“People go through three conversions: the conversion of their head, their heart and their pocketbook. Unfortunately, not all at the same time.” -Martin Luther
In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his famed 95 Theses on the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. This act of protest would spark the Protestant Reformation. While the content of his concerns were salvific in nature, he went on to teach everything under the sun about living out the Christian life, including the need for us to have a conversion experience related to the way we think about our money.
After sitting with hundreds of families talking through their personal finances, we think we see what Luther was talking about. Most families are not thinking about their finances from a strategic, Kingdom-of-God point of view—even those who are giving on a regular basis to the church and missions.
Maybe it is because our hearts have not been captivated by what God is doing in the world. Maybe we are just struggling with a me-centered, materialistic worldview that sees comfort as the chief purpose of our financial resources. Honestly, we struggle with all of these. Whatever the cause, we need a radical reformation of the pocketbook! We need a new world view. We need to nail a God-centered thesis on our hearts to challenge the status quo in how we manage money. We cannot continue to limp along at this pace. God’s kingdom is advancing, and our pocketbooks are retreating!
The conversion of the pocketbook that Luther speaks of is described by Jesus in Matthew chapter 6
“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” – Jesus in Matthew 6:19-21 MSG
We believe God has called us to speak into this area that is impacting the body of Christ – Personal Finances. We are passionate about seeing God’s people transformed into godly and generous followers of Christ!
Every day, we see the negative effects of money problems in the home. Unresolved conflict is the number one cause of divorce, and couples are fighting about money—a lot. In addition, the Body of Christ is struggling in the area of generosity. Most research shows that families of faith are giving 1-2 percent of their income towards Great Commission causes. The church is already one the most generous benefactors the world has ever seen, but can you imagine the impact if we surrendered our hearts in this generosity issue? “We need a reformation of the family pocketbook!” Grab a hammer and a nail, and put that phrase on your family’s doorpost. Are you ready to change the world?