Leadership in Context with Keith Tucci
Episode 014
Being Missional, part 4
Being Missional: Ponds—usually refers to a water pond, but today we are going to refer to it in a provisionalsense.
One of the marks of a church with a mission is that it has vision. One of the clearest ways you define and infuse vision is to demonstrate a strategic plan to obtain and acquire the provisionto fuel the vision. As a result of that, missional churches have leadership who are unapologetic about asking people for their time, talent, and their treasure. This requires skill and understanding of whatyou are trying to accomplish and whoyou are trying to accomplish that with.
One of the reasons missional churches tend to be healthier than non-missional churches is they are training people to be givers, not just takers. They are training people to not be selfish and not be self-focused.
4 Ponds of Giving Found in Scripture
Tithe: demonstrable, measurable amount that God asks for
Alms: giving to the poor, the needy. There is a difference between the needy and the poor, and the slothful and the wasteful. Have a form that asks basic questions like: What is your financial need? Have you received helped for this need before? Describe the current situation that has led to this need. What is the specific need? (Meaning, how much?) Do you tithe? Will you commit to financial counseling?
Missions Offerings
Building Funds
These are all legitimate ways to put provisionto your vision.
Finding Ponds
There are certain things that people get more excited about giving to. There are people who believe in you and will give to just about anything you do. But if you can find their pond, find the thing in their heart that really moves them, and focus on that with that person, you will see an increase in giving. A lot of local pastors and leaders tend to believe that the ponds are only so deep. Although that may be true in a major sense, the truth is, there is a lot of giving that is not being done in our local churches, but rather is being given to organizations outside the church. This happens because we do a poor job at missional giving and giving people opportunity to do the things that stir their hearts.
Example: Missions Giving Ponds
There are people who will give to send teachers to foreign fields, but they won’t give money to sponsor a student. There are people who will sponsor a student, but they won’t give money to build a Bible college. If you will focus the people who are motivated in specific areas, your giving will go up. This will only work if you chart what your giving is. If you have an active missions program, you are probably giving to different types—drilling wells, supporting missionaries, building schools, disaster relief projects, etc. There are certain people who give to each type. When you give people multiple opportunities and you are teaching them what you are doing, there are ponds of giving that will be released.
To accomplish this, you have to go back to the beginning and really articulate what you are doing with missions. Ask a few committed church members quickly before church: Who are the missions and the missions organizations we support? Their answers will give you a good gauge on how clearly you have been communicating your missions vision.
I’m a big believer of receiving regular missions offerings once a months, as well as the occasional spontaneous missions offering. Rather than taking up a generic missions offering, articulate specifically what you are giving to and why. You are appealing to people, understanding that some people may not give, but others will give very generously.
Chart the responses—who is giving to what. You can use that information to get their input as you expand your missions ponds.
Within 18 months of my implementing this ponds concept, our giving increased ten-fold. I took this science and began to understand that there are different people out there, motivated by different things, but they all want to make a difference.
Join us next week as Keith Tucci continues to put leadership truth in the context of the local church. And as always, please like, share, rate/review, and invite others to listen. See you next week!
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