PRACTICE: Generosity

For many, the word “generosity” evokes a range of beautiful, uneasy, or even painful feelings.

Love and relief after friends and church family carried the burden of medical bills, debt, or our mortgage alongside us through especially stressful seasons.

Confusion and frustration when the churches we loved and were formed within fractured under the weight of a building campaign or financial disunity.

Awkwardness lurking just beneath the surface of our Sunday smiles when we hear the call to give at the end of a gathering, trying to mask the shame and annoyance we feel.

Pride and fulfillment after we donate to Kingdom work around the world. Sometimes, followed closely by indignation toward those who don’t share our sense of calling toward generosity and mercy.

We grieve the ways conversations regarding money have been avoided or abused within the church. The silence of church leaders on financial stewardship — despite the generous wisdom on money provided in Scripture — cultivates a harmful taboo. And the alternate experience is just as damaging: an overemphasis of giving that can lead to financial manipulation and greed. Wherever you find yourself, you are seen. We come not with a rebuke but a reminder.

Generosity is a lifestyle holistically rooted in the whole-hearted generosity of God. 

We serve a giving God. The providing God who gave manna in the wilderness and water from a stone (Exodus 16:32-34, 17:5-7). The comforting God who gives the vulnerable a voice and the sick healing (Dueternomony 15:11; Matthew 9:35). The loving Father who gave his own Son to secure victory over death and restore the earth to its original design (2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 6:23; Revelation 21:4).

The ways many have failed to cultivate biblical generosity within a safe, loving church community robs believers of the opportunity to fully engage in heaven on earth. You were created to know God’s generosity toward you: lavish, unmerited, unending, and redeeming. Reckless and wild. Transformative and deeply healing.  You were created to share this love with the world: a love that sees the vulnerable and defends the oppressed.

You were created to reflect heaven on earth. 

Wondering how? Maybe you’re already reworking your budget to be more generous or thinking of causes to support. If so, that’s incredible! Giving is an incredible act of holiness, but it doesn’t always lead to growth. It’s possible to grow our list of donations without growing in love. The world praises our to-do lists and achievements, but God sees the deepest inclinations of our hearts.

So, it’s not enough to only act generously. Jesus wants us to become generous. 

Quick inventory incoming. Reflect on your schedule, your interactions with others, and your credit card expenses. Are you generous with your time as a parent, or only at the office? Are you generous with compassion and forgiveness toward your spouse or roommates? Are you generous driving during rush hour traffic? In Matthew 6:21, Jesus punctuates a lengthy section within the Sermon of the Mount on finances with, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Where’s your heart? Is your heart in your pocketbook or with the poor? Is it looking ahead with joy to the future purchased for us — a restored Eden on earth where all are provided for and we live in constant communion with the Father — or worrying about tomorrow? Is your heart partnered with the gods of the world — greed, ambition, self-promotion, and selfishness — or with the Kingdom of heaven?

We close with an invitation. Love a generous God. Live a generous life. Build a generous world. And do it with friends and family. 

We’re cheering for you — and here to walk alongside you — on your journey of becoming generous.