THE JOURNEY Bob Wielenga with Jerry Vreeman
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Copyright Š 2012 International Steward All rights reserved. 3
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1. MATEO’S PROBLEM
Mateo was a young man with a problem. He had heard the stories of Jesus as a young boy. When he was a teenager he accepted Jesus as his Savior and made a public commitment in a church to follow the teachings of Jesus all of his life. Now, in his twenties, Mateo had graduated from a good school. He had a well paying job. He lived in a good neighborhood. He wore nice clothes. He owned a motorbike and many electronics. But Mateo wanted more. He wanted a ministry.
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He thought about starting an orphanage in his village. He thought about starting a Christian school. He thought about going into the rural areas to plant churches or into the cities to distribute tracts. Yet each time those ideas came to his mind, there was always one big problem: Mateo didn’t have enough money. He had a little but not enough!
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His parents had taught him to buy only good quality things. Each time he was paid he tried to save a little. He spent some money to go out with his friends or travel to other parts of the country. Yet, he was generous and often bought gifts for his family or helped his brother and sister when they had a special need. He didn’t think of himself as rich. He had most of what he wanted. The only thing missing, he thought, was to have his own ministry.
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After many months of thinking, Mateo decided to gather what he could and plant a small church near his village. He sold some of his older electronics and games. He took some money out of his savings. His friends and family each gave something and Mateo started with what he had.
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He spent long hours trying to start this young church, especially on the days when he didn’t have to work. He tried to use the money wisely. Slowly by God’s grace a small church was planted and began to serve the people of the village.
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Mateo was happier, but now his problems were greater. As he thought about eventually getting married, having a house, a family, and a ministry, the same old problem was now bigger. How could he find enough money to do all of that and keep the ministry going? One day he shared his burden with a young pastor friend who was in full time ministry planting churches. His friend said, “I will help you, Mateo. But first, you should go see Pastor Josué in the village down by the river. I used to worry and struggle just like you, Mateo. But Pastor Josué taught me all about stewardship and the grace of giving.” Mateo had heard about Pastor Josué who had helped to plant many, many churches throughout the country. He was a little nervous about going to see such an important man. He was also curious. Perhaps Pastor Josué had a secret recipe to finding money for ministry. So, Mateo traveled to the village by the river and asked where he could find Pastor Josué. “Pastor Josué is getting older now, so he doesn’t travel as much as in the old days,” he was told. “You will most likely find him telling stories by the village square or in his yard behind the church near the river.”
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Mateo found the old pastor down by the river. Pastor Josué was working in a little garden behind the church but greeted Mateo warmly as he approached. “I’m so glad you came,” said Pastor Josué. “It is a little warm today and it will be good to take a rest from chopping out weeds.” Pastor Josué walked over to a shady spot near the church building and pointed to a little stool for Mateo to sit down. Then he sat down on another stool, folded his hands, and said, “Now, what should we talk about?” Mateo told him about his love for Jesus and the burden he had carried to plant a church. He told stories about his work and his dreams and the people in his church. Then he said, “But my basic problem, Pastor Josué, is that it seems there is never quite enough money to care for my church and to take care of my own needs.” Pastor Josué had listened carefully, nodding his head now and then. Now he thought for a moment and asked, “Mateo, why do you think there isn’t enough money?” “I don’t know,” replied Mateo. “That’s why I came to you!” “Oh, I think you have some ideas,” chuckled the older pastor. “But, tell me, is the problem that there is not enough money for ministry? Or is there not enough money for you?” “Both!” said Mateo strongly. “If I had more money, I could give more to ministry. If there was more money for ministry, I wouldn’t have to worry about having enough for me.” The old pastor smiled and looked toward the river. “I think I understand what you are saying, Mateo, but I’m not certain that you do. But, before we talk any further, I have a little problem that I am wondering if you would help me with.” 12
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“I would be glad to help you,” said Mateo eagerly. “I have been having a little trouble with my back,” said Pastor Josué. “Do you see those two little boats tied up on the other side of the river? My grandchildren are coming later in the day and I would like to have the boats on this side of the river so the children can use them. There is a bridge about a half kilometer down where you can cross over. Would you be willing to get them for me? And while you do that, I will ask my wife to make some coffee for us.” “Why certainly,” said Mateo, getting off his stool. “I will do it right away.”
