Author: Teddy Ray

Abundance, Scarcity, and Prodigal living

abundance

Stephen Covey coined the terms “Scarcity Mentality” and “Abundance Mentality” in his excellent book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. But the way he used them isn’t the way I usually hear them used.

For Covey, the Scarcity Mentality assumes there’s only one piece of pie out there, and if others get more, it means less for you. It reflects a sort of insecurity about all of life.

By contrast, the Abundance Mentality believes in an expandable pie. There’s enough out there for all of us.

That’s a great perspective. Sadly, I usually hear it (mis)applied to financial decisions. That version goes something like this…

Scarcity Mentality

Scarcity Mentality is all about fear and avoiding risk. It always sees the reason you can’t do something, the reason something will fail. And that reason is usually lack of resources.This might try to disguise itself as prudence.

It would be fair for us to ask Scarcity Mentality people where their faith is. Shouldn’t we be able to act in faith and trust that God can do more than what we imagine?

This is a pretty good application of the Scarcity Mentality. If you (personally or organizationally) have this mentality about things, I hope this challenges you to think differently.

Abundance Mentality #1

What then gets termed “Abundance Mentality” is the view that we can act in faith and God will take care of the rest. We can stretch beyond what’s comfortable, maybe even beyond what’s wise, because we trust that God will provide. It’s a step of faith.

Opposite the Scarcity Mentality, this mentality spurns caution and fear. “Just have faith,” it says.

I’ve used this kind of Abundance Mentality when talking to people about clear matters of faithfulness. You work at a job where you have no option but to lie, swindle, or oppress? I would advise you to leave that job immediately. Even if you don’t have other options. I might even say, “Let’s trust that God is going to reward your faithfulness and provide.”

But this Abundance Mentality gets used much more broadly. It can serve as justification for almost any life or organizational decision. I’ve seen people rack up massive student loan debts because they were sure God wanted them to go to seminary. And whenever a church wants to do more than their budget allows, or build more than what their capital campaign has raised, someone will bring up abundance: “Where’s the faith that God will take care of the rest?”

Unfortunately, that sort of Abundance hasn’t always come through.

After a record stint of church construction in 2002, church foreclosures have become more common. Don’t you imagine there was a lot of talk about abundance when those churches were building? “Even if the numbers don’t quite add up, let’s take a step in faith.” So why have hundreds of congregations been filing for bankruptcy or defaulting on loans? One expert says it bluntly: “Religious organizations may be subject to the laws of God but they are also subject to the laws of economics.”

Seminary graduates are dealing with stifling student loan debt and not finding the work they need to pay it back. One recent grad reflects: “I am not mad at the church. However, I wish someone had advised me against taking on so much debt in order to be trained for ministry.”

Even when these decisions didn’t result in foreclosure or bankruptcy, I’ve seen them result in a lot of compromises. I’ve seen people take jobs that compromised their values (or their stated ministry callings) because they needed to pay those bills. I’ve seen churches compromise their ministries because they had to find a way to keep paying that debt. It seems that too often, this “Abundance Mentality” on the front-end creates a lot of compromise on the back end.

The problem with Abundance Mentality #1 (Prodigal Mentality)

I’m not much a fan of this “Abundance Mentality.” It runs to the other end of the extremes that we see in the Scarcity Mentality. It doesn’t only spurn fear and risk-avoidance, it can serve as an excuse for careless and reckless decisions.

What if some of our “leaps of faith” may actually be excuses for avoiding important questions?

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?”[1. Luke 14:28]

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?”[1. Luke 14:31]

Just as the Scarcity Mentality can disguise fear and call it prudence, this mentality can disguise extravagance and lack of discipline and call them faith. When that happens, the better proper name for this is “Prodigal Mentality.”

prodigal |ˈprädigəl|
spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant

So what if we reserved this sort of approach for when it’s truly and unquestionably about faithfulness? When it can’t just be an excuse for prodigal living. Like when it’s about leaving a job that requires us to do evil. Or when we’ve heard a clear call from God, and it has been affirmed by wise and trusted Christian people around us (not to be confused with the people most likely to agree with us.)

