The Simple Pastor
By Phil Whittall, church planter, blogger & book reviewer
RT @lukedvd: Hope his resignation from the England manager job will allow @JoelVirgo to focus on his church duties #nomorehairdye 17 hrs ago
This got me thinking, is there a space for micro-finance for mission and church planting? This is how I imagine it working. Let’s use an example of a family church planting in, say randomly, Sweden. They need £20k per year to live on for 3 years while starting a new church. You give to the church planting version of Kiva and then when the new church is up and running, over a few years the money is repaid recycling the funding back into the world of church planting.
Because this works mostly in the developed world where incomes and giving are high, these could attract a premium of say 10% or something that is then channelled off to cover repayments made to churches being planted in low income developing countries where church income may never get high enough to repay a loan.
Now the sum I presented isn’t micro but neither is it astronomical, and it’s a way in which mission agencies and churches which may be struggling to raise finance the traditional ways can find fresh and new partners to support mission work throughout the world.
Of course the obvious weakness is that it requires investment into rich countries in order to invest into poorer nations. Anyway it was a passing thought and the only way to get it improved is for brighter minds than mine to give it some thought! So over to you.
Ten minutes later when they’re bored with your gift, the shine may have come off a bit. Still, it’s more blessed right? The thing is, I think the western societies in which we’re raising our children, are the sorts of societies where for most adults receiving is by far the superior alternative. So much so, that receiving or getting is seen as more of a human right really. You only have to think back to the summer riots in London and the many links to consumerism to see that attitude in its grossest expression.
If, generally speaking, those are the sorts of adults we are producing and I want my children to be different from that (less rioting would be good for a start), then I need to start training now. However, the early signs are not encouraging. This year, really for the first time, we are helping our three year old son discover the joy of giving. His initial reaction was grave concern, ‘I’ll still get presents won’t I?’ but even with that fear calmed, he remains unconvinced that giving is anywhere close to as good as getting.
We want giving to be in many ways, it’s own reward, we want the act of giving to radiate joy and fun, and lead to more cheerful giving. We’re going to introduce giving to those poorer than ourselves, and other such things, because giving is a habit that needs early introduction. It seems we have a default setting and it’s not ‘give’.
Any ideas, how have you seen giving best demonstrated, shared and taught to children?
“Immediately accusations are brought against the applicant. For why does he not work, you say? And why is he to be maintained in idleness? But, tell me, is it by working that you have what you have? Did you not receive it as an inheritance from your fathers? And even if you work, is this a reason why you should reproach another? Do you not hear what Paul says? For after saying, ‘If anyone will not work, let him not eat,’ he says, ‘Do not be weary in well doing.”
How often have you heard the complaint about the beggar being idle or not making an effort to work? And many will answer Chrysostom by saying, ‘we did work’ for what we have. But did you get everything that way? Your childhood home, parental care, education, food, clothing, opportunity? How much of that was yours through no effort of your own but instead your good luck to be born where and when you were?
But John isn’t finished, we have more objections to pull down.
“But what do they say? He is an impostor. What do you say, O man? Do you call him an impostor for the sake of a single loaf or of a garment? But, you say, he will sell it immediately. And do you manage all your affairs well?”
I’ve heard countless the times the argument that we shouldn’t give money to the beggar because he will misuse the gift, spend it on drink or worse. And have you never spent money on something you shouldn’t? Hypocrite, John calls us, and he’s right.
“But what? Are all poor through idleness? Is no one so from shipwreck? None from lawsuits? None from being robbed? None from dangers? None from illness? None from any other difficulties? If, however, we hear any one bewailing such evils and crying out aloud and looking up naked toward heaven, with long hair and clad in rags, at once we call him, ‘The impostor! The deceiver! The swindler!’ Are you not ashamed? Whom do you call impostor? Do not accuse the man or give him a hard time. But, you say, he has means and pretends.”
The other claim I’ve heard as an excuse not to give is that really this beggar doesn’t need it, he has a Rolls Royce somewhere, he’s probably better off than I am. Well, John has an answer to that too.
