Nine days of fundraising – hurrah!!

Now here’s a funny thing – why is it that you can tell people what God is doing through an organisation/ministry, you can even show them LOTS of fruit – changed lives, people getting saved, healed, set free etc. BUT it’s not until you tell them that if they “sow” money into that vision they will be blessed – their finances will increase, their family will be saved, they will be prospered etc. – that they actually put their hand in their pocket and give – WHY!!!!!!

That’s the question I have been wrestling with these last 9 days as I have been producing GOD TV’s Missions Week. GOD TV, the ministry that Rory and Wendy Alec started over 11 years ago has profoundly changed lives on a global basis- they have numerous testimonies of this. They started broadcasting 2 hours per day in the dead of the night on the Sky Analogue satellite in the UK (I know, I joined them on day 2) and have grown incredibly ever since to where now they broadcast to a potential audience of 125 million homes, 6 different 24 hour channels – on 14 different satellites, plus cable etc. Globally All this has been achieved through the vision and the drive of Rory and Wendy with very little help from LARGE investors, churches etc (though there is 1 man who has been an incredible financial support to them) – no one can deny what they have achieved – and yet it still takes an appeal to the selfish nature of the viewers to see the finances come in to fund this – and I don’t understand that.

I do wonder though if Christian TV has done this to itself. Have we created a culture in our viewers where they have become selfish – and if they don’t see something in it for themselves they won’t support it? If so then that’s very sad, but not surprising when you consider how prominent the “prosperity” message is on Christian TV. Now let me nail my colours to the mast here – I believe passionately that God wants us to prosper, I believe that God does not want us poor and in lack, I believe that God wants us to be prosperous for 1 reason – to release finances into His Kingdom for His work – otherwise we won’t be able to fulfil the great commission. BUT and I believe this is a big but – we are supposed to give out of obedience to His word – I believe in Tithes and Offerings (I also believe you can’t “out give” God) – but our motive for giving should never be out of what we can get from it – it should always be out of a motive of obedience. My Bible tells me that God loves a cheerful giver – not a selfish giver. It’s this I believe that is hindering Christian TV. Most of the time the “message to give” is tied into some “blessing” coming back – and whilst I believe this is true that if we give (from a motive of obedience) we will be blessed – every time it is said it reinforces the selfish motives of our giving – so much so that people now wait to hear what’s in it for them before they respond. But how do you break away from that and get back to sharing vision and people responding – in obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit?

I personally believe (maybe I’m naïve) that the answer has to be faith. Our Telethons, Missions Weeks, Fundraisers, call them what you will is NOT our source and supply – that is God alone and every time we look to our ingenuity, cleverness, maybe sometimes “manipulative techniques” to raise the finance we need, instead of to God himself we will always come up short.
My wife and I sometime back read the story of George Muller and were incredibly inspired (get hold of the book and read it) – put simply; here was a man who founded Children’s homes in the South West of England BUT he never asked anyone for anything, he never had an offering, never passed the plate round – simply when he had a need he prayed and God supplied!! Am I saying ditch our offerings, get rid of our Telethons etc. and instead lets go to our prayer closets and pray – categorically NO (though I for one could do with praying more) we must give people the opportunity to support our activities, we must “publish” the vision – it’s scriptural to do so and if you don’t you maybe denying someone an opportunity to get blessed through their giving? What I am saying is do them in full integrity – don’t try and manipulate people to give by offering them blessings etc. but lay out your vision and ask them to support it. But what happens when they don’t – that’s when the prayer kicks in – let’s believe that God provides all our needs – not our Telethons. Now here’s a wild thought – maybe if he doesn’t come through we shouldn’t be doing it anyway!! Perhaps then we can slowly break the cycle that has been established and slowly people will start supporting our ministries for the right reasons – not for what they are getting out of it but because they believe in what we are doing – I’d be very surprised if in the long term these type of partners were not far better for us than those who give out of more selfish motives.

Let’s tough it out and change how we do things, if we don’t I believe we are storing up big trouble for the future – ‘cause the next generation (the kids) don’t buy into this at all – if anything they are turned off by it and they need to be our future funders – but they do want a cause they can get behind, you only have to look at the success of the Make Poverty History movement to see that – let’s us in the Christian Media give them a cause they can get behind and support but do it with total integrity, no manipulative techniques, no promises of blessings – BUT just because its worth it and we can TOGETHER make a difference.