Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to enjoy the Great American Pastime - a baseball game with my family and friends. I can’t say that was thrilled about sitting through nine innings in the 100- degree heat of a Texas summer, but the game was going to be followed by a concert. I was excited to see the band MercyMe so we decided to stick it out. The game seemed to last forever - there were even two rain delays. If you’re not familiar with the Texas climate, you might believe that rain would be a welcome relief to cool things down… it wasn’t. The humidity continued to soar, making the August air thick and uncomfortable - like being in a sauna fully clothed! It took all of our willpower (and many bottles of water) to stay through to the concert. And I’m really thankful we did!

There is nothing more rewarding as a father than seeing your family worshiping the Lord freely and without inhibition. During the concert, I watched as my children raised their hands and sang their hearts out to God. Jesus talked about the faith of a child in the book of Matthew saying, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt.18:3 NIV). A similar verse in Mark 10: 14-15 says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Children have a simple faith - they trust that God will take care of them and that He knows what’s best for them, like a good Father. There is something so special about the unencumbered faith of a child!

Between songs at the concert, Bart Millard, the lead singer of MercyMe spoke about his struggles with religion. He shared how he used to be hung up on man-made rules and how he was constantly consumed with guilt as a result of his legalistic upbringing. His words struck a chord in my own heart as he talked about the weight of religion without relationship and how it can make life so complicated. He has now found true freedom in Christ but his story still challenges me. Here is a man who has sold millions of records and impacted countless lives through his music - an icon in the Christian community, saying that he struggled with faith and didn’t feel truly unleashed for the Lord until his late thirties. How sad that he spent so much of his life bound up and not living the life of freedom that God intended. How might his life had been different if he had made that realization sooner?

So this blog is about faith and finances and I promise I’m going to tie all of this together. During the concert, I was convicted by the thought that many of us keep fighting the plan - God’s plan for our lives. We often live our lives like we know better than our Creator. We come up with a myriad of different reasons why we can’t trust God with different areas of our lives - including our finances. I know that for a long time I didn’t honor God with my finances and investments and I could have given you a list of complicated excuses why.

Now, everybody take a deep breath - I’m going to use the “S word” here. It’s a word that makes many in the Christian community cringe… stewardship (gasp!). Stewardship has taken on a bit of a negative connotation - like it's something that we talk about in church when there’s a new building or special project to fund. The true definition of stewardship, however, is simply being the manager of someone else's resources.

The goal of this blog is to spark some self-reflection about God-honoring stewardship and investing. Do your investments (IRA, 401k, etc.) reflect your personal convictions and honor God, the true owner of your resources? If we truly believe that God owns it all (Psalm 24:1) then it comes down to living out our beliefs in every area of our lives and daily dying to ourselves - our desires, selfish ambitions, materialism, etc. (Luke 9:23). God showed His reckless love and devotion to us by sending His son to die on our behalf…we can reflect His devotion by submitting every area of our lives to His perfect plan - even our finances.

So as always, I will leave you with this question: What’s in your portfolio?

Childlike Faith