Jesus… The Venture Capitalist?

The Parable of the Talents told in Matthew 25:14-30 is one of my favorites for so many reasons.  One reason I love this story so much is because, like all of the parables, there are a variety of nuances in interpreting the story.  Another reason is because the verse, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” is a verse I keep at the forefront in my life. I try to guide all of actions by asking if this is how Christ would respond as my life expires.  Lastly, I had such a distorted and confused understanding of this section of scripture when I called myself an Atheist. Like many other Atheists and Agnostics, I saw a God that I did not want to know and that I knew would reject me even if I did tried to please Him.

Allow me to summarize…

Jesus describes a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more talents. So also, the one with two talents gained two more. But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

Before going further I should note that a talent was a sum of money worth about 20 years of a day laborer’s wage.  So, this was a massive amount of money for each of the servants. 

After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five talents brought the other five and the man with two talents came to show he gained two more. To both the master said, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

The man who had received one talent came and said, “Master, you are a hard man, you harvest where you have not sown and gather where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your money in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.”

His master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! You should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that I would have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. For whoever has will be given more and they will have abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness.”

Before I came to faith I understood this story quite literally.  This is a story about a really rich guy with servants.  The rich guy rewards the people who make him richer and punishes the people who do not make him richer… even if they do not lose him money.  As a really poor kid from a poor family, I always saw myself as that third servant.  I was so poor that if I ever had that huge sum of money I would just want to hold on to it and I would be terrified I would lose it all.  In the end, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the world is the same terrible and godless place I always knew it to be.

Having a rudimentary understanding of God actually distorted the story further.  I now had some understanding of the parable concept. A parable is a short fictitious story that illustrates a moral principle or concept.  Now I understood the Master as God but the rest of the story was the same.  A mean God gives me less to start out with and then punishes me for not doing as much with what I have.  In the end, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the world is a terrible place ruled by a terrible God who is just waiting for me to mess up so He can squash me with His thumb.  I still lose.

At this point in my life, God has given me a different understanding.  I had always looked at what the Master was doing in the parable… how the Master reacted… how he treated his poor, weak, incapable servant.  I gave little thought to the servant himself, how he responded, what he could have done differently, and what an opportunity he really had.  I also took little time to think about the other two servants and what they did with the same amount of time and opportunity.  There are some very real facts here that I ignored, facts that the parable form was meant to illustrate. 

Again… a wealthy man went on a journey and entrusted his servant with the equivalent of 20 years of a day laborer’s wage, let’s call that $300,000 in today’s money.  Never mind what he gave to the other servants… he gave him $300,000… and he knew that he was expected to use that money as seed money to gain more.  Do we really think the master did not trust this man?  Is it likely that this very wealthy man only had three servants?  I doubt it.  He likely had many, many servants, but these are the three he trusted most.  He probably discharged a great many servants before leaving for his journey and other servants probably traveled with him to continue to serve him.  This was not his weakest servant-- this was one of his best, one of his most trusted and highly regarded servants.  He knew what was expected of him, and yet he still took that money and hid it in the ground.

When we compare this to the other servants, we see the startling contrast.  The other two servants doubled the money entrusted to them.  Do you think they did that overnight?  Did they do that without first spending and investing a great deal of the money?  What if the master came back before the return on investment was realized?  This is likely what the third servant was concerned about.  But the first two servants took these great risks knowing that with great risk often comes great reward.  These servants knew that the master had confidence in them.  They knew the master saw talent in them and they persevered and strived to live up to the expectations of the master.

Why did I previously focus on the Master?  The Master gave me the talents and then allowed me to do what I wished with them.  Then when I used my talents for bad and squandered them in my life I blamed the Master.  We see this all too frequently.  I know now that God has given me all the gifts and talents I need to be successful.  Sure, there are others who are more talented and others who are more gifted.  My talents, though they may be small, are sufficient.  If I am not given more, it is likely because I am currently coasting or playing it safe with the talents I have.  As I use these talents to their potential, I will be given more.  Those who choose not to use their talents call this provision luck; however, we know it as a mixture of hard work and God’s blessings.

