Fasting During Lent May be Rebellion Against God (or, A Brief Course in Writing a Nonprofit Press Release)

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Pastor Foley

Happy mid-Lent!

With The Whole Life Offering book scheduled to come out in a few weeks, Lord permitting, here’s a look at one of the press releases we put out in an effort to sprinkle something of the flavor of the contents abroad in advance.

I share it with you for two reasons–one professional and one personal:

  1. Professional: This press release reflects a way for ministries to tie in to the increasing popularity of Lent among Evangelicals. But it also illustrates a broader principle: Press releases are best when they’re not about you (especially during Lent! Think about it!). They’re best when they draw upon your expertise to reflect upon an issue of interest to the reader. We did well with this one, much better than the other release we put out entitled, “Foley Releases New Book Which He Hopes You Find Really Interesting.” Cardinal lesson about press releases: Never be an answer to a question no one’s asking.
  2. Personal: Biblically, Lent is about something more and other than self-denial. Self-denial, after all, is still centered around the self. If I say, “I’m giving up Cadbury Creme Eggs for Lent,” it’s still all about the I who is giving up Cadbury Creme Eggs. This defeats the, you know, purpose of Lent, which, as Isaiah 58:6-7 illustrates, is not so much about denying the self as it is about submitting it unselfconsciously to God’s wider purpose and plan. So as you read the release below, ask yourself not, “What am I giving up for Lent?” but “To whom am I giving what I am giving up for Lent, and why?”

And back to the professional for a moment:

Perhaps a worthwhile resolution for Lent for nonprofits would be to subsume themselves in their cause so that for forty days they don’t talk about or promote themselves–at all–but only about the cause they are given to steward.

Who knows? It might prove so transformative that you’ll stick with that approach long after you’ve resumed the Cadbury Creme Eggs.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Pam Sparks
.W Publishing
719-362-5237
[email protected]
www.dotheword.org

Fasting During Lent May be Rebellion Against God says Author Eric Foley

Colorado Springs, Colorado; March 8th, 2011

March 9th marks the beginning of the Lenten season leading up to Easter.  Lent has become increasingly popular among younger Evangelicals with the season being marked by fasting from various types of food and activities.  Pastor and author Eric Foley believes, however, that observing Lent should propel Christians to do more than just abstain. “Isaiah 58 is clear: fasting and abstinence for its own sake is not commitment to God.  It’s rebellion against Him.”

Undertaken as spiritual preparation for the celebration of Easter, Lent is typically marked by 40 days of fasting, not including Sundays.  During this time, Christians choose a particular food or activity to abstain from.  While meat has often been a target, and things such as alcohol, candy, soda, and even social media are becoming increasingly popular to fast from, making Lent as much about health as spirituality.

“If we’re participating in Lent either to humble ourselves or to get healthy, that’s beneficial but hardly Lenten,” says Foley.  “God intends for fasting and abstinence to be a means by which we can love and provide for our neighbors in need.  The point of our going without is so that they may go with.”

Foley’s newest work, The Whole Life Offering: Christianity as Philanthropy, lays out a discipleship model based around John Wesley’s Works of Mercy and Works of Piety.  By combining spiritual disciplines like self-denial with acts of love towards neighbors like sharing one’s bread he contends that Christians can grow to full maturity in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

He continues, “Jesus didn’t deny himself for His own sake.  He denied himself for the sake of the world.  For us.  Our self-denial should take the same form as His: going without so that others might come to know God’s love.  If we’re going to fast from a particular food or activity, it’s so that we might give that food or activity to someone else.”

The Whole Life Offering is set to be released in April 2011 and will be available for purchase as a paperback through Amazon.  Pastor Foley is available for interviews; please contact .W Publishing at 719-362-5237 for more information.

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The Theology of TG: Two Excellent New Articles to Undergird Your Practice of Transformational Giving

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Pastor Foley

As I noted in a prior post entitled In Praise of Works, Transformational Giving runs on sanctification software.

As such, we TG practitioners, more than our traditional transactional fundraising counterparts, need to always keep our theological edge sharp, because it is we ourselves, and not just our technique, that are being transformed so that we may equip others for transformation by the Holy Spirit.

