One of my appointments was to a church which had been damaged by fire, and the congregation was worshipping in a basement level room of a nearby Baptist Church.  Restoration plans were in progress, but after 10 months, no construction.  The insurance settlement was safe in a savings account as we modified the original plans and sought financing for necessary additional funds.

When the work finally began, and large payments were made for completed construction, the church treasurer visited my office.  He threw the savings passbook on my desk and sternly said, “You can keep this. It is worthless to me!”  There was still a few thousand dollars in the account, but it no longer showed the balance of tens of thousands of dollars.

I assured the treasurer that he needed to hold the passbook because there were funds left.  His response was that the balance meant nothing. “Before, I could show the passbook to my co-workers and friends. I was proud of the balance (almost $100k). Now it is down to practically nothing.” 

Just months into my appointment, I longed for some counselling skills which I was yet to acquire in seminary and by experience.  The Holy Spirit kept me from taking the passbook and tossing him out of my office with some old street blessings.  I surprised myself with my response, “Brother, you are important to this church and the community.  The bank book flush with cash did not make you important.  We still need you to help us through the financing and repayment process.  Take the book back and let’s go on.”

As it turned out, flesh and blood did not govern me that day. A few months later, we “really” needed that brother.  There was a snag at the bank.  The whole project was threatened and a season of embarrassment and suffering threatened the congregation.  That same brother, who wanted to give up and saw his importance in a passbook, knew one of the few people in the entire state who could fix our problem.  His relationships were more valuable than his custody of a savings account!

Of course, the brother had value as a human being.  Moreover, every penny moved out of the savings account got us closer to occupying a church building that would be renewed, practical and beautiful.  He did not see the transfer of cash into a product for ministry as part of his value and success.

This is not the time for pride in the accumulation of real estate and investments. It is a season to transfer fiscal assets into people (and our relationships) and the ministry they provide, not the hoarding of assets. It is time to boast the value we have in people by showing a willingness to bear the costs of equity. You may not see it on the balance sheet, but the fair investment in people will outperform other investments in the long-term.