4. We changed the way we thought about giving.
As a senior pastor, I realized I had to take the lead in this area if I expected the people in our church to grow or change. Anything I wanted our people to do, I had to lead by example. Which meant I needed to be the primary voice teaching about giving each week at the offering time, not my staff.
So each week, I began sharing a scripture on giving. I told the people what God’s word said about tithing. We started telling stories of lives that were being impacted by our giving, and we challenged people to start tithing and see how God would take care of them.
I actually gave my congregation a three-month, money back guarantee.
If they tithed for three months, and weren’t satisfied with the progress they saw in their own spiritual lives or if they felt God didn’t keep his word, they could contact me and we would refund their money in full. (To find out more about the Tithe Challenge, go to give.theoaksonline.org.)
These four changes came as a result of a paradigm shift in thinking.
We didn’t just want to grow in number, but in impact. And the only way to do that was to get ourselves more in alignment with the way the scripture tells us to grow.
Examine each of these changes and see if you agree—this is what growth should look like.
So what changes is God taking your church through? How are you working to grow and change?
