Why we should talk about money in church

“We must be intentional in talking about and training on money in the church, especially given that South Africa has a lot of people who are in debt,” says Jeff Cele, lead facilitator at Heartlines. “If we know that a certain percentage of people in South Africa are in debt, chances are many of them are part of the church.”

The Bible has a lot to say about money, but in church we often restrict our conversations about money to tithing, church building funds and offerings.

Jeff says that this equates to us only talking about 10% of the reality of money in our faith communities. “We also need to talk to people about the other 90% of how money impacts their daily lives; from budgeting to saving and how to borrow wisely.”

Counter-cultural thinking

Heartlines senior programme manager Brian Helsby says that as Christians we are still susceptible to worldly ways of thinking about money. Jesus tells a parable about the man who counts the cost before he builds a tower, but Brian says, “We don’t build towers, but we do buy cars, and if we don’t count the cost we end up with debt that we can’t afford.”

“Jesus’ teachings are counter-cultural,” he adds, so we cannot follow the patterns of culture when it comes to money.

Brian says he has friends who had to realise that the foundation of what they believed about money was wrong, and they had to have the courage to sell the cars they couldn’t afford, or move to smaller apartments that were within their budget.

“When it comes to money, the person who loves money will never have enough. When you choose to pursue money above all else, you have chosen a value system that will make you unhappy for the rest of your life,” he adds.

Jeff agrees that we need to understand the role that money plays in our lives from what Jesus teaches us about it: “There is a balance between working for money and using money wisely, while not loving money and dying to have it.”

Practical financial wisdom

Brian says that once we have the right foundations in place around how we view money, there are some practical tools we can use to live financially healthy lives.

Jeff says that the five money values that Heartlines has identified are a good place to start, but that behaviour change with money takes time.

He also says that beyond moments like Savings Month (which South Africa marks every July), if churches are having ongoing conversations about money, it is more likely to help their congregants experience change in this important area of life.

“I recently heard of a church that has a goal of everyone in the congregation being debt free. The church has said to everyone, let’s look at your debt and find a way together to make a plan.” This is a radical, kingdom-minded approach to money in the context of our faith communities.

“God’s Word is the hope for change. It takes a few courageous leaders to live and preach what God says about money,” agrees Brian.

If you or your church community are looking for ways to grow in how you think about and use money, check out our Money Values Church Course.