Many of these decisions are seemingly small or routine—sometimes made offhandedly and without much thought. Other decisions are of organization-altering magnitude. Especially with these more significant issues, spiritual discernment is fundamentally important.

As leaders and boards, we are confronted with new perspectives, emerging trends, and economic and regulatory developments. It is a daunting task to make biblical decisions against a mosaic of options!

We focus on the Bible, prayer, faith, and wise counsel—all important elements in biblical decision making—but too often we do not consider spiritual discernment in the process.

In I Kings 3:5-9 (ESV) we learn that while Solomon was at Gibeon to offer sacrifices to the Lord, God appeared to him and said simply “Ask what I shall give you.” We are commonly taught that Solomon asked the Lord for wisdom but he requested more than wisdom; he asked for discernment. He became both wise and discerning. This teaches us that God honors discernment and those who seek after it.¹

Discernment is evidence of God at work and is deeply rooted in both the Old and New Testaments. The early church used the language of discernment. Paul and Barnabas were sent to Antioch with a letter that said,

This is the language of discernment.²

Romans 12:2 (ESV) directly refers to discernment, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

We do not get to listen to God’s voice thundering on the top of Mount Horeb. Instead, we must rely on the more subtle dynamics of the Holy Spirit witnessing with the human spirit about things that are true.

Discernment presents unique challenges in contemporary Western culture, because it requires us to move beyond our reliance on cognition and intellectual hard work to a place of deep listening and response to the Spirit of God within us and among us.³

Discernment involves thinking in a specifically Christian way about each issue. At the same time, our hearts have to be engaged in devotion to Christ. Then, and only then, will we find ourselves in tune with the mind of God and be able to make good judgments and appraisals, because to the believer is promised the presence of the Holy Spirit.⁴

Discerning God’s will is a spiritual dynamic beyond human wisdom. Always a key principle for leaders of Christ-centered churches and non­profits, with national and world events occurring at a frenetic pace and the second coming of Christ closer than it has ever been, the importance of spiritual discernment is vital.

We hear countless voices in a given day—some belong to co-workers, the media, or friends. Other voices exist within us (memories, emotions, or desires), and these can be the hardest to filter. For the believer, hearing the Lord is most important, so discernment becomes critical in distinguishing His voice from the others.⁵

As leaders and board members, we are expected to pursue discernment; the Bible repeatedly cries out for this.

¹ The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, Tim Challies, Crossway, 2007
² “Discerning God’s Will Together: A Spiritual Practice for the Church,” by Danny E. Morris and Charles M. Olsen
³ Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, Ruth Haley Barton, InterVarsity Press, 2008
⁴ The Lost Art of Discernment, R. C. Sproul
⁵ “Developing Spiritual Discernment,” article by Charles F. Stanley

For years, it seemed so easy. Revenue increased nearly every year; expenses were allowed to proportionately increase. Everyone received a salary increase each year; there were few lay-offs. The number of people served by our programs went up. Reserves often increased.

But then, revenues began to decline. There was no certainty on how far they would go down. Budgeting principles, as we knew them, were out the window.

Organizations cut expenses but many found themselves behind the curve. Some looked for a “new normal.” While “normals” feel permanent, they never are—they just don’t stick around very long. It has been a process.

It is a sobering thought but a vital one. The things I know best about Him are things I learn through the process of day-to-day ministry and life.

You wake up in the middle of the night—you hear a voice that quietly but firmly points out that there is One who can gather up the circumstances of our ministry and use them to His purposes and to our good.

It is partially, at least from this perspective of bad times and good times, that I so strongly see and believe this fact: one can come to know that God is infinitely willing and abundantly able to bring good out of the processes of our ministries.

In Dorothee Soelle’s book, Death by Bread Alone, she suggests “the language of religion is experience.” She writes about a deep experience she went through: “It began to dawn on me that people who believe limp somewhat, as Jacob limped after wrestling with God on the shore of the Jabbok. The experience of the sufficiency of grace for our life, and the experience that nothing—not even our own death—can separate us from the love of God, are experiences we can recognize only after the fact. Such experiences are not written down and incorporated in drawings and plans which we can examine and check during the course of construction.”

