Make it Transformational: A Blog for Champion Discipleship

As we come to the end of the workshop series on Strategic Planning, I was moved by the number of people that talked about the personal application of strategic planning and how the workshop material prompted them to reflect on their personal lack of vision and planning.

Not to be too hard on them, as I can’t say I have a personal vision statement or detailed plan myself. But I was glad to see them make this connection and get excited about developing their own personal or family vision and a specific plan to move them toward that vision.

What is your vision for your family? Have you stopped to ask the Lord to give you His vision for you and your loved ones? Setting the time aside to be in prayer about this and waiting on the Lord is a key factor in discerning where the Lord is wanting to take you. And not just one time, but multiple times over the course of several days or weeks.

Proverbs tells us in 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heat and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." A familiar verse that tells us to seek God for the direction of our lives and he will [direct our path]. Don’t we really want God’s plan for our lives, regardless of what that might look like? I trust that you do.

I can envision a big Christmas tree in a room full of relatives enjoying each other’s company and conversation, laughing together, sharing the gift of Christ and our gifts to each other, and grandkids running around with excitement. And of course a big table full of delicious holiday foods lovingly prepared by all. What I really want at the end of my life is a family who loves the Lord and loves each other.

So, close your eyes and lean back and picture that place where God is calling your family. Might it be running a local ministry, a family business, on the mission field in a foreign land, a family who is excited about being together or . . . ? Allow God to fill in the blank and watch Him work in amazing ways to bring you to that special place.

I paused in my reading this week of D. Michael Henderson’s book, Making Disciples One Conversation at a Time, when I read his words, "I have found that it is possible for someone to preach great sermons, teach a Bible class, or sing beautiful Christian music without abiding in the Vine. However, it is impossible to bear fruit in that condition. A talented orator may preach a great message without having an intimate communion with Christ. However, he or she cannot bear fruit in a one-to-one ministry of helping another person follow Jesus. It’s impossible to make disciples when your soul is running on empty."

It made me wonder how many of the ministry leaders I interact with on a monthly basis are running on empty. How many are expecting to disciple their staff and their champions in Transformational Giving, but really have nothing, or little, of themselves to give as leaders?

Henderson goes on to say, "The best crucible in which to test our relationship with the Vine is one-to-one conversation with a fellow struggler (champion). If we can’t minister to him or her out of the abundance of our own walk with Christ, then it should drive us to our knees to repair the Vine-to-branch connection. Our first priority as branches is not to produce fruit; it is to abide in the Vine."

I received a call this week from a ministry leader who shared her story of frustration, disappointment and hurt with some internal issues between she and her board of directors. She is feeling knocked down and her soul is running on empty. She recognizes her deep need to draw close to Christ and "abide in the Vine" for peace and strength.

Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matt. 12:34). Making disciples is a heart-to-heart enterprise. Singing to an audience or preaching to a crowd is a mouth-to-ear transaction and can be done (although it shouldn’t be) without ministering out of the overflow. But making disciples requires a full heart.

Henderson goes on to say, "The apostle Paul set a high standard for personal ministry: ‘You follow me as I follow Christ’ (I Cor. 11:1, author’s paraphrase). The secret to a more fruitful ministry is not learning slick, packaged presentation techniques (or designing the craftiest appeal letter). The key is following Jesus more closely. We improve our work by improving our walk. As we walk in fellowship with Him, enjoying His presence and obeying His commands, we place ourselves in a position others will want to follow."

If you feel your soul beginning to run a little low, I trust you will reach out to Christ who provides life giving nourishment. Only then will He be able to work through you to be able to produce the fruit that you are seeking in ministry.

Several months ago, I came across a headline in the Chronicle of Philanthropy that caught my eye:  “Parents Play Biggest Role in Encouraging Teenagers To Give, Study Finds.”  As a parent with two pre-teens at home, I was intrigued and jumped into the article:

“Teenagers report that their parents are the biggest influence on whether they give to nonprofit groups -- but many parents are not raising their children in a way that seems to encourage philanthropy and volunteerism, according to a study released today.”

The comprehensive findings of the study cite specific parenting practices, such as talking to kids about charity, explaining why one gives, and explaining the potential impact of giving.  Sounds pretty straightforward, huh?  So I was really quite surprised the other day when my ten year old, Lindsay, and I took a walk in our new neighborhood and stumbled upon what seemed to be an easy giving opportunity.   

As we were exploring a few blocks from our house, we wandered into a garage sale.  I started chatting with Glenn, a 50ish year old gardener selling dozens of potted plants and trees in an attempt to raise money to visit his mom in Tennessee.  Turns out his mom was in the care of hospice.  After two heart attacks, she had stopped eating and decided she’d had enough.    

I poked around for a few minutes, asking questions about the plants, and Lindsay played with his frisky Husky, Umpqua.  Fifteen minutes later, we said goodbye to Glenn with several plants in hand and the mention of a possible return for a potted Redwood.  As we walked home, Lindsay and I talked about Glenn and why he needed money. 

