Today I'm Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. I have never met a person. who exercised an act of kindness. who made a sacrifice financially. who saw a life change and then turned to me and said, You know, I'm just so tired of being a generous person.
The fact is we all want to be more generous. But something gets in the way. How do we solve that? Stay with me. That's today.
Hello, I'm Dave Druy, and today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram shares what he calls his generosity manifesto. a declared written-down set of intentions about how he is going to live. And to get there, he takes us on a journey through the entire Bible, from Abel's offering in Genesis 4 all the way to the tree of life in Revelation, tracing a single stunning thread. Seeds. The message of the entire Bible, Chip argues, is about what you sow, what dies, and what grows.
And once you see it, you cannot unsee it.
Well now here's Chip with his message titled, My Generosity Manifesto. I want to share with you how you can actually become extraordinarily kind. and extraordinarily generous. In fact, on the front of your notes, I've actually decided I'm going to make it my manifesto. It doesn't have to be yours, but this is mine.
This is before God, and so I'm going public with this. You'll notice what a manifesto is: it is a published verbal declaration of intentions, of your motives or your views on an issue.
So it's public, right? I published it. And the real thing here is that Notice it says to promote a new idea. with a prescribed notions for carrying out the changes. And I'm going to share with you a new idea for me.
And the prescribed changes for my life, and I just had this sneaking fulfill. That's a lot of you are going to want to take the next step in generosity as well. Are you ready, Vit? Here's my manifesto. I want to be known.
In heaven? and unearthed. as an extraordinarily kind and generous person. I I want I know this happens because I You know, God says, have you considered my servant Job? I'm thinking that he does that with you and some other people.
I want him to say. Before I die, have you considered my servant Chip? He's extraordinarily kind and generous.
So open your notes, and as you open them there, you'll notice it says you can become an extraordinarily kind and generous person. To do that, I have a picture I want to share. And there is a process I want you to follow. And then I kind of have a little practice that the scripture teaches about how this all works. The picture I want to share is: this is Henry, grows up in a nice home.
Dad and one of his brothers, amazing athletes, realizes he's not kind of in that category, but he had this sort of knack, he's an entrepreneur.
So he goes to college and wants to make a little money, and so he decides he'll sell t-shirts. But think like t-shirts on 15 or 16 different campuses in America, and he gets college kids, you know. Doing it.
So then he realized, I have a little knack for business. And then Henry realizes, you know, maybe we should explore spiritual things. You know, I grew up with good morals. And so they go to a church, and they go to a church a lot like this one. And they got shocked because the person actually opened the Bible and started talking about a relationship with God that was personal.
And it was like, whoa, I mean, you know, I just thought you sort of checked the box, you know, go to church now and then.
Well, as that happened, Henry realized he didn't have a relationship with God. He was just religious. And so he turned from his sin and he received Christ. And then he started praying and then started little by little ups and downs, read the scriptures. And then he learned that God owns everything.
Oh my gosh, for a business guy, that's like crazy.
So, and one of the way you showed that, he said, okay, so give the first 10% of your income to declare that God owns it.
So he said, okay.
So he did that, and then he started. Getting around some people said, Well, you know, it's not like a bill you pay. It's just your heart that he wants. And so he started kind of giving a little bit more and be proportional and got excited about we got to help this group and this group and that group and this person. And so then he starts this little business and he decides, you know, I'm going to do it completely different than I've ever done.
We're going to do it by kingdom principles. I mean, I'm going to be generous to my employees. I mean, it's an amazing story. And God just went, And then he thought, you know, that's just one business. What if I could reproduce that?
And out of that business, he started a venture capital firm called Sovere Capital. Get it?
Sovereign capital. And he invests not in Christian companies. He invests in Christians who are doing all kinds of companies, but they have to have a kingdom component that loves and cares and ministers and makes a difference in all kinds of people's lives. And so I declared, okay. I've inspired by Henry's story.
I've inspired by what I've seen. I've been on a generosity journey. I'm going to the next level. And then I started studying. Been studying for this, and I saw something.
This happens to you all, right? You've been studying the Bible, maybe some of you for years, at least I've been at it for a while, and I had a Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, this idea of reproducing things in life, I've never seen this before.
So, are you ready? What I want to do, this is nutty, but stay with me. I'm going to try and take you from the beginning of the Bible all the way to the end, and I just want to trace seeds. and the impact. Because here's the deal, when you see this, All of a sudden, you realize, oh, generosity, I'm going to be planting seeds, either good seed or bad seed.