“This is a charge against yourself, not against him. He knows that he has to deal with the cruel, with wild beasts rather than with rational persons. He knows that even if he tells his pitiable story, no one pays any attention. And on this account he is forced to assume a more miserable guise, that he may melt your soul. If we see a person coming to beg in a respectable dress, ‘This is an impostor’, you say, ‘and he comes in this way that he may be supposed to be of good birth.’ If we see one in the contrary guise we reproach him too. What then are they to do? Oh, the cruelty, Oh the inhumanity.”
So what then are we to do?
“‘Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you.’ Stretch out your hand; let it not be closed up. We have not been constituted examiners into others’ lives, for then we should have compassion on no one. When you call upon God, why do you say, ‘Remember not my sins’? So, even if that person is a great sinner, make this allowance in his case also, and do not remember his sins. It is the season of kindness, not of strict inquiry; of mercy, not of account. He wishes to be maintained; if you are willing, give; but if not willing, send him away without raising doubts. Why are you wretched and miserable? Why do you not pity him yourself, but even turn away those who would as well? For when such a one hears from you, ‘This person is a cheat; that a hypocrite; and the other lends out money,’ he neither gives to the one nor to the other, for he suspects all to be such. For you know that we easily suspect evil, but good, not so easily.”
So, think again next time you rush by the beggar in the street.
All quotes from Chrysostom’s On the epistle to the Hebrews
“Despite massive material progress, people in Britain and the US are no happier than they were 50 years ago, while there are many societies in which people are much happier than in Britain. Rejecting a societal focus on materialism and self-obsessed individualism, the movement instead prioritizes healthy relationships with others and meaningful activities as a means to happier living.”
I’d agree with that. People matter more than possessions. Ironically however Foreign Policy have an article that inverts the equation suggesting that ‘happy people will be more financially successful.’
Of course that begs the question, how can I be happy? You could download your happiness action pack and start there or you could turn to a more ancient source of wisdom (Matthew 5:3-12 for example).
So while in America a debate rumbles on about tithing which sets a figure, a rule, a measure and a box to tick. Can you really tick a box marked ‘generous’? The key remains delighting in giving.
As Karen observes that through giving we discover that ‘Isn’t it great to know that you have the power and ability to put a smile on somebody’s face.’ We can be happy by making others happy and investing in people.
We can discover joy by investing in the kingdom putting our treasures into something other than ourselves (Mt 6:21). So remind yourself to take one more step on a journey towards generosity.
CS Lewis says,
“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusement, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our giving does not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say it is too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot because our commitment to giving excludes them.” [Mere Christianity; see here].
Tom Schreiner says,
“Those who are blessed with wealth are to enjoy the good things God has given them, but they are also to be generous to those in need (1 Tim. 6:17–19). The New Testament clearly teaches that wealth is dangerous because it can seduce us so that we stray from the Lord. God is to be our treasure, and hence believers are to give generously and freely. For most believers in the West, that means giving more than a tithe.”
So let me ask you this, when was the last time you planned to increase your regular giving?
The giving pledge is a truly remarkable act of philanthropy and generosity (although most of those pledging will remain massively wealthy even after their giving). I just hope they all see it through. It will be interesting to see how these phenomenally successful people put their money to work for the betterment of humanity.
Lastly to make you smile, this link from Breathe on reasons to be thankful
The Theology of Generosity from Randy Alcorn on Vimeo.
HT: Tim Challies
Which, if my calculations are correct, should make Christians the most consistently reliable and generous givers of all. After all knowing Jesus is the best, His joy is our strength, we have a sure faith, inexhaustible grace, unmerited favour, boundless love and eternal hope and as a result we lack nothing. So we should be happy with out lot right?
Freed and ready to give right?
“In June, Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett started the Giving Pledge: an initiative aimed at getting billionaires to pledge at least half of their net worth to charitable donations. So far, 40 individuals have signed up. The roster includes household names like George Lucas, David Rockefeller, Ted Turner and, not least, founders Gates and Buffett, who have pledged significantly more than half of their net worth. While some have already argued that part of the estimated $600 billion that this initiative could raise would have been donated anyway, the impact of the Giving Pledge remains astounding. We break down the numbers in this infographic.”
See it here
“I was particularly struck by this simple point which came up more than once in the series: every time we give, we take one more step in the process of releasing the grip of materialism”
Have a listen
I discovered Bill Clinton’s Giving: How each of us can change the world a few months back for the bargain price of £2.50 down at the haven that is Hay-on-Wye. I was hopeful.
