Apr 15, 2023

He looked at him and...

Imagine with me the setting…

A large and chaotic crowd of people
Everyone trying to get close
To get a piece of him
To touch him
They’ve heard about the miracles
They too want to experience healing
‍
His good friends, however, are on the defensive
With him, they are on a mission
They need to get to Jerusalem for the Passover
They are running terribly late
They’re sheepish
Having just been chastised by him for not allowing children to gather around him
To be playful
To experience blessing and love

Jesus (Joshua to them) is, indeed, on a mission
Time is short
This is not lost on him
True to form, however, Jesus is looking around
Looking to the margins
Looking for the marginalized

And then he sees him,
No one (no one) would say this man is marginalized
He’s well dressed
He’s put together
He’s got it going on
He’s cracked the code

He’s got swagger
‘Watching haters wonder why Gambino got the game locked…’
‘I’m winnin, yeah, yeah, I’m winnin…’
‘Don’t be mad cause I’m doing me better than you doing you…’

We’re all thinking it
Whatever dude - read the room Captain Phantastic

But the man has a question
An epic question
With great reverence he greeted Jesus and asked,
“Good teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?”

Jesus reminded him of the commandments
The man stood up a little straighter - he’s winnin’, remember?
“Teacher, I have - from my youth - kept them all!”

Jesus looked at him and loved him.
Insert record scratch and FREEZE FRAME. I’m sorry, but what?
This story in the Gospel of Mark (Chapter 10) is endlessly fascinating to me. Matthew and Luke recorded this encounter as well, but only Mark told of that additional thing he saw happening. A total game changer of a thing. Jesus looked at him and loved him.

What did Mark see? Had he seen it before? Had Jesus looked at him that way? As you imagine this scene playing out in the remarkable theater of your own mind, how do you envision Jesus’ face in that moment?

I’ll speak for myself. This story triggers me. It swirls up moments of judgmentalism, suspicion, jealousy, distrust, and hostility - my unfortunate ‘go tos’ when I’m around wealthy people. By American standards, I didn’t grow up in a wealthy family. I believe It is God’s remarkable sense of humor that the bulk of my career has been spent on relationships with and serving wealthy families.

But Jesus looked at the wealthy man and loved him.
Can I do this? Do I have the capacity? Do I have the desire?
Yes, yes and yes.
But - and I can’t overstate this - it has taken a lot of personal work. A lot of humility. A lot of trial and error. A lot of soul searching.

If I am ever to look at my giving partners and love them, I must consider my own story, my own dysfunctional relationship with money and wealth. I must become aware, curious, and kind while reflecting on my story before I can ever dream of metabolizing their stories. I must be prayerful.

God, give me as much love and compassion as I can bear for those I’m going to meet with today.

This is a remarkable prayer. It moves me from hostility to hospitality, jealousy to gratitude, judgmentalism to curiosity, and distrust to love. But it takes work. A lot of work.

* * * * * * * * * *
Whether you are an experienced major donor fundraiser or just getting started, I want to encourage you to consider taking these steps:

Engage in therapy with a professional care provider to deepen awareness of your own story and to pursue healing and restoration.
Find or start an open 12 step group in your area. Many (including me) have found that these steps are not merely a way to overcome addiction, they are also a guide toward a new way of life.
Make the choice daily to pray that God will help you to look at people and love them.

Depending on your day to day needs in major donor fundraising, I have three options you can choose from to energize your efforts:

The Catalyst Course - a major donor fundraising course for those who are new to the task.
The High-Performance Course (coming soon) - a major donor fundraising course for experienced professionals.
The Flywheel Package - a customized six month consultation for people who are leading teams of major donor fundraisers.

The Catalyst and High-Performance courses are affordable at a cost of $500 and can be done in a schedule that fits best for you, taking anywhere from six weeks to three months to complete. Everything I have learned, successes and failures, is packed into these courses for your benefit and enjoyment. I have taken hundreds of folks through this content, helping them with fundraising strategies to empower causes all over the world.

Now is the time to take advantage of these resources!

I look forward to hearing about your good work.

Blessings,