Are you worried that the big givers in your Church seem no more eager to give?
Is there a likelihood that the aftermath of the pandemic could have disrupted their finances? Maybe the Church needs new strategies to pull in more donors. You know all of these and more are valid concerns, but one vital thing that the Church hardly considers as a first option is to build wealthy donors from its membership. You can have church members becoming influential donors in the nonprofit and Charity spaces globally. It is a worthy investment for every Church that desires multifaceted growth.
The creation of wealth is both a Godly gift and a command. The Church should not be comfortable harvesting ready-made wealthy donors from wherever. That is because they will only remain loyal to the system that made their placement possible!
As harsh as it sounds, it is the blatant truth that we must stop avoiding. Wealth only flourishes where value flows, and if the Church must retain its wealthy donors, it must also become a fertile ground for them to thrive.
Now, I am not saying to turn the House of Worship into a marketplace. My point is that we must be ready to transform the House of Worship into a place of inestimable value. The Church must be a place where wealth creation is a paramount biblical standard.
Let me start by showing you why the Church should be at the center of building up wealthy people from the account of Moses in Deuteronomy 8:18. It says, “But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.”
Here, Moses shows us three important things about wealth creation:
- He reminds us that it is God who gives us the ability to produce/create wealth. He is the crux of wealth creation.
- Wealth creation confirms the covenant God gave to Abraham and is repeated at least 28 times in the Old Testament where God states, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
- God has given us an abundance of raw materials, but He retains ownership, establishing us as stewards of his creation till today and forever.
In the opening chapter of Genesis, we read that God created us in His image, according to His likeness gave humanity the role of directing us to fill the earth with God’s images and subdue it, making it an incredible place for these images to flourish (Gen.1:28). God expects us to create with the raw materials He has so graciously given unto us.
As a church leader in recent times, how many times have you asked your congregant if they know how God requires them to subdue and replenish the earth?
God wants His people to create true wealth- the kind that blesses families, communities, and the world at large is what we are talking about here. That blessing includes sharing faith, true love, and the gospel of Christ, providing meaningful jobs, and reflecting the creativity of our God by building scalable and sustainable businesses that can survive the long haul. It involves raising spirit-filled political giants to transform the global economy, among many others. With all of these responsibilities, should the Church wait for some tossing of blessings or rather the one building wealthy men up to deliver God’s expectations?
Below are three ways the Church can build up truly wealthy members within the Church.
TEACH ABOUT THE SEED PRINCIPLE
As a church leader, you should teach your members consistently on the principle of the seed. Teach them the need to organize and manage their finances, not to live way above their means. Let them know that growth starts with the sowing of a seed. Everyone has at least one talent deposited in them at birth, but it cannot be docile if you want it to grow.
When a seed gets sown, if you do not water it or place it in a place where it is in contact with direct sunlight, you might just be putting it up for its death. In other words, if you do not assist your seed with works, it won’t grow and will die. Just like physical seeds, money cannot grow and produce more if you don’t put it to work. Stacking your cash in a savings account or a piggy bank does not build riches at all. Sow into fertile grounds by making calculative investments.
When you invest money wisely, it multiplies exponentially over time. That produces more seeds for an even greater harvest in the future. The better job you do at sowing your seed into fertile ground and tending to it well, your gains will be more than your losses.
As their pastor, you owe it to them to deliver value that they did not solicit but that they need to come to the full potential of their capacity.
- TEACH THEM THAT SAVINGS AND INVESTMENT HONORS GOD AND IS AN ACT OF SERVICE TO MANKIND
God is a supreme being who is all about unlimited creativity and multiplication. When He created us in His image, He poured out these attributes in us as well. When you freely use the creativity God has given you to multiply your money through investments and building sustainable and scalable businesses, you are doing one of the many creative acts of service that God created you to do.
Remember the time when Aaron got pressure from the Israelites to make a carved image for their worship. He used his creativity to make a golden calf from jewelry. That should be commendable, but remember God retains the ownership of our ability to create. That is why your congregants need to understand that investment outside God’s purpose can only be equal to failure. You can already guess why Aaron’s creativity never made the light of day.
- CREATE AND FUEL A MINISTRY THAT CATERS TO THEM WITHIN THE CHURCH
Just like the Children ministry or the waiting mothers’ ministry, create a ministry that caters to the top business executives within your Church. Some of the churches already registered with ChurchPad have it as Business fellowships, but you can have it as a ministry or a community. It can be an avenue for top business executives to network, share experiences in the journey of their faith to encourage one another, help one another with challenges in and out of business, discuss political views, and a lot more. It can be a community, all within your Church.
By so doing, these people will be getting so much value from the community you created; and would not be reluctant to donate whenever there is an Ask. Wealth grows where value flows. Let your Church be a place where Immense value lives and thrives.