There are some things about the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force report that really can help out us non-big-church pastors. We go to all their conferences and read their books so we can be just like the megachurch pastors. They must be doing something right and we must be doing something wrong if we do not have thousands attending each weekend.
Through the years we have tried to copy their Hawaiian shirts and sandals, getting rid of the choir and cutting out Sunday night worship. Then we moved to the fancy suits and walking all over the platform, giving our congregations sore necks. We still don’t have our thousands or a contract for our first book.
Now the GCRTF report has given us blessing to be just like them. We do not have to worry about giving all that extra money to the Cooperative Program. Why in the world did we want to give our 10 percent (or more) to the Cooperative Program in the beginning anyway for the past how many years?
We now can give like the big boys do! We can give our 2 percent, or maybe 3 percent, and not feel guilty. We can use that extra 7 to 8 percent to get a new staff member or remodel our buildings or, maybe even better, pay off the bills.
We could do like the big churches do and plan our own ministries and mission trips and tell people how great our church is. We can do it when we want to and how we want to and not worry about working with any other churches. I wonder why Jesus had to use 12 disciples anyway. Why didn’t he just use one?
I do wonder how I can adapt my sermons when it comes to stewardship promotion time. How does this sermon title sound: “Giving Your 2 Percent to the Lord” or “Giving Your Time, Talents and 3 Percent to the Lord?”
How can I ask the people to give their tithe to the church when we as a church family are not faithful in giving our tithe? It may sound good that a church gives 2 or 3 percent and uses the extra for ministries and missions through the church. But what would it be like to open the door for each church member to designate their money for all of their pet projects?
There are some very good points in the GCRTF report that may be lost if the report is rejected as a whole. At the same time, I feel that watering down the Cooperative Program is not the answer. I truly believe that our larger churches should be leading the way, not in the amount of the money they give, but in the “sacrifice” of giving as we work together as a convention to reach a lost and hurting world.
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