Transformational LIVING

As I travel and teach Transformational Giving, either in the US or internationally, I continue to see the common theme in this teaching that rings true for every believer.  That theme is based on the activity that comes in living for Jesus when He has transformed the heart. When Christ has transformed the heart, the believer gets active.  This activity comes in a variety of ways based on the touch of the Spirit in the believer’s heart, but none the less, activity happens.

This is why Transformational Giving is about so much more than dollars.  Giving the dollars is a small part of living a life that reflects the transformational work done by Jesus in the heart of a person.  What God gives is the power to live a transformed life that becomes active for His Kingdom.  Giving of dollars is critical to God’s work, but it is only part of the story.

I recently read something in Andy Stanley’s’ new book Deep & Wide that helps clarify that ‘doing something’ is key to our spiritual walk.  He says,

“Jesus taught for a response. He taught for a life change.”

Life change…is this not another way to say Jesus taught for us to be TRANSFORMED.

Stanley goes on to say,

“He (Jesus) didn’t come to simply dispense information….Jesus was after active, living, do-the-right-thing faith.”

Jesus was after change in living not just change in thinking.  Jesus renews our mind, but if the renewing of the mind does not change the actions of the follower, has the mind really been renewed?

You can learn that God is a giving God.  You can learn that to give reflects Jesus.  But if you never become a giver yourself, how has this knowledge you’ve gained changed your heart?

I am not a fund-raiser.  But I called to assist others by helping them live transformed lives for Jesus Christ.  And I love seeing people reflect Christ.  Giving is a KEY part of reflecting Christ, so I am more than comfortable with teaching about giving.  This is far different from fund-raising. 

Basic fund-raising is about the dollars.  Too often it is about the dispensing of information and not about seeing change.  Transformational Giving is about the donor not the dollar.  It is about teaching activity, about teaching the “active, living, do-the-right-thing faith.”  So when all is said and done, TG is only a part of teaching others about Transformational Living.  If you want to call this fund-raising, I am fine with that. Because when lives are transformed TG happens, and this is the kind of ‘fund-raising ‘I can get behind.

Transformed Philanthropy

“Russ wanted the Russell Berrie Foundation to make a difference, to make his philanthropy count,” said Angelica Berrie, president of the Russell Berrie Foundation. “Giving is not just about writing a check. It is a relationship between those who have the means to touch people’s lives and the causes that inspire their generosity. In the process, we are transformed by acts of loving-kindness.”

The above quote is from the Russell Berrie Foundation and their focus on transformational giving. Not bad stuff. However, let me challenge this statement by laying the Christian principles of TG on top of this.

I am not saying the quote from Ms. Berrie is wrong; I just want to tweak it. So let's look at it phrase by phrase.

• "Russ wanted the Russell Berrie Foundation to make a difference, to make his philanthropy count,” Good point, no one wants to think their giving was a waste of resources.
  


• “Giving is not just about writing a check.” Amen. More people need to hear this and believe it.
  


• “It is a relationship between those who have the means…” Here is where I would like to ‘beef up’ the thoughts of the RBFoundation’s idea of transformational giving. “It is a relationship”, I love that part. The statement about ‘people with means’ can be taken wrong if we are not careful. We all have means, not just the wealthy. Not the same amount to be sure, but if giving is not just about writing a check then transformation giving is for. Everyone has something to GIVE. (Check out When Helping Hurts to see that everyone has something to give.)
  


• “to touch people’s lives and the causes that inspire their generosity.” As this blog looks at TG we look at the Christina view point of giving being part of following Christ, so this portion of the quote takes a different turn when thinking of giving being part of our stewardship. What if we said, “to touch people’s lives in ways to communicate and inspire their generosity as an act of obedience to the teachings of Christ.” Giving is Christlike, therefore giving changes the giver in that it is a result of the character of Christ breaking into a fallen world. Also by looking at our generosity as an act of obedience it takes the focus off us and puts the focus on what God is saying and doing.
  


• “In the process, we are transformed by acts of loving-kindness.” So true, but as followers of Christ both giving and teaching about giving flow from God changing givers as a result of obedience. Loving-kindness is from God. This is why the act of giving is transformational.

Passion

I have not met many people who say, “I love to raise funds!” However, we all work among people who must raise funds. Fund-raising is often seen as the necessary evil. Many wish we could just skip it and get straight to our ‘call’. But God has not allowed me or most of you to find gold in the backyard, so we fund-raise.
What I love to do is communicate God’s Word. What a thrill to see the Word of God enter the heart and mind of someone and watch God use it to transform them into His character. In fact, when given the chance to share I do it with passion, because God is doing so many great things.

Here is an observation I received from a champion regarding passion and funding.

When I listen to the passion of a ministry presentation my heart is stirred. The presenter communicated so well what God is doing and I was on fire. Then they asked for assistance to help fund it and I was ready to get on board. But as they spoke about money, all the passion left and they became ‘squirrely’ and apologetic. I did not give. I thought to myself that if they cannot be passionate enough about my role in giving and are embarrassed by it, maybe God has another direction for the burden in my heart.

After hearing this I thought to myself, “Am I apologetic when talking about funds?” I shouldn’t be. Why? It is because God has called all of us to give. Giving is like any other spiritual discipline, it needs to be taught and presented with passion. Spiritual disciplines bring us closer to Christ. Giving is not any different.

I do not love fund-raising. I do love to communicate God’s Word. So I don’t fund-raise. I communicate God’s Word. God’s Word commands His followers to be givers. So I communicate the need for this spiritual discipline to be part of the believers walk. I can do this with passion. No ‘squirrely’ or apologetic presentations, but passion about the believer following the commands of Christ.

Commercial

During this Christmas season watch the commercials, (I know I hate commercials too). They appeal to the joy of the giver as much as to the person getting the gift. Obviously they are trying to be sure their product will make you feel as good about buying it as the receiver will feel about opening it. Which goes to prove you cannot escape God’s truth, after all God is the one who said it is better to give than receive.

As Christian agencies and churches many of you reading this are on the ‘asking side’ of the giving season. We all have our special Christmas appeals, and year-end giving strategies. Nothing wrong with all this.

But let’s ask ourselves the question, “Are our strategies working to transform the giver as much as they are designed to transform the recipient?” Do our strategies reflect God’s truth that it is better to give? Are the methods we use helping the donor grow in their relationship to Christ?

God’s Word teaches us to be like Christ. Christ gave. So we can work to build our strategies to reflect Christ-likeness by helping people give. The great thing about transformational giving…it goes beyond the ‘cheesy’ jewelry commercials and really helps the believer deepen their relationship with the GIVER. Let’s work to focus on the donor’s journey as much as Madison Ave focuses on the buyer.