Benefits

The benefits of giving are seen by Christians every day.  But biblical truths are not just beneficial for the believer.   “Do not kill” is a biblical truth. You do not even have to know who God is for this truth to be meaningful in your life. God’s truth benefits believers and non-believers alike every day.  So His truth about giving are for the believer and non-believer.

As this blog is written for the purpose of Transformational Fund-raising and Transformational Giving here is an article passed on to me by one of our missionaries.  Why Fund-Raising Is Fun.

In this article the author mentions the benefits of being a charitable person.  So since being charitable is beneficial, then helping people be charitable is fun, because you know you are being a benefit to them if you help them become charitable.   

Here is a quote from Mr. Brooks  that caught me.  

 I have found that the real magic of fund-raising goes even deeper than temporary happiness or extra income. It creates meaning. Donors possess two disconnected commodities: material wealth and sincere convictions. Alone, these commodities are difficult to combine. But fund-raisers facilitate an alchemy of virtue: They empower those with financial resources to convert the dross of their money into the gold of a better society.

 Of course, not everyone shares the principles that motivate my institution’s scholars and supporters. But with millions of 501(c)(3)s and houses of worship nationwide, no one needs to wait on the sidelines and hope that politicians will marshal government power in service of their priorities. By investing their own time, talent and treasure, every American can bring his or her core principles to life. That can mean promoting literacy, conserving nature, saving souls or something else entirely. None of this is exactly revolutionary; after all, Jesus himself taught his followers, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

 What struck me is the reality that when our convictions are based on God’s Word, then combining His truth with the resources, or wealth, He has given to us, puts the donor on the front line of seeing God’s truth change the world.  By giving you can get off the sidelines.

Now that is beneficial.  

Who Moved My Culture?

We know culture is a moving target.  Some shifts we see, others are not so noticeable.  One shift that has happened subtly is a result of the manufacturing shift of the U.S.  To get my thought across you have to endure a small history lesson.  (I love history, but for those who do not….sorry.)

Since the industrial revolution until recently, the U.S. was primarily a manufacturing nation.  Factories and assembly lines ran the country and our culture. We were a nation of manufacturers.  One of the many impacts of this environment was a culture dominated by left-brain work habits.  The work was logical, sequential and it looked at the parts more than the whole. Assembly lines tend to be just that, lines.  Work was linear and that impacted our thinking.  During the peak of the industrial revolution the linear way of thinking shaped western culture. 

Many corporations and organizations in turn created structures very ‘left-brain’ oriented.  Even the U.S. church set itself up this way.  Sunday school curriculum, board meetings and etc. were mainly set up the same way.  Funding was even all done by and large the same way.  In order for these systems to work well they needed to be interchangeable, so similarity in function was key.  US automakers perfected this. Once something succeeded we mass produced it.  The US church even tried this by attempting to mass produce church growth strategies.

Then things changed.  In the past several years we have seen the shift from the US being a manufacturing country to a service based country.  We sell and fix items manufactured in other regions. This shift has subtly changed the work environment from the sequential and linear focus on parts to a more synthesizing and cyclical view of the whole. In other words, we have experienced a shift from a left-brain culture to what is becoming a right-brain culture. One is not better than the other, but they are different.  We need to see the difference and not be naïve to the impact it has.

Transformational Giving has principles based in age old truths that transcend culture.  However, the strategies of implantation may vary based on culture. So what about TG can be maximized in the upcoming right-brain culture? 

• TG emphasizes the role of the champion over the role of the organization.  This links well with synthesized thinking versus sequential thinking.

• TG emphasizes the role of the champion as a part of the whole.  This links well with the right-brain desire to be holistic and not simply think that when my part is done the project is finished for me.

• TG emphasizes the role of the champion to influence others for the cause.  This links well with cyclical thinking as opposed to linear thinking.

• TG emphasizes the responsibility of the champion to use their gifts.  This links well in the move from assembly line and cookie cutter thinking to being creative and using personal giftedness for the cause.

There are several more ways TG can be maximized in this cultural shift.  What are some you can think of? Are some of our communication and fund-raising styles no longer suited to the current culture?

Giving is for the Birds?

If ravens can feed the prophet, ( 1 Kings 17), and Jesus can makes the rocks sing His praises (Luke 19), is it possible we do not think of ourselves in proper perspective as to what we offer God?  After we give our offerings we feel good because we helped a need.  Truth is God could send birds to do it.  After we leave church and we have sung our hearts out we feel good about ourselves, when in fact rocks could have done it. (Please keep reading, this is not going to be as cynical as it sounds.)

Don’t get me wrong, God blesses the giver and the worshipper, but perhaps not for the reasons we think.  Many think we are blessed because of what WE did.  But God says our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64).  So our blessing is not because of who we are or what we do.  Our blessing is because of who He is and what He does.

The blessing is a result of participating with God in His work and becoming like Christ through His grace.  So the blessing is not based on the action but the heart.  Many at church sing God’s praises with a heart like a rock.  Others give to the needy with a heart no more bent toward God than the ravens.

The blessing is a result of pursuing God, not the pursuit of the blessing.  So when we pursue God “all these things shall be added unto you.”  I had a New Testament professor in college who was famous for repeating his favorite phrase to every class.  He always taught us to “reach for the Hand not the gift in the Hand.”

TG is not about what I am up to and not about what the charity or organization is up to.  It is about what God is up to.  In Eric Foley’s blog he makes a refreshing observation about what God’s focus is.  Even the title of the entry from May 13 speaks loudly.  The title is What Troubles God is not What We Do but ourAstonishing Lack of Interest in What He Does. Eric has this helpful insight at the start of this post:

Our contemporary spiritual myopia is most clearly revealed in our obsessive and endless debates about whether God is more focused on our actions or our beliefs.

Answer: Neither. Instead, God focuses on whether we are focused on ourselves or on him. He delights in those who are focused on him…

 

Giving, serving, living, are all to be focused on Him.  This fact from God’s word is so freeing.  I do not have to ask myself if I can afford to give, or if I should serve.  I simply have to ask God what He is up to and then dive in head first.

If God is giving through the birds, then I would rather get in line with the birds than be in a line where God is not.