[If you really think this applies to your situation for using debt as your primary seminary funding, please at least read “The Modern Pastor and Seminary Debt” and consider it.]

The Real Abundance Mentality

For everything outside those circumstances, I’m going to suggest a different version of Abundance Mentality.

What God has given now is enough for now.

The prayer isn’t, “Oh God, I’m going to do this and trust that you’ll give me enough for it.” But instead, “God give me enough to do what you want.”

And then we faithfully take what God has given and trust that it’s enough to do what God wants.

Don’t confuse this for a passive or small-minded approach, for the dreaded Scarcity Mentality. Dream big!

If you work for a grant-funded organization, be diligent and creative in your grant-writing. If you’re a church depending on people’s contributions, then paint a big vision and encourage them to give. If you’re considering school, apply for scholarships and look for work that will help you pay for it.

Aggressively seek what you need so that you can do what you believe you should do. Especially seek it in prayer.

But if it doesn’t come, might you take that as a sign that you’re misunderstanding the calling? Better to let that be the sign than serious setbacks later.

And don’t confuse this for lack of faith. This can be the hardest version of faith––we don’t get to do what we had our hearts set on because God hasn’t yet provided for it. And so we wait and trust that God’s plan is better than our own.

Faithful with what we have

Be faithful with the few things God has given you now, and God will put you in charge of many things.[1. Matt 25:21, 23]

We’re never called in Scripture to be faithful with more than what we have.[1. See 2 Cor 8:12 and 9:6-11 for good example.] I wonder if this era of easy debt has skewed our thinking about faithfulness––trying to be faithful with things we don’t have in the first place.

So let’s live with neither the fear of the Scarcity Mentality or the recklessness of the Prodigal Mentality. Let’s ask God for his biggest dreams––bigger than what we may ever expect on our own. And let’s ask God to provide for them in his timing. And then let’s trust in God’s abundance––that what he has given today is enough for today, and what he will give tomorrow will be enough for tomorrow.

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For whom the bell tolls – A word for Ash Wednesday

bell

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” That’s the somber reminder of Ash Wednesday.

“To dust you shall return” wasn’t the original intention for humanity, of course. At the crowning moment of creation, “God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”[note]Gen 2:7 –– special note: This is not meant in any way to bias genders. The woman’s creation is every bit as much a crowning moment (some have argued more). But I’m talking about dust here…[/note] God only speaks those second words––“to dust you shall return”––as he later details the consequences of the man’s sin. The wages of sin is death…

At Ash Wednesday, and then throughout these forty days of Lent, we’re invited to take special account of our mortality and sinfulness. It’s a season of fasting. We fast when we recognize that things are not right. Throughout the Scriptures, people fast when they’re in danger, afraid, grieving, or have recognized their sinfulness.

John Donne’s famous piece below is fitting for the season. He wrote this in 1623 while recovering from a serious illness. The bell he refers to is a funeral bell.

Donne’s work reminds of two things:

  1. We may have judged our own state better than it is––“Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill as that he knows not it tolls for him.”[note]Donne wrote before gender-inclusive language. I’m sure he would have written more inclusively had he written this today.[/note]
  2. Our lives are all wrapped up in each other. No one is an island. This is what Donne means when he says we need not ask for whom the bell tolls, “it tolls for thee.”––“Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

I had to read this slowly and carefully to understand and appreciate. It was worth the effort…

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From Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, Meditation #17 by John Donne

Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill as that he knows not it tolls for him. And perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that. The church is catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does, belongs to all. When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that head which is my head too, and ingrafted into that body, whereof I am a member. And when she buries a man, that action concerns me; all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God’s hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again, for that library where every book shall lie open to one another; as therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come; so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness.