And the only kind of seeds that grow are the kind that die and go under the earth, and then they bear fruit. And oh, so this is what life is all about. You ready? What we learn. In terms of creation, Is all life is created, and then there's a likeness that God wants.
When He creates us, it was in His image. He wanted People like us to rule this little earth the way he rules the universe with kindness and goodness and perfect harmony.
Well, then we learn. Seeds require a perfect environment. Things don't grow. Seeds can be everywhere, but they only grow if there's the right environment. Chapter 2, what do we get?
God says there's water. There's sunlight. There's his presence. It's not quite right early, so we get man and woman, we've got community, and then there's choice. Have you thought about that?
Your choice. Where do you spend your time? What do you watch? What do you do with your money? Our choices, because all those things are seeds.
Now we move on. And the conflict begins, Genesis chapter 4, all the way through Revelation. And so, are you ready for this? The very first conflict happens, someone comes to be generous, to give an offering. His name's Abel.
His brother brings an offering, and for some reason, either his heart isn't right or he's not bringing the right stuff. And God says to Abel, great offering. It's from the heart. I love generosity because I'm generous. And he says to Cain, you know, that is not.
That's not what I'm looking for. And then he sees in his heart and he goes, you know, sin's crouching at your door. Don't go there. But instead, he kills him. And then what you find is all the next chapters are.
Cain's seed and violence and corruption versus good seed. And then you get to chapter 6, where God says, I'm sad that I ever made mankind. There's bad seed in the heart of man apart from God. And so, by chapter 12, here's the next person. There's this man named Abraham.
So, to Abraham and his seed. I will make a great nation, and you'll bless every nation on the earth. By chapter 15, Abraham has done what you have to do, he has to leave. And then he goes, Lord, I don't have the word literally. I don't have a seed.
I have no heir. And God says, In your seed, I will. Bless all the nations just like the stars of the sky, like the sand of the seashore. Then Jesus comes and he comes to the earth, and what's he do? He demonstrates what good seed looks like.
We got to turn this thing around. The whole world system is get, get, get, selfie, selfie, selfish. When I don't get my way, I get angry, I get jealous, I kill. It's the history of mankind.
So Jesus intervenes because he's going to deliver. Moses delivered. Nehemiah delivered. Abraham delivered.
Now, Jesus is going to come, and what's do you remember what he said about himself? Unless a grain seed of wheat fall into the earth and die it. Remains by itself alone, but if it dies, It brings forth much fruit. And so Jesus teaches his followers what? The kingdom of God is like a seed.
Right? Like a mustard seed that starts small, but then it grows and supports others. The kingdom of God is like a seed that's planted, and there's the tares and there's the wheat, and they grow up together. And then he says the seed is the word of God. And 1 Peter says that you're born again, not by the precious gold and silver, but by the imperishable word of God, the seed of the word of God.
You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and we'll continue in just a moment. Chip has been in ministry for more than three decades and his passion has never changed, helping Christians live like Christians, not just on Sunday, but every single day. If today's message is connecting with you, we'd love for you to dig deeper. Every program in this series and hundreds more are available 24-7 absolutely free on our website, livingontheedge.org.
Alright now let's get back to chip. And so there's this group and we're it. Believers all over the world. who the seed of God's word lives in, and the agenda is that it would grow. But here's the deal.
What did Jesus model? Only dead seas grow. Until we die to ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him, then it's just us in our own energy. And then when you get to the very end, isn't it interesting? Jesus crushes Satan.
He has a kingdom of people for himself. And what's the new heaven and the new earth look like? What was the whole goal anyway?
Sowing, reaping, sowing, reaping, sowing, reaping, sowing, reaping. Jesus sows. His own body and his life, who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross. And there's a new heaven, and there's a new earth, and there's a throne, and this seems kind of familiar, doesn't it? Water of life coming out of the throne.
And on either side, the tree of life, and the tree of life bears fruit each month. Did you ever think about that? To bear fruit, there's still seeds. I've never seen any of that before. And then I began to see the teaching of Jesus.
Then I began to see: wait a second, all those parables, all that stuff about the law of the harvest, all that stuff about. Oh my. He was really trying to teach us, God created life where there would be light and love and relationship. But it only happens when you plant good seed and good seed that's cultivated in the right kind of environment. His word, fellowship, the kind of people, opportunity.
And then he says, There's this battle going on in your heart and my heart, and the only way to break it, that generosity is the way to stop the greed in my heart and yours. And it's how God begins to grow and cultivate. Transformation.
Now let me show you the principles. Principle number one, we reap where we sow. Do not be deceived. Underlying deceived. This is money and possessions are powerful.
