Some of our people have the spiritual gift of giving. All need to give, but some have the capacity to do so more than most.
Creating a culture of generosity begins with you and then your people.
You cannot wish it or conjure it but actually model it.
Know your mandate.
Affirm business leaders with what they are doing. What business leaders with the gift of giving do during Monday through Friday is just as much of a calling.
As the pastor, I have to own this. I cannot delegate it. I can have a team that helps, but I need to pastor these people.
Do I have an oak tree mentality or a weed mentality?
Too many business leaders do not know how to connect with the church. This is about helping business leaders fulfill their purpose. If the Body of Christ gave business people an on ramp to living out their purpose then more of the 67% that Christians give to charities outside of the church will start coming back to the Church.
Pastors set vision. Business leaders set the pace of this vision.
Wealth has more purpose when we give it to God’s work!
Know the outcomes.
The Vision Gap means explaining “here is what we have, here is what we are wanting to do, AND here is what we could do.” Most of the time we just communicate “here is what we have and here is what we are wanting to do.”
The first gift from someone who is wealthy is a test. How you steward this and how you report this is critical.
We need an ecosystem that manages this process.
There is a difference between a legacy and dynasty.
Legacies are selfless, life-giving, generational.
Dynasties are selfish, destructive, and short-term.
Pastors help people become rich in the areas in which they are poor.
Help people see the eternal return on investment. Show them the difference that their giving is making.
Is what you are giving towards going to show up in heaven? Many will start giving towards noble causes if we do not create the space for giving towards eternal causes.
Know your language.
Communicate in a language business leaders can understand.
“Never stop speaking about what we take for granted.”
– John Osteen
Over communicate vision and outcomes.
Creating a Legacy Team is part of the team not the only team. This is not an elite group, but it should be one of the groups.
The local church mobilized is the hope of the world. This cannot happen until pastors and business leaders work together.
There are two different ways that Jesus told his disciples to catch fish. One was with a net, and they caught the masses. The other was to drop in a line in the water to catch a fish with money in it’s mouth to pay the taxes. That fish had a different purpose than the fish caught in the nets.
People’s gifts should make room for them to serve. If we had a worship recording artist move to our church, how long would it take to ask them to be on the worship team? Not long at all!
It’s not about you or them. It’s about reaching and discipling people.
Create the lane they can run in so they don’t have to create their own lane.
Legacy Team has two big events per year.
“You cannot manage what you cannot measure.”
– Peter Drucker
We need to know the numbers and the condition of my congregation.
Report to your most generous givers the same way I would want my team to report to me.
We need to communicate clearly and consistently in a language generous people can understand.
5 Areas for Giving at Church of the Highlands:
- Projects (brick and mortar)
- Next Generation.
- Local Outreach.
- National Outreach.
- Global Outreach.
A church is like a mutual fund with diversified interests.
Take a year to become a student of my finances and the finances of my church. Don’t look at reporting results as a task but an opportunity to communicate what your church has done and what it could do.
Ask yourself: how are we winning?
Build equity in your people as you are getting started. Consider creating a small group of business leaders. Sometimes there may be years of investment before we see the return on that investment.
Know your next step.
Is it one of the following?
- Casting vision for giving.
- Operating with good stewardship.
- Building a team.
- Communicating outcomes.
Excellence is not extravagance.
Look at your stewardship with an investment mindset rather than an expense mindset.
