The Redemptive Gift of Giver

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For those of you who are joining us from the post on the Exhorter, welcome. Enjoy what you read here, and feel free to connect with me on improvements that might be made.

DISCLAIMER: The following thoughts, while conversations with Sandy Landry figure deeply herein, are my attempt at original thinking. Understanding this, and understanding that we are not going to get everything there is to say about truth that is nearly-bottomless, ­­feel free to read on and, in so doing, to build further on what I have put here. After all, I am but one diamond-miner of many, and many of you will have more questions than I alone will have ready answers.

Like you, I hunt for the best turn of phrase, the best way to communicate so that you each hear my heart, and the mote juste (the best word, in the words of Hemingway). Communication is central to the DNA of the Giver if they are to walk in high positive numbers of their gifting. They like to know, and like to ask a lot of questions and make observations, and their heart needs to be heard precisely and accurately.

The above images reflect some of the many facets of the Giver. Benedict Arnold, a traitor of the American Revolution. Lyman Stewart of Union Oil (now D/B/A Unocal). Bill Gates of Microsoft. McDonald’s. Microsoft.

Lyman Stewart, who founded Union Oil, as the result of hitting a magnificent gusher in the San Joaquin Valley near Bakersfield, positioned himself for the rest of his life (per Arthur Burk’s Redemptive Gift video teaching: Video 1: see the link above) as someone who would steward the gifts, financial and business acumen, and marshal those aspects of his design to see to it that the Gospel was spread more effectively in a global fashion. His legacy impacted the Bible Institute of Lons Angeles (now known as Biola University), the Philippines, and a number of other corporate and generational endeavors.

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, saw to it that others would have ease of access to computing (though there might be a contingent of contra-Microsoft peeps that would claim otherwise).

My grandmother, who was herself a Giver, provided not only a great deal of resources in order to make sure that I was provided for in college, and understood the Technology Revolution that started in the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s that transformed Silicon Valley (San Jose is Giver by Redemptive Gift). She also paved the way for me to both access and easily maintain this blog.

Her husband, my stepgrandfather, also built and brought online the first computer in the state of Florida for the purposes of electronically connecting Florida Gas Transmission, which was at one time a subsidiary of Enron.

It is because of her strong influence in the area of technology that you even have me here in cyber-space, utilizing tech to pastor and teach. I am grateful for the germinating influence that pollinated with my love for Scripture that enables me to connect with each of you in my audience on a regular basis.

Further, she provides some material for this post. She was the first woman from Des Moines to enlist with the WAF (Women in the Air Force), and was an expert in investing, the markets, swimming, gardening, organizing/administration, politics, philosophy, cooking, baking, and providing for her family in scores of practical ways.

In the words of my mother, she pinched pennies to make copper wire and multiplied her husband’s income to an astounding scale.

She was the one who gave me a deep love of the process that is involved in political development, and of (GASP!) compromise in order to get some of what I wanted in any given situation.  She also unknowingly helped me to cultivate much of the capacity I have for biding my time and waiting for appropriate timing (and the capacity to know WHEN not only to wait, but also when to move ahead, even when my head is swimming).  She took me to Tallahassee during my Junior year in high school, so that I could page for the Florida Senate under the sponsorship of Bill Bankhead of Flagler County.  Because of this influence, I have had a lifelong interest in and love for Tallahassee, the Senate, the political process, and the blessing of legislation.  She had a Giver’s understanding of the complexity of a particular issue, and ensures I would learn what it mean to maintain a consistent line of thinking while also understanding the nuances of a given issue.

Moreover, she demonstrated a strength in negotiation that helped temper and counterbalance my weakness of helping people at great personal cost that was beyond what Father intended me to pay.

I also recognize a much-needed temperance from her of my usual default of giving people what they want in order to avoid pain when dealing with others.

Per one of the lessons I learned in Toronto, it is fascinating the way God will skim from the pool of a person’s talent in order to deposit many facets of that talent with their legacy. I have indeed inherited much from this woman. And only recently has this business sense come to the front, coupled with a strong desire to become completely debt-free and build wealth.

From here, we will have a jumping-off platform to discuss the gift of Giving.

BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS

1. On one hand, with the other gifts, there is a definitive set of characteristics that usually apply to all gifts.
2. On the other hand, with the Giver, the most definitive thing I can say about them is they are diverse. Without being disparaging, I would say the only consistent thing about them is they do not hold to a one-size-fits-all-or-even-most pattern. Diversity. Diversity. Diversity.
3. With the Giver, the characteristics here are much more subtle and painted with a lighter stroke.
4. Due to the diversity, the Giver can become a Jack-of-all-trades and master of many.
5. Diversity extends to religion, and the Giver and Teacher have massive weaknesses for the religious spirit. It’s the Teacher it is in the one purest way of orthodoxy. With the Giver, it is in the multiplication of divers ways of religious expression. Look at Giver societies, and you will see the magnificent spread of different types of religions and in Christian denominations.
6. The Giver capacity for subtlety is a frequent feature.
7. With the Giver, there is an outstanding priority on outward focus, many times to the (sometimes unintended) exclusion of internal focus. Translation: we need to help watch each other’s blind spots,
8. A frequent inability to navel-gaze (becoming too obsessed with their own problems and their own existence or reason-for-being). Givers do not usually self-obsess. Instead of looking inward, they look outward, and as a result, they can be blind to how they are really feeling about an issue.
9. I believe the subtlety of #3 and #6 arises from the fact that Givers are (don’t take this word with its negative connotation) often opportunists. They will hunt and dig in on an issue, look for the fine print, see the hidden opportunities that others miss, and engage in a great deal of data mining in order to work a situation to their advantage (think of the person to locates the clauses in contracts and finds ways that are legal around those clauses, or leveraging those clauses to their advantage. They will find any available advantage and leverage it. And while this can be seen as a negative, there can be a great good that can result in the life of a Giver who is devoted to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If they put this quality to work of the kingdom of G-d, much can be accomplished.
10. Givers are above all, diverse. Did I fail to mention this?
11. Nimble and flexible thinking.
12. A capacity to master whatever they are focused on.
13. As a result of the capacity to master, they can grow bored or disinterested in an activity.
14. When they grow bored, the Giver will frequently either store the resources that pertain to a particular activity, or deposit those resources with another person.
15. Strong associations frequently prevail between a Giver and resources.
16. For a quintessential response of what happens when a Giver is walking in high authority with respect to stuff and being willing to part with that stuff in order to declutter, allow me to say eight words: “Get rid of whatever does not SPARK JOY.”
17. Depth of research frequently goes into whatever a Giver is investigating, whether it is a financial resource, activity, a purchase, or a relationship. They look constantly for a better ROI or a better deal.
18. As a result of this drive, if a Giver is not in tune with his or her relationships around them, they can leave others feeling like resources rather than relationships.
19. Let me say #15 differently: Stewardship is the hallmark of a Giver. They will invest in a project or a person, but they demonstrate a preference for investing in a person or project with a solid return on investment (ROI).
20. Want to find a Giver? Look for someone who spots deals easily. Find the person that hates fees and hidden surcharges and that which is not out in the open. Givers will bloodhound everything if not everything is on the up-and-up. If there is something wrong, Giver sixth-sense and intuition will activate.
21. Along with Mercies, Givers are adept at stretching a dollar. They have a way of walking into deals without trying.
22. Whereas other gifts have to work at stewardship in order to net the ROI, Givers just have a way of attracting resources or stumbling into them or opportunities that is simply supernatural, and that is part of their inherent design.
23. Of all the Redemptive Gifts, Givers are known for attracting resources, and this is not for just attracting money, but all kinds of capital and material resources. There is usually both a grace on their life to attract resources, as well as the capacity to steward those resources. Their capacity for gift-giving is usually timely and the most serendipitous (I LOVE THAT WORD) of all the gifts. They give gifts that reflect the interests of the recipient. For example, I am a very strong lover of all things avian, and one of my friends, who is Giver, knowing this, even though it wasn’t a main topic of discussion between us, picked up on this. Two or so weeks later, I received a present from her that was a coffee mug during my birthday (I drink a whole lot of coffee and tea as well) and it had the words “Bird Nerd” on it. I don’t know how many people are that good at picking up on the subtle clues, but Givers have a way of knowing things about others that other RG’s just struggle with by design.
24. Givers are designed for independence. Unlike the other gifts that crave validation or a companion at times, Givers usually don’t need or crave validation from another party. Whereas Prophets like to be treated with respect, Servants like to be appreciated and acknowledged, Teachers like to be known for what they know, Exhorters like to be followed, Mercies like to be embraced, and Rulers like to be vindicated, Givers do not crave someone validating what they are doing.
