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What if everyone was generous?

GenerosityAs reported on Monday Morning Insight, Elevation Church gave a reverse offering last Sunday to encourage people to be generous. Instead of taking up a normal offering, they gave attenders the same amount of money as is normally received each week, and told them that they couldn’t spend the money on themselves, they couldn’t give it back to the church, and they had to tell the church what the did with the money.

Churches are often very careful with money, treating it as a scarce resource. A lot of emphasis is place on good stewardship and making sure that every dollar is used wisely. Much time and effort is devoted to fundraising activities. But what could the church look like in the future if members were encouraged to be extravagantly generous, rather than “careful” with money? Elevation Church is trying to create a culture of generosity.

When Jesus met the rich young man, he didn’t tell the man to set up an elaborate trust to make sure he received maximum value for all his money. Jesus told him to sell everything and give it away to the poor. This seems to me to be more like extravagant generosity than careful stewardship. Imagine how significant the church’s influence would be if members would only open the purse strings and let the generosity flow freely.