Fear of Falling

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 Gospel of Mark 10:17-31

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”   –Mark 10:23Years ago, I had the opportunity to get acquainted briefly with Robert Wuthnow, a professor at Princeton University, and director of its Center for the Study of Religion.  Wuthnow has focused a good portion of his research on the complex relationship between American Christians and money.  In many Western nations, tax revenue supports congregations. If that were true here, perhaps pastors, elders, and deacons would form citizen action groups to make the case for the importance of the church’s ministries, and the necessity of raising property taxes to support them.  For better and for worse, that’s not how things work. Here, church leaders regularly face the ironic situation of needing revenue for ministry when most people who would rather talk about any other topic. So Wuthnow’s analysis seeks to fill a critical information gap about a topic sometimes deemed too sensitive to talk about in church.In one of his books, Wuthnow writes about “The Spiritual Dilemma of the Middle Class,” that faces about 80% of church members.  Based on the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Pew Research Center, “middle class” in America means the 42% of households who earn between $35,000 and $100,000 per year.  Not everyone in a Presbyterian Church is middle class; some fall below the lower threshold, many rise above the upper threshold. Most of us can understand the feelings of the middle class, who tend to recognize that they’re doing ok financially; they describe their situation as one in which they have enough to satisfy their families’ needs.  But only 3% say they have a lot left over. They say it’s hard to save money to send their kids to college, to finance retirements, or to pay for rising medical costs. They worry more about losing their hopes for a more comfortable lifestyle, of losing their status in society. Wuthnow says that they suffer from the “fear of falling.”[1]In the Gospel of Mark, chapter ten, Jesus encounters a man with similar anxieties. In this second half of Mark’s gospel, Jesus is on his journey to the cross.  Along the way he finds several opportunities to teach his followers about the path of Christian discipleship.  When he meets the man traditionally known to us as “the rich young ruler,” Jesus displays genuine affection.  The man has exhibited piety and  kept the commandments since childhood.  He clearly has tremendous potential for leadership.At the same time, Jesus’ ever keen and never-failing intuition focuses like a laser on the rich young ruler’s weakness. His possessions control him; they hinder true discipleship.  Jesus says, “Go, sell, give, come, follow me.”  The rich man responds to Jesus’ words with shock, and withdraws in grief, “for he had many possessions.”  Of all the stories in Mark in which Jesus issues a call, this is the only one in which the person responds  not by following, but by going away.[2]  The rich young ruler’s fear of falling is just too great.This is the time of year when thousands of congregations are beginning their annual pledge campaign.  Our annual mailing goes out this Friday. Jerry B. trains pledge campaign volunteers next Sunday.  Historically, 90% of our revenue comes from pledged giving, and again most of you will respond in some form.  Late November and early December, we’ll be dedicating our pledges, and the session will finalize the operating budget for 2019.  I’ve been involved in this sort of exercise for three decades. When I step back to examine the challenge of setting budgets and reaching pledge goals, I know that the fear of falling is a powerful force against which we contend.During the past few years, I’ve been fortunate to enrich my ministry here with coursework in the graduate and business schools at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. I’ve learned that other nonprofit organizations face many of the same challenges that churches face.  Nowhere does this seem more true than in our discussions about changes in giving patterns. In the old days, when households were rooted in one location, one’s loyalty to a community was naturally exhibited in volunteerism and financial donations to local congregations and organizations. Today, impulses to volunteer and donate have to be nurtured.  In a competitive environment, the church has to work more intentionally and diligently to convince donors it is worthy of support.  Some organizations de-emphasize altruistic appeals, and instead focus unashamedly on personal benefits that will be received by the donor.  While that may strike people of my generation and older as unnecessary and even distasteful, it is an approach that has potential for helping us all understand the cost of ministry. How much does ministry in a church like ours cost in financial terms? What is it that we receive for our pledge?When I lived in Wichita in the 1990s, I heard the story of Ray Dykes, a Presbyterian pastor down the road in Oklahoma City.  Dr. Dykes became so frustrated about changes in giving patterns that he created a new model for his church.  He called it the “Personal Pastor Program.” The program was designed to serve households wishing to have the services of a church, but not wanting to be active members.The budget for the Personal Pastor Program was developed, then divided by the total number of clients it could serve to get a per-person monthly fee.  Dykes offered a discount of 20% to those who chose to pay an annual fee in advance.  