Blog | Irresponsibly foolish

What is stewardship at Downtown Church? It's a word that churchy people throw around as if we all understand it. A few weeks ago I preached a sermon titled "The Mooch in Me." It was the first time I'd talked about money at Downtown Church. In preparing for it, I had to define stewardship in words that would make sense to the un-churchy among us. What appears below didn't make it in the sermon, but it's worth sharing with you. After you read it, I hope you take a moment to consider making a recurring gift through our secure form on this page. Stewardship is the act of being foolishly generous. It's irresponsible self-giving that looks like it hurts, until you try it. You know the saying, "money can't buy happiness?" The foolishly generous disagree. Possessing money can't buy happiness, but investing it with your heart and mind can.

Stewardship in this style is born out of hope that the world we see isn't the end of God's ongoing act of creation. It is a courageous response to anyone who believes this is as good as it gets. If money is how we calculate our wealth, then stewardship is the equivalent to how quickly we manage to give it away. It's the right answer to Jesus' question of the rich young ruler. It's not a single act, but rather a way of being connected to the world and the people in it. When we are foolishly generous we aren't being charitable, we are following Jesus. Just like we have the choice to follow Jesus, we also have the choice to invest in the church. We are all a part of this family in Christ and we each have individual gifts which are integral in creating possibilities in our community of faith.

We hope when you are foolishly generous - you aren't giving all your money only to the church. Spread the generosity around.