25. Givers, like Servants, are known for persevering in the face of adversity in a way other gifts are not. They do not die easily, and with a little encouragement and help, they are very good at surviving. When we had decimated Japan near the end of World War II, we had begun to give them a great deal of financial help, and as a result, their economy took off, and they were able to create a life-giving economic partnership with the United States.
26. And consider the Southern United States, pre-Civil-War, and even after the Civil War. It took their Servant commander, Robert E. Lee, ordering them to lay down their arms in order to stop the bloodshed, after surrender. They were loyal and capable to the end.
27. Givers have this quality of “holding their breath” and persevering through adversity.
28. Givers are known, in the midst of all of their natural activity, have a strong sense of discernment.
29. In this discernment arena, Givers are often able to determine intuitively when someone who is connecting with them has a hidden or ulterior motive. It is difficult to hide an agenda from a Giver.
30. In a similar vein, Givers have a way of understanding time and timing when it comes to all sorts of situations. This intuition for time and timing, enables them to know when to get into or out of an investment.
31. As a result of this knack for understanding time and timing, which Prophets do not often understand, for example, Givers are very good to be sought out for their counsel with respect to time and timing of starting a certain operation or engaging in a certain activity.
32. Givers can be pinged in their spirit with no context whatsoever with the idea that you should connect with a certain person at a certain time. What Givers often don’t either tell you or recognize themselves is that when they are being pinged, there is usually a time or timing issue at stake. Like the Mercy who gets pinged to give you a small bit of unexplainable counsel, the Giver will get pinged in order to give you the right bit of counsel at the right time, and its like they or their spirit is capable of pointing out the καιρὸς of God so that you can in a timely fashion engage with someone else, and reap a good reward on that small investments. If a healthy Giver gives you advice, or trusts you enough to extend some advice, it really is worth your while to leap on their advice.
33. Granted, it might be something as simple as having a conversation you do not want to have, but if you will heed their counsel in terms of timing, there can come from that conversation a moment or an opportunity that Father knows you have been looking for in an individual.
34. If Giver speaks, even if it seems stupid, it may benefit you to look into what they are advising you, because that seemingly random conversation you have with your aunt about your cousin’s job promotion could lead to a spiritually fruitful and timely conversation with your aunt that you have been looking to have because you know there is something missing from your aunt’s life.
35. On a related point, just as it is good for other gifts to have some trusted Servants surrounding them to help cleanse them from the junk of everyday life, so it is good for other gifts to have one or two trusted Givers who can advise them with regards to timing, time, discernment, and seasons. Giver advice may at times feel intrusive, but there is a component of time, timing, discernment, and seasons that Givers are hardwired to understand intuitively, and if you take up their advice, it can be very rewarding.
36. In a conversation with a Giver, I also learned that Givers can be very in tune with nature. Some Givers are able to talk to trees, understand the feelings of the land that they are on, and interact with nature in some unusual ways.
37. Speaking of DIVERSITY AGAIN, Givers are able to operate in a large scale of diverse opinions. That is, in the presence of diversity, diversity of cultures, diversity of viewpoints, diversity of styles, and diversity of belief structures, a Giver leader excels at holding all of the pieces together without the organization blowing apart. Whereas a Prophet has to bring everything to closure by bringing truth to bear on a situation, a Giver can hold diversity in tension and live in the presence of tension. For example, Warren Buffett, of Berkshire Hathaway fame, leads and organization, that he cofounded with Charlie Munger, that oversees an insurance company, real estate ventures, a battery company, an undergarment company, Dairy Queen, a jewelry company, Pampered Chef, BNSF, and are a large stakeholder in American Airlines, Coke, United Airlines, Apple, Bank of America. This dizzying array of diverse interests is typical of Givers. Bill Gates, another example of a Giver, had a first act with Microsoft, and is now involved with all sorts of nonprofit ventures.
38. Givers can also tolerate an extreme amount of ambiguity in a situation. They do not usually gravitate toward absolutes of right and wrong in a situation so much as they work to keep tension between differing viewpoints from breaking a group apart, though there are certainly exceptions to this rule. This may be due to their vast tolerance for diversity.
39. Theologically, this tolerance for diversity can be seen in the pastorate led by a Giver when they connect with an evangelical, a Calvinist, and Arminian, a Jew, and a Catholic, all under the same roof. And all as leadership held in tension.
40. Someone is bound to stone me for that last comment. #bringit #beenstonedbefore #hurts #butigetupaafterjesusdoessurgery. Giggle.
41. Someone needed a laugh. I may take my blogging seriously, but I need to not take myself so seriously.
