Make it Transformational: A Blog for Champion Discipleship

A man standing at a metro station in Washington, DC and started to play the violin on a cold January morning.  He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.  During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing.  He slowed his pace, stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to stay on schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip as a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.

A few minutes later, a gentleman leaned against the wall to listen to him but then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

A three year-old boy stopped to look at the violinist and would have stayed longer to listen had it not been for his mother who hurried him along; the boy walked away, looking over his shoulder the whole time, continuing to gaze at the musician.  This action was repeated by several other children.  All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only six people stopped and stayed for a while.  About 20 gave him money, as they continued to walk their normal pace.  In total, he collected $32.  When he finished playing, silence took over and no one applauded.

No one knew but the violinist that cold January morning was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in all the world.  He had just played some of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin that was hand-crafted in 1713 and worth $3.5 million dollars.  Two days before he played in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and the priorities of people.  The take-aways by The Post were:

• In a commonplace environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

• Do we stop to appreciate it?

• Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

OK, non-profit leaders, here are my take-aways and the challenge the Lord spoke to me…

• The violinist in the story represents God in all His beauty and splendor doing amazing things around us.

• The 1,100 people who walked by the violinist represent us as ministry leaders.

• The subway station represents our place of ministry.

Question:  Are we so busy doing the ministry that God has called us to do that we’ve actually stopped listening to Him, noticing Him, appreciating Him, and drawing inspiration from Him?

If so, it’s time to stop and listen to the music.

(Above story found all over the internet as reported in the Washington Post in April 2007.  To see a video of Bell playing in the metro station, click Here!)

I think one of the most challenging ideas for ministry leaders to wrap their mind around is that the job of fundraising can be (and should be!) an enjoyable part of our ministry work. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it! Fundraising enjoyable?? 

Instead most people think of it as tedious and that it feels much too self-serving to be enjoyable. What do you think?

There is no quick fix for changing your mindset if you’re in the camp that would rather distance yourself from the task of fundraising, but let me suggest a place to start…

Remind yourself daily: IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!

I like how Jack Welch, CEO of GE, talks about leadership in his book Winning. He says leadership is not about you; it’s about the people who work for you. 

He goes on to say, “The day you become a leader, it becomes about them…Your job is to walk around with a can of water in one hand and a can of fertilizer in the other hand. Think of your team as seeds and try to build a garden. It’s about building these people.”

This is great advice for how leaders ought to relate to their staff, but consider how this applies to our relations with believers who come alongside us giving to and serving in the cause.

Might the work of fundraising be one additional way we can pour into people, helping them grow to full maturity in Christ?  Practitioners of Transformational Giving would say so.

Consider Paul and his devotion to those he was in fellowship with. He poured into believers so that they would grow in their faith and be presented “fully mature in Christ.” Maturity sounds good, but what does that entail and does giving fit anywhere in here?

Take a look at Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. He tells them, “But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” We can gather from this that things such as faith, teaching, witnessing, studying the Bible, and concern for others are all crucial in the life of a mature Christian, but NONE are a substitute for the grace of giving.

Does Paul encourage giving because he has a goal to meet for his Jerusalem fund? Is it because he is short on funds? No. In his letter to the Philippians, we get a glimpse of why Paul sees such value in encouraging people to give. He says, “Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account.”

Giving is a good and important discipline for the believer, and is reflective of Christian maturity. Asking people to give is a good and important discipleship activity. When you fail to recognize either of these things, you will always look at asking as a selfish activity – a task to help you and your ministry and never the giver, and you’ll continue to hate it. 

And so I say, remind yourself daily: IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU! 

Don’t you feel good when people are attracted to your cause?

From the world’s perspective, when people have an attraction to your cause then you are said to be doing good!

Doesn’t it feel good to be good? But is feeling good (measuring success the way the world views it) the measure we should live by? Good equals success?

Jim Collins writes in his book “Good to Great,” that we shouldn’t settle for good, but that we should strive to be great.

My pastor put it this way last Sunday, “We should always choose BEST over GOOD.” He stated that, “good is the real enemy of best.”

