personalities, lower drive (some might call it contentment), and background gifts were left to feel inadequate and worthless. I had no plan for them. And, worse, I’d become an Accidental Pharisee, harshly judging everyone who was behind me in the following-Jesus line.
I pressed everyone to become the equivalent of a spiritual Navy SEAL.
I wish I’d known that a disciple is simply a follower. It includeseveryone in the following-Jesus line. Some are at the front. Some are in the middle, and some bring up the rear. But by definition, they are all disciples. The Greek word for disciple (mathétés) means “follower, learner, pupil.” It’s not for star students only.
The result was a lot more grace, a lot more patience, and a lot less Pharisee.
WHAT I WISH I’D KNOWN ABOUT PASTORING
You can lead a horse to water. But you can’t make him drink. If you try, you’ll regret it. Horses don’t respond too well when they have their faces shoved into the water.
A disciple is simply a follower. It includes everyone in the following-Jesus line.
The same is true when it comes to leading God’s people. We can salt the oats and lead them to the water, but at the end of the day, we can’t make them drink. That’s their choice, and their responsibility.
I wish I’d known that God judges my ministry by how faithfully I led the flock to the water and not by how much water they drank. It would have saved me a lot of grief. It would have kept me from taking too much credit when people grew by leaps and bounds, and it would have kept me from taking too much blame when their hearts were hard.
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