Make it Transformational: A Blog for Champion Discipleship

I used to run track in high school with the hurdles being my best event.  It was a grueling race though, no doubt about it - it takes everything out of you to sprint for 100m, or worse yet 400m, while intermittently leaping over precarious wooden frames that are blocking your lane!

Now imagine this...my coach coming up to me after one such race and saying, "Thank you for running the 400m hurdle race!  It's students like you who help our school have a well-rounded team.  Thanks again!"

Say what??  That would be absurd for a coach to say anything like this!

Yet...

That's what most nonprofits say to their donors after they've given a well thought-out gift, or just spent several hours volunteering their time.  "Thank you for giving!  It's people like you who help our organization continue doing all that we're doing.  Thanks again!"

Why don't we think this is just as absurd?

Maybe it's because of how we view our role toward those who give?  More bluntly, that we view their purpose as solely funding OUR work.  In which case, we don't think of ourselves as one who can or should be instructing or training them, instead we just thank and go on our merry way.

Yet how does one grow deeper in their understanding of a cause?  How does one gain experience to have greater impact in a cause?  How does one learn through the cause what it means to serve others, have mercy, pray for the afflicted-all things that will mature them in their faith?  We, of course, know the answer -- it is through training and instruction.  And where might they get this?  From someone who has knowledge and experience in the cause - someone just like YOU (in fact, YOU)!

So, what am I suggesting here?  I'm suggesting that our first move when someone gives is not to shower them with thanks for something they did for the CAUSE (notice I didn't say for YOU!) that they could only do by the grace of God.  Scripture is clear that God uses all things, people included, according to His purposes, and all that comes from them are really gifts from HIM.  With a Transformational Giving (TG) mindset, then, our first response should be thanks to the one who prompted the gift (God) and then something entirely different for the person. 

Let's recall the 5th TG principle that says "the relationship between champions and organizations are primarily peer-level accountability relationships, not friendships or organizational support relationships."  If we believe this, then our response should be one of commendation - one that acknowledges, that encourages, and that spurs on toward continued good work.

Mission Increase will be exploring this topic in depth throughout May in "Thanking and Receipting" workshops.  Let me encourage you to register for one and learn what it means to commend AND coach through your "thank you's."  And, keep in mind, this isn't about changing the way we do "thank you's" just to be different or innovative; it's about learning how to align ourselves with how scripture calls us to relate with others and help one another to mature and grow in the likeness of our Savior, Jesus Christ.