Generosity Game Plan

It is football season, and I confess that while I enjoy watching the games I know enough to know that I don't know enough.  For instance, I know almost nothing about the game plan.  I wondered what kind of process the coaches go through and found this very brief, incomplete but somewhat comprehensible summary.

Like anything else you start out with a goal - winning.  A head coach has a playbook with about 1,000 plays in it, plays he has developed and accumulated.  At the beginning of the season the coaching staff will go through a critical self-analysis of the previous season - what worked well, what didn't work, and what and how they need to change.  They will further refine and whittle down the number of plays they use based on their personnel and their strengths.  Then comes the teaching, the practicing, everybody on the same page, working together toward that common goal.  They will further refine and reduce the number of plays they use based on the player-leaders' preferences, strengths and insights.  And finally, they will choose plays for each game based on their opponent's strengths and weaknesses, and go through a similar process of adjustment throughout each game.


 I don't know about you, but I have similar plans and processes in place for parts of my life.  (I know, control freak.)  Especially for projects, getting things done around the house, getting the kids through college.  I think we all plan, and pretty carefully sometimes, for the things that are important to us, that we value, even if we don't consciously name them.  I am going to be painfully honest here and admit that I never really thought about being intentional about faith and church and giving.  It really is a lot more comfortable to just kind of let it happen, what will be will be, and besides, God is in charge of it all so it will be just fine, right?  I'm supposed to give up control to God.


Wow!  Look at how easy it is to talk myself into something.  OK, so I admit, as an individual I have a long way to go.  I think I would be willing to start down the path if I had encouragement, didn't feel like I would be judged, was in a community that values progress not perfection.  What do you think?  I've been digesting the last four weeks of study, trying to summarize for myself as much as for the blog.  I'll spout off here and let you comment and continue the discussion:

As a faith community we need to have a game plan.  Our goal?  Giving our best in order to change lives and make disciples.  Our play book includes scripture, but it also includes naming our faith values, being intentional about what beliefs and values shape our plans and actions.  We can whittle and refine what plays we use based on what we have done in the past, what worked, what no longer works, how to change.  Teaching and practicing includes discussion, missions, programs and the tithe, focusing on the giver's need to give and valuing progress. Once we get into the game we need to continuously look at the personnel available to us, our strengths, evaluating everything we do and then be prepared to tweak or eliminate those things that are not getting us to our goal.


Of course that is a lot quicker and easier than reality.  One of the most difficult things to get over is the great faith that is required for extravagant generosity.  With a football game plan you have immediate feedback.  You either won or you didn't.  Giving, tithing, ministries, and missions require us to plant the seeds of fruit that we may never see.  In our consumerist, goal-driven, results-based society where value, self-definition, and self-worth rest on material possessions and measurable things, extravagant generosity is often regarded as foolishness.  Can thoughtful, planned, designed, calculated intentional giving free us to delight in giving from what comes first, to live in a sense of gratitude?  It can't hurt.

What Do You See?

We were asked this week to imagine what are our hopes and visions for our church.  It required thinking about where we are right now and then envisioning a future that is realistic but also idealistic.  Community, ministries, outreach, education... I can see them all.  I have an idea of what I would like to see, and I am sure that there are as many visions as there are members of our church.

That got me thinking, what are our hopes and visions for ourselves?  Whether conscious or subconscious, we all have a mental (ideal) self-image of ourselves, both physical and spiritual.  Think about it.  What do you look like in your mind's eye?  What do you want to look like?  For all of my life I have battled my weight.  Even at my heaviest I saw myself as a tall, willowy beautifully coordinated floating being, graceful and flowing.  And of course she is as gentle and generous as Snow White or Cinderella, everyone and everything good and kind love her.  I could see that watercolor being even if I couldn't make her completely real.

The reality was a bit different.  I was wider than I am tall, frumpy, clumsy, and heavy-footed thanks to bad knees.  A clomping schlub.  I have been working really hard to change that, changing habits, exercising, eating better.  As for disposition, in reality I am closer to a compulsive, critical, perfectionist with control issues, not the loving, generous sprite.  But I know that if I visualize that other me, and work hard, I can become more like the luminous being I know is inside me.


Is that why we give?  What do we get from giving?  I wonder what possessed the widow to give all she had (Luke 21:1-4), why did Zacchaeus make such a radical change, what was the Good Samaritan thinking when he cared for the stranger?  Could it be that they had a self-image that transcended reality, and in giving they were able to become that person?  Generosity allowed them to achieve God's purpose in them - to become doers of the Word, not just hearers?  Giving (tithing) is not just what God wants us to do, it is about who God wants us to become.  God has a bigger, better vision for us than we do for ourselves.  In order to achieve that vision we have to practice and work hard.  We have to choose to be grateful, generous, content, believe that our needs will be provided in order to suppress and resist our all too human tendency to be anxious, fearful, driven by a need to possess.

