Make it Transformational: A Blog for Champion Discipleship

I get pretty excited when I talk about Transformational Giving because it’s a donor discipleship model, not a donor solicitation model.  The MIF approach is one that ‘starts with you.’  It makes sense that you are best able to teach and disciple others – such as your ministry champions – when you have first experienced or practiced something yourself.

Does it stretch your imagination to ‘start with you’ when it comes to the typically dry, complicated, technical, and boring topic of Planned Giving (which happens to be our training topic this month)?  When I followed the ‘start with you’ approach to prepare for the workshops, I found I was stretched on a personal level in an unusually powerful and tangible way.

You probably know that traditional planned giving is about how the wealthy deposit money after their death - and how most nonprofits are devising techniques to get a piece of that financial pie.  Biblical planned giving, in contrast, is about how God accomplishes His purpose across generations, through individuals of all socioeconomic levels, and with His wider view of resources which includes so much more than money.     

Think about the fact that God began to do something in relation to your cause long before you came along – and He’ll continue the ministry long after you’re gone.  As I considered my Planned Giving legacy, I began thinking for the first time ever about this question:  Where do I fit in to God’s plan which started before long before me and will continue after I’m gone? 

This broader question begs consideration of three other questions.

What is your cause(s)?  I was challenged to examine my life – both past and future – from a 30,000 foot view.  I remembered the swim lessons I taught during summers in high school.  I mentored elementary kids during college.  I recalled with pleasu re the hours of teaching life skills to immigrants from Honduras.  That experience led me to a year of service in rural Slovakia as a teacher with Education For Democracy.  From there, I spent one year teaching English to business people at an academy in Madrid.  There have been many church and prayer retreats and workshops, spiritual development classes, years of Bible Study Fellowship classes, and bible studies I facilitated.  Recalling these God-given life experiences confirms my cause (one of them anyway) of teaching biblical concepts to transform lives for Christ. 

Who are the spiritual ancestors who influenced you in relation to the cause?  I had never before pondered this question and yet several people came immediately to mind:  Violet, Ethel, and Ruth.  My grandmothers and mother were all college-educated elementary school teachers as well as devoted Christians involved in their churches and communities.   God has blessed me with strong Christian mentors:  Connie, Debby, Syida,  Kimberly, and Beverly.  They too have modeled how it is to live as a follower of Jesus.  Current and past co-workers also come to mind.

Who are your spiritual heirs – as well as those in your sphere of influence?  My 10- and 12-year-old kids are my obvious heirs.  As I reflected further,  I thought about my nieces and nephews…my siblings…and my high school , college, and grad school friends  who don’t yet know Christ.  I considered the adults who attend a bible study I facilitate at church.  And the individuals who attend the MIF trainings I lead.  What about my neighbors?  Other relatives?   People who’ve come in to my life for a limited time? 

What resources in relation to the cause– both tangible and intangible or symbolic – can I pass on starting today to those in my sphere of influence?  God considers my teaching skills a valued resource which means I need to be intentional as I use them for His glory.  I have begun to think and pray more about where and whom I should teach in my free time moving forward.  Is it more bible studies for adults?  Is it youth ministry to equip my and other kids with biblical concepts?  Maybe there’s a way to impact family members for Christ thru my teaching??

In answering these three questions, I found the ‘start with you’ approach to Planned Giving has fueled passions which I didn’t previously recognize.  And it has helped me to recognize resources ‘in my hand’ (refer to Exodus chapter four and God’s conversation with Moses) which I didn’t previously acknowledge as assets.   Are you up to the challenge of asking yourself the questions described above– and praying to see how God plans to fit you into His story - which started long before you and will continue long after you are gone?