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January 27, 2009
Why isn't the church leading the way in generosity?
The Bill Gates Foundation lost 20% of it's value in 2008. But in a recent announcement, Bill Gates said that his Foundation plans to give more in 2009 than in did in 2008.
So let me make sure I'm reading this right: Assests and total value are down but giving will increase.
The Bill Gates Foundation has every reasonable excuse to hold the purse strings tight, hold back and attempt to survive 2009 hoping economic conditions will improve. But this Foundation isn't hunkering down to survive, it's leading the way in generosity.
This should be the posture of Churches too. If we truly were people of faith, we would resist the temptation to survive, open our eyes to the increased need and respond with a spirit of generosity. (Remember the Gospel story of Jesus feeding the five thousand?)
How we respond as an organization as measured by our fiscal allocations and budget expenditures and the ministries we choose to invest in (or not invest in) over the coming year will say a lot about what we believe...more than ever will be heard from the pulpit.
And how we respond will either affirm for our members (that is, our contributors) that the Church is the best place to invest their funds or push them to consider other nonprofit options.
Posted by bstroup at January 27, 2009 10:38 AM
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