When it comes to fundraising at Good Shepherd’s, we are different from other organizations in how we use them. Fundraisers can be good, but there are also concerns with them. This series will carefully step us through what makes fundraisers work so they are healthy for God’s people.

Step Three: Fundraisers that work give more than they swap

In everything we do as believers, we want to reflect God’s love. When God loves us he does it freely. We don’t earn it from him. God showed his love for us by sending Christ to be perfect and die on the cross. In fact, we can’t give anything to earn God’s love because we are sinful. So God’s love is free—a gift, no strings attached. That free love is the reason we truly love others. We want to give ourselves to others free of charge (no strings attached) because that’s how God loves us. “We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

When we give an offering of money to support the work Christ gave us (see Step One), that offering reflects our inner attitude of love. Because God freely gave his Son for us, we freely give to him. Why? Because we’re not in competition with God; we’re not trying to earn his happiness. He gifted his love to us in Jesus Christ. So everything in our relationship with God is about freely giving.

Fundraisers may confuse that freedom. Typically fundraisers promise to support an organization with an expectation of getting something in return. I swap my money (my offering) in exchange for goods. But that’s not the way God treats us. God gives his love freely. Fundraisers may inadvertently teach someone that the reason they give an offering is to get something out of God.

The sinful world is driven by profit and getting. But Christians aren’t. They give—freely—because God gave his love freely to them. Fundraisers that work focus more on the freely giving than on the getting—they give more than they swap.

Please e-mail your questions and feedback to pastors@GoodShepherds.net

Up next! Fundraisers that work understand unintentional consquences.