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Before embarking on a building project, I think ministry and church leadership should ask themselves some hard questions. Gone are the days of “if you build it they will come.” I think I’ve heard all the arguments and reasons that people should support a building or capital project. We usually appeal to something outreach related. Something like, “We want to use our building for outreach in the community, so we need to do this building project.” That might sound altruistic, but I have never heard of a church growing because it has a really nice or newly renovated building. I have never heard someone’s conversion story go like this: “I turned my life over to Jesus because the church on Third Avenue has a nice building.”

I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to hear the sting of Matthew 23 the first time it was spoken.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

I wrote this article just as HFL was getting started. We needed to communicate why we were so compelled to start a new organization when many already existed. After 12 years it still remains the fuel for our fire. We say some things a little differently now, but reason we come to work every day is still the same. And now...we have 12 years of changed life stories as evidence that this is all worth it.

Why does Hungry For Life exist? Why do we do what we do?

When we give our hard-earned money to someone, we usually expect something in return. Whether the return is tangible or intangible, we exchange something of value for something else we value. We do this every day, whether we are picking up groceries or making larger investments; but do we think this way when we make a gift? What is it that you get when you give?