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It’s here again.
Maybe you’re the type who filed in February and have forgotten about today, or maybe you’re the type who didn’t remember to start until this week. Either way, tax day is here once more.
Now, tax day probably isn’t on our students’ radars. We could easily skim past this week without mentioning it at all, and most of us probably do. But when we avoid talking about taxes — and money issues in general — in ministry, we may actually be doing kids a disservice.
Our College Transition research is turning up lots of fascinating insights, but one in particular relates to the absence of faith integration when it comes to money. It seems that while we are doing a pretty good job of helping students see the importance of integrating faith into certain areas of life (like their dating relationships), in other areas the connection is missing. Money is one of those areas. Graduating seniors leave our youth ministries without a clear sense of what money has to do with faith. Far from affirming “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1), students don’t really see how the ways I use “my money” matter — for me and for the Kingdom.
It’s no secret that money is a HUGE issue for college students, who rack up an average of over $3,100 in credit card debt (not to mention student loans) and face harsh wake-up calls a few years (or months!) into college. And then there are the anxious hours for working students the first time they face April 15th…
So we’re big proponents of talking about tax day in youth ministry. Well, maybe not tax day necessarily, but issues of financial stewardship. The Bible has quite a bit to say about money and the stewardship of resources, particularly when it comes to caring for the poor and seeking justice. When we leave those passages to the realm of adult Bible study groups, we rob students of opportunities to consider what difference our faith makes in how we view, save, give, and spend our (God’s) money.
I’d love to hear how others are teaching financial stewardship and faith integration in youth ministry. What’s your approach?
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April 15th, 2009 at 10:40 am
We just spent our youth teaching time in March talking about money. We focused on practical skills like budgeting, tracking your spending, using credit wisely, etc. while teaching a good theology of stewardship. One week we played monopoly, but instead of using the paper money we used balance sheets like a check book. During the game we also gave them a savings account which earned interest every trip around the board and a credit card that charged interest if they had a balance after passing go. The game was slower than normal, but a lot of fun, and they saw the danger of getting behind on their credit card payments.
April 15th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Awesome idea, Matt! Thanks for sharing.