 

Dr. Jeffrey J. Rodman, a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and Certified Grants Specialist (CGS), and has focused the last 15 years on grant writing, fundraising, and funding development for church, Christian ministries, and other nonprofit organizations.  Dr. Rodman holds a bachelor in Counseling, a master degree in education, and a doctorate in religion. Dr. Rodman founded Here-4-You Consulting in 2000 and has worked with over 200 ministries from across the United States and over a dozen other countries.  He has secured nearly $100 million in funding from every imaginable type of funding source and has an average 10 to 1 Return On Investment (ROI)… meaning that on average NPOs secure $10 in funding for every $1 they invest in services.

Here-4-You Consulting & Grant Writing

Dr. Jeffrey J. Rodman, CFRE, CGS
President & CEO
Website: http://www.npfunds.com
Phone: 1-866-HERE-4-U-1

TAGS: Church growth, decreased giving, church finance, church tithe, church assessment, turnaround church, Christian grant, church grant, church funding, church fundraising, Christian fundraising

STOP Watching Churches Die

As a church growth and funding consultant, I receive phone calls and emails weekly from desperate and dying churches, and the question that I refrain from asking each of them is, “Why did you wait so long to do something?”

Are you watching your church membership wither away?  Just watching… a very long and drawn out death… slowly draining away the last bit of energy and resources.  You may know the main problems causing decline… you may even know the solutions.  But by delaying action, solutions now sometimes seem like big problems and problems like simple solutions.  So instead of digging out… you avoid conflict, dig in on the causes, and hasten the death toll.  The youngest are the first to fall off… babies, children, teens… and then the heartbroken and devastated families perish with them.  Buildings begin to empty, banks move in and start to foreclose in record numbers, but still nothing changes.  Sadly, this is the state of many mainstream Protestant churches in America!

In recent years, churches have steadily declined in health due to an overall trend toward declining attendance, aging membership, and a steady decrease in giving.  A Barna study on “How to Increase Giving in Your Church” shows that as of 2010, more than 25% of churches have average weekly attendance of less than 50 and nearly 50% have less than 100 people in weekly services. More than 80% of congregations note that the current recession had a negative impact on finances.  According to the real estate information company CoStar Group, church foreclosures increased fivefold from 2008 to 2011.  Overall, only 3 to 5 percent of those who donate money to a church tithe (give 10 percent of) their incomes. Clearly, many American churches have floundered in their effort to stay relevant, solvent, and vital as communities shift culturally and struggle financially.

But, it can be different.  It will take leaders who are willing to step far outside of their comfort zones and do things they have not done before.  If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.  So, are you ready for a new and different approach?  Are you ready to stop being a spectator as your church slides further into the abyss and join with other leaders to impact a church turnaround? Elmer Towns, co-founder of Liberty University, says that just as humans are prone toward sin so are churches prone to naturally drift from God.  It is only through a constant, conscious, and continuous effort that churches will continue to move forward.  Churches not moving forward are sliding backward. 

Churches can begin to effect a turnaround by implementing a series of strategies and addressing the core issues causing decline. Most churches wait far too long before acknowledging the difficulties and trying to make changes.  On average, 63% of declining churches are in moderate to severe crisis for over three years before they begin a turnaround effort.  At that point they already have seen a significant decline in giving, attendance, membership and likely lack the human and financial resources to muster a significant campaign.  Fortunately, there are a series of incremental low-budget steps that congregations can take to change direction.

To effect change, a church will first need to redefine reality for the congregation.  This involves honest conversation about the current state of the church, of attendance numbers, current giving, new members, and other factors.  Often pastors resist this conversation as an indictment on their leadership, but this is clearly counterproductive.   Leadership needs to take proactive action to get a complete and clear picture of the current state of affairs before any efforts to make changes occur.