Giving doesn't give us a golden ticket.  Holding on to things will only prevent us from growing in our relationship with God.  Practicing generosity, really practicing because none of us is perfect, will help us enjoy giving, let us glimpse God's vision for us and the world, maybe incarnate God for each other, and allow us to become who we were made to be.

Who (What) Do You Love?

 When talking about money, it is easy to see what an organization or an individual values.  Take a look at their budget.  I have yet to participate in a budgeting process that, if examined closely, doesn't reveal firm statements about what it's author holds important.  There are some mandatory expenses, you have to pay the utilities, right?  But if you look at the different line items you can figure out where the discretionary spending choices had to be made, and the results reveal what is valued.  For instance, as my knees get more arthritic, I value really good, supportive shoes.  That is in my budget.  I am also very attached to my image as a  mom, it is scary to think about changing that after XX years.  So in order to hang on to that I budget for repairs to the mini van that is fading almost as fast as my memory.  As the Bishop says, "Every time we spend money, we make a statement about what we value."


I am still working through my financial budget to see what I value.  Sounds crazy, doesn't it?  Subconsciously, belief systems shape our decisions, but what happens if we are intentional about uncovering and understanding those beliefs and values?  It can be a bit uncomfortable.  Of course, budgeting and money go back to the last discussion.  They are black and white, cut and dried, objective and measurable.  Easy to identify, and then (maybe) change if needed.  I worry that focusing only, or mostly, on money has the potential to lead us back to mechanical stewardship.


I am more intrigued by what our actions say about what we value.  Or who.  Our study of extravagant generosity isn't just about money.  For me, it is coming down to how what I do and believe shapes what I give.  I think that was a part of the first week's discussion, but sometimes I can be a little slow to get on board.  Looking at the examples in the book, the fiddler who was transformed worked tirelessly to improve his music when he realized his life was worth claiming for the effect he could have by using his gift of music.  The custodian gave to the homeless person without strings because of what the gift did for him, knowing he could answer for what he had done.   The ministries and churches we have come from the generosity of those who went before us.  Like the whitewater rafters, they intentionally "paddled" their gifts so they would go in the direction of the things and people they valued.  I wonder, which came first - the desire to give or the giving?  Does it matter?

Practicing Generosity

If you would like to follow along with us, for the next few weeks we will be reading the book "Practicing Extravagant Generosity" by Robert Schnase. We began the series this past Sunday, but each week will stand alone, so join us for one or all.

Some of the discussion this first week centered around the definition of the terms and understanding how the phrase extravagant generosity relates to stewardship and giving. Merriam Webster online defines the words individually in this way:

Extravagant=exceeding the limits of reason or necessity
Generosity=marked by abundance or ample proportions

Most of the discussion really focused in on the differences between the terms stewardship and generosity. In both cases, though, the consensus was that we don't really talk about giving.

I confess I had trouble getting into that discussion. My mind wandered off, as it often does, and i got stuck wondering why we don't talk about giving? I believe part of the reason is that our tradition has been one of stewardship. Stewardship is concrete, mechanical, observable, measurable... objective. Any objective can be impartially measured. Either you are or you are not giving. Either you are or you are not tithing. Black and white, cut and dried, measured and judged.

Ouch. Who wants to talk about something when the likelihood is that either you or others will judge you a failure? Even if the only other person who knows you aren't tithing is the financial secretary, well, the two of you know you are a failure. Right? Scripture tells us to tithe. It's measurable, laid out as the first ten percent.

One of the things I value most about being a Methodist is the emphasis on a personal relationship with God. Our beliefs force you to figure out what faith and discipleship mean for you. There is a quote that has been attributed to John Wesley that, for me, summarizes Methodism: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity." If we are in firm agreement and unison on the essentials, there is room for personal interpretation on the non-essentials. And there must be charity in determining what is essential and what is non-essential.

So, here is my non-essential. Scripture also tells us that we give not because the church needs the money (although it has been my experience that there was a lot of that in scripture, too), but because of what it says about our relationship with God. I always remember the widow who gave her last coin, the parable of the servants and the talents, the disciples leaving behind not just their possessions, but their families too, the prodigal son. These are about a strong faith and spirit of generosity to which I only aspire. These are about extravagant generosity. And it is a topic I think is easier to discuss, too. There really is room to be proportional, to consider what and why you give instead of being locked in to the success-failure measures.

Before I close this week, I want to be very clear that these are the ramblings and interpretations of one person. I know only enough to know that I don't know enough. The best I can do is articulate questions and offer personal observations and thoughts. I can't quote scripture, I can't recite the United Methodist theology, but I know what I believe and hope you will engage with me in conversation that will enrich and deepen all of our understanding. My hope is that by practicing together we can find a spirit of generosity that will enhance and reflect our personal relationship with God and that we will be comfortable discussing with others.