Stacy Long

AFA Journal staff writer

January 2013 – In March 2011, First Baptist Church in Orlando showed a 60 Minutes video clip addressing the heartbreaking reality of poverty in the Florida city. The church raised $5.6 million in a single weekend to fund a new long-term ministry initiative: Love Orlando, which continues to transform the city with its generosity.

But how can a church raise over $5.6 million in less than three days? How does a church channel the generosity of its members to transform an entire city?

Poverty, a growing problem
With poverty in the U.S. at 15%, the highest level in two decades, it is increasingly crucial to assist those struggling financially, and many recognize that government entitlements are not a solution because providing for the needy is the church’s responsibility. But with poverty affecting 46 million Americans and few families free from financial struggles, the demands of the poor are not only more urgent, they are more difficult to meet.

However, in an interview with AFA Journal, Patrick Johnson of GenerousChurch, a financial ministry to church leaders, maintains that, overall, economic factors have little impact on charitable giving.

“The average Christian gives about 2.4 to 3% of their income during good times and bad times,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t really change dramatically depending on what the economy is doing. 

Still, the world could be over $100 billion further away from poverty if only American Christians gave the minimum of their true capacity.

“We have tremendous capacity, and there’s a huge gap between what we’re giving and what we should be giving if we’re following biblical principles,” he said. “The truth is that churches need to lead in unlocking that capacity. If Christians in America gave only 10% – the tithe – there would be $103 billion in increased annual giving.”

Giving, bondage breaking
The way to unlock that “tremendous capacity” is to make giving the first priority in every situation.

“Giving needs to be at the front of the line for everyone,” Johnson said. “I think that people live under the misconception, ‘If I can only get to this certain point, then I’ll have the freedom to give.’ But what Scripture teaches is to put giving at the front of your financial decisions, regardless of where you are financially.”

Giving relentlessly fosters faith in God’s provision, and through that faith, comes freedom from bondage to material things.

“When we give first, God stays involved in our finances; it is an issue of faith,” he said. “In our consumeristic culture, the deceitfulness of wealth and the worries of this life choke out the fruitfulness of many Christians. When we bring in a message of biblical generosity, we free people. When God’s involved in their finances, people get better financially even in bad economic times.”

Indeed, the Bible shows that when a gift comes by great faith and at great cost from meager finances, it has great impact in God’s kingdom.

“Measure your charitable impact by the size of the sacrifice rather than the size of the gift,” Johnson urged. “I don’t think God measures impact in the same way we measure impact. If you look at the poor widow in the Bible, her gift was very small, and yet God said her gift was greater than much richer gifts.”

Johnson also pointed out that sacrificial generosity is a lifestyle that extends to all areas of life and springs from the Bible, a veritable guidebook on stewardship and finances: “The Bible tells us everything we need to know about how to handle our finances Biblically in a consumeristic culture.”

Church, discipleship and stewardship
Because the Bible is the foundation for generosity and wise stewardship, it is ultimately the church’s responsibility to unlock Christian generosity. That’s why financial stewardship should be an integral part of discipleship.

“Churches need to reach out to help people in their finances as a ministry of the church,” Johnson said. “People inside the church are struggling with how to manage their finances just like people outside the church. The primary concern is discipleship. If we’re not shepherding them in biblical stewardship and generosity, we’ve got to take up this task; it is for their own spiritual well being. And that’s what GenerousChurch is doing – teaching people to be good stewards and generous, and I think that is a tremendous outreach.”

As a first step in unlocking generosity, GenerousChurch assesses a church. A survey delivered to members of the congregation evaluates their generosity as a starting point for discipleship.

Second, the mission of GenerousChurch goes beyond financial training. To get to the heart of the matter, Johnson quoted Andy Stanley, Christian pastor, leader and son of Charles Stanley: “‘The problem’s not a stewardship problem; it’s a leadership problem.’ What I am trying to do is get leaders in the church to understand the connection between discipleship and generosity and stewardship and lead people into it. It takes leaders who are really living it themselves and leading others into it.”

With growing generous leaders as the prerequisite to unlocking generosity, GenerousChurch provides ample opportunities and resources for training leaders, who in turn will disciple their congregations.

“The third phase is working with churches to infuse generosity into their DNA,” Johnson explained. “We want to get those principles into all teaching environments – children, youth, adults – so everyone can grow in the biblical message of stewardship and generosity.”

The generous church has unparalleled potential for charitable impact because it is built on relationships. People typically give in the context of relationship, to those they know and trust. The church has the ability to channel member gifts into a global demonstration of generosity and the gospel. Websites such as www.ministrywatch.com are useful tools for evaluating many non-profit organizations on financial responsibility for informed decisions about making charitable contributions.

Lighthouse, generosity and the gospel
Ultimately, the goal of GenerousChurch is to help today’s church model the early church, as described in Acts 2.

“It’s an issue of combining declaration with demonstration,” Johnson said. “The early church was a generous church, and that changed the world around it. That church was not only declaring the gospel, but also living the truth of the gospel with its generosity.”

In the end, the gospel is the force behind Christian generosity and when people experience the church’s generosity, they also encounter the gospel.

“If churches around non-Christians were truly generous, they would be attracted to them because that’s so rare,” Johnson said. “And the church also carries the gospel. What good is it if we help a man and we feed him, but we don’t hold out the gospel? The church is a leader in combining the gospel with generosity. This positions the church as a lighthouse to the world.”  

7 attributes of a generous church

1. Generous leaders
2. Strong vision for the church, communicated effectively.
3. Strong external focus reflected in the budget. 
4. Holistic theology of stewardship, generosity and the kingdom.
5. Intentional discipleship on stewardship and generosity.
6. Organizational culture that supports priesthood of believers.
7. Effective stewardship of church finances.

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How to build a generous church

• Assess members’ generosity.
• Grow generous leaders.
• Infuse generosity into a church’s DNA.

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Resources
GenerousChurch 601-707-5551
Crown Financial Ministries 800-722-1976
Financial Issues stewardship ministries
The Fear of Money by Dan Celia AFA store 877-927-4917
The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn Eternity Perspective Ministies store 877-376-4567