God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, this he'll also reap. For the one who sows to his flesh the selfish side, The flesh reaps corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Are you ready? We reap where we sow.
Second principle. Is that we reap how much we sow.
So it's not just wherever you sow, that's where you're going to reap. If life is all about you, and by the way, don't we all do this? I mean, don't give me that. I feel guilty. Look, would you stop talking?
I mean, I struggle with this, you struggle with this. We're in this together. But we're going to change. We can change by God's grace and power. He says, We reap how much we sow.
Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will reap also sparingly. And he who sows bountifully will reap also bountifully. Each one must do just as he's purposed in his heart. Not grudgingly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.
The context is: there was a famine, and this is a Gentile church, and they were raising money to help really, really poor people. And Paul's collecting it, and he just, it's just a reminder. You can give a little or you can give a lot, but the kingdom works like this. If you have a hundred seeds and you plant it in a box that's five by five, you're going to get X amount of fruit. If you have a hundred thousand seeds and you plant it in a box that's five acres by five acres, you get a lot more.
So he's just reminding them. Whatever you sow in whatever amount, if you're a little kind, that's what you get back. If you're a little generous, that's what you get back. If you have harsh negative words, guess what? Where you soak, that's what you get back.
And how much? The third principle, and this is the one, at least for me, was like, oh, wow. Do I really believe this or not? Kingdom sowing is counterintuitive. That's a big word for it, it sounds really dumb when you hear it.
Right? I mean, he's going to say the kingdom works, here's the world, and God's kingdom principles are the opposite.
So he's going to say, do things that you're thinking. That doesn't make that's illogical. Notice the wisest man in the world in Proverbs 3, verse 9 and 10. Honor the Lord from your wealth. And from the first.
of all your produce. And here's the promise.
So your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine. I don't know about you, I didn't grow up reading the Bible.
Someone's telling me: take the very first and the very best of your work and give it to God to love and help people. And God says, that's how your barns are going to get, that doesn't make sense. You give away and you get more. It's kingdom. That's why your life becomes unexplainable.
And there's people all over the world. But they've got this core. We're going to be generous. We're going to build God's kingdom. We're going to give out of our profits.
We're going to give our time. We're going to give to our employees. And crazy stuff happens. He just keeps blessing. There's one who scatters, Proverbs goes on to say, chapter 11, and increases all the more.
That's illogical.
Well, unless you look at it literally, if you scattered more seed, a lot more would grow up. And there's one who withholds what is justly due, and it results only in want. And we all know this by experience: the generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered. Generous people are super attractive. Generous people have friends.
Generous people have joy. Generous people are like a magnet that we all want to be around. But what we sort of forget is They give. Yeah. They have the same hours in the day that we do.
Many of them have less money. In fact, all the research says poorer people are far more generous than us rich people. Notice the words of Jesus: give, and it'll be given unto you, counterintuitive. They'll pour back into your lap.
Well, how are they going to pour back?
Well, like good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. It's a picture in an agriculture society where, you know, someone's giving you something and you shake it to make more room. He says, God's not going to bless, he's going to really bless. And whatever size measuring you give, you get it in return.
So bring a cup of generosity, you'll get a cup of generosity. Bring a bucket of generosity, get a bucket of generosity. It's just a law of the kingdom.
Now, there's no give to get here, by the way. That's a perversion. There's no, like, hey, I'm going to give away a lot because, okay, now you owe me.
Well, guess what? You've just violated the spirit of it. It's not generosity, that's manipulation. Final principle is we never reap in the same season that we sow. This is why it's hard.
Okay, you're listening to me thinking, man, I got a bunch of debt, and I'm supposed to start giving, or okay, I give 1.3%, or I'm doing this, or I'm doing that, and even the thought of this.
Now, I've seen God do it radically, but When you begin to give, Well, I'm going to be kind to my wife. I'm going to have a new person's going to show up at work. Don't expect the next day to get a promotion. He says, don't lose heart in doing good in due time, underlying due time. It'll reap if you don't grow weary.
So then, what should we do? While we still have the opportunity, let us do good, get this to all people, circle all people. We don't just love each other, all people. Especially the people that they don't think you care at all, the marginalized people. The people whose politics or lifestyle or sexual orientation is different.
Do good to all people. That's what Jesus did. but especially to the household of the faith. The reason we continue in unhealthy, unwise, selfish, greedy practices. And did you hear we, all of us?
is because the consequences don't show up right away. I mean, if I sat down to watch a good basketball game and ate, I mean, this whole box of triscuits. with my super duper sharp Teddy cheese. And my super diet Coke. In a moment of binging, and then if I got up, and walked into the bedroom.
