What is the key to building a generous church culture?
Could it be:
- Telling a compelling story?
- Running a slick capital campaign?
- Sharing a recent testimony?
- Letting your church members know their gift matters?
These tactics and more can motivate people in your church to give, and they may lead to a short-term boost in generosity. But any tactics you use will fail in the long run if you don’t build a culture of generosity to sustain them.
There’s only one way you can build a generous church culture.
Zacchaeus, meet Jesus
Zacchaeus was a man of small stature (Luke 19:3), but he was also a man of great wealth (19:2).
He was despised by the people of his community. Not because he was a man of financial means, but because he presumably used his position as the chief tax collector in town to collect more money than he should have collected.
But Zacchaeus was transformed into a generous giver. He gave half of his possessions to the poor and paid back what he took from others fourfold (19:8).
How did this happen?
Jesus transformed Zacchaeus (19:3–6).
Jesus gave him a new life and a new heart (19:9–10). He led Zacchaeus to become a giver.
There’s an essential lesson in this story you need to grasp in order to unleash generosity in your church.
The foundation of generosity
The foundation of generosity is not built upon a solid campaign strategy or the pillars of the latest digital tactics. The foundation of a generous church culture is built upon leading the people in your church to Jesus.
I know this sounds trite, but hear me out.
Jesus is a giver.
He graciously gave his life for us so that we might live in him.
Like Zacchaeus, it’s when we come face-to-face with Jesus that we are transformed into generous people. This isn’t a superficial transformation or a one-time offering.
In Christ, our desire to give will in time overshadow our willingness to receive, the grasp on our belongings will become loosened, and we will be led to give joyfully from what we have.
If you want to build a generous church culture, then continue to preach the gospel and teach biblical stewardship.
Remind your church that Jesus has given them new life. Regularly let them know that Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice so that they could be forgiven from their sins, receive his perfect righteousness, and become children of God.
In time, as you preach the gospel and lead people to meet Jesus, you will see your church members respond to his generosity by being generous themselves.
Over to you
It will certainly be helpful to provide your church community with online giving and mobile giving tools, as well as following the best practices for increasing giving in your congregation. But in the words of Chris Willard and Jim Sheppard, the authors of Contagious Generosity, “Well-executed tactics fail if there is no culture of generosity to support them.”
Before you rush to embrace the latest and greatest promotional tactic, take time to prayerfully reflect on the ministry in your church and whether you are regularly preaching the gospel and leading the people in your church to meet Jesus face-to-face—just like Zacchaeus.
Here are three questions you can ask to help you think through your ministry:
- How does Zaccchaeus’s story illustrate the importance of preaching the gospel?
- In what ways does your church do a good job of leading people to a deeper connection with Jesus?
- Where can your church improve in this area?
About the Author
Jesse Wisnewski is the senior content marketer at Tithe.ly. Jesse is also the founder of Stillhouse Marketing and the keeper of Copybot. He lives outside of Nashville, TN with his wife and five kids.
