Looking up

An old hymn celebrates that when we turn our eyes upon Jesus the things of this world grow ‘strangely dim’.  I often think of this line in times of trouble.  But reality is: this truth needs to be lived regularly not just in hard times.  Think how life on a daily basis changes for the believer when the day is spent looking up to Christ.

There is a small book on giving called Plastic Donuts.  Jeff Anderson is the author and he tells of the joy he and his toddler had one day when she gave him the plastic donuts from her play kitchen. Watching the joy she had as she looked in his face as she gave him these toys donuts changed his view on giving to God.  One quote from his book says,

“After the plastic donut encounter I had with my daughter, my views on giving changed. I saw more clearly why the joys of giving seem so elusive. It is hard to experience it without looking up to the Father. Often instead of looking up with my gift I was looking down.”

That’s when the word to the old hymn hit me.  Turn my eyes upon Jesus in all I do, and the things of this earth will dim. In other words LOOK UP into the Father’s face.

Teaching TG and living it can help people look up to whom they give, not down to what they give from.  Look up to Christ not down at the check book.

Maybe look at it this way…in finances we always look at the bottom line.  That’s ok we need to see the bottom line (I am a bottom line kind of thinker myself). But to see the bottom you always have to look down, that’s why it is called the bottom.  May God help our giving to be turned upside down and we look up first before we look down at the bottom line. 

You know Jesus already taught us to turn our thinking upside down in the Sermon on the Mount.  Let’s do some upside down thinking in giving as well.  Rather than the bottom line determining our giving, allow God to determine our giving.  Look up first! Instead of a bottom line giver become a topline giver. Turning our eyes to Jesus will dim the things of earth, even the bottom line.  So when you give, look up.

Teach "First Fruits"

I had the privilege of attending a leadership conference this month.  Good stuff.  There were a lot of seminars on fund raising.  I was encouraged to actually hear the word “transformation’ used frequently.  There were many seminars with good principles on TG.  It was great to get affirmation that TG is the right track. Several presenters were helping others to see the TG is not about the agency or the project but about the giver.  So I was encouraged as I learned more.

 

Unfortunately there were also some discouraging seminars as well.  For example one had a lot of TG talk, but no TG action.  The data they encouraged you to gather from the giver was being done in the name of relationship building, but the purpose was to just get more money.  But there are lessons to be learned even in the ‘transactional’ seminar.

 

I learned that the purpose is the key!! I learned that we must walk-the-talk and not just talk-the-talk.  The talk of TG cannot be artificial.  The goal must remain focused on ministry to the giver, and trust in God to give the increase.  This focus helps us not be phony.  This purpose must be revisited daily to keep it genuine.

I also learned the need to keep the focus on the ministry not the money.  Focusing on ministry means I help the giver stay focused on the depth of God’s work, not the depth of their pockets. One presenter mentioned our biggest competition is the rising cost of gas and milk.  I humbly and whole heartedly disagree.  If the focus is on God’s ministry and the champion’s role in ministry, we need not panic when gas prices go up. The Bible teaches that giving comes from our first fruits.  I was discouraged with the talk on disposal income and how the rising cost of living eats away at disposal income which means less money for ministry.  If the ministry of God is based on what is left over, we are all in trouble.  But I believe that the ministry of God is done with the first fruits.  And God honors the champions who give their best.  Since when is God’s work restricted by the price of oil and milk?

 

Since TG is based on the theology of God’s abundance and not a God of scarcity, the champion’s disposable income is not the issue.  Focusing on disposable income reduces giving to a choice between the movies or giving. The champion does not have to decide between giving or going to the movies.  The reason:  when giving is done out of obedience it is an issue of stewardship, giving from our first fruits.  So when all bills are paid and the champion has $10 left in her pocket she is not torn between the movies and the ministry, because the ministry was already  ‘paid’ with the first fruits, not the left overs. Transformational living frees giving from being disposable.