Brett Tilford

I’ve come to value action over the last few years. It’s easy to talk about how things should be and bemoan the shortcomings of the world around us, but that’s not courageous. What takes courage is standing up and doing something about it.

I’ve come to value goodness and kindness. For a long time they were out of fashion for me – reserved for old ladies and dying churches. I didn’t want to be merely good. Kindness was a sort of Christian give-up. I wanted to be the best, the strongest, the most powerful of Christians – not a kind one. Now I realize how priceless goodness is in this world. So I’ve given up trying to be the most kick-ass Christian in the world (hours of prayer in solitude and demanding miracles of the almighty) and now I’m just trying to be a decent one.

I’ve come to value generosity. I was taught to give from a very early age – in our house at least 10% of our income went to God. This normally meant “church” but it was normal for us to give above and beyond that to other orgs and causes. As an adult, I now realize that not everyone views the world this way so I’m especially grateful to my parents and churches for this value. I think my checkbook speaks so much more accurately to the things I value than what I write on my blog or what I’d tell you over coffee. In other words, this isn’t who I really am. Who I really am is hiding in plain sight – check my bank statement.

Most recently these values are the motivation behind the event 1 House 1 Night that my brother and I are putting on for the organization Ten Thousand Homes. Ten Thousand Homes is a grassroots organization based out of South Africa that is bringing hope and homes to HIV/Aids orphans. Our goal is to raise $5,000 (enough to build one home for an orphan or two) for them in one night – thus the name – 1 House 1 Night. It’s a goal that stretches me. I realize that most of my friends are starting families, paying off school loans and credit card debt (the sins of their youth) and simply don’t have a ton of disposable income. But I also know that they’re amazing people who share many of the values I mentioned above – which is why I’m holding out hope that we can do it.

You can checkout our website here and follow us on twitter here (@1house1night).

Jesus said that where your money is, there will your heart be also. In other words, don’t listen to what someone says is important to them – check out their bank statement – that says it all.

I think people intuitively sense this and so a huge step for churches trying to rebuild trust with our culture is to become more transparent and generous financially. Churches should open their books and let people know where their money is going. Long gone are the days where we demand 10% of people’s income “because God said so.” Nope, you have to earn it now, otherwise it’s going to Charity Water or some other organization that we actually trust.

The key word here is trust. Churches need to rebuild trust with their communities and the culture at large. This is where generosity comes in. We’re looking for churches that exist for those in need, and who give till it hurts. Churches that we trust aren’t interested in a new BMW for the pastor or iMac computers for their lobby as much as feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. Consumerism is a sickness we’re trying to escape and it’s incredibly disheartening to find churches aligning themselves more with the practices of Wall Street then a Jesus who spent his life on behalf of the poor and the needy. The church at it’s best is a community that gives the finger to Mammon.