How is Your Health?
| Churchwide Updates | Dr. Wayne Splawn
I recently went to my primary care physician for my annual physical. I really like my physician and generally enjoy my annual visit, but I am sometimes anxious while waiting to receive the results of my bloodwork. From the testimonies of others, I realize that results from bloodwork sometimes reveal previously unknown medical conditions. The results of the bloodwork serve to confirm or challenge my perception of my health.
There is a similar principle at work when it comes to our spiritual health. How do we determine the condition of our spiritual health? Jeremiah famously warned us about the deceptive nature of our hearts:
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9, ESV)
We may feel as if we’re in a season of spiritual health but have underlying conditions that are only revealed through closer examination.
Examining how we steward the resources God has entrusted to us is one practice that sheds light on the condition of our hearts. Jesus once taught that our hearts follow our treasure. Taking stock of how we invest our time, talents, and treasures often helps us develop a more accurate picture of our spiritual health.
Last Sunday, we approved our 2027 church budget. The budget is important because it reflects our commitment to steward our financial resources to support the mission and ministries of Mountain Brook Baptist Church. But the budget reflects more than the need for financial investments in the life of the church. For example, if everyone gave money to support Vacation Bible School but didn’t faithfully steward their time and talents by volunteering, our VBS would be a failure. We need a holistic understanding of faithful stewardship if we are going to be the church we believe God has called us to be.
As we do each fall, we will spend the next several weeks thinking about stewardship. This year, I challenge you to take stock of your spiritual health by considering how you are investing your time, talents, and treasures to enable our church to pursue our vision of helping people experience eternal and abundant life in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Are there areas of your stewardship that reflect spiritual health? Are there areas in which you need to pursue greater faithfulness to God’s call upon your life? May the Lord use this stewardship emphasis to help all of us become more faithful followers of Jesus Christ.
Yours in Christ,
Dr. B. Wayne Splawn, Jr.