Risky giving? Investing in Gospel impact

Risk: a word we are all familiar with.

Risk-taking: an act many of us dabble with. Risk-reward: a concept we accept, when we invest our money for a financial return.

If we are investing in bonds or other forms of fixed income, we expect our capital to be safe and our returns to be modest in percentage terms. We then might view private equity as slightly further up the risk curve, and venture capital even further. And perhaps a dabble into blockchain and AI as riskier still but with potentially more returns. Of course, when weighing up risk we consider potential downsides; uncertainty around outcomes and no guarantees that markets will behave as expected. This risk-reward ratio is a crucial and somewhat instinctive concept in investing and many portfolios will have a mix of investments with varied risk tolerance.

'Risky' giving

Many of us are comfortable with this concept in our investing yet it takes intentionality to develop the same mindset for our giving.  When we give, we more often choose to play it safe, backing the more established household names. But consider with me, for a moment, your available capital as a ‘giving portfolio’, invested with varying risk-reward. Would this change how we give? Could we take a view that some of our portfolio, our ‘giving capital’, is worth taking more risk with?  It is true that perhaps more innovative, fresh and untested Kingdom ideas can’t guarantee their outcomes in the same way as larger, safer more established projects – but the potential yields for Kingdom impact could be huge.

The Parable of the Sower

“Then he told them many things in parables, saying:  “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:3-8.

In the Parable of the Sower, as He sat on a boat talking to the crowds, Jesus painted a picture of a famer sowing his seed (Matthew 13:3-8). This farmer appears to be scandalous with his resource, scattering liberally; much of his seed is wasted, producing nothing as it gets eaten by birds, scorched by the sun or choked by thorns. Despite how it could sound, this isn’t unwise farming because it wasn’t an even distribution of seeds across four ‘soils’ – that seed would have been aimed at good soil. However, to maximise yield and return, the farmer is prepared to scatter seed right to the edges, risking losing some because knows good soil will multiply.

At Just Sow, we welcome 'sowers' that are prepared to scatter seed right to the edges, where riskier giving to evangelists, entrepreneurs and pioneers has yielded an eternal return on investment.

Tyndale's example

One great example of this is William Tyndale, who produced an English translation of the Bible and ensured Scripture became available to every common person in England, during a time when reading Scripture in English was illegal. Men and women were burned for teaching their children the Lord's Prayer in English and Tyndale himself was burned at the stake for his work on 6th October 1536. Almost 500 years later we are living in the good of his sacrifice, as more and more Bibles are read by on-fire disciples and spiritual-seekers alike.  But he couldn’t do it alone. It was with the encouragement and, importantly, the financial support of British merchants that Tyndale was able to go to Europe to complete his translation, then have it printed and smuggled back into England. 

“Let it not make thee despair, neither yet discourage thee, O reader, that it is forbidden thee in pain of life and goods, or that it is made breaking of the king's peace, or treason unto his highness, to read the Word of thy soul's health—for if God be on our side, what matter maketh it who be against us, be they bishops, cardinals, popes."

'Modern maverick' Hudson Taylor

A second great example of risky giving yielding an eternal return on investment can be found within the story of Hudson Taylor.  A pioneer missionary into China in 1854, Taylor was a man with a heart for the poor and the lost. He could be described as an heir of the First Great Awakening and someone who influenced the changing of missionary principles forever.  Described by John Piper¹ as a ‘modern maverick’, there will have been risk attached to supporting him and yet George Muller backed him with finance and encouragement. George Muller himself was caring for hundreds of orphans in Bristol and had absolute confidence of income from God, which came in answer to prayers and came in abundance enough for him to share it. 

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:3-6.

Tyndale, backed by wealthy merchants; Taylor, backed by faithful Muller; we could explore story after story of Gospel entrepreneurs facilitated financially by liberal sowers. Partnership in the Gospel. Connectedness, collaboration, teamwork; we are the body of Christ.

JustSow - combining Gospel, risk and generosity

The tripod of Gospel, risk and generosity has resulted in much good being done over the ages.

And God is still calling people today, just like these history-makers that have gone before. He is still anointing people and still commissioning people. Now is the time to set aside our risk aversion and, with the empowering of the Holy Spirit, boldly scatter seed to fund those God is raising up.

Opportunities to fund innovative evangelism can be hard to find so JustSow, inspired by Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 13, seeks out gospel entrepreneurs and provides a platform that curates and publishes their exciting and unusual start-up gospel projects.  Henri Nouwen, in his short piece The Spirituality of Fundraising², asserted that ‘Fund raising is a form of ministry… proclaiming what you believe in and… saying, “We have a vision that is so exciting that we are giving you the opportunity to participate in that vision with the resources that God has given you.”’

JustSow enables those with ‘giving portfolios’ to give liberally to enable Gospel Entrepreneurs to turn their evangelistic dreams into reality, so mission can multiply. These risky, enthusiastic and dynamic entrepreneurs are often outworking ideas that more conventional funding routes are unable, or unwilling, to support. It's a simple concept: suitable projects are published online to the JustSow platform and Sowers - anonymous donors - select the projects they'd like to fund with a seed gift worth £10,000. It could be described as 'venture giving' which requires risk-taking generosity.  And maybe, just maybe, risk-reward should be a concept we choose to bring front and centre, as we consider investing our money for an eternal return. 

¹  A Camaraderie of Confidence: The Fruit of Unfailing Faith in the Lives of Charles Spurgeon, George Müller, and Hudson Taylor (Volume 7), John Piper 2016: p22

² Henri J. M. Nouwen, A Spirituality of Fundraising (Nashville: Upper Room Books 2010)