It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy. Proverbs 14:21
“I want to help. I want to do something for people in need. I want to offer consolation to those who are in grief and alleviate the suffering of those who are in pain. There is obviously nothing wrong with that desire. It is a noble and grace-filled desire. But unless I realize that God’s blessing is coming to me from those I want to serve, my help will be short-lived, and soon I will be burned out.
How is it possible to keep caring for the poor when the poor only get poorer? How is it possible to keep nursing the sick when they are not getting better? How can I keep consoling the dying when their deaths only bring me more grief? The answer is that they all hold a blessing for me, a blessing that I need to receive.
Ministry is, first of all, receiving God’s blessing from those to whom we minister. What is this blessing? It is a glimpse of the face of God. Seeing God is what heaven is all about! We can see God in the face of Jesus, and we can see the face of Jesus in all those who need our care… We so much need a blessing. The poor are waiting to bless us.”
Henri Nouwen in Here and Now: Living in the Spirit (New York: Crossroad, 1994) 82-83.
Generosity is often viewed as going one direction, from the giver to the receiver. Nouwen alerts us today that the reason God desires that we help the needy is because they have a blessing for us.
Right now, GTP and GenerousChurch staff are in Southeast Asia doing a multi-day Generosity Design Lab for a team from the Philippines to help them create a generosity curriculum.
Why do this? Is it to generate greater giving from God’s people? That’s part of it, for sure, but that’s only half the picture. The goal must never just be to get people to give more money to solve problems.
When we approach poverty for example as solving a problem, we will be endlessly disappointed because the poor will always be with us. So what is the alternative? God wants us to do it to show love and when we do we receive it in return.
When we approach it as showing love, we receive love in return and the blessing we receive often outweighs the blessing we give. So, let me take you back to the generosity curriculum. Why help create it?
With our friends at Christian Stewardship Association (Philippines), we want to multiply stewards across the Philippines who understand that generous living will come with a blessing that far outweighs the cost.
Why? This brings heaven to earth! It helps people meet Jesus one person at a time or one church at a time. As groups use the contextualized generosity curriculum, we unleash multitudes of generous disciples who give and receive blessing.