Christian Reflections

How do you feel when the pastor talks about money in his sermon?

Most of us feel uneasy when this topic comes up in a Sunday morning sermon. We think of the new attendees, the guests, the people we’ve worked so hard to invite to church. “What will they think of our church now?”

Others think that church money is running low and the pastor felt the need to do a little grovelling from the pulpit. As if people give more just because the preacher sounded desperate.

Others think this is a topic for “mature Christians” only. New converts should never be subjected to such “deep theological doctrines” because they’re just baby Christians and they might misunderstand.

I’ve only heard of very few people who were actually glad to hear sermons about money.

I know everyone can pretty much figure out what this says about us Christians in general. When we sit in church on Sundays, we pick parts of the sermons that we feel are for us. We love to hear about God blessing us, loving us unconditionally, being there for us in times of need, being a healer, provider and friend.

But when sermons are about giving, finishing the kid’s church, supporting a child in Africa and caring for the sick, we quickly dodge the topic and wish the pastor would do more research and preach more “life changing” topics than controversial ones.

Is it because deep within us, we really don’t want to give if we can help it?