The processes of life are when we come to know Him as we should. We start out with a “profession of faith.” It is not that what we are saying is not true—His promises are definitely real. But we do not own these beliefs yet because we have not bought them with the experiences of our journey. In the last couple of years, many Christian leaders paid the price of buying their beliefs while working through the processes of ministry.

When I was younger, I was a frequent attender of Christian retreats. Bob Benson, an executive with Benson Publishing, was my favorite retreat leader. In one retreat prayer time, he asked us to envision a blank sheet of paper with a horizontal line across the middle. Then, giving us time for reflection, he asked us to remember the good things that happened over the last couple of years—to think about them and rejoice over them. He asked us to put those things above the line.

Then, to help us get a truer perspective of how God works in our lives, he asked us to recall the negative things that had come to us as well—the dark, deep, troublesome times that threatened to engulf our souls. He asked us to list those below the line.

Bob asked us to commit the whole paper to Him—He is the God of the list on the top and God of the list on the bottom.

That day as I made my list, there were some things, for the life of me, I didn’t know where to put them. Some of the things were so evil it would seem their place would be a foregone conclusion. The day they happened, I knew, all right. The bottom of the bottom wasn’t low enough. I did not know whether I would make it or not. But looking back, I could see how God used for good what seemed so bad at the time.

That retreat with Bob Benson was years ago and he has gone on to the treasure laid up in a life-time of devotion, discipleship, and dedication. Still today, even the worst things that have happened to me in the last few years, I find them creeping up, over the line—illustrating that even out of the direst circumstances His call to us can be heard.

Listen to all your ministry has to say to you. He calls you from the processes.

Based on Bob Benson’s book He Speaks Softly, Word, 1985.

Seeking immediate results is rarely more common than when our ministries are impacted by an economic recession. All of our measurement tools are in place to report short-term measurable “success.” We impatiently scan our ministry reports for positive data indicators.

Are concerns about short-term data important? Yes, par­ticularly if questions of sustainability of the organization are in play.

Yet sound guidance of a ministry is more like running a marathon than a sprint. It is focused on the Great Commission with an appropriate desire to attain short-term effectiveness.

Matthew 14:15 records the recommendation of the disciples to Jesus as they told Him, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” In his recent book, The Longview: Lasting Strategies for Rising Leaders, Roger Parrott, president of Bellhaven College, suggests “the committee’s decision seemed like a reasonable solution.”¹

But Jesus took a long view perspective in mentoring these disciples, knowing the solution had sweeping ramifications beyond where to get dinner. Bolstered by the miracle on the hillside, Peter found the faith to step out of the boat and walk on water. That evening had long view implications.

God often builds his church using the long view principle. William Carey, the first missionary to India, worked for seven years before he had his first convert. Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary to China, labored for a quarter century and had fewer than a dozen converts.²

When taking the long view, the following principles are fundamental.

• Remembering. We are often so focused on the current challenges that we do not take time to remember. How has God helped us in the past? Has he ever failed us? What lessons did He teach us in past challenging times?

• Reflecting. Identify the season your organization is in by reflecting on your environment. Bill Hybels refers to the seasons of growth as consolidation, transition, malaise and reinvention. He traces the seasons idea back to Ecclesiastes 3:1, which says that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”³ Simply naming the season we are in is the basis of determining the implications of the season.

• Vision-casting. “God’s vision for your ministry will not change quickly, nor will it be something you will accomplish rapidly. His vision will require years of active pursuit. The vision itself may even outlive you!

“Thus, the heart of the vision will remain unchanged over a prolonged period. Some of the details lying at the outer edge of your understanding of the vision may shift somewhat over the course of time. But the core of the vision—the people you have been called to reach, the task you have been called to do, the purpose for which you exist—will remain constant.

“Because He is not a God of confusion but of order, because He is a God who is in control, because He takes great pleasure in seeing us find success in our service, He will be faithful in His support of the vision.”⁴

Reflecting on these principles, have you made short-term decisions in the last 12 months impacting the budget, programming, personnel, and much more? You probably have and this was important to do in the short-run. But even the short-term decisions can and should be made with the long view foremost in mind.

