Make it Transformational: A Blog for Champion Discipleship

Greetings! For my next several posts I've asked various ministry leaders to blog about their experience connected with the Mission Increase Foundation (MIF). I talk about MIF all the time so I thought you might be interested to hear the perspective of others. One note... It is important that you understand that these posts are not about the specific work of MIF, but are about the specific work of God through MIF. Big difference in my mind because it's always about Him! We're just glad to be along for the ride!

This post is from Gordon West, President of Kidz-At-Heart, International. Take it away, Gordon...!

KidZ At Heart International began in 2003 as an independent missions agency. Like others who have posted their stories on MIF’s blog, my wife and I were faced with the sudden, life-changing transition from being employees with a “secure” paycheck to CEO’s living life as faith-based missionaries, counting on God and the gifts of generous givers to pay the bills!

In our case, we had been associates on several pastoral staffs over two decades. As a children’s pastor, I was well aware of budgets, missions offerings, various non-profits the church supported, and the necessity of the offering being “good” this week, but I never had to deal with what made all of that work.

Until now.

Our unique mission, equipping people to reach and teach kids for Christ within their own culture, provided few role models as we formed the organization. In many ways, we felt we had to discover every facet on our own, but none so much as in the area of fundraising. Even as our board and staff grew in numbers, we discovered that our team was “shooting in the dark” when it came to funding the vision. We attended conferences, tried a variety of approaches, even spent some much-needed dollars on a consultant, but it was as though we were twisting in the wind expending time and resources on this idea but with few tangible results.

Then I heard about a group in Southern California that offered free training in effective fundraising methods. Just as I decided to commit one day each month to commute from Phoenix, I got an invitation from Jonathan Roe to join the newly established MIF group in Phoenix. We rejoiced and recognized this as a much-needed gift from God. (Later, we even discovered that the majority of our staff members in our virtual office live in three of the eight Mission Increase cities! We get to (virtually) attend training as a team!)

After attending MIF workshops for the past several years, we now have a confidence (most of the time!) about fundraising and, therefore, our future. Members of both our board and staff have grown significantly in their belief about our organization’s ability to secure the funds required. Most have increased both their personal giving habits and their direct involvement in the fundraising process.

Perhaps the two biggest discoveries for us in the past few years have been these. First, God has provided clear principles that guide us in fundraising. In fact, biblical fundraising is truly not much different than the principles of evangelism and discipleship that our team of pastors already understood and applied to just about every other area of ministry! This philosophy fits our team.

Second, fundraising is much more fun and creative than the “one-size-fits-all” plan we had been searching for! Of course, we still have miles to go in applying and mastering principles we’ve learned at workshops shared months ago, but we’ve gained more freedom to be “us” even as we’ve seen God bless the ministry while we’re in the learning process:

• We’ve gained tools for reconnecting with lapsed donors and a few have returned!
• We’ve held two benefit desserts and seen many new faces who now share the cause!
• We’ve seen generous givers become major donors, and major donors give even more!
• In this time of economic downturn in the past few years, our staff team has more than tripled and we’ve been able to double our ministry budget. (New leaders have joined the KidZ cause as faith-based staffers, because they know we have tools and skills to assist them as they raise their own financial support.)
• And so much more!

Thank you, God, for Mission Increase and for all you have done in our midst! What we have learned and experienced over the past few years has proven Hudson Taylor right when he said: “God’s work, done God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.”

I was reading a recent blog by Al Mohler called “Why Conservative Churches Are Growing: David Brooks and the Limits of Sociology.”  It’s a fascinating look at what differentiates a growing church from a declining one and a stronger faith from from a weaker one.  

A particularly interesting reference is a book by Dean M. Kelley called “Why Conservative Churches are Growing: A Study in Sociology of Religion.” Kelley found that churches that were growing most were the ones who made serious demands on their members in terms of both belief and behavior.  This is contrary to how churches thought (and many still think!) about how to “succeed.”  

Churches sought to be viewed in a positive light, maintain “a good image in the world,” and draw people in. They believed they needed to “be reasonable, rational, courteous, responsible, restrained, and receptive to the outside criticism.”   What Kelley found though, was that this strategy is “a recipe for the failure of the religious enterprise, and arises from a mistaken view of what success in religion is and how it should be fostered and measured.”

Another more recent look at this phenomena was by David Brooks who said that rigorous theology “provides believers with a map of reality,” “allows believers to examine the world intellectually as well as emotionally,” “helps people avoid mindless conformity,“ and “delves into mysteries in ways that are beyond most of us.”

All this runs contrary to how we think, which is: if we make things easier and more flexible more people will be jump on board; if we make things harder and more stringent people will be less likely to participate and engage.

Here’s our wake-up call - this is not so!

Why does this matter?  Because we need to ask ourselves, how are WE, ministries and extensions of the church, interacting with people to transform them by and through their involvement in our cause?

Are we afraid to make rigorous demands on those who join up, be it through giving or volunteering, because we think they’ll turn away as fast as they came?  Do we fear we’ll turn people off, or offend, or be seen as intrusive if we suggest a mutual commitment to learning, experiencing and knowing the cause at a level that can’t help but change our heart, mind and soul? 

Truth is, you WILL scare some people off by doing these things, but those are people who don’t like to stick around long anyway!  As an arm of the church, it isn’t about just getting the gift, or that one-time volunteer when you’re in a pickle, it’s about calling Christians to put away their old self and put on their new man; calling our champions to look outward, putting the interests of others first.  It’s about training Christians to ultimately own a cause that is central to God’s purposes as outlined in scripture.

