After reading Ram Gidoomal’s advance paper on generosity, it seems clear that the RMWG is deeply committed to nurturing a global generosity movement– a groundswell of giving to Chrisitian work.  Praise God for that!! 

What if it happens? 

What would we, as a global collection of implementing organizations/ denominations, do with a groundswell of investment in our thousands of distinct brands of “Jesus loves you”?  The default mode would be to invest in growth of [my] agency, expanding [my] services and ignoring the other 5 agencies in the area that offer complementary services.  If we are given the choice of investing in growth vs. integration, most of us will choose growth, potentially increasing strategic interference.

I have spent a significant portion of my life looking at what happens when there are many organizations doing the same thing in the same place with the same message at the same time under 1000s of distinct organizational umbrellas (’brands’).  Chaos is not the main problem.  Too often, the outcome is a crippling strategic interference… personally, I would not want to see a global generostiy movement fuel this. 

One very good starting point in response is a crystal clear values statement upon which all implementing agencies can ground their own agreements and guidelines. Clarifying values brings stability, and stability lowers risk, increasing investment.  In short, shared values >> stability >> more investment.

As such, I’d like to start a conversation here around the following theme:

WHAT ARE GLOBALLY APPLICABLE NORMS AND VALUES THAT CAN GUIDE KINGDOM-MINDED STEWARDSHIP IN OVERLAPPING MISSION WORK?

Well over 500 churches/agencies work in this region– what values undergird Kingdom minded stewardship?  If I am a donor trying to decide where to invest, how can I recognize Kingdom minded values in a city of 127 ministries?  As one of those ministries, how can I call on Kingdom-minded values that transcends my agency boundaries?  As on of 1.5 billion people about to be more generous in giving, what values/norms should we look for on the field to recognize Kingdom minded stewardship where ministry clearly overlaps?