To that end, meet two great resources:

1. David Powlison’s God’s Love: Better Than Unconditional. The idea that “God accepts me just as I am” is often followed by the idea that “It is not only unnecessary for me to grow to fullness in Christ; it may even induce works righteousness.” Powlison debunks both concepts in brief but deep prose. Check out this gorgeous excerpt quoted by Justin Taylor in a favorable send-up of Powlison’s booklet:

God does not accept me just as I am;

He loves me despite how I am;

He loves me just as Jesus is;

He loves me enough to devote my life to renewing me in the image of Jesus.

This love is much, much, much better than unconditional! Perhaps we could call it “contraconditional” love.

Contrary to the conditions for knowing God’s blessing, He has blessed me because His Son fulfilled the conditions.

Contrary to my due, He loves me.

And now I can begin to change, not to earn love but because of love.

. . . You need something better than unconditional love.

You need the crown of thorns.

You need the touch of life to the dead son of the widow of Nain.

You need the promise to the repentant thief.

You need to know, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

You need forgiveness.

You need a Vinedresser, a Shepherd, a Father, a Savior.

You need to become like the one who loves you.

You need the better love of Jesus.

That’s just achingly beautiful. You could build a champion coaching program on that quote alone.

2. Kyle Childress’ Truth Dazzles Gradually. Principle Four from the Whole Life Offering Ten says, “Full maturity in Christ is learned, not latent.” In practice, that means that churches and nonprofits need to create spaces and places and situations in which their members and donors can grow in maturity, not just activity. And maturity is not simply the result of members and donors pursuing the areas of their natural interest and gifting. Childress compares discipleship to learning how to play the piano, and he offers this piercing insight into the need for mentors (like you) and a “community of friends” (like you should be shaping your members/donors to be to one another corporately):

[T]here is no substitute for the slow, sometimes painful growth that comes through disciplined habits of practice shaped by the crucified and risen Christ.  One does not become an excellent piano player, painter, dancer, carpenter, or baseball player overnight; neither does one learn to become a Christian overnight.  We can’t know Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God, in five quick easy lessons accompanied by an inspirational DVD.  One needs teachers and mentors and a community of friends, and one needs to practice over a long period of time.

Assure your members and donors that God’s “contraconditional love” makes it possible–and desirable–for them to grow to fullness in Christ in relation to your cause.

And may your church or nonprofit be a place that sustains–and insists upon–the slow, sometimes painful growth in the cause at the hands of mentors and a community of friends that marks the inimitable growth of all true disciples of Christ.

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Gather Donors/Volunteers Together not to Appreciate them but to Discuss and Debate the Cause

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Pastor Foley

James Howell at Call & Response provides a perfect postscript to our recently completed series on coaching your champions corporately. His topic is clergy gatherings rather than donor/volunteer events, but the principle is the same: gather your constituents together to genuinely discuss and debate issues of real substance, not merely to affirm, encourage, or relax the attendees.

Recently our church hosted a big conference for clergy, with great speakers, lots of enthusiastic buzz, warm feelings, and expressions of gratitude once it was over.  But what is the purpose of such functions?  Do they really help? Or just bolster our feelings and sense of vocation a bit?

I was left wondering this because I left the event to fly to Germany to represent the Methodists in a conversation with Catholics, Lutherans, and Reformed on the Doctrine of Justification.  When I tell people (clergy or laity) of my destination and work, they gaze a bit vaguely past me in puzzlement.  We don’t care much about doctrine.  We care very much about technique:  at our clergy event, if we’d offered some handy tips on how to increase giving, attenders would have been even more giddy.  But if the event had been about the doctrine of Justification, nobody much would have come.

The cognitive dissonance on this was underlined for me in that one of our event speakers, Philip Jenkins, has a new book entitled “Jesus Wars” — so I downloaded it into my Kindle to read on the plane.  In the 5th century, Jenkins reminds us, people travelled to big clergy events, not to be “inspired” or to bask in much-needed fellowship.  They came to do what I went to Wittenberg to do:  argue doctrine.  They even hired armed thugs, riots broke out, politicians got involved, and regular shopkeepers and laborers all over the world were abuzz over the debates.

What topic of substance could you convene your donors–and public officials and even leaders of other nonprofits that work in the same cause you do–to discuss and debate?

Delete your next charity auction or golf scramble–the world is already groaning under the weight of a few million too many of those. Instead, convene a summit around a topic of genuine value and controversy related to your cause.

If armed thugs show up and a riot breaks out, rejoice: you’re in the company of no less than the early church fathers themselves.

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