Practical Suggestions Regarding a
Wartime Lifestyle
For World Christians
By Glenn Schwartz
If the subject of adopting a wartime lifestyle as a World Christian appeals to you, the next logical step is to learn more about it. I highly recommend reading Mustard Seed Conspiracy by Tim Sine.1 It is filled with suggestions regarding simple living and includes specific ideas for using excess income. There are also other good books and articles available on the subject.
The following are a few practical suggestions for consideration:
1. Pay attention to how you earn what you get. Make sure that through economic injustice others are not getting less than their fair share for their raw materials, goods or services. It is one of the reasons that developing countries are in economic difficulties. Admittedly it is not the only reason.
2. Review your vocation, asking whether the work you are doing is a God-honoring profession which contributes to the Great Commission. One day a researcher in a lab in Canada held up a spoonful of isotopes which she knew was worth about $100. She looked at it and asked herself if this was really the way she should be spending the rest of her life. She left the world of biochemistry, enrolled in seminary and is now teaching missions in an Asian seminary. Her Ph.D. in Chemistry was exchanged for a Doctor of Missiology. Most important of all, make sure that your contribution to society is positive and not fostering something which tears society down. We must be willing to exchange the life we planned for ourselves in order to take advantage of the new life which Christ has planned for us as a World Christian.
3. If self-discipline is a problem, make yourself accountable to another person or group. If lack of discipline has resulted in financial loss of control, set up and maintain a personal budgeting system. Christian Financial Concepts2 have materials available to help you gain and retain financial responsibility.
4. Come to a clear understanding about giving to your local church and other charities. Some hold firmly to the concept of store-house giving (Malachi 3:10) which means that the tithe belongs to the local church. They feel that only after that is it appropriate to give to other charities or parachurch ministries. Not everyone agrees that the tithe belongs only to the local church. Again, Christian Financial Concepts have materials to help you think and pray your way through decisions such as this.
5. Adopt an attitude of serious Christian stewardship in all areas of your life, not just finances. For example, instead of working many hours earning overtime pay, become actively involved in ministry to others. This may include personal witness in your community, volunteering in a retirement home or community project, or serving on the board of an organization with Great Commission priorities. Everyone should consider budgeting some time, energy and other personal resources for the non-profit sector. That may be as a board member, volunteer or part-time employee earning less than a more lucrative salary elsewhere would offer.
6. Take a hard look at the quantity and quality of your possessions. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, take an inventory of all the Lord has entrusted to you. Many westerners could do with less in order to make more resources available for Great Commission purposes. Remember life does not consist in the abundance of what one possesses (Luke 12:15). Taking this kind of inventory may mean starting with a yard sale, scaling down the vehicle we drive or right-sizing the personal residence we live in. Dr. Arthur Glasser once said, "I regularly get rid of things in the garage or around the house. I would not want the Lord to return and find me with many things which I do not need."
7. Consider putting a cap on your personal net worth. Adopting a wartime lifestyle means that everything beyond your personal needs (not wants) can be made available for the larger cause. A Christian farmer in Ghana cleared and cultivated land until he was farming about 65 acres. At that point he decided he had more than enough to support himself and his family. He then began to help other people in the local area to increase their production. Soon he had helped 400 families to improve their standard of living. He had time and energy to do this because he put a limit on his own net worth.
8. Consider full-time service yourself - not just supporting others. In so doing you may move from having considerable excess, to the point of possibly even needing support yourself. This would be a move from the support arena to the front lines. You will still need to give from what God provides for you, but it will not be from the significant amount left over from your earnings in a full-time profession.
9. Consider taking early retirement. Some who want to adopt a World Christian or wartime lifestyle could afford to retire on the income now available to them. Some of the happiest retirees are those who have discovered meaningful roles as volunteers, active teachers, technicians, administrators or part or full-time evangelists. Among Great Commission-minded organizations there is nothing second class about being a first class teacher, handyman or other volunteer. If your health and energy permit, consider volunteering in disaster and relief activities.