[…]

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

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Who’s your pastor?

pastor2

Several years ago, I received an email from a friend that included this:

I am applying for a  ________  position. May I put you down as a minister reference? I still don’t know any ministers at  ________  who could give me one since the church is so big.

A part of my reply:

I’ll be happy to be a reference. What a perfect position for you! I’ll say lots of good things.

I hope this isn’t overstepping, but I wanted to say this also… I hope you don’t need me for a minister reference in the future. You are so gifted and also have so many places where you could grow if a pastor were investing in you. It’s upsetting to me to know that you’re in a place where you’re not known. To me, that means you’re being under-utilized and under-challenged.

If you just need to take initiative, I hope you’ll do that to find someone at _______ that you can call your pastor. If that’s not a possibility there, I hope you’ll find a place where it is. You have too many gifts and too much space to grow to be without a pastor.

What this is not about:

1) Church size – You can find several large churches that do a great job of connecting pastors to individuals. You can find several small churches that don’t. On the whole, it’s easier to remain anonymous at a large church. You’ll need to take more initiative and so will the church. But size isn’t the only factor here.

2) A paycheck – When I ask who your pastor is, I’m not concerned about a paycheck. That is, your pastor doesn’t have to be on staff at the church. They may be a banker or nurse. But they’re a part of your local church community and they’re your pastor.

What this is about:

1) Pastoral discernment – Who is the person in your life that can see the forest when you have your face pressed up against a tree? The person with spiritual discernment?

Note: This isn’t just for beginners. The person most mature in her faith still needs a pastor, just like Roger Federer still needs a coach.

2) Pastoral authority – That’s an ugly term in our independent society. But it’s needed. We love ourselves too much. If we want to make hard choices, we need to give someone the authority to suggest and prescribe them. On our own, we choose our own (easier) way.

Who has the authority to ask you uncomfortable questions and give you uncomfortable prescriptions?

3) Soul care – A pastor cares for your soul. (S)he works with you toward healing, wholeness, and hope in places of brokenness. She guides you in reestablishing broken relationships. When restoration is impossible or unlikely, she helps you sustain. She directs you toward growth and wise choices.

In a time of crisis, who is the pastor that will care for your soul? In the places where you need guidance or encouragement, or even a loving rebuke, who can offer it?

4) Someone in your local congregation – You may list several pastors. They may be scattered all over the place. That’s great! But you need to have a pastor to you in your local congregation. Each local congregation is a unique little body of Christ. It’s not just a venue to sing some songs and hear a sermon. You’re going through something special together as a community. You need a pastor within that community.

When you come to some of those most special occasions –– a wedding, a funeral, a baptism –– who will be there with you? Is it someone who knows you?

Who’s your pastor?

On Saturday, I attended a memorial service for David Sparks. It was packed with people who had called David their pastor. These people’s lives are different today because of the ways that David invested in them. He encouraged people to use their gifts and do more than they had done before. He was there for them when they had a crisis or failed or screwed up.

Who’s investing in you like that?

I’ve been formed a lot by several people who couldn’t pick me out of a lineup (e.g. Rob Bell) or who died long before I was born (e.g. John Wesley and Augustine). These have been important teachers for me, and I appreciate them for that.But they weren’t my pastors. They haven’t known me, been there when I needed someone most, or sat across a table to say something I needed to hear. They haven’t been able to share a personal word of challenge or encouragement.

So I’m thankful for the people who have taken the time to know me and invest in me. I’m not where I am today without the pastors in my life:

  • David Sparks calling, texting, and meeting with me to give words of encouragement.
  • Jerry Ernst teaching me to be a Christian leader.
  • Aaron Mansfield not letting me off easy.
  • Derek Robinette encouraging often and rebuking when necessary.
  • Paul Brunstetter believing in me before I believed in myself.
  • Todd Nelson offering words of wisdom and companionship.
  • Mike Powers giving me space to discern calling.
  • Paul and Sylvia Cummings teaching me to pray.

That’s far from an exhaustive list. To those many pastors in my life not listed above, thank you…