Once home, we told my husband about our adventure and our encounter with Glenn.  I felt convicted to help somehow and Karl immediately encouraged us to act on this conviction.   ‘How much would you two like to give him?’ my husband asked.   I mentioned a figure which seemed appropriate in my mind.  That’s when it got interesting. 

Karl’s reply?  He asked me why I’d picked that amount.  Well, it was generous but ‘safe.’  Then he challenged me to give 5X as much.  I gasped.  What if it’s a scam?, I asked.  What if Glenn thinks I’m crazy?  What if Lindsay thinks I’m crazy? 

When I asked Lindsay for her opinion, she said ‘Well, you were asking him questions.  He didn’t come out and tell you anything about his mom until you asked.’  She picked a figure that was half way between her dad’s and my suggestion.   Ugh.  The learning experience was underway and God, as well as my husband and daughter, were challenging me to make a decision to demonstrate and profess my faith.   

Ten minutes later, we were back at Glenn’s house under the auspices of another purchase.  After a couple minutes of browsing, I asked ‘so how close are you to raising the money you need to visit your mom?’  He looked at me and said, ‘I have faith in God...’ and then his voice broke and he paused and looked down. 

Turns out he was planning to rent a truck to drive to Tennessee, see his mom, and pack up her things upon her passing.  He’d figured out fuel and driving costs, arranged to stay with several friends along the way, had received money from a niece and an offer of a $700 loan from a friend.  The careful planning was what I needed to hear, I guess. 

I told him that I also have faith in God, that I’m a Christian, and that our family has been blessed by God and we regularly looked for ways to bless others by helping them.  I told him we’d like to help him by giving him some money if he would be open to it.  He looked at me and nodded.  I think we both started to cry when I told him we wanted to give him the amount my husband had originally suggested.

What mattered most to me, however, was when Glenn told me that he was ‘coming back to God’ and that the Christian couple caring for his mom had been encouraging him that God would provide the means for him to somehow see his mom again.  ‘They keep telling me that God is in the details,’ Glenn said, as he thanked me.  My hope was that the gift would be another snapshot to Glenn of God’s love and attention to important details. 

As Lindsay and I said goodbye a second time, he asked us to stop by in the future, to say hello.  I’m unsure if we’ll see him again but that’s OK.  Lindsay learned something more about why we give and how it can impact people, even strangers.  And most importantly, I was reminded once again that giving is learned and I – not just my pre-teens - have a lot of learning still to do.   

Do you expect to encounter Jesus today?

The reason I ask, is that during my devotions I have been caught up in reading the last chapter of each book of the Gospels found in the New Testament. In these chapters, there are men and women who walked daily with Jesus only to be shocked after the crucifixion that what He said came true. A few didn’t even recognize Him even when they did encounter him.

For some reason these individuals must have, down deep inside, lowered their expectations. They believed, but when they couldn’t actually touch and feel Him, they reverted back to living life as if everything was dependent upon them. You see, Mary Magdalene and her friends didn’t go to the tomb expecting to see it empty; they went with spices to anoint a body. Their worry was how to remove the stone and their expectation was to have a tangible item present so they could take of it with their own hands. They didn’t go expecting to see it empty and in no way expected they would ever have an angel speak to them.

For quite some time they had heard Jesus speak about what was going to take place, they knew it, but somehow failed to act (or stand) on their faith.

Today as I ponder what I would have done, I would like to think that I would have behaved differently. That I would have trusted the words Jesus spoke and would have expected to find him alive. After all, He never once failed to be true to his word and show His faithfulness to them in every situation.

However, you and I live in a different time and place. We should know better and should react to all situations with faith and great expectation that Jesus will show up as He promised He would. But we don’t and somehow we lower our expectations too.

When we, as Christian ministries, revert back to working with Champions in our traditional transactional fundraising ways we show the world that we have lowered our expectations of who God is and what we have been taught. We have heard, and we know what He can do, but somehow we fail to act (or stand) on our faith.

MIF’s Transformational Giving Principles 1 and 2 remind us about God’s word to us. He is faithful and has an abundant supply for our needs. Yet, when we are in despair, or times get tough, we revert back to doing things our own way. Ways that don’t show God, our Champions, and the world that we believe what Jesus has said to be true.

Again, my question today for you is…Do you expect to encounter Jesus today? I hope you do and that you will know it when it occurs.

This month our workshops are on the topic of Thanking and Receipting. Not only will you learn about how to better acknowledge the gifts you receive, but we will help you to understand how God is providing for you even when you don’t see it through your own eyes.

I was very much inspired by the following (video) testimony from Matt Chandler.  Matt is the lead pastor of a multi-site church in Dallas called The Village.  On Thanksgiving, Matt had a sudden seizure and tests showed a tumor in his brain.  By all accounts, the operation after Thanksgiving was successful, although it will be weeks before the pathology report comes back. 

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