It’s a straightforward enough guide to giving, talking about money, time, things, skills. It also takes a look at giving into a variety of areas such as micro-finance such as Kiva, or to entrepreneurs, foundations and NGOs and the role government plays in poverty reduction.
It’s a view of the world that very few people could provide, with almost unparalleled access to the world’s biggest organisations, richest donors (like Bill & Melinda Gates), biggest stars (like Bono) that allows him to see the best ideas, the best practices and the best opportunities. And there are a lot of good ideas around, from the chess clubs that help raise exam performance in the poorest schools in the US, or malaria reduction in Rwanda its evident that there are a lot of people working at doing a lot of good. There is hope.
There are a lot of resources too, with plenty of links to useful organisations and a helpful bibliography. I’ve noted a few of the books to try and get hold of.
The emphasis is on encouraging giving but it demonstrated to me that the world knows very little when it comes to the issue of giving, the sums and percentages are quite small and the framework for giving quite limited. It’s quite an opportunity for the church, we could be (and absolutely SHOULD be) at the forefront of giving – people who regularly hit 10% minimum and desire to go far beyond it.
However this is not a great book, the style is quite dry with one case study after another, no real passion and no real style in the delivery, inspirational stories told without inspiration. Workmanlike was the word that ran through my brain as I read this book. I devour books on giving and this one was tough chewing, not because it’s bad but because it’s dry.
If you’re involved in development work then actually this gives a good big picture of some very interesting and innovative programmes, if you don’t have faith then this indeed may be a good book to read on giving, but there’s a bigger and richer world on giving out there for those of us who follow the Great Giver.
On Sunday 25th April I’m running in the London Marathon for the second time. Last year I ran it in 4hrs 47 minutes and I’m hoping to beat that time by some distance. We shall see. (if you’re interested I use another blog as a way of keeping track of my training)
Anyway 26.2 miles is a long way to run just for the fun of it, when I can do that and raise money for an excellent cause at the same time. I’ve left it late deliberately because I just want you to make a decision now to give £5 (or more) away to help vulnerable children and the vulnerable aged in east Ukraine, do something about it while before further distractions set in. The charity is called Breadtrust and they’ll ensure the money is put to excellent use through their partner churches in Ukraine.
You can give online safely and easily here. Last year readers of this blog were very generous in your support which was hugely encouraging and it would be wonderful if you felt able to do the same again. If you’re a taxpayer please make sure you tick the Gift Aid box as it’s extra money to the charity at no cost to you.
Thank you so much. On the day I’ll try and remember to update the twitter feed and if you’re very keen you can find out how slow I’m going by using the runner tracker. My race number is XXXX
After having recently visited this school in Pakistan and writing about it, I was contacted by Michael Wakely of Starfish Asia who support the school financially.
Michael is the author of this excellent little book on generosity (my review here) and he generously has given me a few copies to give away. I’ve shamelessly pinched Tim Challies‘ way of handling this giveaway:
“You may only enter the draw once. Simply fill out your name and email address to enter the draw. As soon as the winners have been chosen, all names and addresses will be immediately and permanently erased. Winners will be notified by email. The giveaway closes Saturday at noon.”
I’ll also send a copy to the best comments on how you’ve seen generosity in action.
“People who are obsessed with God are known as givers, not takers. Obsessed people genuinely think that others matter as much as they do, and they are particularly aware of those who are poor around the world (James 2:14-26).”
- Francis Chan, Crazy Love
“The more sacrificially generous you are on earth, the greater will be your enjoyment of heaven. Therefore, since Jesus loves us and summons us to maximize our eternal joy in heaven, he demands radical freedom from the love of money and radical generosity, especially toward the poor . . . The reason money is so crucial for Jesus is that across all cultures and all ages it represents the alternative to God as the treasure of our hearts, and therefore the object of our worship. . .There are two things being said here. One is that a selfish spirit will keep us out of heaven. And the other is that there are degrees of reward, or degrees of joy, in heaven, depending on how sacrificially generous we were on earth.”
HT: Adrian Warnock
Matt Perman was the second half of the audio and he blogs here. I’m not sure quite what made me uneasy but it really did. A few things bugged me. His justification for having 4 laptops was in case he went away on a trip and left one at home, was just lame for someone who blogs on efficiency. Just don’t forget your laptop Matt, it’s not difficult.
