By Dr. John R. Frank, CFRE

Take a minute and remember how you learned about stewardship. Was it at church in a Sunday School class? Or in a church sermon? Or did you become a Christian later in life and you learned about stewardship from your new church and how they took the offering?

Whichever way you learned about stewardship has probably given you either a positive or negative view or definition of stewardship. Most believe it is the offering or fund raising for the local or denominational church and their budgets. What my research and relationships show me is that as a boomer, we are in a time where our definition of stewardship will greatly shape how we view our future years of giving, volunteering, generosity, and relationship with the local church.

In other words, how we define stewardship will have a direct impact on the way we view Christianity in the years ahead.

Most of us have been shaped by the Builder generation’s view of stewardship, namely tithes and offerings. Tithes are the first 10% of your income and they “must” go to your local church first. Offerings are those “above and beyond” gifts to other ministries and charities. It’s true that stewardship is about money. There may have been little talk about time, talent, environment, relationships, culture or society in the builder generation’s stewardship messages. They were about money and where it should go in the church, to missions, and then buildings.

Boomer Age Christian’s View of Stewardship

We Boomers are in our “second-half” of life. We look at our careers, families, grandchildren, and our church involvement through a different filter. We have always been labeled the WIIFM generation (What’s In It For Me?). What many boomers feel is that we have done our time at church. We’ve served on planning committees, boards, building committees, taught Sunday schools and bible studies. Many seem to have grown tired of giving time and talent to church and even parachurch ministries. We still give money, since we’ve been taught that is the “law” of being a member of a church. Yet our involvement is growing a bit tired. It seems that we have been well-taught the “spectator church” model, especially in the mega-church, and we are getting more comfortable in the notion that it is “somebody else’s” turn to give of their time and talent for the running of the church.

As we watched the builders grow older, we have seen that they stayed working and giving in the church much longer. Even into old age. But when we boomers feel we have given our share, we tend to look for ways that are comfortable for us.

A New Movement in Stewardship

There is a new movement in stewardship that is shaking up our definitions. It is lifestyle stewardship. It is a way of following Christ in ALL areas of our lives. It involves our time, talent, and treasure, but also our relationships, environment, and priorities. Stewardship as a lifestyle considers that God is more concerned with the journey than with our budgets and building goals. If we accept this definition, then it follows that stewardship does not refer to generational standards, but encompasses our entire lives. When life goes into new seasons, stewardship may change or adjust, but we are called to live our lives as wise stewards, no matter what station in life.

The Emerging Church and Stewardship

We hear much said about the “emerging church” and what it is and what it does. As boomers, it can scare us, or it can be an opportunity. My daughter in college challenged one of my boomer thoughts by saying, “Dad, you cannot put new wine into old wineskins!” I was shocked! We used that same reasoning during the 60’s and 70’s. So is this emerging church just another movement of God? Is it time for us boomers to be encouragers and empower the younger generation to follow God with all the passion they have?

Some new so-called emerging churches are breaking all the rules we boomers worked so hard to establish. Some will not talk about stewardship, offerings, or money. Some choose to meet in homes and will not have anything to do with denominations. It may seem easier to join them and be released from the responsibility of giving, supporting, and working in our local church.

However, if you look more closely, the emerging churches are seeking relationships and experiential ministry. In other words, they may not call it stewardship, but they believe ministry is action. It takes EVERYONE to empower ministry. So be careful if you think you can be a “retired church worker” in a newer, emerging style church.

What kind of stewardship will we choose?

So what is a boomer to do with a stewardship lifestyle? First, we should examine our stewardship definitions and priorities. We do not have to give to everything, but we do have to make wise choices in what we give money to. The same is also true with time, and talent. And what about this environment stuff? I suggest we cut through the politics and go to the Bible. In Genesis we are given oversight of God’s creation. It’s as simple as we would want it to be. If we are stewards with God the Creator, then let’s be the best stewards of our world and it’s resources that we can.

Of greatest need to our church and our world is the wisdom and experiences we boomers have gained. Bill North writes in True North that leaders mature into their best leadership years in their fifties. Our churches, parachurch ministries, and young people need the mentoring and wisdom of the boomers. This takes time. We boomers must be ready to invest in the next generation of leaders.

What about missions? The term is often perceived as a builder generation term. So let’s revive it with a boomer definition. Let’s go on mission trips to New Orleans, the inner-city, as well as overseas. It might be two weeks, two months, or longer. There are many new ministries that assist boomers in putting their well-earned skills and talents to good ministry use around the world. This can be done without support raising or for long-term commitments.

In our local churches, our pastors, elder boards, and ministry groups need our time, talent, and treasure now more than ever. The culture is taking aim at the local church, and the culture is winning!

Following Jesus and the Journey of the Steward

We boomers are at an interesting crossroads. We live in a time of great wealth where “retirement” looks like an incredible time of reward for a career of work. On the other hand, never have our talents, experience, wisdom, and resources been more needed for Kingdom work than now.

The journey of the steward has many hard choices and many of them may not seem fair. Yet to truly be a steward of the Master Jesus, we must remember why we have talent, resources, and wisdom at this stage of our lives. He has given us the time to put them to good use. May we all be wise stewards on our journey of faith!