You Don't Have a Generosity Problem
Your giving is missing a story, not a percentage.
“10% should really be the floor for giving.”
If you’ve spent time in the church, you’ve probably heard some version of this.
The idea is that the gospel raises the bar. Love and grace should make us more generous than the law required, not less. So, 10% becomes the starting point, not the finish line.
It sounds right.
But I think it’s flawed. It starts from an incomplete assumption: that the answer to more generosity is more law.
More compliance.
So, for those of us who are rule followers (hand raised) we dutifully write the check.
We hit the number or even go beyond it.
But this feels off. We read things like “God loves a cheerful giver.1” And if you’re like me, cheerful isn’t the word you’d use.
Disciplined? Yes. Dutiful? Yes. But cheerful?
I don’t think this is a compliance problem. I think it’s something else.
What holds many Christians back from giving?
Identity. Gratitude.
People haven’t connected their giving to who they actually are.
In other words, people give joyfully when their giving is connected to their own story.
The Philippian church is exhibit A.
Their church was born out of Paul’s ministry in Philippi. He came to their city, introduced them to the living God, his love made real through Jesus, and their lives were forever changed.
Once Paul established the church, he left the church to the elders and moved on to plant other churches in unreached areas.
But Paul needed financial support for this mission.
How did the Philippians respond to this need?
Well, their new identity fueled a financial partnership between Paul and the Philippian church.²
They gave because they wanted to. There was no rule or guideline. They loved Christ. And they loved the person that introduced them to Him.
Paul needed support to do for others what he had done for them. So, they gave. No arm twisting necessary.
How much? Apparently more than Paul actually needed.³
They knew exactly what changed their life. And that’s where they gave.
Our brains are wired to give this way.
My favorite source for charitable giving research, Dr. Russell James, scanned people’s brains and asked them about giving.⁴
For the most engaged givers, two parts of the brain lit up when considering a gift: the autobiographical and memory centers. These are the same regions that activate when you vividly recall moments from your own life.
The more those parts were activated, the more interested the person was in giving.
People joyfully give to where they identify. To places and times that reflect who they are – just like the Philippian church.
Experience backs this up too.
I spent time on staff with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). And I witnessed people give – not reluctantly but joyfully – because FCA was the place where their life was changed.
A Bible study they were invited to by a teammate. Their coach inviting them to the Friday huddle. A life-changing experience at FCA Camp.
Story after story of people whose lives were changed by FCA.
A business leader who wanted his kids to experience what he did as a camper.
A former pro athlete that came to Christ at his college’s FCA.
A mom that saw her middle schooler’s life changed and wanted that for other kids.
No arm twisting necessary.
They just wanted others to experience what they had.
How do you actually implement this?
Start with an inventory.
Ask yourself these questions:
Where were you when your faith became real? Not inherited or assumed, but actually yours?
What ministry, person, or moment was the instrument of that change?
When you hear about a particular injustice or need, which one makes you lean forward instead of scroll past?
What causes make you emotional — genuinely moved — when you talk about them?
What do you want to still be happening in the world twenty years after you’re gone?
Think back to your story. What were the catalysts in your life?
The point is to connect those stories to your giving.
How can you help someone else experience what you yourself did? ⁵
You may find that your generosity doesn’t need more discipline.
It needs more connection.
Start with an inventory. Pray through it. Do it together with your spouse.
Many times truly joyful generosity is just this: “I want others to experience what I experienced.”
Footnotes
¹ 2 Corinthians 9:7 — “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
² Philippians 1:5 — “because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”
³ Philippians 4:18 — “I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied.”
⁴ James, R.N., III & O’Boyle, M.W. (2014). “Charitable estate planning as visualized autobiography: An fMRI study of its neural correlates.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 43(2), 355–373.
⁵ 2 Corinthians 1:4 — “who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
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