At one point he said having ‘too much’ wasn’t wrong and we shouldn’t feel guilty about it. I’m not so sure about that because the point of ‘too much’ is that it’s ‘too much’. If I eat too much it’s gluttony. If I sleep too much its laziness. If I work too much its unhealthy. If I want too much its greedy. The whole point Matt is that it’s too much. It’s too much for us, it’s not good for us because it’s too much. If God has given us an abundance then that means we have enough, we can enjoy our enough, we can enjoy our plenty AND we get to give.
It was OK when he talked about money and possessions being a relative good but when we make it an absolute it fails us. By that he means when we make something more important than the kingdom of God.
Even so I was left with the distinct impression that he gave comfort to the rich and comfortable, that he began by justifying wealth and then in talking about the texts that challenge our wealth was just a bit average, saying nothing new and let the listener off the hook in the way he accused others of doing.
I’ve listened to Tim Keller on money and it’s been excellent, so I had high hopes for TGC on this subject and this seminar but it was a disappointment.
“Evangelical Christians tend to be the most generous (giving the lie to the misconception that liberal Christians are more liberal in their concern for the less fortunate), but even their giving is nothing to brag about.”
and
“Americans earning less than $10,000 gave 2.3 percent of their income to churches. Those who earn $70,000 or more gave only 1.2 percent.”
and
“Poor leadership by the pastor always results in poor congregational giving. Faithful giving begins with every pastor…saying, ‘I have discovered the joy of cheerful tithing, and you can to’.”
Read the whole thing
Christ the Saviour deals with my guilt and shame. I feel better. I feel loved.
Christ the Saviour assures me of forgiveness and a new start. I feel better. I feel good.
Christ the Lord calls me to deny myself. I feel resentful and unwilling.
Christ the Lord calls me to hate my own life. I feel this is unlikely.
Christ the Lord calls me to pick up my cross and follow. I feel if he loves me then he wouldn’t ask too much of me.
I’ve been wondering for a while, that I need to ensure when I preach and call people to respond to Christ that I’ve proclaimed Christ not simply as Saviour but also as Lord, that the cost has been announced as well as the reward. But this submission to Christ as Lord is not just something for altar calls, but something for the people of God. We need to be converted to His way every day. That’s the mark of a disciple. “Today God, convert me again. I submit.”
Evangelicals are very familiar with the idea that becoming a Christian involves moral change. If we’re promiscuous we should rediscover chastity, if we’re lying we need to speak the truth, if we swear we must rediscover pure speech. But the whole point of Lordship means influence over all spheres of life – the way I spend must be just as converted to Christ as the way I speak and the way I deal with sex.
Yet I believe that by and large evangelicals have failed to yield to Him in the area of money and that goes for people who tithe too. We can give God our 10% and pay our religious dues and feel that in the area of money we have done our part. Money is a powerful thing and even a little can grip us. Generosity is not often achieved by a static percentage. Grace filled living and giving, joyous freedom from the ‘deceitfulness of wealth’ is not often achieved by the mere keeping of a rule.
Having said that for many of us the regular discipline of regular tithing would be an excellent place to start, but it’s just a shame that so many of us stop there instead of pressing on to excel in this gift of generosity.
More than ever today the world needs to see that the church, the people of God are not held in the sway of money that it is Jesus not Mammon that is Lord over the church. The god Mammon may have taken a few blows right now, but none of the solutions being offered by the governments of this world suggest that Mammon is about to be dethroned. Now is the time for the church to rediscover a deeper conversion, a deeper following that frees us and others to discover ‘the life that is truly life’.
The book is a study of giving in American Christianity and it doesn’t make for encouraging reading. Here are some headline numbers for you:
Here are some of the observations that Sider notes,
“In addition, the widespread consumerism and materialism of the culture—expressed above all in our incessant advertising—seduces many people into making extravagant decisions about major purchases like houses and cars and smaller things like recreation, eating out, vacations, etc.; and the result is that most families are financially pressed in spite of enormous wealth.”
