When everyone is talking about a topic, the church should be talking about it, too. But in the case of the massive impending wealth transfer that’s coming, the church isn’t speaking up.
It has to find its voice though, because over the next 20 or 30 years, we are going to see a wealth transfer primarily from Baby Boomers to Millennials and maybe those who are a little younger, of anywhere from $70 to $100 trillion. Those numbers are bigger than any of us could ever understand or comprehend. It’s an insane amount of wealth that's being handed from one generation to another!
And the voice of the church is pretty much silent in speaking to it.
We all know the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:16-30. The three stewards were each given very different amounts to manage. For reference, even one talent was a lot of money. About 6,000 denarii, which was equivalent to 20 years’ wages for the typical worker. So, they all received a significant, though different, sum. However, the expectation that they would manage their wealth wisely was the same. That expectation applies equally to us.
It’s a conversation with three parts:
How do Boomers leaving an inheritance behind handle it?
How does the younger generation on the receiving end handle it?
How can the church be there to help?
Those Giving the Hand-Off
Boomers need help managing their assets toward godly principles and objectives. If someone has invested in a 401K, accumulated wealth in a savings account, built a business or a company, they may have a significant amount of wealth to leave behind. Regardless of the amount, they will leave an inheritance behind that will go somewhere: to their kids, other individuals, an organization, their church, or another entity.
In America, generally speaking, that often automatically means an equal distribution among the children in a will. Period. There’s often no other consideration, especially if there’s been no support or guidance from the church or a Kingdom-minded wealth advisor.
Here's my big, big concern with that: We spend a lot of time talking about annual giving, ongoing tithes and offerings, and contributions to capital campaigns. But the largest gift any of us will ever make in our lives is the one that we make when we die. We’re handing off everything we've accumulated to someone or some organization.
Boomers should make these decisions by thinking about what the One who gave it to them in the first place would expect. God has entrusted us with this 401K, life insurance policy, business, or whatever it may be. We spend a large portion of our lives growing those things. And yet we spend little time wrestling with how the transition of that wealth will take place.
What’s the danger in that? At our very last breath, we might make the worst stewardship decision of our life. For example, what if someone has three children, and none of them are godly or in the church. Maybe none of them are wise in the management of money. We hope that won’t be true of our children, but sometimes it’s the reality. Is it biblically wise to hand off everything we’ve accumulated to those three children equally? What if two are godly and wise and the other one isn’t? It gets complicated.
In order to align with biblical objectives, we want to stand before God and confidently be able to say, “I handed it off to somebody who's probably going to do even better than I did in honoring you with my wealth.” That's the parable of the talents from Matthew 25:16-30 playing out with wealth transfer. It’s not just what we did with our wealth, but it’s also handing it off to someone who will honor God with it the way that you did. That’s the big idea we want to accomplish.
Those On the Receiving End
Millennials, or those who may be even younger, can probably manage their salary and savings just fine, but the wealth transfer coming their way is like a massive cascade of new income and responsibility. Some will get an instant cash injection of maybe four times their normal salary. Some will get 40 times their salary.
They are not prepared for it. Especially if the church hasn’t taught them well about good stewardship. That's where the church has to show up for this generation. It's not just teaching biblical principles. It’s teaching practical principles that line up with biblical principles. The world teaches that we should live, save, then give. We have to turn that upside down, because the Bible teaches us the exact opposite: give first, save second, lifestyle last.
The temptation might be those inheriting large sums to spend at a significant pace, perhaps even on things that are not bad in and of themselves. But they should use wisdom backed by biblical principles to make those decisions.
Ultimately, these younger generations should understand that the wealth transfer they receive is a blessing from God, not a blessing from their parents. It may look like it came from their mom and dad, but if their theology is sound, they know it's coming from God. He is the One ordaining it all.
How Churches Can Help
How does the church raise its hand and say, “We want to help you with this.” How do you get that out there to the people who are wrestling with this and get them to think about this differently than the automatic equal inheritance to all children?
First, as the church is seeking to teach, it ought to be about transformation, not about transaction and getting money from people. The main issue should be to help the people in your flock make godly decisions about transferring what God has provided. Not for the church to get a gift from the estate. If that happens, great. But it is not the main issue.
Secondly, maybe it doesn’t have to be more complicated than just asking the question: How have you factored God into the equation? Talk to people who are in this season of life, trying to figure out what the hand-off looks like. How are they letting God guide the decision making process?
Thirdly, when you ask that question on a somewhat frequent basis, I believe it is compelling enough to cause people to pause and reflect. Many may come to realize they haven’t factored God into the conversation at all. We all need God's guidance and wisdom on this issue so that we can honor Him in our decisions related to our children, the church, and others.
Lastly, the younger generations need the church to step in and meet them where they are to teach about good stewardship, budgeting, saving, giving, and most importantly, that giving is an issue of the heart, not the wallet, and that can change their lives forever.
Boomers and the younger generations need the church's counsel and wise, godly leaders helping them navigate this impending wealth transfer. It’s messy and awkward, but the church needs to be there to help people figure it out.
We want to serve our people well, so that they can say they did the best they could to honor God with their wealth in their own life and as they handed it off to those individuals or organizations who may honor Him even better. We want the Lord to smile and say, “That's what I want you to do with that. It's exactly what I want you to do.”
Conclusion
Boomers, Millennials, and church leaders can’t cross their fingers and hope this wealth transfer will just magically work out. We can’t go into it without a plan. We are talking about trillions of dollars that will be transferred. We need good teaching on stewardship and growing in our faith, because it’s a journey for each of us.
We want our people to stand before God and say: “I gave it my best. I gave it my very, very best to honor you, to worship you, and to show reverence to your name with everything you put in my hand to manage during the time I had and after I’m gone.” And then, to hear from our Lord, “Well done.”
The result will be that at our very last breath, the biggest stewardship decision we ever made will be our best one.
The Year End is coming. Learn how to do that well in one of the upcoming webinars with Jim.
Webinar Dates:
Monday, Sept. 23 @ 12 pm ET - Crafting a Clear Theology of Giving
Wednesday, Sept. 25 @ 12 pm ET - Sharing Your Personal Giving Journey
Friday, Sept. 27 @ 12 pm ET - Creating Compelling Giving Moments
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