And immediately two pounds went around my waist. I think I could kick my Triscuit addiction. But it doesn't work like that. And more seriously, Small neglects in my marriage. Small neglects in my investment in renewing my mind.
Just a little pecking around with some pornography here, just a little flirting here. Nothing happened, right? Nothing happened. A little obsession with work and not really spending time that's knowing what's on your kid's heart. Nothing happened.
Everybody seems okay. 10 years, 12 years, 20 years. Marriage falling apart. Kids disengaged. You know, it was just a little bit of debt.
It was just a little bit of neglect. Ten years later.
So you never reap in the same season that you sow. That's why it takes faith. The goal, God's goal, is not to get some people to come to meetings, church, listen to someone talk, sing a couple songs, and be relatively a little bit nicer and maybe a little bit more moral than the world. That is not a Christian. Those are some activities that Christians are in.
Following Jesus is the seed of the living God of the Holy Spirit comes and takes resonance inside your body. When you recognize your sin and turn from it and ask God for forgiveness and base it totally on what He did on the cross and His resurrection, He actually enters your life and He begins to develop and cultivate the very character of Jesus in you as you get in community and get in His word and talk to Him. become generous. This is It actually says, my generosity. Manifesto.
So, this is mine. All right. It's in yours. And here's the question. Do you want to be extraordinarily kind?
And do you want to be extraordinarily generous? If so, you can check a box or two, and at the very end, you can do this and put that somewhere. That's what I really want to be. Got it, we'll start doing it. This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and a message titled My Generosity Manifesto.
Chip has a personal word to close today's program, so stay with us. You can hear today's message again or any program in the Jesus Revolution series on the Living on the Edge podcast. And for Chip's full-length sermons, subscribe to the Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast. Chip started today with a man named Henry, an entrepreneur who discovered that God owns everything and whose life was never the same. Then he walked us from the Garden of Eden to the throne room of Revelation, tracing a single word, seed.
The first conflict in human history was over an offering. The last image in Scripture is a tree that bears fruit every month. And in between everything God ever did, through Abraham, through Moses, through the life and death of Jesus, was the story of what happens when good seed dies and grows. If today's message stirred something in you, there's a resource Chip is very excited about, a new book by his longtime friend and mentor, Jack Alexander. It's called Wise Son Smart Son, and it captures the difference between being smart and being truly wise and gives you a concrete day-by-day path to get there.
In fact, Chip will be wrapping up our series, The Jesus Revolution, with a special interview with Jack himself, so keep listening. But you can find the book, Wise Son, Smart Son, right now at wismart.com. That's wismart.com.
Well, now here's Chip. As we close today's program, I made an appeal to you. Right? I mean, we talked about seeds, we talked about sowing, we talked about reaping. And I made the point for me and for you.
That every day we sow. And whatever we sow, we're going to reap. And as we always have to remember, you never reap in the same season that you sow. And part of this manifesto that you heard me talk about Was me kind of taking myself by the cuff of the shirt and shaking myself and saying, Chip, are you really serious about sewing the things that really matter? And I wanted before God to say, Lord, I want to sow today in such a way.
that as I look toward the future, I would have a moment of reaping. By your grace, we are Where you would actually say, because the scripture promises that as I sow to your kingdom, that you will say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. I would like to be known by His grace as someone who is extraordinarily kind and extraordinarily generous. Jesus modeled for you and for me how this has to happen, and the results are great, but the process is really challenging. Jesus would say, unless a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it remains by itself alone.
But if it dies it brings forth much fruit. Jesus modeled that with his own life. He died, he went into the ground, he was resurrected, and then he provided salvation and forgiveness for all of us. At the heart of generosity is the sober self assessment that you must die to yourself. that you must follow Jesus in full surrender to the Father's will.
and you must, as I must, say, Lord, all that I have is yours. God left to myself, I will be greedy, I will posture, I will want to appear generous rather than be generous. And so I'm going to ask you to day, would you be willing in a moment, right now, To ask the Lord Jesus, Lord. Will you help me? today.
To die to my own greed? Would you help me to die to the idols? Would you help me to die to what other people think? And Father, would you then allow me to take my time? and my money and my talent.
and sew it into loving people. I'm Dave Druy. Coming up next time, Chip continues walking us through his generosity manifesto line by line, including the five declarations he made before God. That's next time on Living on the Edge. Yeah.
Oh. Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge. Uh
