Ben Berg: Growing Your Generosity Potential
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us,
to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Ephesians 3:20
PHIL Miglioratti @ The Reimagine.Network >>> What have we forgotten about generosity that needs to be rediscovered in our families and ministries?
BEN Berg Dynamis Coach >>> Generosity is way more simple and impactful than we may think. As part of our Generosity Plan process we ask participants to share a positive memory they have of generosity. Interestingly the majority of the time the memories are something so simple and ordinary, like going over to a friend's house as a child and always being fed by the friend's family, or a neighbor baking cookies for a couple when they first moved to a new home and didn't have any friends. Acts of generosity likes these may seem insignificant to the giver, yet they can be so meaningful to the person receiving. This is encouraging because it shows that we should never underestimate what kind of impact we can have with even our most simple acts of giving. We can all be impactful with our generosity despite our age, income, education, etc. All it takes is just an awareness of a need and a little boldness to step out and act.
PHIL >>> Coaching, not merely teaching-telling, is an important component of the Dynamis process. Why? How does it work?
BEN >>> When you think about the original definition of coach it referred to transportation (back in the day a type of horse drawn carriage was called a "coach." In today's world think of a "coach" bus, or flying "coach" on a plane). It's basically just a means of getting from point A to point B. Today the term is often applied to people, but the principle is still the same. A coach simply helps a person get from point A to point B, or from where they are to where they want to be. There's a lot of teaching-telling and information out there these days, but the challenge becomes what to do with that information? How do we apply it? How do we use the information to get from point A to point B? This why coaching is such an important component of our process because it focuses on the application. Our process is not only designed to bring teaching around generosity, but to provide tools, ideas and encouragement to actually go out and start doing it. It's in the application where we begin to move from where we are to where we want to be with our generosity.
PHIL >>> One more thing you'd like to share with church leaders to help them reimagine the impact of generosity on their ministry...
BEN >>> The word you used in this question is exactly it: reimagine. I think when we can connect our generosity to a vision it becomes a lot more meaningful for us and everyone else involved. We're much more likely to pour our time, gifts and resources into something that excites us. Sometimes the challenge with generosity isn't that people are resistant to it, it's that they just haven't caught a vision for what they can do with their generosity. Or rather, they haven't caught a vision for what God is already doing, and how they can participate in it with him though their generosity. When a vision is casted that people can grasp and rally around then amazing things can happen. It becomes something that everyone can give to and be a part of regardless of their life situation or background. This is beautiful because it invites us all to be participants and co-creaters with God in building his Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.
Generosity Coach
Ben Berg
Ben Berg is a grateful generalist navigating in an increasingly specialized workforce. His professional experience includes managing in the non profit sector through roles with park districts and Special Olympics, coaching college...
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