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“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." - Jesus

If someone were to ask you, “What’s the document that most reveals Hampton Park’s heartbeat as a church?” How would you answer that? You might first think of the mission statement. Or maybe the Statement of Faith. The mission statement reveals what the church is headed towards. A Statement of Faith reveals what a church believes. It’s hard to go much deeper than those. Maybe you thought of the Member Covenant. A good case could be made for the Member Covenant as well. It reveals how a church wants to live in light of its beliefs. The Member Covenant “fleshes out” the Statement of Faith in real life.

But I think there’s a really good argument to be made for yet another document being the most heart-revealing document of a local church. The document I’m thinking of is the church’s budget. Maybe this is surprising to you. But Jesus said something in the Sermon on the Mount that could make a strong argument for the Hampton Park budget being the document that most accurately displays what our church’s heartbeat is. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). More accurately, he said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” That word “for” means that he’s using this sentence as the ground or foundation of what he just said in verses 19-20. Jesus said not to lay up treasures on earth but rather to lay up treasure¹ in heaven because your heart is going to follow your treasure.

Jesus grounds his command (vv.19-20) in a reality (v.21). The reality is that money and possessions are really powerful. So powerful, in fact, that your heart will follow where your money/possessions go. Ordinarily, we might be tempted to think that our money will go where our heart goes. Scripture often speaks in this way. For example, elsewhere in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says that our words follow our heart (Matthew 12:34). And certainly, it is true that what we treasure reveals the state of our heart. But here, somewhat surprisingly, Jesus says that the opposite is also true: our heart follows our treasure. And this makes sense, doesn’t it? If you invest significant percentages of your money into a particular hobby/possession(s)/dream, it makes sense that over time that thing would begin to become your treasure. Therefore, if your heart is captured by your money/possessions, the answer isn’t simply to change your heart; the answer is to begin investing differently, to begin investing in heavenly treasure. And that very act—investing differently—will impact your heart.

While Jesus applies this principle personally, it seems to follow that it would also be true for a local church. Not only does our church budget reveal our church’s collective heartbeat, but our yearly investment in the church budget shows the direction in which our church’s collective heartbeat is headed. It shows what we see as valuable, what we deem important, what we treasure. In other words, this document should be very important to us as church members! We ought to be interested in where our church’s collective heartbeat is headed.

So, what’s your part in this? How can you help our church invest well in what matters the most? Let me give you three simple ways.

1. Pray. Much wisdom is needed in the planning of the church budget but also in the implementation of the budget. We don’t take this responsibility lightly. Because we view this document as a spiritual document, the responsibility increases. So, pray for us throughout the year. A couple years ago I heard of one church member who keeps a copy of the church budget tucked in his Bible and uses it in his daily prayer time, praying through the various lines and sections of the budget on different days. What an awesome idea!
2. Participate in the Process. During the budget process, look through the proposed budget, noting changes. Read the corresponding document with explanations for those changes. Read through the annual explanation document of changes to the Missions and Outreach section. Ask questions when you have them. Make suggestions, too. While every suggestion will not result in a tangible change, the conversations will help us to make wise decisions about what to prioritize. Additionally, prioritize our bi-monthly Members’ Meetings where we give regular updates on the budget and vote on the budget each May.
3. Give Faithfully. If God has blessed us with income, then we believe from God’s Word that our responsibility is to give faithfully to our local church (the place where we receive our normal courses of spiritual food, the place where we hear God’s Word taught most regularly). It can be potentially unhelpful to name a percentage, because God has blessed some of us in such a way that giving 10% of our income would not be giving generously or faithfully. And God has blessed others of us in such a way that giving 5% of our income would be giving generously and faithfully. But for the majority of members in our church, giving at least 10% is probably a good initial goal. If you’re not there yet, perhaps you could work to increase a percentage point each year until you get to that number or another one that you and your family believe to be generous and faithful.

As we invest individually and as a church in what God is doing both here and around the world, may our hearts be drawn to him and amazed by his work. For where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also.

 

¹ While laying up treasure in heaven certainly includes more than investing money/possessions in eternal pursuits, it at least includes these things, which is the focus of this article.