The Abundance of God's Living Water

Imagine a less than full glass of water sitting on the table. If you are particularly thirsty, you may desire a full glass of water or perhaps even a refill after drinking the first glass. If you are not thirsty, then it may be a great effort to drink whatever amount of water is in the glass. Is there enough water in the glass? It depends. The size of the glass, level of thirst, and amount of water all contribute to defining enough. Another major determinate of enough being enough is measured by one's perspective. Does one first see the empty space or the water in the glass? In fact, both are present in the glass at the same time. This perspective is a metric of scarcity versus abundance.

Generally, church leaders, staff, and volunteers tend to migrate toward one of these divergent positions. They either focus on their assets or their needs. Yet both assets and needs, scarcity and abundance, exist at any given time within most organizations. For instance, few organizations have mastered total abundance in all areas of their funding, structure, and mission. Nonetheless, most organizations have some measurable value, even those in decline. Vibrant churches tend to focus predominantly on their abundant assets. Their leaders work hard to build vision from those assets. As this asset-based vision grows, needs become less and less a systemic driver.

Churches are compelled through the biblical narrative to focus on the positive cycle of abundance. Namely, a few assets when linked together lead to the discovery of more and more assets. In turn, these assets make a greater and greater impact on the community of faith. And, finally, the community grows and provides wider blessings, leading to the recognition of even more assets. The potential of concentric growth is virtually limitless. The Bible is filled with witnesses to this asset-based approach. Consider some of these stories:

• The creation story (Genesis 1)
• God's covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:16-17)
• Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 14:1-28)
• Jesus' healings (Mark 1:29-31 and others)
• The parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32)
• The fish and loaves story of feeding 5,000 people (Matthew 14:13-21),

How do church leaders focus consistently on assets? How do they determine a realistic vision, yet remain open to possible new discoveries? How do they promote the open-sum abundance of God, even when the closed-sum scarcity of resources appears greater?

Fundamentally, the answer lies within the faith commitment of individual leaders. The answer begins with the Christian discipleship of each leader. In order for a ministry to exude open-sum thinking and asset-based visioning, the leaders must demonstrate this witness in their own lives. Certainly, the leaders' faith commitment does not guarantee abundant church growth, but it is very difficult to achieve without leaders demonstrating their faith commitment in tangible ways.

The Gospel of John consistently refers to the abundance of God as the living water (John 4:1-26). Most notably, Jesus spends significant portions of his ministry inviting people to discover this living water in their own lives. He offers hope, grace, peace, healing, and encouragement -- all signs of the abundance of God. Living water pours into people's lives as they accept the profound truth of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Effective Christian leadership is, first and foremost, centered on one's relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

This concept may seem simplistic, yet it is a real challenge to follow. Regardless of how often Jesus pointed to the abundance of the living water, the disciples apparently regressed to their scarcity mindset. Think about their immediate response to any number of Jesus' actions that called for building on the initial assets of the situation. All too often, they saw the glass as half empty! Our response can be very similar to the disciples!

In order to follow the example urged by Jesus and to remain focused on the abundance of God, we need to overcome three fund development myths that persist in too many faith-based ministries. The two subsequent myths stem from the first overarching myth.

Myth #1 -- We need more (AKA -- We will never have enough!)
REALITY: When we remain focused on God as our primary source, we overcome the compelling urge to desire more and more.

One of the reasons that the disciples faced such difficulty believing in God's abundant provision is that they mistook other water for the living water. Christian leaders are to be centered on drinking from the living water. God provides the sustenance for our lives. God's provision is always enough! When we remain focused on God as our primary source, we overcome the urge to desire more and more. Our daily lives are bombarded with messages suggesting that we need more. Sadly, the church is not immune to these messages. We can be lured into striving for a higher-paying salary, a more prestigious job title, or better name recognition. One cannot be an effective Christian leader and be hooked on the pretentious path of always wanting more. This unsustainable path is a downward spiral that leads to eventual despair. With Jesus Christ at the core of our leadership principles, we will appreciate the assets, both personal and professional, that enable us to minister to others and to lead our churches.

Myth #2 -- We need more donor programs.
REALITY: When we step back to discover the deeply held beliefs that undergird the church, we are more likely to initiate an effective strategic plan.

Jesus' actions were a direct result of his mission and purpose. He was clear about the reason behind his actions. Frankly, many church leaders are so busy doing that they seldom define why they are doing. Effective leaders step back to discover the beliefs that undergird the church. These convictions underlie all programs. They can place parameters on the activities. Leaders may consider four to six core values with scriptural references that set the guiding principles of the overall ministry. Fund development efforts will be greatly enhanced by spending the leader's energy on the activities that connect strategically to the church's mission and vision.

Myth #3 -- We need more fundraising techniques.
REALITY: We have a responsibility to encourage discipleship.

Many church leaders assume that the latest fundraising technique will generate increased gift levels. Development professionals escalate their cultivation of major donors in hopes of receiving more life income gifts or larger annual contributions. The unique opportunity for the church is to encourage the joy of generous giving through cultivating donors' faith commitment. We have a responsibility to encourage discipleship. If we encourage donors to examine their relationship with God and their understanding of the connection between faith and money, we will nurture the spiritual gift of generous giving. This spiritual gift will, in turn, help to overflow our glasses.

I invite you take a closer look at the glass sitting on the table. It is filled with the living water. Amazingly, your thirst will be quenched when you drink from it -- no matter how thirsty you are! And, as you provide the glass to others, their thirst will be quenched, too. God truly is abundant!

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Written by David S. Bell, Vice-President of Stewardship with the United Methodist Foundation of Michigan and Senior Partner with Design Group International.™ You may contact him by visiting www.DavidSBell.org.

Copyright © 2010 David S. Bell. Any local church, regardless of denominational affiliation, or any United Methodist organization may reprint any or all of these prayers provided that the author is cited.