It is time to rethink generosity. This is the growing call that we hear in the global church. With the example of the radically generous and sharing church in Acts 4:32-35, Christians are again called to integrate generosity as part of their discipleship. As Patrick Johnson of Generous Church (https://generouschurch.com/) says “generosity is more than an act of giving – it is a way of living.” We often view generosity as a line with various acts of giving. However we need to rethink generosity as a circle where generosity becomes an integrated way of living. In this way we should become an imitator of Jesus Christ who lived generously as part of who He is as a generous God who gave His life for people.
Especially since 2010 we started to see a greater focus on stewardship as the way Christians manage the resources God has given us, generosity as the way Christians share those resources with others and giving as the way Christians give their resources to advance God’s Kingdom. Various generosity initiatives had been started and various articles and books had been published. That includes the generosity edition of the WEA Evangelical Review of Theology that was published in 2013 (https://theology.worldea.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/ERT-37-1.pdf). And in 2015, the Global Generosity Network collaborated with Kingdom Life Publishing in publishing Christ-Centered Generosity (https://www.kingdomlifepublishing.com/product/christ-centered-generosity/) that includes a seven-day generosity challenge (https://www.kingdomlifepublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Seven-Day-Generosity-Challenge.pdf) and a commitment to Biblical generosity (https://www.kingdomlifepublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/My-Commitment-to-Biblical-Generosity.pdf). For free pdf copies of the book, please contact me at [email protected].
However, we need many more publications that challenge Christians to live more generously. I am therefore very pleased that the editors of Christian Manager decided to focus the December 2024/January 2025 edition of the magazine on generosity. Though published in India, the articles are of value in other contexts as well. I wrote a report on the Global Generosity Forum, which took place in October 2023 in Manila, Philippines. The report also includes an overview of the Generosity Declaration (https://worldea.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Generosity-Declaration.pdf) that calls on the Global Church to:
- Integrate Biblical stewardship, generous living, and Kingdom-focused giving into the theology and life of every local church, group, network, ministry, and organization.
- Prioritize stewardship, financial discipleship, generosity, and giving into all of its evangelism and discipleship practices.
I would encourage Christian leaders to read and reflect on the articles in the Christian Manager. Please contact me for more information on these articles or ways the Global Generosity Network can support churches, organisations, networks and ministries to integrate stewardship, generosity and giving in their theology and life. We are also looking to connect with publishers who would be interested in publishing generosity editions for their contexts.
Dr Sas Conradie
Coordinator World Evangelical Alliance Global Generosity Network
E-mail: [email protected]
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