In sports being good is nice, but only those who are great make it to the highest level their sport might provide. I’d like to remind you today that reaching greanesst is nothing you really can do on your own anyway. You simply don’t have the ability within yourself to do it.

Striving for man’s applause, and interest in your cause, is setting the measurement of success far too low. This measuring tool only reaches to the level for that which is good.

However, when we look to please God himself then we can achieve greatness. It isn’t that our organization does everything perfect, but that our attempt to please God in all areas does.

Wayne Cordeiro in his newest book, The Irresistible Church, states, “An irresistible church is not a perfect church. Rather it is one that is constantly aligning itself to pleasing God. It is a people who position their hearts carefully and deliberately with the tenets of the kingdom so that God is pleased to work in unrestricted ways. God is irresistibly drawn to a church where every activity, every plan, and every leadership decision clearly displays His heart.”

So my challenge today is to ask you, “Where is your focus and who are seeking to please?”

When you can answer this correctly, and walk out its path, then God the Father will be pleased and you will become great!

When we, at MIF, read a testimony like this from Kelli Gotthardt, West Regional Director of Apartment Life Ministries in Phoenix, we say, to God be the glory! 

"When I accepted my current role as West Regional Director of Apartment Life, I was told that it would include a 'little' fundraising.  My training consisted of these instructions:  'Get as much money as possible from the fewest people possible so you can spend your time on real ministry responsibilities.'   Believe it or not, that did not prove to be a workable strategy for me and I quickly found myself wanting to clean myself off (so to speak) after these so-called donor meetings!

"I then discovered the Mission Increase Foundation, signed up to attend a training event, and did not anticipate what happened next:  I was hooked immediately.  The foundational concepts MIF teaches immediately resonated with my spiritual journey and core values and I soaked it up.  In the months that followed, and in an effort to integrate the concepts into practice, I began meeting with Jonathan for coaching and, eventually, Jonathan helped Apartment Life secure a grant.  That was when everything truly changed.  I can honestly say that the biblical fundraising principles, combined with the personal coaching and the work I had to put in to match MIF’s grant funds, changed my life spiritually, emotionally and financially. 

"First, financially.  I read Henri Nouwen's book, The Spirituality of Fundraising, and had to take a good, hard look at how I personally viewed money and fundraising.  The topic of money evokes high emotion and is the cause of much conflict in marriage and ministry.  Truth be told, I had a lot of personal shame around the topic.  I began to apply the principles I learned from Nouwen’s book and from MIF’s teachings to my own financial practices and I am now a much better steward of my own money, as well as of Apartment Life’s budget.

"I was also impacted emotionally.  Soon after being awarded the grant from MIF, I was told by Apartment Life that I would lose my job as West Regional Director if I didn't get the matching funds raised by the end of the year.  This was a challenging and difficult time for me but I got to work; I worked to match the grant funds and, through the process, learned a great deal about myself personally and professionally.  This was a time of growth for me.  Had I not had grant funds, I would have given up immediately, but God instead took me on a journey of facing my fears and stepping out in faith.   Having grant money on the table made it impossible for me to quit trying.   I found great freedom in inviting people to participate in such a high impact donation.

"I have also been impacted spiritually.  God has used donor “discipleship” and fundraising to grow my relationship with Him beyond imagination.  Initially, I thought I just needed to pray more but, as I was coached by Jonathan, I realized I had to actually step out in faith and be an instrument of transformation to those whom God led my way.  As a result, I have developed a stronger faith, a deeper dependence on God, and more courage to obey Him.  All through fundraising! 

"Please know that this note doesn't do justice to my journey, but I hope it gives you a sense of my transformation.  Jonathan and MIF, thanks for investing in Christian fundraising – it’s making a tremendous difference for the Kingdom!"

Are you comfortable with this title - "Let Your Clients (Customers, Consumers Constituents) Tell Your Story" - from a guest post on Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog?

Author Jubi Headley's post opens as follows:

"Whether you call them clients, customers, consumers, or something entirely different, your organization will benefit if you, dear organizational leader/employee/volunteer, get out of your own way (as Mama loves to say) and let the constituency you serve tell your story for you."

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