House of the wise: thinking about reserves
Our church finances usually focus on income and expenditure. But there’s another piece of the financial puzzle: our church reserves, or the lack of them. As always, there is wisdom in the Bible: ‘In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but the foolish devour all they have.’ (Proverbs 20:21)
Applying this principle to our church finances, there is missional wisdom and good stewardship in holding reasonable, thoughtful levels of reserves.
Planting much, harvesting little?
As God’s people dug deep into their time, talents and treasure to rebuild the broken walls of Jerusalem and restore their ruined homes after the Exile the prophet Haggai asked them to do even more. He urged them to rebuild the Temple and he didn’t pull his punches: ‘Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little (Haggai 1:5).
Some churches are holding, perhaps anxiously hoarding, their reserves for that rainy day. Purposeful reserves are that wise stewardship. Things are very different for a medieval, listed church and a modern, multi-purpose church. We responsibly match our reserves to our context. A reserves policy stating both levels of reserves to be held and their purpose is good governance and goes a long way to communicating good stewardship.
Sometimes, however, in Haggai’s words, much is planted financially but we harvest little ministry or mission. Like the rich man in Jesus’ parable we build ever bigger barns. We risk a defensive, inward-looking attitude, reluctant to invest in mission for fear of an uncertain future. It’s hard to encourage generosity with large reserves, a perception of wealth. Our reserves are there for wise stewardship and for investing in ministry and mission.
A purse with holes
Haggai goes on to say, ‘You earn wages, only to put them into a purse with holes’ (Hag. 1:6). When it comes to our reserves, this is how it feels for many churches. Money comes in, but somehow it’s never enough. The reserves we do have are used to patch things up. Every now and again a surprise legacy gift or a generous one-off donation makes life easier. But not always. Often we can see our reserves draining away. A gloomy soul on the PCC might count down the years. More often, an anxiety sets in which can choke our vision for ministry and mission.
Haggai challenged God’s people to rebuild the Temple because the Temple declared God’s glory and presence with his people. The reserves we have or the reserves we need to rebuild are not for a rainy day but for wise stewardship and resourcing ministry.
House of the wise
Of course, for some churches it’s not just a hole. The bottom has fallen out of the bag. There are virtually no reserves. There is no financial cushion to soften an unexpected financial shock. As Proverbs 20:21 reminds us, this is not a good place to be; this is not the house of the wise. Some voices may suggest this is a godly place to be; that God will provide. But there’s world of difference between our presumption and God’s provision. The rebuilding of our church reserves to an appropriate level as one goal in a giving programme will be for some churches an act of responsible stewardship. Church members will recognise this. There’s no need for anxiety or embarrassment about communicating the need to rebuild reserves in our programme literature.
