I had dinner the other day with a friend who I have known for more than 20 years. He is planting a church in a thriving neighborhood in one of the fastest growing cities in the country. And he is having a ball! He uses me as a sort of unpaid church growth consultant and the advice he gets from me is often worth just what he paid for it.
He was describing the series he has been preaching from James and he told me that when he got to chapter 2, which describes, among other things, the sin of favoritism, he really leaned in…
My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? James 2:1-4
I was proud of him, because his congregation is filled with up and comers, there’s a lot of dough in the pockets of his people. And he was challenging them to see that God wants us to really care about those around us in need. In my view, that’s the big idea of the passage. Right?
What I find interesting, and even troubling, is the way some pastors use that passage to support a “don’t ask, don’t tell” mindset with regard to money and wealth among people in their congregations. When I was and an executive pastor, I heard frequently from some of my peers and from senior pastors something like this, “I don’t want to know specifically what anyone in our church gives and I don’t reach out specifically to our largest donors because I don’t want to appear to show favoritism”. There you have it, a perfectly appropriate application of James 2, right? Wrong!
I asked my church planting buddy, “Do you think that passage means that you shouldn’t know what people are giving, so you can avoid the appearance of favoritism”? I could see the wheels turning. Because he is smarter than I am, instead of answering my question, he asked me, “What do you think?” So, I told him.
He needs to know what people are giving. He needs to know who the major donors to the church are and he needs to know who in his church has a high capacity to give, whether they are giving or not. Why does he need to know? Because all believers are called to give generously and we need to be inspired and invited to do so by a pastor who understands that there are unique challenges and pressures on those who have significant wealth, just as there are on those who are in need.
His church should put in place a process to disciple everyone toward becoming a generous giver, but they need to understand that we don’t all come to this discussion from the same place. And, yes, he needs to make sure that he doesn’t show favoritism to those who give or have the capacity to give in the process.
As I interact with other leaders and look for a church that may be a good fit for our Generous Churches Leadership Community, I am looking for a church that among other things understands the need to talk openly about money and giving.
North Coast Church, which recently agreed to join our next Generous Churches Leadership Community, is a great example of a church that is doing just that. Charlie Bradshaw, North Coast’s XP told me recently that his SP, Larry Osborne, has been specifically reaching out to high capacity givers for several years. One of the things Larry does is host, in his home, a group he calls the Presidents Club. It’s a gathering of high net worth business owners, who meet regularly to talk about their businesses and their faith. These are some of the wealthiest people in the church and some of its largest donors, and they are also a unique group of people with unique needs. And because Larry is CEO of a successful and growing enterprise (aka North Coast Church) he has something to offer them.
I imagine to some that may look like favoritism, but I don’t think that is what the James passage is talking about at all. And to me it looks like caring pastoral ministry and strategic organization leadership.
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