What Motivates Us?

What motivates us? What causes us to dig deeper to give our very best efforts, to make sacrifices, and to get up earlier and stay up later to accomplish out goals? what motivates us varies from individual to individual, but when we tap that motivation, it is hard to deter anyone from achieving his or her goals.

Valerie greeted me with the exclamation, “I got two ‘very nice’, today.” I had no idea what she was trying to tell me. She observed my puzzled expression and explained, “My yoga instructor told me twice that my execution of my yoga positions were very nice.” I would have assumed from how excited she reported on the compliment from her instructor that she might have achieved the status of a master yoga instructor, instead of receiving a compliment. Her response reminded me that each of us respond to different rewards.

 

Last week, I opened a letter containing a Certificate of Appreciation for the New Mexico Conference. I carried it to Bill Sylskar’s office and told him this was a precious gift just for him. His facial expression indicated that he was not impressed. We had both received sufficient certificates that another certificate was rather meaningless and certainly did not motivate us to strive for greater achievement, which I assume was the organization’s incentive for sending the certificate in the first place.

Some pastors seldom consider what motivates their congregational members to continue giving sacrificially, giving their time and talent, and attending worship each Sunday. They assume that being selected as a Sunday school teacher, or an usher is reward enough. They never say thank you, issue a certificate, recognize these faithful servants during worship services, or seek to discover what motivates members to give their best to Christ and his Kingdom.

Please understand me, knowing we are loved, forgiven, and saved by Jesus Christ is the greatest motivation I can imagine. I also know we often need some affirmation indicating we are doing what Christ desires and expects and that we are traveling on the right track through life.

I relate to several universities and schools of theology. Each year I contribute a small gift to each of them. I am certainly not one of their significant benefactors. Even if I combined all of these gifts into one contribution to one institution, it still would not make a substantial difference in their annual income. These institutions respond to my gift in various ways. Some send a receipt acknowledging they received my check. Another not only acknowledges my gift, but also clearly communicates they have many other opportunities for me to donate to help them fulfill their mission. Another of the institutions invites me to suggest strategic directions or future direction the institution needs to explore.

These different schools and universities realize that different patrons give from a wide variety of motivations and they attempt to address those motivations. They know that one size does not fit all.

Dr. Cliff Christopher suggests that church leaders must send different letters to church members according to the various ages of those being encouraged to give of their financial resources. I think we must broaden his suggestion to discover the motivation of various individuals and then respond in various ways as these individuals contribute their time, talent and multiple resources.

Ask yourself, “What motivates me to give of my time, talent, and resources? What actions or recognition motivates me to give even more?” Not everyone is like you and me, but it may be a great start in discovering how to encourage every church member to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Grace & Peace,

Max