THERE’S NO ROOM FOR DOUBLE MINDEDNESSIn James 1:8, James encourages Christians to not be “double-minded”. In our relationship with God we should trust him completely. When we pray and ask God for what we need, we should believe that God will generously and freely give good gifts to those who ask as Jesus pointed out in Matthew 7:11.
James is writing to Christians who are facing many trials and pressures in their lives. As we all know from experience, it can be a real challenge to know how to effectively handle and cope with problems in a godly way. Therefore, if we lack wisdom about how to handle life’s trials in a godly way, we should ask God for wisdom and believe that He will provide the insight we need to move forward.
We all need wisdom, especially those of us who are called to be in positions of leadership at work, at home, at church and in the community. Men and women who serve in leadership make decisions that affect the lives of people and the vitality of the organizations they lead. Leaders cannot be “double-minded”. Those who have been entrusted with the responsibility to administer to the body of Christ must ask God for wisdom and trust God to provide it.
This search for wisdom will cause us to study the Bible, get the insights of other Christians and pray for the leading of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately God will provide the wisdom we seek and that should lead us to take actions that address the issues and challenges we face. Recently the Board of Elders has been praying for wisdom to format the worship services at Holy Redeemer in a way that will help the congregation grow. This included the possibility of adding a third service and changing the schedule for the liturgical and praise service.
Seeking wisdom, the Board of Elders surveyed the congregation and based on the information you provided us, it was clear that a liturgical style of worship is the strongest preference among those who responded to the survey. The information you provided also showed consistent support for giving each type of service its own dedicated time slot.
This decision will require each style of worship used at Holy Redeemer to develop and grow its own worshipping congregation. It will also be easier to clearly communicate information about our worship styles to visitors and potential members of Holy Redeemer. It will also provide the freedom to make some changes in the structure of the praise service that will reflect more of a praise style of worship than we are currently using. We appreciate that this decision affects those members who preferred the former way we were structuring our worship service schedule, and acknowledge that some of you were disappointed by this decision.
In the same way, the Board of Christian Stewardship has also been seeking wisdom in regards to the stewardship education ministry at Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church. The members of the Stewardship Board and I are of the same mind. We are committed to developing a stewardship ministry that teaches biblical stewardship principles and then asks God’s people to make a commitment to live out those principles in the area of time, talents and treasures. We believe that it is important for every Christian to evaluate yearly how they are using their time, talents and treasures to serve God in the body of Christ. We also believe that continued growth in Christian stewardship is vital in the life of each Christian and this congregation.
Therefore, we are requesting that every member of Holy Redeemer take part in the stewardship reflection activity, fill out the estimate of 2008 stewardship and return it to the Lord with their tithes and offerings on Sunday, October 14, 2007. This tool was placed in your mail boxes on Sunday, September 16, 2007. We appreciate that some people at Holy Redeemer don’t like making what is commonly called a “pledge” or what we refer to as an estimate of stewardship.
We are not asking you to make an irrevocable vow to the Lord, but to make a good faith estimate in terms of how you intend to use your time, talents and treasures to serve God at Holy Redeemer during 2008. We are asking you to turn it in with your offering on Sunday, October 14, as a way to express your intentions and commitment to serve the Lord. Presenting this estimate of stewardship to the Lord as a part of the worship service is a way to signify that this is a part of the offering you are planning to give to the Lord in 2008.
We are asking that you share this information with the Stewardship Board so that we can encourage each other and spur each other on toward good works. If you tell us that you are interested in helping with an activity or being a part of a ministry team, we will make sure that your offer to be involved is passed on to the right people and follow up to make sure that you have been contacted. The Board of Stewardship wants to encourage and help people to be active in ministry.
Of course, each of you must decide in your own heart how you will respond to this request from the Stewardship Board. You are free to do whatever you want in this matter. But the Stewardship Board cannot be double-minded in its commitment to educate and encourage growth in Christian stewardship at Holy Redeemer. I am fully committed to the action steps taken by the Board of Elders and the Board of Stewardship. There is no double-mindedness in my mind or heart about the decisions that were made.
I pray that as you seek God’s wisdom about these two decisions, you will join us in being like-minded. Paul’s words to the Corinthians apply to Holy Redeemer too. “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” It’s hard for a church to move forward together if it not like-minded about its direction.
Rev. Steven Helms
