an issue of ownership

So...I've been thinking about the issue of ownership recently; especially as related to the ownership of a faith community (church). As I am teaching through portions of Acts, I realized that (perhaps) THE biggest problem facing faith communities today is that very few (if any) people who are a part of the church take an ownership in the life of the church.

Why is this true? For a couple of reasons I believe. One reason is that many church leaderships are structured so that there is very little ownership. It's the pastors or the elders or aunt Jenny's monkey's uncle that "own" the church, that decide things. Unfortunately I have seen far too many of those churches. Part of the reason for this, however, is the lack of ownership everyone else takes with the work and mission of the church. It is a pretty well-known statistic that 90% of the work of a church is done by 10% of the people. Additionally, 90% of the income of a church is given by 10% of the people.

Having said that, however, it would be tempting to think this is THE answer, but it would be short-sighted to do so. For the reality is, many people simply prefer to make church (even "their" church) just another thing that they do - that they are a part of. They view church as something they go to where others do things for them. In short, there is no ownership. They don't feel a responsibility to do whatever needs to be done to help the church be all it can be - so they don't serve, they don't connect, and they don't give. In fact, let's be honest. It really comes out in the issue of giving.

American Christians give less percentage of the their income than almost any other nation. And yet, we are the richest. What causes this? Maybe it's that we have a bit of Ananias in us.

In Acts 5, there is a guy named Ananias. He does something bad that shows he doesn't have any ownership in the church. He doesn't really care for the needs of others...it is all about him. So...what does it mean to have some Ananias is you?

* If you say that you believe in God and in the work of the ministry - but you give more to a restaurant or a movie theater than you do to the church - there's some Ananias in you.
* If you go and eat the donuts (which costs money) and drink the coffee ($) and use the bulletins $)and use the heat($)and the chairs and listen to the music and the teaching ($) - but you don't contribute so that your church can meet the financial needs of the church and of other people -- there's some Ananias in you.

If you or your kids have all the latest and greatest (Wii, PS, tv, etc) - but you don't take ownership in the church by getting involved, serving, and contributing financially so that your church can continue to try to reach out to people and hopefully - to meet people's needs - you have some Ananias in you.

If you talk about other people behind their backs, if you tear down rather than build up, if you discourage rather than encourage…you have some Ananias in you.

And can I say this…Having some Ananias in you - is not a good thing.