42. As a result of their ability to detect hidden motives and agendas, you cannot swindle or finesse a Giver, especially when it comes to attempting to influence them to giving finances to your operation. Givers will give when they are ready to give, and when there is a demonstration that your operation is reputable and has a good ROI with a proven track record of performance.
43. Givers tend to be chameleons in that they do not fit a particular stereotype. They often are whatever they need to be.
44. Givers are easy to forgive others and are able to let go of an offense quite easily. They are often “disconnected from reality” in this sense when it comes to deep trauma that happened to them.
45. They love to know first, and they love to know a lot when it comes to relationships and information. They especially love to know the answers to all sorts of trivial questions and data about the people around them and they love to ask questions that others would consider unnecessary. They have a desire to know interconnectedness of various peoples, individuals, and groups. Without them knowing about these sorts of facts and trivia, they can reach a point of being destabilized when they do not know or are not in the loop. So, if you have a Giver in your circle of friends, then you have to understand, they may irritate you with their questions and concerns about every little detail, but that need to know is by design.
46. That need to know also helps them inform their discernment and their intuition. They are usually very good at confirming their discernment by asking questions that to other people may see really stupid (for some reason, I have a friend of Facebook from Texas that just came to mind when I wrote this point out, and I know for a fact, without being able to confirm it, because he won’t see it until I have published it, that this point may pertain to him). Givers put clues together from information that may seem trivial and pointless to other gifts. If you have a Giver friend that is a trusted confidant, provides counsel to you about your other relationships, and this Giver operates at a high level in the area of discernment, it behooves you non-Givers to always answer all the little questions they might have, because they are excellent at figuring out and judging timing and time and others based on a bunch of scraps of information.
47. I am going to highlight this again for all you non-Givers: ANSWER ALL OF THEIR FREAKING QUESTIONS, NO MATTER HOW SMALL OR INSIGNIFICANT THEY MAY SEEM, BECAUSE THEY MIGHT SEE A DETAIL THAT IS OF TAHT YOU DO NOT, AND THEY MIGHT GIVE YOU A TIMING PRINCIPLE OR CONNECT SOME DOTS THAT YOU DEPERATELY NEED CONNECTED SO YOU CAN FLOW IN AND WITH THINGS MORE SMOOTHLY.
48. If there is an interconnectedness somewhere that you are missing, odds are, you will have a Giver friend who can find it.
49. From one of my Giver friends that gives me input and counsel with regards to time, timing, seasons, and discernment: “In reference to how “outward” we are. That’s the case also for “emotional feelings”. I am really quite an empathetic person, and that benefits you (outward), but when it comes to feeling emotions for myself, I’d rather not. I’m particularly referring to the sad ones and the painful ones. This leads me to my next point about how we Givers persevere through adversity.”
50. “I pause, & feel powerless, and then when I’m ready to switch gears, I will persevere with severe stamina and push right on through that issue to the point that I actually forget what pained me about it in the first place. We all know it’s not lost, but the “emotional pain” is temporarily forgotten. I loathe the time when I have to sit down and cultivate those emotions to the surface. Fortunately, I know it’s productive and all it takes is asking spirit to unleash. Am I the only Giver who is like this?”
51. For the Giver in Business, note that the principle for the Giver Business (what we like to term the Emerald Business) is Access.
52. Let me paint this picture for you with McDonald’s. First with the Drive-thru (ease of Access so you would not have to get your rug rats out of the car in the rain), first to take credit cards (ease of Access so you would not have to pay only with cash), and first to have free babysitting (ease of Access so you could throw your rug rats into the cage (called a PlayPlace) and meet with your girlfriend for coffee without paying for babysitting).
53. The Giver, above all the Gifts, was designed to have the highest capacity of FRIENDSHIP with God (not talking intimacy here). Abraham, the Giver, was called the “friend of God”.
54. The Giver is pictured by the Altar of Incense, and this burning of incense enabled the High Priest to ACCESS the Holy of Holies to stand in the presence of God on Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16:12-13). This also shows the friendship through intercession. The Lord reveals His secrets to those who are friends.
55. Elisha, who was a friend of God as a Giver, was also a friend of Elijah, and had access to Elijah, and because of this friend enablement, he did twice as many miracles as Elijah. The miracles, however twice as many as they were, were not on the same scale as Elijah.
56. Let me highlight something about Elisha that differs him from Elijah. Elijah (Redemptive Gift of Prophet, card-carrying sandpaper all the way), his miracles were more about the honor of God. Elisha’s miracles, on the other hand, were largely more personal, one-on-one. Some were done for groups, but more of them were single things done for individuals.
57. Jacob, the good businessman, was the primo Giver. He constantly was negotiating something.
58. Givers are, above all things, negotiators incessantly. If you want to identify a Giver in Scripture or real life, look for the people who are always negotiating a deal, especially one that favors them.

