Transform

Characteristics of Joyful Giving

Joyful giving desires the best that man can give for God.

Members of our parish communities need to be encouraged to desire the best for God. They don't want to feel that
they are just "giving away" their money. They want to believe that they are investing it. They need to be helped
to see that their offerings enable the church to do the most precious work on earth of proclaiming God's Word
and making disciples. Rather than asking them to fund a deficit or a budget, let us ask them to make the best
investment they can in the kingdom of God.

Joyful giving is generous.

Most Christians want some guidance regarding how much to give—the more specific the better.
"Whatever you can do" is a recipe for failure. It suggests that the organization is ambiguous about the whole
enterprise.

Members of the parish community prefer to be asked for enough: enough to reflect their
God-given capability and enough to really get the job done. Joyful givers who are motivated by the love of God
are more likely to be embarrassed by a request to give less than is really needed or less than they are really able
to give than by a request to give more.

When church members understand that they are associated with the most important work on earth, they
genuinely want to make investments that will help to assure the continuation—and growth of that work. It is our
task in the church boldly to encourage our members to give as much as possible rather than to consider, "How
little can we get by with?"

Joyful giver is willing to be an example.

When we shown other members of the parish community of how seriously interested we are, when we make it clear
that we know they are no less willing to do what they are capable of doing than we, that we feel sure that all
they need is to realize the importance of the enterprise and the urgency in order to lead them to do their full
share in meeting it then we have made them our friends and have brought them to think of giving as a privilege
and not a duty.

Joyful giving is a response to being asked.

When we ask fellow Christians for money, we are friends, not adversaries. We are counselors, not
salesmen. It is not a game of predator and prey. We are encouraging God's people to do something significant
for their Lord and his kingdom. After all, we are not asking for anything for ourselves.

Asking is a courtesy; it says, "I believe that you are interested and want to give." Asking is a helpful
guide, especially when there are so many worthy causes to support in God's kingdom and God's world. Most of
all, asking is an encouragement to give the matter current and careful attention.

Joyful giving is thankful acknowledgment of God's greatness and ownership of all things.

When we ask fellow Christians to support God's work, we need to remember these truths. We
have a long tradition in the Christian church of treating asking for money like begging.

Whose money are we asking for? Not yours or mine, and we are not asking for it for our benefit either.
It is God's! When we ask people to give, we are not asking them to give up something they possess. We are
really asking them to evaluate again their management of God's money. And that is a service, a worthwhile
ministry.

So very often thankfulness is the key. There is much in Scripture about God's ownership of all and his
generous distribution to us. This is a message which today's Christians need to hear regularly. It is a message
that develops thankfulness, and thankful Christians are generous and joyful Christians.

Ronald D. Roth
[The author is the director of the Ministry of Planned Giving of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod)

| | Share