This paragraph (I should just copy the whole thing) is spot on
“They think there are five primary reasons for the fact that “the wealthiest national body of Christian believers at any time in all of church history end up spending most of their money on themselves.” The most important is our society’s ‘institutionalized mass consumerism.’ The second is the failure of pastors to deal with the issue. The third is that many Christians seem to be confused about the meanings, expectations, and purposes of faithful Christian giving. Fourth, some have distrust about whether their donations will be used wisely. Finally, the near total privatization of the topic means that almost no American Christians discuss their giving with anyone else.”
I don’t think there’s any room for self-righteousness this side of the pond, we can’t claim to be any less affected by consumerism and the seductions of wealth. I’d be surprised if the statistics (if ever done) were much different here and for that we should be ashamed. What we give and what we keep is a reflection of our priorities and it seems for too many of us, too often – neither the church nor mission, Jesus or the poor feature on our priorities. We give little because we love little.
Recent extras in our household include £260 on gas boiler repairs and parts. Deep joy. But I have a wife who ceases to fu
nction at low temperatures. Heating and hot water made this an essential.
This coincided with a planned expenditure. My motorbike needed an MOT and I needed a new helmet. £100 to keep my head in one piece should I fall off the bike is I think a sound investment. Others may disagree. I’d already stretched the replacement of the old one beyond reasonable. I also happen to think my new piece of gear is quite cool.
When you’re on a below national average income these things can be a challenge, it’s the timing of these events more than anything. December isn’t a great time for most people to be hit by extra financial burdens because on average they will spend £655 on Christmas festivities. Fortunately for us, living simply means this isn’t something we’ll be doing and because we live within our means and budget we can cope with the extras and (hopefully) quickly return to pre-challenge levels of giving.
A few key lessons emerge for me:
“Now, I am not a mathematician. In fact, its a little known fact that I actually got an “F” in 8th grade math and somehow still graduated Jr. High. But let’s think about about the equation that is presented here:
Severe trial + Overflowing joy + Extreme poverty = Rich Generosity.
Huh.”
Read the whole thing here
“Paul’s ‘sowing and reaping’ theme is unexpected. What does giving have to do with sowing? Surely they’re two very different activities. When you give something it’s no longer yours and you have less than you had before. You had five, you gave away two, now you have three left. Sowing is an altogether different principle. When you sow you don’t lose what you have because you commit it to a process.”
Read the whole thing here
“Beware the danger of assessing your spirituality selectively. God wants you to be seriously committed to giving away money. Generosity is one of the key characteristics of a grace filled believer. So would you describe yourself as generous?”
Read the whole thing here
“It takes God’s grace to release you to give extravagantly, to liberate you from a natural tendency to cling to money and put your own needs first. Grace has to break through and set you free.”
I used to write my name in all my books, because they were my books and I lent them with great caution and reservation. If a book came back dog-eared, marked and for me worst of all with a bent spine because someone had folded the cover back like it was a sunday newspaper – relationships could become strained. In fact that last one still bugs me.
Then it dawned on me, that God hadn’t asked me to run a library, He hadn’t asked me to protect all the books, to form a collection, or to look upon my shelves with their gorgeous rows upon rows of books as a key part of my identity. ‘Look how clever and well informed I am’ these shelves proclaimed ‘because I have all these books’ (reading them being only of secondary importance).
No, God had asked me to be willing to share and not to turn away from those who want to borrow from me (Mt 5/42) and my books was the testing ground. So I stopped marking my territory by putting in labels or writing my name – my responsibility was to give, their responsibility was to return and if they didn’t, then the loss was theirs not mine. Only on very few occasions has this ever become a problem for me, but it has given me the opportunity to buy and give away multiple copies of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger. I stopped worrying (more or less) about the state of the books and began to open up my treasure trove and probably hundreds of people (but I definitely don’t keep count) have benefited from them. That’s good.
But lending my books opened up my heart to sharing and so now I don’t mind sharing my car, my house, my food, my clothes (only last week a guy who has started coming to church borrowed some shoes for a court case), my films and most things really.
I have to be careful of pride and protectionism sneeking back in – it’s so easy to only lend to nice people. But to be fair they’re probably the worst at returning my books.
Sharing does a number of things that I can think of, there are probably more.
There’s lots more, but few things have done me greater good than learning how to share.
I believe Jesus when he said 'life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions'. I believe he offers something better. This blog is mostly about that search.
I'm also a husband, a father, church planter, keen runner, reader, and motorcyclist. These and a few other things make guest appearances from time to time.
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