Instead of ending it here, I would like to delve a little more into some personal thoughts on the Giver. I have watched Givers betray Prophets in the worst ways, I have seen them mistrust people for a number of different reasons, many good, and some really unwise. I have witnessed Givers be conniving as well as trustworthy. I have seen Givers take on a diversity of productive roles that were full of character, and I have seen them engage in some of the most carnal manipulation simple because they wanted the edge in a business deal or to skirt the law in a particular way through “creative interpretation”.

I have been on the receiving end of both the best and the worst of the gift. Givers, if they are confronted on Stewardship vs. Ownership and pass that test, can be some of the greatest assets to the botdy of Christ.

But like the Lord will not usually directly confront the Exhorter in their area of weakness, namely in their capacity to manipulate and move boundary lines in terms of relationships, so also He will not usually confront the Giver stronghold of Ownership without the Giver first seeking out excellence in this area.

Likewise, I have not frequently seen the Lord make an issue out of directly the Prophet’s fracturing of relationships, the Servant’s Victim spirit predilection, the Ruler’s Exploitation, or the Mercy’s self-gratification that masquerades as intimacy or love expression. Not until they are ready and are asking for it with eyes wide open.

Subtly, we have frequently brought the lie that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of our testimony.

This is not what the Sripture says, apart from not loving our lives so much that we shrink back from death, we will not overcome by the blood of the Lamb alone or even paired with only the word of our testimony.

This and this alone is the reason I am against us pleading for the release of, or using political maneuvering to secure the release of, anyone who is a pastor overseas.

God will not frequently provoke us to higher areas of growth without us first wrestling with the fact of and embracing the reality that it will cost us dearly to do so.

Givers that do not engage with the body in a Stewardship fashion (recognizing that God owns absolutely everything and He has given us the responsibility to manage a portion of those possessions) will not excel. Givers that do not walk in high character and maintaining consistency with their relationships, Givers that do not let their yes be yes and their no be no, will find themselves creating situations that lead to alienated relationships.

Givers that pump people for info without also being willing to disclose or be vulnerable will remain in their independence without friendships. Friendships of lasting value necessitate a great deal of risk, and no relationship is more risk=filled or painful than that with God.

There is a redemptive time and place for a Giver to work the angles. However, there is also a time for the Giver to lay down the capacity for guile and shrewdness and embrace someone who has no agenda.

How does a Giver know when to do what? Very simply, discernment, which is available to each believer that names the name of Jesus as King.

There are times to execute shrewdly, and wisdom demonstates when this should be done.

May we be possessed of a great understanding of the changing needs from situation to situation.

And may we begin the process of learning the Giver skill in the area of handling resources skillfully and absent a spirit of conning.

May our seed become fruitful and multiply, gang.

And may each of you be blessed.

SECOND DISCLAIMER: Having been exposed to the negatives of the Giver, let me also say the following: of the 20 or so people that hold me accountable in the things of God and my relationship with him, three of my closest friends and people who are charged with asking me the hard questions at anytime are sisters in Christ, and they are Givers. And they have done some profound work in making sure I am walking a tight line with the King on a regular basis.

One lives in Minnesota, one in Louisiana, and one in Kansas.

So, having tasted the hard aspects of connecting with Givers, I have also tasted the greatness of connecting with Givers of STERLING character, approaching the character of Ron Paul.

Oh, and one other aspect of the Giver. The Fifth Day of creation, when God gave us the birds, the fmarine creatures, and the MASSIVE RESOURCES of Leviathan to use, all came on the Fifth Day with its implications for time and Timing. Bird migrations, whale movements, all tied to specific time and Timing issues.

And those Fifth Day creatures, because of the implications for time and Timing and seasonal movement and flow, they all respond heavily to the nature of God as the Ancient of Days, for some reason.

Those are just some of my thoughts, gang.

Questions? Thoughts? Things I may have missed?

From here, we proceed to the Ruler/Judge/Deliverer.