Does experience matter? |
Dec 3, 2009 |
Does experience matter?
You tell me...
Can you learn how to ride a horse by reading books and watching videos? Do you get a passion for cooking by thumbing through recipes? Can you understand the exhilaration of hiking up a 14k mountain when someone tells you about them doing it?
I'm guessing you said no to all of these! So here are few other questions...
Why do we nonprofits think that people will catch the passion we have for the cause we're deeply devoted to by reading our newsletter?
Why do we think that people will get it - they'll see the need - if we show them a video of US "doing" the ministry?
Granted, the Holy Spirit might be tugging at them which gets them to your doorstep, but what's going to help get them all the way through the door?
I was recently reading a paper called Wesley's Prescription for Making Disciples of Jesus Christ: Insights for the 21st Century Church (a must-read by the way) that highlights what I'm talking about here. One of the things John Wesley recognized was that it was important to provide concrete opportunities to develop a Christ-like character. He draws attention to works of mercy being a means of grace for Christians and agrees with most theologians who say works of mercy are primarily duties, "which we undertake because it is what God commands or because it helps others." He goes on though, saying that we need to engage in works of mercy for our sake to enable us to grow mature in our faith and "have the mind of Christ." (see Philippians 2) Mind you, this has nothing to do with our salvation and everything to do with our sanctification.
Wesley would say it's not enough to send in a check when we receive a report of needy people, but instead "authentic compassion can only take form through open encounter with those in need."
Interestingly, this ties right into one of the Transformational Giving (TG) principles. Principle four states: "Champions connect with organizations for the purpose of enhancing their mutual impact on the cause, not primarily for the purpose of funding organizations to impact the cause on their own."
People want to connect directly with causes, but we haven't opened the doors to allow this to happen. Maybe we think they need special training to do what we do...well, maybe we need to be providing that!
People NEED to connect directly with causes - not because you need their help - but because it's a part of their growing up in their faith. It's time we stop viewing ourselves as the only "doers" of the ministry and start training our champions to "do" right along side us! You'll be strengthened and blessed through the partnership, and so will they.
