Thursday, April 21, 2011

Chicken or the Egg

Oh the classic duel of which came first.

The other day I was reading a post by my ‘teacher’ and good friend Eric Foley, about a huge gift for the homeless in Florida. You can check this out on his blog.

The article addresses a huge offering. (Sounds like they hit the lottery. Don’t get me started on ‘lottery giving’ I’ll save that for another time.) In Eric’s post he focuses on training before giving. Not training in how to give but training in how to serve.

This made me think… which comes first, serving or giving? The answer…both.

As a pastor and now a mission director I have seen a growing common denominator in giving. We give to causes we have experienced. Yes there are many who give first, and then want to service the project they have contributed toward. But ‘the going first and giving second’ group is growing, so this is why the answer is both.

The Billy Graham Crusade rolled to town while I pastored. The congregation I served got behind this crusade in a big way. It changed our church. The giving toward outreach also changed greatly after we got involved in outreach.

We see this in the mission community as well. Short-term missions have increased the number of givers to missions. Many, who never regularly gave to missions, have come home from short-term missions and become regular givers.

Giving then is an extension of their service. When giving is seen holistically and not just a part of the Christian walk, but rather a principle of life, then giving gets bigger than dollars and it transforms. Offering training in ways to serve needs to include training in giving, while stewardship seminars need to include service training. If we keep them linked then the Body is healthier.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Don't work for just tips

Money is not the end all gauge to successful Transformational Giving but it is a big part of it. After all ‘Giving’ is in the title so finances must be a portion of the measurement for success.

In the magazine Outcomes David Willis discusses what he calls a Vision for Generosity. In this issue he distinguishes between what he calls ‘tipping’ and giving. Tipping happens when we simply exchange information. So tipping is the equivalent of an offering for you after a service. Then you leave the church and that is all you ever hear from the church and their members. The offering sometimes is just a ‘tip’ for coming. The tip is based on your ‘service’. (Pun intended). Good service good tip, bad service bad tip. Tough way to fund a ministry uh?

Giving is more than tipping. Giving happens when participation and engagement occur. Giving goes far beyond the dollar. The dollar is part of it but it goes further. It is action based not spectator based. It is relational. We are developing people not accounts. Your account is a portion of the fruit but not all. (ie. Transformational Giving) Remember, works produce fruit, not fruits produce work.

I would encourage all of you to read the Fall 2010 issue of Outcomes magazine. It is all over Transformational Giving.

Monday, April 11, 2011

God Has Enough

In today’s world of budget cuts, high gas prices, national debt, etc, etc, etc. Each of us knows that our resources are limited. We know the principles of not spending more than we make. We see the dangers of deficits whether in our nation, church or agency. These dangers and these principles are real but if we are not careful they can also trump our faith.

Many mission agencies, churches, and individuals have a pie chart for budget talks. Each department or ministry hopes they get their ‘share’ of the pie. But the truth of the matter is, God does not have pie charts.

The widow of Zarephath had a budget. It was empty. She was on her last scoop of flour and when it is gone she was done. So her resources were all used up and there would be no more. Then God got involved and the flour never ran out.

God does not have pie charts but he does have bread slices. And from what I see He never runs out. Whether the widow at Zarephath or the boy who gave Christ his lunch. Both had what they needed and no one was left out.

If giving is to transform, then faith must trump budgets. I know many churches who ask the congregations for faith promise giving. You know…Pledge to give what you do not see and trust God to meet the pledge. Then the church or agency leadership has a tendency leave the faith promise concept at the door when they approve budgets. Transformational giving does not advocate poor stewardship, but it does promote faith. No reason for faith promise not to make into the board room. After all God does not run out of flour.

So before we can look at practical steps to implement for transformational giving, we must agree that God has enough.

Monday, April 4, 2011

About this blog

A few years ago World Gospel Mission partnered with Eric Foley and his consulting group, Doers of the Word. Through this relationship the Lord opened up the world of TRANSFORMATIONAL GIVING to WGM.

For me as a pastor now working with a mission agency, the teachings of transformational giving resonated as I looked with a fresh vision into scripture to see what God says about money.

Churches and mission agencies are faith based. We all depend on the giving of others to eat. But it is deeper than that. At the end we realize that God is the Giver, not the congregation.

In my journey, the lesson from scripture that has impacted me the most is 1 Kings 17:7-16. This is where God stops feeding Elijah with ravens and now has a widow give him her last meal. What was God thinking? A widow? Why not a king? Or why not leave her alone and let the ravens keep up the good work?

But the widow, whom we do not even have a name for, was changed. Her life was transformed by giving. It didn’t change Elijah, the recipient. After all he had ravens feed him just last week. He still gets to eat. But the widow was changed. Her resources ended and she still ate because God’s resources have no end. In fact God proved what we claim to be true, HE IS AN ABUNDANT GOD.

This blog is a journey as a result from a stopover in Zarephath.