¹ The Longview: Lasting Strategies for Rising Leaders, Roger Parrott, David C. Cook, 2009.
² Ibid.
³ Axiom, Bill Hybels, Zondervan, 2008.
⁴ The Power of Vision, George Barna, Regal, 2009.

Contrasting this attitude of keeping the public uninformed, ECFA starts its fourth decade of assuring the public’s trust by encouraging Christ-centered churches and parachurch ministries to function at the highest levels of integrity and accountability.

Driven by a steady flow of reports of possible wrong­doing, ministries are increasingly under scrutiny by the media and the donor public. It’s an issue of trust.

Congress has ramped up its attention on churches and parachurch ministries in the last few years—even implying that some ministries cannot be trusted. While we have enjoyed a brief respite from this attention during the health care reform debate, it is now back to business as usual on Capitol Hill.

The recession has impacted most ministries—and the depth and length of the financial trough is still an unknown. When the flow of funds tightens, there is often a temptation to use project-restricted funds for operational purposes or to be less than fully forthright in stewardship appeals—these are paths that will not evoke trust.

This all adds up to the ingredients for a perfect storm—high scrutiny by the media and public, additional concerns by Congress, and operating funds in a shorter supply than we have seen in recent years. And the issues generally relate to finances, fund­raising/stewardship, and governance; all three are found in the core of ECFA’s standards. It is a time to be trustworthy in all these areas.

What an opportunity for ministries seeking to fulfill the Great Com­mission to be models of integrity and accountability during the swirling turbulence! What a time for givers to open the storehouse doors as Joseph did in times of old and support ministries that take the high ground! What a time to be trustworthy!

Accountability to God, to a ministry’s governing body, to its financial supporters, and to the government are all bedrock components of trustworthiness.

A ministry may be functioning at the highest level of integrity “in the eyes of the Lord.” But how does a ministry demonstrate it is doing right “in the eyes of men”? How will it demonstrate trustworthiness? This is difficult without independent oversight by an organization like ECFA.

Accountability to ECFA’s standards and the commitment of a ministry to annual and special reviews is an important element of building trust in those who support ministries.

With hundreds of thousands of churches and tens of thousands of parachurch ministries—and many more being approved each year by the IRS—is it any wonder that many donors are concerned about which ministries they can trust? It is not surprising that nearly two million visits are made to ECFA’s website annually—primarily to determine whether a certain ministry is an ECFA member or not; 35,000 clicks were made by Web users in January 2010 looking for a project in ServantMatch™. Givers want to support ministries they can trust.

It should not be surprising that Christ-centered churches and parachurch ministries are fulfilling ECFA’s accreditation requirements at a record pace in a desire to earn the public’s trust. ECFA welcomed 100 or more new organizations into membership in 2008 and again in 2009—a pace unparalleled in the last 20 years!

John Wesley said: “Our respon­sibility is to give the world the right impression of God.” ECFA plays a critical role in this process for ministries.

One of the impacts of the disastrous Haiti earthquake will be a heightened focus on how ministries raise and use gifts given for Haiti-related programs. There will be stories about charities that operated outright scams. But the focus will also be on legitimate ministries and other charities. If you doubt this, simply think back to the events after 9/11 and the loss of credibility for charities that did not spend funds as promised.

The Haiti earthquake highlights the importance of truthfulness in fundraising—a key ECFA standard. There are a wide variety of programs being delivered: disaster relief, development, church planting, child sponsorship, volunteer medical teams and much more. While some ministries are well-equipped to conduct church planting and child sponsorship, it could be disingenuous to represent that they provide disaster relief or post-disaster development process of rebuilding infrastructure and livelihoods.

This is a time for organizations ministering in Haiti to perform a checkup:

1. Do fundraising appeals (printed, web, and other media) clearly and accurately communicate the ministry your organization is prepared to perform?

2. Will your ministry expend the gifts within a reasonable time period?

3. If there is a possibility of raising more gifts than needed to carry out the project communicated to givers, did the fundraising appeals clearly state how any excess funds will be used?