For that fee, clients were entitled to basic services: sermons, classes, weddings, funerals, and visits in the hospital. Dr. Dykes also established a price list for those preferring ala cartereligious services. Converting dollars then to dollars now, each visit to a Sunday school class cost $17 per person. A prayer in a regular hospital room cost $42 per visit.  An visit in I.C.U. or Emergency Room cost $170.  A funeral package, minister’s services only, cost $340.  A wedding package with counseling cost $850.  All of these services were provided at no charge to those participating as regular clients in the program.Dr. Dykes program created controversy. While his ideas about a Personal Pastor Program did not fit very well with the traditional Presbyterian Church, his story does provide a provocative entry point for dialogue about how the Church will continue to fund its ministries.  As a generation of members passes away who gave much and expected little in return, is it important to the rest of us to maintain the programs and services of a traditional church with a professional staff?  If the answer is “yes,” then how do we all grow in our practice of generosity? How do we help one another overcome our fear of falling, and see supporting the church’s ministries as a privilege rather than a burden?For inspiration, I turned to the story of Alan Barnhardt, who grew up in Memphis, and was educated as an engineer at the University of Tennessee. Alan Barnhardt was already serious about his Christian faith when he came back from college to work with his family business, a business that today is valued at $250-million. When Alan and his brother took over their family business, they set incomes for themselves that would enable them to support their families in a modest middle-class lifestyle and agreed that anything the company made beyond that would be given to ministry. In their first year they were able to give away $50,000, and in the second year $150,000. By 2005, they were giving away $1 million a month. They have also placed 99% ownership of the company into a trust that will ensure that when they leave this world, all proceeds from the firm will continue to be     invested in ministry.[3]  He says, “Everything I have comes from God and belongs to God, and I am a steward of it. My job is to figure out what God wants me to do with it.”[4]Now, you're not Alan Barnhardt, and neither am I. But, if we looked at opportunities for giving like him, and saw them less as a burden, and more as a privilege, then we would change the world, at least our little corner of it.  Giving would be a great adventure.  Therese and I are practicing that adventure to the extent of 8.25% of our income in 2017 (that’s gifts to charity as a percentage of adjusted gross income – you can look at your own tax return and do the math). We could do worse. But I know we could do better. And, as we move toward the end   that is inevitable for all of us, we plan to let go of more in measured but meaningful ways.Think with me another way about the cost of ministry. If we were to divide up the cost of ministry among our households, and if every household were compelled to give an equal share, then the equal share or “average cost” of First Presbyterian’s  operating budget would be $2,267 per year.  If we wanted to return to a model in which we were fully staffed to be a middle-sized church, then the average cost would rise to $2,493, just under $2,500.Remember Garrison Keiller’s Lake Wobegone, where all the children were “above average”? There’s something in most of us that wants to be above average, at least we do in the things we really care about. Oh, there are seasons of life when health concerns or special circumstances require shifting of our financial priorities. But I’ve been around long enough to understand the occupations in which many Presbyterians serve – above average; and to see homes in which many Presbyterians live, above average; and to observe the recreational vehicles and vacations  and hobbies that occupy Presbyterians’ spare time; above average. Why would we want our commitment to God and the church be reflected in anything other than giving that also is above average?The answer might be “Fear of Falling.” Fear of falling can lead to giving that is below average, therefore to church staff, programs, and services that are below average. Fear of falling can be kept in check by the realization that falling is inevitable.  No matter how hard we work or how much we have, when we die, not one dollar is going with us.  As the missionary Jim Elliott once said, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”  The thing to do is to prepare for the fall; to exercise our freedom and good judgment in controlling how our possessions are invested.We probably won’t be called to give up our life as missionaries to a remote tribe, as did Jim Elliott.  But when our understanding of stewardship grows, we will recognize that underneath the material tightrope upon which we walk is a spiritual safety net. There is tremendous freedom living not by a fear of falling, but by faith in the One who is there to catch us when we do.NOTES[1]Robert Wuthnow, “The Spiritual Dilemma of the Middle Class,” in “The Crisis in the Churches: Spiritual Malaise, Fiscal Woe,” New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, pp. 54-70.[2]Lamar Williamson, “Mark,” Interpretation Commentary Series, Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1983, p. 183. [3]http://storiesforpreaching.com/category/sermonillustrations/stewardship/ accessed 3 October 2018. [4]https://generousgiving.org/media/videos/alan-barnhart-god-owns-our-business accessed 3 October 2018.