10. Become an active part of ministry in your local congregation. If you are an evangelist at heart, join in a program of outreach. If you are able to serve in practical ways, join one of the service committees of your congregation. If you have special knowledge or ability in cross-cultural ministry, consider serving on the missions committee. Great Commission-minded believers committed to a wartime lifestyle will not find a shortage of things to be done either locally or globally.
The following are suggestions regarding tithes, offerings or other excess income:
11. Give to your local church. See Item 4 above for comments about storehouse giving.
12. Become personally involved in the support of a missionary you know. In addition to writing a check every month, write a letter to them and pray for them. Learn what you can about the people among whom they work. If you are able, support more than one missionary. Personal involvement with an individual missionary or family will heighten your interest in and knowledge of missions. Get and use the Global Prayer Digest3. You will be joining tens of thousands of others in praying daily for unreached people groups.
13. In the support of missionaries give careful consideration to supporting those who serve where the Gospel has not yet been preached (Romans 15:20) - that is, among unreached peoples. This means that you will give priority to those living in the 10 / 40 window. Also, give serious consideration to mobilizing others to missions and a wartime lifestyle. Remember, if there are a hundred sleeping fireman, your efforts to wake them up might be more productive than using your small bucket to pour water on a fire raging out of control.
14. Join the loose change movement in which, at the end of each day, you put your loose change into a jar for unreached people. For more information on this, contact the Global Prayer Digest at the US Center for World Mission.3
15. Invest in cross-cultural training for yourself or for someone else. Personal debt, resulting from college, seminary or university training, is one of the biggest reasons why some dedicated believers never get into Christian service.
16. Be careful to avoid investing in projects created by well-meaning people who may be creating dependency in others. Resist the temptation to use your resources to do for others what they can and should do for themselves. Consider the benefits of investing in micro-enterprise development projects. In our day development personnel are discovering the value of such things as revolving loan funds and other self-help exercises. Remember, the best source of funds is the local community in which the funds are to be used. In Bangladesh there is a revolving loan fund successfully circulating over two billion dollars. Other similar revolving loan funds are operating in India, Africa and Latin America. For more information, contact one of the many organizations involved in micro-enterprise development projects.4
17. Contribute to those organizations which assist with major catastrophes or disasters. Remember, however, not to invest in places where there are local resources that would be replaced by what you are giving. It is not always possible to know the ultimate effect of charities working in disaster areas, but do your best to find out if the help they are giving is appropriate. Remember, too, that more than money is needed. It is an opportunity to donate your time and energy and also some of the excess things which have accumulated in your home or garage over the years.
18. Invest in projects in your own community which help homeless and other disadvantaged people. With changes in the attitude of government in the USA, more and more is expected from private and non-profit sectors of society. Again, learn all you can about how to help without creating dependency.5 After all, breaking the cycle of dependency is the reason that the government is changing its approach to helping disadvantaged people in society.
And finally . . .
19. Above all, ask the Holy Spirit for guidance in how you exercise stewardship over all that He has entrusted to you. Your aim should be to give back to Him some of what He has given to you. After all, it all belongs to Him anyway (I Chronicles 29:16). For committed World Christians on a wartime lifestyle, remember this: The question is no longer, "How much of my money am I going to give to God's work?" but rather "How much of God's money am I going to keep for my own needs?"6
END NOTES:
1 Mustard Seed Conspiracy is published by Word Books, Waco Texas
2 Christian Financial Concepts and Life Pathways. 601 Broad St. SE, Gainesville, GA 30501 Phone: (800) 722-1976 Website: www.cfcministry.org
3 The Global Prayer Digest contains information about unreached people groups in our world. It is available through the USCWM, 1605 Elizabeth Street, Pasadena, CA 91104
4 One such organization is Enterprise Development Int'l, 10395 Democracy Lane, Suite B, Fairfax, VA 22030. Phone: (703) 277-3360
5 For more information on dependency and self-reliance, contact World Mission Associates (contact information).
6 From The Window on Paxton Ministries by Steve Schwartz, Volume 10, Issue 7 October 1998