Why support 'Christmas in August' & other offerings

Point of View

Jul 28, 2009
Ken Whitten
Special to Florida Baptist Witness

LUTZ (FBW)–If you trace my family heritage back you'll discover on my mom's side there has been a minister of the Gospel since the early 1800s. To ask if I love Southern Baptists would be an insult to my lineage. I do love our denomination, and I am fully aware of our faults, foibles, and failures. The truth is – if you biblically trace all of our families back far enough you'll find all of us come from a drunken sailor and a crooked farmer. We are indeed a great denomination, but still very much in need of God's hand, His Spirit, and His wisdom. We surely need Him far more than He needs us.

A few weeks ago, I left the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville, Ky., with mixed feelings. I was so grateful for the integrity of spirit, the diversity of age, and the unity of purpose we came away with, but very saddened to hear a lack of resources is limiting missionary appointments. I also felt the pain of Dr. Jeff Iorg, president of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, as he shared the challenge of paying quality professors because of financial limitations.

We are living in tough economic times, and as a senior pastor, I feel the pain of unemployment, the apathy of stewardship, and the challenge of priorities when it comes to making fiscal decisions. I understand more fully what former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis said about money: "I don't like money, actually, but it quiets my nerves."

It seems a lot of people need their nerves quieted today. It is to this sentiment I write to you as a pastor. I am in full support of taking special offerings like many are doing today with "Christmas in August" to help bridge the gap for those missionaries who are "suspended" from going to the field.

I am fully aware of the 20/80 model of leadership (20 percent giving and doing 80 percent of the work). I don't have to like it, nor do I want to accept it as God's design for His kingdom. We do have a need to send and support our missionaries, but let me remind you we have just as great a need to sustain those missionaries. It does us very little good and benefit to put a missionary on the field, and then bring them home because we cannot sustain them.

As a former chairman of the International Mission Board's Finance Committee, I can assure you every dollar given is accepted with appreciation and managed with integrity and excellence. Any dollars sent will be designated for missionaries to go. Our problem is not giving more often, but giving more dollars, more people, more churches, more commitment. Therein lies the need of the hour and day.

If you are a pastor, you understand exactly what I'm saying. In our churches, we have missions, we have programming, we have personnel, we have building funds, debt retirement – and that's just in Jerusalem. We are all part of something that is bigger than ourselves, and Kingdom-minded saints also think of Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost ends of the earth. I can testify personally and for our church corporately, that when I lead my church internationally, God provides for His work locally.

I was meditating one day on a passage in Luke 2 that talks about the shepherds making haste to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus, and the thought hit me – Who was watching the sheep? Not audibly, but louder than that, God spoke these words to my heart – "You keep pursuing the Savior, and I'll keep providing for your sheep."

So here are my concluding thoughts:

1. Let's do "Christmas in August" and let's do it big! Remember two things

a. We don't do it at the expense of another worthy ministry.

b. We still make our Lottie Moon Offering bigger than ever in December (we must sustain those whom we send).

2. Remember your local Baptist association. Many of them take special offerings in August and September. Your executive director and staff are helping churches in your area every day.

3. As Floridians, don't forget our Maguire State Mission Offering (or your state offering if you live in another state). No one believes those without Christ in West Africa are more lost than those without Christ in Miami, or Las Vegas, or Illinois.

4. Keep in mind, the solution is not giving – it is sustaining. We need more pastors and more churches casting the vision for an Acts 1:8 mission strategy. Personally I believe the light that shines the farthest shines the brightest at home. I do believe God pays for what He orders. There's a great deal of talk these days about priorities and proportioned funding. That's where God comes in. We need His wisdom and guidance, and where He's working, we will join in.

5. Last, don't forget your church. Your pastor has a vision and a heart in reaching your community for Jesus Christ. Offerings are just that. They are not tithes, and they are not meant to make your church sick while you make your denomination well. They do not compete – they complete. And then, pastor, one word for you: Trust God and tell your people!

God's work, done God's way, never lacks for God's supply. He owns the cattle on 1,000 hills, and the hills, too. Former President Ronald Reagan said the government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases – "If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

My fellow Southern Baptists, let's keep missions and God's work moving. As our convention president Johnny Hunt says, "We are never more like Jesus than when we are giving." I agree!

Ken Whitten is senior pastor of Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz and a former trustee of the International Mission Board. He is also a member of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force.

Email this Article Print this page

Login ID:
Password:	Forgot password?