Lack of Vision Reflected in (Lost) Giving

And yet I am reminded that as large as those gifts are, in God’s eyes, there are likely even larger gifts given by some in the church that are at the lowest end of the economic spectrum.

God doesn’t measure the gift by the dollar sign or the number of zeroes that follow it. God measures the gift by what it means to the giver. (Read Luke 21:1-4)

An important story emerged from one of the gifts given above. It is being given by a family that is NOT a member of the local church where the initiative is launching. The family is a friend of the church and has been very generous over the years as the church was planted, maintaining an ongoing relationship ever since.

The pastor has kept in contact, providing updates, sharing vision, talking about upcoming plans and initiatives. In this current season, the family has offered yet another extravagant gift. The pastor has gone back several times to check and double-check the giver’s intent, thanking them with amazement at their generosity.

But here is the key take-away. At one point the pastor asked, “But what about your own church? Are you sure you are supposed to be giving this gift to us?” To which the giver replied (paraphrased), “I’m sure – my church doesn’t need this money.”

Ouch. That’s a (lack of) vision issue. The giver doesn’t see a vision large enough at his or her own church that commands their best gift.

Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence. In my work coaching pastors through one-on-one conversations with high capacity givers, it is not uncommon for people of affluence to be giving to a number of charitable organizations.

Hopefully (and Biblically I believe) they are giving the first 10% to their local church, but beyond the tithe, they will tend to spread their giving around.

There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, the church that truly has adopted a culture of generosity as a core part of their DNA would rightfully celebrate the giver’s giving outside of the church (beyond their tithe, of course).

So what captures the giver’s heart in such a way that they want to continue giving to their own church, well beyond the tithe? Vision – a vision that is so large and inspiring that it demands action. A vision that is worthy of investment. It is that “golden tomorrow”  we dream about together, that will only come to reality through the radical generosity of those who call the church their home.

Affluent people often tell us that they don’t give their full tithe to their local church because either “they don’t need it” or “they wouldn’t know how to manage it.” Is that true of your church? Some questions to consider:

• Is the vision of your ministry large enough that a person of affluence whom God has put in your church would be captured by the passion of that vision and driven to want to partner with you and God to make it happen?

• Are you regularly casting vision and reinforcing it from the platform during weekend services?

• Are you meeting regularly with key influencers in your church, sharing your vision of ministry, addressing their questions and keeping them informed of next steps?

• If your church unexpectedly received a gift that represented 50-100% of your total annual budget, do your people know what you would do with it? Do you?