Radical Generosity

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About eight months ago I began reading Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love. Radical to the core, Chan made numerous suggestions on giving, worshiping and all-around drastic living. Throughout the book were examples taken from his own ministry on how to part with things that mattered the least: Possessions.

One illustration stood out to me more than all the rest and it was about Cornerstone Church and the location of their services. This church, led by Chan, contains more than 4,000 members and is by definition an up-and-coming mega church. Instead of building a traditional building structure, the church made plans to construct an outdoor amphitheater in an effort to save cost. The catch here is that the church had no plans of putting the saved funds into its own survival, instead, they committed as a flock to increase their giving funds. When the weather is beautiful, they worship in beauty. When it rains, they worship in the rain.

Deuteronomy 15:10
“Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart…” – NIV

Isn’t it ironic that the least valuable commodity that we have – material possessions – is that which we grip the tightest? Our hearts…changeable. Our behavior…variable. But our things…no sir, they’re staying with us.

I have heard it said that the test of generosity is not how much you give, but how much you have left. I truly believe that we all want to be greatly generous in the course of our lives, but perhaps, now we rely on the claim that we don’t have much to give at the moment. Has it ever occurred to us that we have little because we give little? God’s principles will not be violated even by those with the best of intentions. Again and again His words promise that good stewards with little will be given much.

Jesus calls us to be radical. Sacrificially radical and sacrificially generous.