40acts: The Lent Generosity ChallengeSample

Today, we’re turning our generosity loose on bosses, managers, pastors and head teachers. Our culture doesn’t always bless upwards. But generosity goes all ways. We often only think to focus our generosity on those in dire straits, but when we bless upwards, we discover something that changes us, too. When I was a boy, my father was pastor of a small, poor and obscure independent church. We all lived in the manse, a rambling Dickensian wreck and a complete firetrap. The congregation loved my father so much that they decided to give freely and enthusiastically from their limited resources to build a brand-new four-bedroomed house next to the church. In doing this, they were demonstrating real love for their pastor and honouring God at the same time. Our neighbours were intrigued. ‘How can such a tiny church afford to build such a nice house?’ they enquired. But build it these lovely people did, and it’s still serving God’s work today. Generosity is about more than money. It’s about what the Bible calls our heart: our attitudes, desires, and behaviours. We may think of being generous to those who we view as ‘below’ us, such as the poor, but what about those who are placed ‘above’ us, such as our parents, pastors or bosses? ______ We can often overlook our leaders or bosses as deserving of our generosity. They receive the higher pay or greater recognition so it’s easy to think, ‘Well they have everything they need. What good would my generosity be to them?’ Sometimes our leaders/bosses are the spiritually poor or those emotionally in need that we’ve been encouraged to give to. Perhaps your leader has everything they need, in which case at the very least we can ‘give honour where honour is due’. Generosity to our bosses and leaders can simply be gratitude expressed in action. We may not see the battles that our leaders face or we may even think that they are significantly blessed in our eyes. But generosity isn’t for those we deem to be deserving; it’s an expression of love, and that can go in any direction. Find more about today’s 40acts challenge on our blog: [ https://40acts.org.uk/ act-5-bless-the-boss / ](https://40acts.org.uk/?p=2750)