4. Does your organization raise funds for foreign charities providing services in Haiti? If so, you may be crossing the line into conduit transactions that may not result in a charitable gift for the giver.

5. Does your organization raise funds for Haiti projects and make gifts or grants to foreign charities providing services in Haiti? If so, are policies and procedures in place to ensure proper oversight of the use of the funds?

So if your ministry is accepting funds for projects in Haiti, perform your due diligence now on what is being promised to givers, how you will track the gifts, how you will spend the funds, and how you will monitor the outcomes of the programs. It will be time well-spent.

Business mileage. The IRS has provided a new maximum business mileage rate for 2010 of 50 cents per mile. The new rate is down from the 55 cents per mile maximum for 2009.

The new mileage rate has the following implications for congregations and clergy:

1. If the congregation has been reimbursing business miles at a rate less than 50 cents per mile, it may be an appropriate time to consider increasing the reimbursement to the new maximum rate.

   Reimbursing clergy (and other staff) at a rate less than the maximum rate is simply poor stewardship. The difference between the maximum IRS mileage rate and a lower rate of reimbursement has little tax value to the staff member. It is so much better to prospectively establish compensation at a level which allows for a reimbursement of business mileage at the maximum rate.

2. If the congregation has been reimbursing business miles at a rate more than 50 cents per mile, a reduction in the reimbursement rate to the new maximum is generally appropriate. If a congregation continues to use a reimbursement rate higher than 50 cents per mile in 2010, the amount reimbursed over 50 cents per mile is additional taxable compensation to the staff member.

Clergy housing allowance. The first of every year is a good time to review the amount of the housing allowance designation for each clergy employed by the congregation. Retroactive housing allowance designations are invalid, so if a housing allowance designation needs to be increased, the earlier the action is taken in a year, the better for the clergy. A housing allowance designation is appropriate for clergy who own or rent their own home or who live in a parsonage and pay some of their housing expenses.

Reimbursement of business expenses. The first of the year is also an excellent time to review the accountable expense reimbursement practices of the congregation. A congregation that only reimburses a portion of clergy business expenses is generally penalizing the clergy from a financial standpoint.

What is the value of business expenses not reimbursed by the congregation? They only have minimal value because:

1. The IRS is increasingly firm about disallowing the portion of unreimbursed expenses that relates to a housing allowance exemption. Example: A clergy receives $50,000 cash compensation, of which $25,000 is designated as a housing allowance. After applying the housing allowance limitations, the clergy excludes $25,000 for federal income tax purposes. The clergy has $5,000 of congregation-related expenses that were not reimbursed. The IRS takes the position that since 50% of the congregation-related compensation is tax-free under the housing allowance rules, only 50% of the unreimbursed expenses are deductible (50% x $5,000 =$2,500).
2. Clergy that do not itemize deductions on Schedule A (this includes nearly all clergy who live in congregation-provided housing) receive absolutely no income tax benefit from unreimbursed business expenses. Even clergy who itemize deductions, are limited to claiming unreimbursed expenses that exceed 2% of adjusted gross income. And, then the tax savings is limited to the marginal federal income tax rate.

Income tax withholding. The first of the year is also a good time to determine whether the congregation will withhold federal (and, perhaps state) income taxes for 2010 on a voluntary basis. (If this withholding was in placed for 2009, then, it may only be a matter of adjusting the voluntary withholding amount for 2010.)

Income tax withholding is not required by a congregation for clergy—it is a voluntary issue. But, congregations who offer this option are often doing clergy a good favor by providing this practical way to pay their taxes as they go. The amount of federal income taxes withheld may be set at an amount high enough to cover self-employment social security taxes. The withholding is FICA; it must be withheld as federal income taxes even though it funds the self-employment social security tax obligation.

Seeking immediate results is rarely more common than when our ministries are impacted by an economic recession. All of our measurement tools are in place to report short-term measurable “success.” We impatiently scan our ministry reports for positive data indicators.

Are concerns about short-term data important? Yes, par­ticularly if questions of sustainability of the organization are in play.

Yet sound guidance of a ministry is more like running a marathon than a sprint. It is focused on the Great Commission with an appropriate desire to attain short-term effectiveness.

