Last night I was invited to talk about the challenges of Christian philanthropy to a group of Gathering participants and friends from around the Bay Area in California. As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog “Friends Not Trends ” I’ve pretty much stopped thinking about trends in giving but taking a few minutes to share what makes Christian giving challenging is different.

There are many similarities that foundations and individual donors share with all givers. Structure,  tax laws and governance – as well as basic giving disciplines – are common to all. However, there are some issues we address as Christians that are unique and important.

Theology matters. For some, the only legitimate recipients of Christian giving are Christian organizations and ministries. While the focus of those ministries may be different it is important that their mission be specifically Christian. For others giving to organizations that contribute to the “common good” like the arts civic projects. or secular organizations doing work that benefits the community fits into their theology of God being interested in more areas of life than just the “religious.”

God designed you for giving. I meet people who try to mimic the interests and styles of others in their giving because they do not have confidence in their own. There is sometimes the belief that Scripture has one basic model for giving instead of many. David made leadership gifts toward buildings. Solomon was extravagant – and anything but anonymous. Barnabas invested in people. The widow gave everything she had without any strategy or accountability. The wise men gave as a team. Elisha was our first “business as missions” donor. It’s a challenge to work out your personal design for giving.

Pride and cynicism destroy our work. It is almost unrealistic to expect to hear the truth from a grantee. There is too much risk for them. The longer we are in this work (and it is work) the more insulated we become from getting a true assessment of how we treat people our opinions and biases and our competencies. How we handle privilege speaks volumes about the maturity of our faith. As well. how we handle disappointment is critical. Do we become cynical and disillusioned or do we accept the reality of the “dumb tax” and grow in our understanding that people will not always do what they say they will do for a variety of reasons?

Relationships matter. We can use the excuse that it is impossible to have genuine relationships with people wanting gifts but that does not relieve us of the responsibility to do everything in our power to work toward honest relationships with people. Yes, it is difficult. Maybe the most difficult part of the work. Yes, it is important to recognize we need boundaries and that there are many people working to have a relationship with the sole purpose of getting a gift. However, as far as it is in our power to be honest, forthright and respectful of people who are tasked with asking and under enormous pressure we have an obligation to do that.

Don’t overspiritualize. I meet many donors who say they only want to be giving in those areas where “God is working.” I wonder if there are any areas where God is not working? My wife’s grandparents worked faithfully in China for decades before Communism drove the church underground. There were not many obvious results until much later when those converts under persecution established house churches. We cannot always see where God is working. As well, we can overspiritualize our mistakes and think of them as evidence of not having prayed enough before making the grant or not being in God’s perfect will or even thinking God is not blessing our giving. Mistakes and miscalculations are not the same as sin. It’s how we learn – even in giving.

These are not the only challenges in Christian philanthropy but the few I’ve seen over the years that seem most prevalent.