The idea of “following your heart” is a pretty common theme in the sentimental children’s movies I grew up watching. You can imagine the kind of thing I’m talking about: “You don’t have to be like the other kids, Billy. Just follow your heart.” Maybe it’s good advice – sometimes.
Since one of my responsibilities as an organizational leader involves fundraising, I have come to the awareness that financial donors often “follow their heart” – they give to the projects that impact them the most emotionally. And, certainly, there are enough heart-wrenching problems in this broken, sinful world to drive us to tears. At least, we OUGHT to be driven to tears. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that all our financial giving should follow our tears.
Let’s be frank, at the risk of being a bit cynical. One of the best ways to raise funds is to start an orphanage. The image of orphaned children is emotionally powerful, and ties into a repeated Biblical theme that these fatherless are worthy of our attention and support. Giving to an orphanage is “following your heart.” But is an orphanage really the best way to bring holistic transformation to these precious young ones? Maybe not.
Another emotionally powerful “hot topic” these days is human trafficking. This despicable 21st-century slavery is rightly raising the ire of God’s people, and motivating committed response. Both money and personnel are following this passion, and God’s people are responding to this global injustice. Rightly so, and much more needs to be done.
However, what bothers me is that sometimes the most effective, long-term, sustainable approaches to pursuing holistic transformation are NOT emotionally powerful. Imagine going to a missions conference, and hearing two presentations. One is from an organization that trains local staff in a developing country to go out into a village and work with local village development committees who create a village development plan and implement it over the course of 5-10 years, often with significant but incremental change for that village. The other presentation is from an organization that rescues girls who have been trafficked into prostitution and brings them to a “safe house” where they are trained with vocational skills so they can start a new life. Both organizations are desperately in need of additional funding for their work to continue. Which one would you give to?
Maybe you’re different from others, but I have a strong suspicion that the organization combating human trafficking would receive an overwhelming majority of the response. That is a desperate, urgent situation that demands immediate action, and people, well, they follow their hearts.
I’m not saying we SHOULDN’T support initiatives to combat human trafficking. I’m connected with them to some degree myself. But I fear that if we as missionaries (present and potential) and perhaps even more so as financial donors ONLY “follow our hearts,” then there are many significant initiatives that will remain underfunded. Programs that develop young leaders, programs that invest in building capacity for community development – they’re just too long-term, too slow-paced, not urgent, not emotionally impacting, not trendy enough, etc. But those long-range, plodding programs may well be the foundation of long-lasting transformational change. Maybe when communities are healthy, and leaders are healthy, we’ll see a reduction in problems like orphans and human trafficking.
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t give to programs combating human trafficking, or even that we should stop supporting orphanages. I’m just saying that as you make your next missional investment, thing about long-term sustainability. Don’t just follow your heart.
I hear what you're saying. We need to use something more than our emotions to make wise decisions in any part of life. I think part of the appeal of the orphanage, or rescue mission that you haven't mentioned is the people side of it. Those ministries find support comes a bit easier because they have people on their front cover. I understand the need to be strategic, planned, long term and deeply rooted in our mission work, I just spent the last few months developing a long term ministry plan, but I have to be honest with myself. I'm still motivated by the individuals, just like the orphans or the prostitutes. I'm just glad it doesn't have to be an either/or thing. Jesus had a long term plan that stretched from the garden of Eden to the garden of Gethsemane, and beyond, but he always had time for young kids and prostitutes. You could say he followed his heart.
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