Stewardship Connections with Integrity
by Richie Lauer | November 2009
Stewardship Connections with Integrity serves as the common motto for Anabaptist Financial and Anabaptist Foundation. It is carefully designed to define who we are, why we exist, and how we should operate—and we intend it to be more that just an attractive sounding platitude; we intend it to be a practical standard and a measure of our organizational vitality and success.
Stewardship Connections with Integrity
As conservative Anabaptists, we hold to a biblical view of stewardship. God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Owner of all that is, and, in His goodness, God entrusts us with a relationship with Him and use of His things. He calls us to an intimate Master-servant relationship and provides us with resources, principles to follow, unlimited amounts of one-on-one conversation, and freedom to “exercise dominion” in making decisions.
I find it quite humbling to personalize God’s trust in me: He has entrusted me with knowledge of His Word, the gift of salvation, Christian parents and parents-in-law, a wife who is truly a “help meet for me,” three teenage boys who have given their hearts to Christ, a healthy body, a sound mind, a church brotherhood, the opportunity to live in a country with religious freedom, and friends who care enough to challenge me. Isn’t that wonderfully generous on God’s part? Isn’t that enough? He also allows me to have a job, property, some money in savings, and material possessions. All of the above gifts fit into the concept of stewardship. I find joy in trying to honor God’s trust by exercising dominion and stewardship in all the aspects of my life, including but not limited to finances. This involves taking a hands-on and mind-active approach to managing all of the resources entrusted to me.
Anabaptist Foundation and Anabaptist Financial exist to offer stewards financial counsel consistent with Anabaptist values. You too are a steward. What has God entrusted to you?
Stewardship Connections with Integrity
As conservative Anabaptists, we do not attend “Sunday morning only” churches. Our concept of church and brotherhood involves far more than a 1-2 hour service once each week. Instead, we attempt to exercise our Christianity on a daily basis as we live, work, and relax in community. We value belonging to each other in ways that are tangible, visible, and practical, and maintain relationships that run far deeper than just public worship. We bear the extra costs of maintaining our own schools, we support youth groups so our teens are surrounded by peers of similar faith and practice, we rub shoulders with each other in the workplace, and we share each other’s medical costs. The connections that we have to each other have demonstrated themselves in our practices of brotherhood and mutual aid, and are part of the basis for creating both Anabaptist Foundation and Anabaptist Financial. Even though we are keenly aware of our differences in the application and practice of certain Biblical principles, we recognize the fact that we jointly, as conservative Anabaptists, support each other in preserving Biblical teachings that are, at best, neglected in many other Christian settings. Do you attend a “Sunday morning only” church or do you belong to a brotherhood with deeper connections?
Stewardship Connections With Integrity
Another important theme in our understanding of connections is recognition that finances and possessions powerfully affect the way we belong to each other. The way that we interact with things and people matters and impacts our exercise of Christianity.
The current economic troubles are rooted, at least in part, in a lack of integrity and responsibility within financial institutions by both investors and borrowers, who pursued personal financial advantages at the expense of Scriptural principles. This can happen in “Christian” circles, because many people who call themselves Christians divide their lives into two distinct parts. They consider their spiritual life to involve Sunday morning worship and, perhaps, a personal walk with God. The rest of their life is somehow different, disconnected, and secular. We feel it is unscriptural to believe or practice this “disconnect.” If biblical principles are not lived, it is fair to question if they are really believed.
We welcome input from others that is designed to help us prevent error, avoid sorrow, improve testimony, and grow spiritually. Within the bounds of confidentiality and prudence, both Anabaptist Foundation and Anabaptist Financial wish to be accountable to our conservative Anabaptist constituency. We have an intentionally diverse board of directors and advisory group so that we can receive counsel from the breadth of conservative churches. Our independently audited financial statements are available upon request.
Stewardship Connections with Integrity
This is much more than a slogan: it is a sincere attempt to define who we are, why we exist, and how we should operate. How are we measuring up? We would be glad to hear from you because your input matters. Ω
"Stewardship Connections with Integrity" from the November 2009 issue of Stewardship Connections, a publication of Anabaptist Financial. Reprinted with Permission.