A leadership team can then use this clarified picture to create a sense of urgency within the congregation.  The congregation is much more likely to support dramatic efforts and big changes if there is an understanding that the need to change is urgent.  Create a broad understanding that there is an urgent need for change.  But, at the same time, do not create such a bleak picture that members lose hope that a recovery is possible.  Members need to know that the church can and will revitalize.

Often a church will start a turnaround while still leaving ineffective structures and staff in place.  With the understanding of the need for urgent changes, it is important to make a complete and honest assessment of the entire church as an organization that leads to decision points.  This will likely lead to making difficult decisions such as letting go of staff, removing volunteers, closing programs, redirecting funds, or even asking the pastor to step down.  Pray for a renewed vision, make hard choices, make big moves, do new things.  Remember, if nothing changes, nothing changes.

With internal actions underway and big changes made, the congregation can now turn the focus to the community, to outside the church walls, as a means of making a turnaround.  Focus on the needs of the greater community and how you can meet these needs.  If you don’t know the needs of the community, have a community needs assessment conducted so that you are not guessing at what is needed.  If funds are too limited to offer services to meet identified needs, then look for ways to partner with other organizations.  Turnaround churches find that these partnerships can make the church look busy even if programs are limited.  While not ideal, appearing to be a vibrant and active faith community is at least a step in the right direction.  If you continue to act like a revitalized church eventually you, your church members, and the entire community will come to believe this as well.

Lastly, a turnaround is often most influenced when we start something new.  A new worship service, new classes, a new ministry area.  Promote this newness through press releases to local newspapers and through social media.  Often these new activities can be implemented at a very low cost and with mostly volunteer efforts to start.  Combined with outreach efforts and community partnerships, it will be clear that something is happening and more people will want to be a part of this something.

Are you ready to change the vitality of your church?

Dr. Jeffrey J. Rodman, a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and Certified Grants Specialist (CGS), and has focused the last 15 years on grant writing, fundraising, and funding development for church, Christian ministries, and other nonprofit organizations.  Dr. Rodman holds a bachelor in Counseling, a master degree in education, and a doctorate in religion. Dr. Rodman founded Here-4-You Consulting in 2000 and has worked with over 200 ministries from across the United States and over a dozen other countries.  He has secured nearly $100 million in funding from every imaginable type of funding source and has an average 10 to 1 Return On Investment (ROI)… meaning that on average NPOs secure $10 in funding for every $1 they invest in services.

Here-4-You Consulting & Grant Writing
Dr. Jeffrey J. Rodman, CFRE, CGS
President & CEO
Website: http://www.npfunds.com
Phone: 1-866-HERE-4-U-1

Get Equipped to Secured New Donors

Has God ever given you a BIG job to do but then you try to convince yourself that God changed His mind? Maybe you tell yourself it was your own mind talking and not God speaking to you… when you know it was the Lord telling you it is time to move.

 

I know this has happened to me. Has it ever happened to you?

 

Those of us working with ministries, nonprofits, and churches I think sometimes face a somewhat similar situation. You're getting ready to meet a donor to ask for a gift. Then you talk yourself out of asking. Why? You come up with seemingly solid reasons why you should hold off on asking, but should you? For Christians, I think it is important during these times to listen for what God would have us do in these moments.

 

In addition to prayer, there are some practical techniques we can use. I just watched a video I thought you might like that deals with this very issue. Marc Pitman (aka the Fundraising Coach) talks about preparing to ask a donor for a gift.

 

He has some great examples of how to prepare for a donor meeting so it goes much smoother. Check it out: http://www.501videos.com/cmd.php?Clk=4849219

 

I hope this video proves to be a useful resource for your ministry, and if you have questions about developing funding for your ministry, please contact us by replying to this email or giving us a call toll-free at 866-437-3481. We look forward to hearing from you!

 

Contact Here-4-You Consulting toll-free at 866-437-3481 for information on how we may serve your ministry. Our mission is to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. (KJV Ephesians 4:12)