"I'm not giving one more red cent to that pastor to squander," said Dave.

"Right," replied Marti, "and this congregation seems to do little more than ask for money every week."

Clarence, an older member of the congregation who'd "seen it all" overheard the two members grousing at their fellowship hour. He gradually worked his way toward them so that he could casually enter the conversation without seeming to intrude. He didn't have to wait long.

Marti grabbed Clarence's arm almost as soon as he drew near. "Clarence, why does the church ask for money so much?"

"Well," mused Clarence, "money is an important part of our stewardship.

"I'm hearing that word all the time it seems like these days," said Dave. "They're even starting to use it at work. They talk about the stewardship of our time, and even the stewardship of our customers."

“It's a good word," Clarence responded. “Stewardship and discipleship have much in common. While stewardship includes much more than my money, it does include that as well. Without stewardship, there'd be no evangelism or service or outreach to the needy. We'd be no different than a country club." Then he laughed, "and even country clubs have dues."

"But what about this preacher?" asked Dave. "Every time our giving goes up a bit, he's got a new scheme to spend it."

"Our pastor is a visionary. He sees the needs in our community and our world. He pays attention to what's going on in the world, and gives us opportunities to serve wherever service is needed. But you know, I don't give to the pastor. I give to God. And I believe that our elected leaders do a good job of using the money we give. But when I give to God I don't worry about what's going to happen or where the money is going, because I believe it's in God's hands."

"But we elected some pretty young people to our council this last year," said Marti. "I'm not sure they're really ready to handle the kind of money given to this church every year."

"Granted," said Clarence, "we older members have kind of turned over the reins to the younger ones, but if we didn't want them to do the job we shouldn't have elected them. That's not my concern though. I said a moment ago, that I give to God, not just to the church. I kinda figure that I don't have to worry too much. I just have to trust God with my money. I think our young leaders trust God too. And I believe in my heart that the Lord will guide them in their use of the money we give. Of course, we owe it to them to pray for them and to offer our guidance where it might be needed. But to me, giving means just that ... giving and then, letting go. When I give to the Lord, it no longer belongs to me. All I have to do is watch God use it and sit back and enjoy the blessings it brings.

"That sounds mighty close to abdicating our responsibility though," replied Marti.

"I suppose that you can push anything to an extreme," said Clarence. "But too many people spend too much of their lives worrying about other people's agendas. I'm not saying that's bad, but if we give to the Lord, it's God's. Yes, we need to pray about how we'll use it, just as we need to pray about how to give it. Perhaps the letters WWJD applies.

"I've heard you use that one before," said John. "What would Jesus do? Right?"

"Right. If we honestly seek God's will in our giving and in our spending, I think it'll open up a joyful generosity in us all."