Skip to main content

How GENEROUS Is Your Group?

Generosity is a character trait that is praised and encouraged throughout the Bible. Christians should be generous, churches should be generous, and healthy small groups should be generous.  A while back, I threw together in my mind a list for evaluating the generosity of a group. Here it is:
  • Are the needs of members met? A generous group does not have members who are homeless, starving, or destitute. (that initially feels like a strong statement, but I'm gonna stick with it)
  • Are the needs of the community met? The manner in which a group stewards its resources (money, talents, time, energy, etc.), particularly in regards to the external community, says a lot about its generosity level.
  • What's the EQ? - Every group has an "entitlement quotient" that mirrors the generosity level of the individuals. One way to gauge EQ is to measure how often "I", "my", and "mine" appear in conversations.
  • In most churches, the pastors are making regular investments in the small groups. Are the needs of the pastors met? Sure, this feels self-serving; but I'll bet most pastors could tell you pretty easily (if they were willing to be honest) whether or not they feel that the groups in their church invest in their well-being.
  • Are the needs of outsiders met? A generous group is a welcoming and giving group to visitors. How people feel after they visit a your group for the first time is a super indicator of the group's generosity level.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Discussion Questions for Easter

Have several people ask the question, “What’s the most important thing you’ve ever done?” Ask other people, “What do you hope to accomplish in the next several years of your life?” Tell your class that today you’ll be talking about “life mission” or the one most important thing you do that drives everything else. Tell them that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the defining moment in history, so it should be the defining moment in our lives. Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. How does the resurrection impact some of the crucial beliefs of Christianity?  How would Christianity be different if there was no resurrection? How would you be different without the resurrection? Read 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. What are some specific ways that the resurrection gives us hope? If you had been a friend of Jesus when he was on earth, how would the resurrection have impacted your life?  How do you think his followers then were effected by the resurrection? Read 1 Corinthian...
3 comments
Read more

Community Killers: Crisis

Here is Part Two in my series on dealing with "Community Killers". Today the topic is "Crisis". Every group experiences crisis at some point. Death, illness, divorce, and financial ruin are just some of the issues that can threaten to destroy a group. These crisis, however, are not to be feared. Rather, they should be embraced as an opportunity for the group to care for one another in unique and deeply meaningful ways. The following are five suggestions (certainly not an exhaustive list) which can help a group handle crisis successfully: Openness. The first step in a group’s efforts to deal with crisis is simply knowing about and understanding the crisis. If a member does not feel comfortable sharing the crisis issues in their life, the group cannot come to their aid. A willingness to share not only the crisis situation, but also the details can significantly impact the degree to which the group can offer assistance. The role of the leader sometimes requires a per...
Post a Comment
Read more

FIGHT CLUB! (iron sharpening iron)

Our youth pastor, Keith Sandison, has implemented "Fight Clubs" with the young men of our church. While these teenagers and young adults aren't actually pummeling each other physically, they are using the opportunity to aggressively challenge one another to be more attentive to their spiritual formation. Right now my son is participating in a fight club focusing on Proverbs. I love it. Keith has created a handout he uses for the fight clubs which lists seven different methods of "generic Bible study". I think the idea started with this post a few years ago, but as he often does; Keith took my thoughts and made them immensely more substantive and beneficial. Check out his system below:
1 comment
Read more