Maximize , livre ebook

maximize
maximize
HOW TO DEVELOP EXTRAVAGANT GIVERS IN YOUR CHURCH
nelson searcy
WITH JENNIFER DYKES HENSON
2010 by Nelson Searcy
Published by Baker Books a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakerbooks.com
E-book edition created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-for example, electronic, photocopy, recording-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-1319-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture marked NASB is taken from the New American Standard Bible , Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
Scripture marked NKJV is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture marked NLT is taken from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
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To my dad and mom, Alton and Patricia Searcy
contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
Part 1 Stewardship: Becoming a Fully Developing Follower of Jesus
1. Shining the Light: Illuminating a Taboo Subject
2. The Heart of Stewardship: Introducing the Maximize System
3. Creating a Culture of Generosity: Give, and You Will Receive
Part 2 Initial Givers: Raising Up New Givers
4. Cultivating First-Time Gifts: Practical Ways to Help People Cross the Threshold
5. Easy Does It: Eliminating Unnecessary Barriers to Giving
6. Revolutionary Gratitude: A Little Thanks Goes a Long Way
Part 3 Systematic Givers: Teaching People to Give When They Are Paid
7. Options Are Not Optional: Providing Various Ways for People to Give
8. From First-Time Givers to Regular Givers: Helping People Take the Step
9. Money Matters: Financial Management and Quarterly Giving Statements
Part 4 Tithers: Challenging People to Become Proportional Givers
10. The Full Tithe: Obedience-Level Giving
11. The Giving Challenge: A Revolutionary Tool
Part 5 Extravagant Givers: Spurring People to Live like Jesus
12. Extravagant Giving: Learning to Live like Jesus
13. Getting Started: First Steps toward Becoming a Fully Resourced Church
Afterword
Notes
acknowledgments
My journey to become a fully developing steward is certainly ongoing, and many people have greatly influenced me along the way. This book is one expression of my journey so far. My eternal gratitude to Jesus Christ for calling me to salvation and later to ministry. While dozens, if not hundreds, of pastors have influenced my thinking on stewardship, two stand above the rest: Ralph Carpenter and Steve Stroope.
Shortly after entering ministry in 1990, I met Preacher Carpenter. He has since gone on to his reward, yet I am grateful for the dozens of hours he invested in me by the fireplace of his book-filled home in North Carolina. I don t think anyone loved preaching on stewardship more than he did. Thank you for igniting that passion in me.
On my way to start The Journey in New York City in 2001, I met Steve Stroope, senior pastor of Lakepointe Church in Rockwall, Texas. No one has impacted my understanding of local church stewardship and local church leadership more than Steve. From our monthly phone calls to his ready wisdom, he has gently guided me to lead a maximized church for the glory of God. Steve, I hope you will continue to take my calls for a long time!
In addition, I would like to thank the following pastors and church leaders for influencing my views and shaping my thoughts on stewardship: Randy Alcorn, Elmer Towns, Dave Ramsey, Rick Warren, B. H. Carroll, John Maxwell, Randy Pope, Larry Burkett, and Steve Merrimen of Clergy Advantage. If the theology and applications in this book are correct, you can thank the pastors listed above. If there are mistakes, they are solely mine.
I must also express a huge thanks to my colleagues at The Journey Church, both past and present staff members. Since 2001 I have had the privilege of being the dumbest person on an extremely smart team. Kerrick Thomas and Jason Hatley have especially shaped the thoughts in this book. To the current staff, I love doing church with you! To those God will call to our staff in the future, I m waiting to hear from you!
My sincere appreciation goes to the team that makes Church Leader Insights happen every day and every week. You have no idea of the impact you are having on pastors around the world. Thank you, Scott Whitaker, Tommy Duke, Cristina Fowler, and Jimmy Britt!
I must also express my thanks to the more than six hundred pastors who have completed one of my Senior Pastors Coaching Networks. Many of the ideas shared in this book were first beta tested on you. Your feedback, improvements, and insights have made this a much stronger book. Thank you for living out the learn-and-return principle. A special thanks to those alumni who shared their testimonies in this book.
Jennifer Dykes Henson has been a partner on my last five books, and to my ongoing amazement she continues to reach new levels with each book. Her skills as a writer, editor, and interpreter are difficult to overstate. I cannot say thank you enough! And I must confess that Jon, Liz, and Pastor Tim (characters you will encounter in the following pages) would not exist without Jen s creative mind. As members at The Journey, Jennifer and her husband, Brian, serve as models of all I discuss in this book.
This is my second book with the tremendously dedicated people at Baker. My thanks to Chad Allen, Jack Kuhatschek, Rod Jantzen, and all the fine folks at Baker Publishing who have made this book infinitely stronger than it was when I submitted the original manuscript.
Finally, I must thank the love of my life, Kelley, and my young son, Alexander. Kelley and I celebrated fifteen years of marriage while I was completing this book. Kelley, I love you now more than ever! Alexander, who will turn four years old just prior to the release of this book, is just now learning that there is something strange and powerful about coins and bills. May God give us the grace to teach him godly habits of stewardship as he continues to grow and mature. Alexander, I love you to the moon and back. Thank you both for your commitment to this book and your continual support.
Jennifer Dykes Henson: thanks, Nelson, for the vision, passion, and integrity you bring to all you do. I am beyond honored to be authoring eternity-changing books with you.
Thanks also to my husband, Brian, for your faith, strength, humor, and love. I thank God every day for you, for the life and dreams he has given us, and for the privilege of pursuing those dreams hand in hand with my best friend.
preface
Imagine you are sitting in your office. (Maybe you actually are!) You hear a rapping on the door and look up to see one of your staff members.
Hey, you say. What s going on?
I just wanted to talk to you about something. I ve had this idea on my mind for a few months now. I really feel like God is leading us to make some changes to the volunteer ministry. We need to be doing more to encourage people to get involved. So I ve been thinking that if we could spend a little money on . . .
Pause.
How do you feel at this moment? When you see the need to use financial resources to take an area of your ministry to the next level, what is your first thought? Is your immediate question a reflective, Does God want us to do this? Or is it a reflexive, Can we afford this? Are you in a position to operate your church at full throttle, passionately pursuing God s complete vision, or are you restrained by a budget that always seems to be lacking?
If you are like most church leaders across America, your hands are bound by money-colored handcuffs. You can t tap into God s best design for your church because you are constantly struggling just to cover the basics of your weekly operation. That s where this book comes in. My dream for you is that through these pages you will learn how to unleash the abundant resources God intends for you to have available for his work. In other words, the goal of this book, and the Maximize system contained within, is to help you develop a fully resourced church-one in which you are consistently leading people into biblical stewardship and are free to co-operate with the big plans God has for your future. Are you ready?
introduction
What would your church look like if everyone tithed? Your budget would probably be five times what it is now, since the average churchgoer gave only 2.56 percent of his income last year. 1 What would you do with that kind of budget? Is that too much to imagine? Okay, back it down. What if your budget were just double what it is right now? How many more people would you be able to reach for Jesus? What ministries and opportunities would you be able to engage in that you currently have to say no to? How would a maximized budget affect your missions giving, your church-planting efforts, your evangelistic aggressiveness, and the overall spiritual health of your congregation?
I have a great truth to share with you: God wants your church to have all the money it needs to do the work he calls it to do. In