Asking Donors the Money Questions

Donors, like all followers of Christ, are in different stages in their walk and maturity about money. Some are very new (childlike in the scriptures) and they are imitators in that they follow the example of others.

We will explore these levels in a subsequent blog when we look at the good work of Wes Wilmer.

In the meantime, however, we meet with people and we should have some basic conversations about money with them. We can and should ask:

• "Do you give to your local church?"
  


• "What other ministries or causes do you contribute to?" and "What is it about their mission and work that causes you to support them?"


• "What motivates you to give so faithfully?"

These are not asked to manipulate or to paint someone into a corner; it is so we can get to know them so that we have our conversation at the right level. Again, we cannot give milk drinkers solid food until they are ready.

Remember, Jesus was unashamed to talk about giving as He "sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put," in Mark 12:41-44, in order to teach his disciples the difference between giving out of one's surplus and giving sacrificially. He was not timid talking about money and giving, and neither should we be. Jesus loved asking questions, not because He did not know the answers, but to get people to think.

It comes back to our motivation. Are we asking these to induce shame or guilt? Or, we are asking so that our donor friends think through the rationale for why they do what they do?

The way we think about donors impacts how we pray for and encourage them.

Lord, give me your heart for this fellow saint. Amen.