Matthew 14:15 records the recommendation of the disciples to Jesus as they told Him, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” In his recent book, The Longview: Lasting Strategies for Rising Leaders, Roger Parrott, president of Bellhaven College, suggests “the committee’s decision seemed like a reasonable solution.”1

But Jesus took a long view perspective in mentoring these disciples, knowing the solution had sweeping ramifications beyond where to get dinner. Bolstered by the miracle on the hillside, Peter found the faith to step out of the boat and walk on water. That evening had long view implications.

God often builds his church using the long view principle. William Carey, the first missionary to India, worked for seven years before he had his first convert. Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary to China, labored for a quarter century and had fewer than a dozen converts.2

When taking the long view, the following principles are fundamental.

• Remembering. We are often so focused on the current challenges that we do not take time to remember. How has God helped us in the past? Has he ever failed us? What lessons did He teach us in past challenging times?
• Reflecting. Identify the season your organization is in by reflecting on your environment. Bill Hybels refers to the seasons of growth as consolidation, transition, malaise and reinvention. He traces the seasons idea back to Ecclesiastes 3:1, which says that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”3 Simply naming the season we are in is the basis of determining the implications of the season.
• Vision-casting. “God’s vision for your ministry will not change quickly, nor will it be something you will accomplish rapidly. His vision will require years of active pursuit. The vision itself may even outlive you!

“Thus, the heart of the vision will remain unchanged over a prolonged period. Some of the details lying at the outer edge of your understanding of the vision may shift somewhat over the course of time. But the core of the vision—the people you have been called to reach, the task you have been called to do, the purpose for which you exist—will remain constant.

“Because He is not a God of confusion but of order, because He is a God who is in control, because He takes great pleasure in seeing us find success in our service, He will be faithful in His support of the vision.”4

Reflecting on these principles, have you made short-term decisions in the last 12 months impacting the budget, programming, personnel, and much more? You probably have and this was important to do in the short-run. But even the short-term decisions can and should be made with the long view foremost in mind.

1 The Longview: Lasting Strategies for Rising Leaders, Roger Parrott, David C. Cook, 2009.
2 Ibid.
3 Axiom, Bill Hybels, Zondervan, 2008.
4 The Power of Vision, George Barna, Regal, 2009.

When Daniel was diagnosed with autism at age four, it was especially traumatic for our daughter and her husband. Their dreams for Daniel—the dreams all parents have for their children—seemed to vanish. That was based on their perspective at the time.

Hundreds of hours in hyperbaric chambers, myriad therapy sessions, and a multitude of prayers later he was ready for his first tee-ball experience this summer—playing with other autistic boys and girls, some several years older than he. The first game was not enough fun and he nearly opted for early retirement after opening day.

But he tried another game and then another. And in a short time-span, he went from not sharing the ball to fielding balls and running over towards first base, handing the ball to Bob who plays first base (Bob’s disabilities prevent him from catching a thrown ball) and Bob completes the play. They are quite the teammates.

From our perspective today (and that of his parents), Daniel is a terrific boy—the delight of our lives!

God has the unfailing power to bring good from all circumstances that come our way. But what we see as “good” often depends on our perspective.

There are times when it is difficult to understand how “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28). Yet, with proper perspective we can “consider it pure joy…whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2).

What is your perspective of where you are right now? Feeling overwhelmed by the challenges of fewer resources and increasing expenses for the ministry in which you are involved? Having difficulty coping with the realities of cutting programs—perhaps even laying off staff? Or perhaps God has helped you gain a proper perspective—gaining a grasp of the cur­rent realities for your organization and realizing the future will not be like the past.

This may be a good time for you to take a blank sheet of paper and draw a horizontal line in the middle. Remember the good things that God has done for your church or ministry and note them above the line. Then, recall the dark, deep, troublesome times that threatened to engulf your organization across the years—perhaps including some current challenges. All of the items on the page can be committed to Him. He is the God of the top list and the God of the bottom list. He is just as much the God of our challenges as He is the God of our successes.

Listen to what God is saying to you and your organization through the experiences of this economic decline. He wants to help you with perspective!