This kind of spiritual maturity and growth of the body doesn’t come without a struggle!  But, oh is it worth it!  If we really start to think about how to develop hard-core champions who will fight for the cause, own the cause, and grow in their faith walk through the cause, then we will stop fearing that we are a “burden” to our champions and approach the rigors of learning and transformation in a way that, well, actually transforms someone. 

Have you ever felt that what you were doing just wasn’t enough to make an impact on a cause? You did your best, but  still felt guilty that you didn’t do more.

As a ministry leader, have you made others feel like their involvement (giving, volunteering etc.) with your cause wasn’t enough? Or worse, did you twist and apply pressure-guilting them to do something that God wasn’t asking them to do?

Do you and I really know if an individual has done all they can do? Or more importnatly…all that God wants them to do?

In her book titled “She Did What She Could”  Elisa Morgan provides her readers with a chance to get refocused on what is actually important in giving.

Elisa reminds us that our focus should not be on what we (or our champions) aren’t able to do, or what they didn’t do, but that we ought to appreciate and invest our lives and energy in what we can do.

This falls right in line with what we at MIF taught last month in our TG Ask workshops where we re-defined the nature of a major gift. A major gift is not about the size of the gift or the number of hours volunteered, but about what it cost the giver. Was the gift a significant sacrifice for them? Was it what God asked them to give or do?

If one’s giving (time, talent, treasure) was what God was asking of them, then we should appreciate (and celebrate) that they are listening to God’s voice.

In the latter part of Elisa’s book she asks the question (it’s one we should ask all our champions as well), “What if I did what I could and you did what you could and then we did what we could – all of us?”

Her point being that if each of us did what God enabled us to do, then our needs would be met and our giving would be joyful and not laced with the guilt that so easily creeps in.

My challenge to you today as you coach your champions is that you would focus on what they have done and rejoice over the impact God has permitted you to have together on the cause He called you to.

This was a question asked to me, not once, but several times this last month when I was teaching the “Transformational Ask” workshop. The thinking is, as long as donations are going to kingdom purposes, then does it really matter where the money comes from?

Let’s get more detailed....Is it okay if a donation comes from stolen money?  Or from prostitution?  Or from gambling?  EVEN IF, it will be used for good??  

The Bible is clear that God is not pleased with offerings that come from any impure source.  Consider His words in Jeremiah 7 where the people brought sacrifices as offerings to God only to be rejected because He considered them meaningless and hypocritical.  The people were giving out of purely selfish motives (thinking they could buy God’s protection) and not wanting to turn from their sinful ways.  But, God wanted loyalty not their empty ritual.  Let me ask, would you want to receive a gift that God would have nothing to do with?

What if a donation came from an impure source, but the giver is repenting of that sin?  For example, a prostitute who has repented and wants to give away money she made through that?  Scripture teaches us to welcome the sinner and their offering in these instances.  Consider Zacchaeus (you remember him, right?  "Zacchaeus was a wee little man, And a wee little man was he...") He voluntarily gave up half of what he owned and would repay fourfold all he had wronged.  This was a powerful public declaration of his faith in Christ!  We should count it a blessing if we have the opportunity to be part of someone's faith walk in this way.

One more question we should address...what if we are unsure of the source of the money and only suspect it could be from a dubious source?  I had someone tell me “it’s just better not to ask!” and someone else say “it’s their business, not mine.”  Really?  Consider the book of James and the repetitive exhortation to do good.  Then read James 4:17 -- “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”  Spiritual maturity is to do good when faced with the decision to do otherwise -- to trust in God no matter what situation you find yourself in (e.g. below budget!)  Should we not care about sin that our brother or sister is caught in?  (Consider Matt 18:15-17, Luk 17:3 and Gal 6:1).  Of course we should, and it is for God’s glory, and the benefit of the church, to be extraordinarily prudent in the areas of giving and receiving.

Here's the bottom line...as Christians, if we have God’s interests in mind, as well as the champions who are called to be involved in our cause, then these become moot questions.  Consider how Paul describes the Christian life in Romans 15 -- that we should not seek to please ourselves, but be concerned with the spiritual welfare of others.  We do this for their good and to build them up.  And, we learn this from our Lord Savior, Jesus Christ.

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom 15:5-6)

P.S. For another good discussion on this topic, albeit not spiritual, check out Micheal Seltzer’s blog called “Dirty Money.” 

In my last blog post I told you I would share some questions on how to learn more about where your champions are in relation to the cause so that you can be intentional in how you train and challenge them in the cause.

The goal in learning about where people are in the cause is to identify where they are in terms of PEO (Participation, Engagement, or Ownership).  If you need a refresher on PEO, check out Eric Foley’s post where he defines these terms.  Once you identify this (if they’re at P, E, or O) you can begin to develop a plan with them on steps they can take to grow in the cause in such a way that 1) grows and challenges them spiritually, and 2) effectually leads to greater impact in the cause.

Before you read the questions below, keep in mind these are not intended to be asked in one sitting (although I suppose that could happen!)  As opportunities arise (making a thank you call, following up after an event or volunteer activity, meeting for coffee, etc.)  you can include one or two of these in your conversation and see where they lead.  Most importantly in this entire process is to make sure you keep track of the answers and spend time thinking about how this new information can help you best grow and challenge this champion through the cause.

Now, here are some great open-ended questions to begin the learning process:

• What is it about this cause that drew you in?
• When was your first interaction with this cause and how did it come about?
• Is there a person in your life, or someone you heard/read about that influenced you to get involved?
• What about this cause specifically interests you?  Why?
• What about this cause scares the pants off of you?  Why?
• What is your past experience (or training) in this cause? 
• How can I help you build on that?
• How have you seen God moving through your life and other people’s lives through this cause?

There’s a start...now what questions would you add to this list?

Suzanne