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“Oh, thank you so much,” said Pastor Josué. “The river is not very wide and not too deep. Just be careful when you bring them across together.” Eager to help, Mateo walked quickly down to the bridge crossing the river and soon was by the boats on the other side. He noticed that each small boat had its own paddle, but there were no ropes or anything nearby with which to tie the two boats together. He puzzled for a moment about how he could bring them across and then had an idea. Since they were quite tiny boats he would stand up in the boats by putting one foot in one boat and one foot in the other. Like giant floating shoes he would paddle them both across together to where Pastor Josué was now setting a table for coffee. Proud of himself for this unique idea, Mateo carefully pushed both boats to the edge of the water and put a foot in each one. Since they were close together and not very large, it was quite easy. Standing up boldly, he picked up a paddle from one of the boats and began the short journey across the river. He had only gone a short ways across however, when the bow of the boat under his left foot began to veer off to his left. Unfortunately, at the same time, the bow of the right boat began to veer off to the right. As he stood with one foot in each boat, Mateo’s legs began to stretch out wider as the two little boats seemed to have a mind of their own. For a moment he was able to get them both going in the same direction, but only for a moment.
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By the time he reached the middle of the river the two little boats had moved apart so far that Mateo couldn’t stop them. With his legs spread so wide he could no longer stand, Mateo fell head first into the river with a huge splash! Fortunately, as Pastor JosuÊ had said, the river was not very deep. His feet found the bottom. His head was above the water. He was able to grab the little boats and soon he had walked them to the other side.
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Looking up, embarrassed, he saw that Pastor Josué was already standing there with a towel in one hand and a robe in the other. “Take off your clothes and put on this robe,” he laughed. “We’ll hang them up to dry while we finish our talk.” As they settled back on the stools each with a cup of coffee, Pastor Josué said, “Thank you so much for being willing to help me. I’m sorry that you got wet, but perhaps there is a stewardship lesson in this.” “I don’t know about stewardship,” said Mateo. “But the lesson for me is definitely don’t try to stand up in two boats at once and expect to go anywhere but into the water.” “And that’s the stewardship lesson,” chuckled Pastor Josué. “Most of us live our lives straddling two worlds or kingdoms like you just did with the boats. We have one foot in the material kingdom and one foot in the spiritual kingdom. Some of us are better at balancing than others, but often during rough waters or just a little wind, the boats move apart and we end up falling.” Mateo was listening now. 17
“You talked as if some of the things or money that you have is yours, and some of it belongs to God or the ministry. That’s like trying to straddle two boats. In the Bible, James tells us ‘...a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.’ (1:8) David wrote in Psalm 119:113 ‘I hate the double minded.’ There are many more times in the Bible which describe our position of trying to have one foot in a spiritual boat and the other in our material boat. Jesus said it this way ‘No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money’ (Matthew 6:24). We really can’t keep some of our possessions in one boat and some in another. “Picture this,” said the old pastor. “What if we only live in one boat – our spiritual boat! God’s Kingdom boat. Everything is God’s. Our job, our home, our ministry, all of our stuff … it’s all God’s. Would that change the way you think about having enough?” Mateo was thinking hard. He was thinking about his electronics and his motor bike, his clothes and his games. He thought about the church and the needs of the people. If everything truly belonged to God, it must change the way he thought about having enough. “Yes, that changes the way I think,” said Mateo. “I have to think ‘how does God want me to use His stuff?’” “And that’s the first step of being a faithful steward,” said the old pastor. “We must think, it’s all God’s. I have to use it only the way He wants.” Mateo took another sip of coffee. After a long moment he said, “This is a good lesson. But how will it help me get more money for ministry?” “Ah, now you understand what it means to be a leader,” replied Pastor Josué. “Can you imagine what could happen if you and everyone in your church lived each day as if all of their stuff was actually God’s?” 18
“I’m not certain,” said Mateo. “Most people think they own their personal possessions. I thought my challenge was to get them to give up some of it for God.” “You are right!” said Josué. “Most people think that way. That’s why we pastors must teach them to see all of their stuff in a new way. It belongs to God! And when we teach them God’s way, it changes their lives. It gives them new freedom. It gives them more generous hearts.” “And when people have new freedom and generous hearts,” smiled Mateo, “they will give to God’s ministry in a much bigger way!” “That’s a good vision!” said Pastor Josué. “It will take some time to teach. But first, you and I still have much to learn about stewardship. Would you like to join with some of us as we learn more about stewardship over the next few days?” “Oh yes,” said Mateo. “I must learn so that I can teach.” “Wonderful,” said Pastor Josué. “You are most welcome. Now, your clothing still is not quite dry. Have another cup of coffee!” 19