A Call to Radical Generosity

There was a time when I was pastoring in Canada, and an associate pastor told me that the motor in his car had just blown up. He sat across the desk from me, saying, “I don’t know what I am going to do. I don’t have any savings. I don’t know how I am going to buy groceries.”

“Well, let’s pray,” I so kindly offered. All the while, I was well aware that I had $6,000 in the bank. As I began to pray, this voice in the back of my head said, “You hypocrite! Stop praying. You know very well that you have what this man needs.” To be honest, I tried very hard to fight that thought. I attempted to keep praying, but it was as if my mouth was full of molasses that was getting thicker by the minute. Here was my brother in Christ, a godly man who was in need, and I had exactly what would help him. In my mind, I argued, “But, God, this money is all I have. What if I need it for my children? What about my car? It’s not new. What if it breaks down too?”

Finally, the Lord got a hold of me, and I went to the bank. I ended up withdrawing my savings, and I gave the funds to the associate pastor. I would like to be able to say that I left with joy after I put the money in his hand, but I didn’t. I simply did it by faith and in obedience to what I knew the voice of God had said.

It was soon after this that I left for eastern Canada and came back to find my house burned to the ground. So now I had lost my home, plus I had given my money away. Yet I chose to trust God, and he provided for my family.

You do not have to fear investing in other people. God will supernaturally feed you. He will be your source and your strength. He will always be sufficient no matter what our need is, and he will always give us all that we need to accomplish what he calls us to do. Not only that, he will take the little bit that we have and multiply it, not merely for own sake but for the sake of others.

^{Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. In May of 2020 he transitioned into a continuing role as General Overseer of Times Square Church, Inc.}