Radical Generosity

One of the keys to an impactful career is radical generosity. Our income is one of the primary outputs of our work, so going all-in with our money is one of the clearest ways we can go all-in with our careers.

What is radical generosity?

Radical generosity is a level of giving that is both sacrificial and shocking. The word radical is unfortunately overused and can lose its meaning. When we use the word, we want to propose something that is really radical. It’s the idea of surrendering everything back to God.

This is best exemplified by the widow at the temple:

But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:42-44)

The widow gave sacrificially – the Greek literally translates to “she gave all her life”. This is truly radical and demonstrates her deep dependence on God.

Today, one great way to be radically generous is to set a lifestyle cap at or below the median wage for your age and location, and aim to give away everything above this. Therefore, as our income rises, we raise our standard of giving, not our standard of living.

Yet even this is still far from the radical generosity of the widow; it simply says our standard of living won’t be above the average. As students, we’re already living well below the average wage. So our giving may not be huge, but it can be radical, if, like the widow, we can be sacrificial, giving more than society would assume we can afford.

We are holding this up as a standard for all to aspire to. We are not saying this is what we all should be doing now, but it is something we should all be trying to progress towards.

Why live like this?

Radical generosity is God’s calling for us:

God’s generosity is the model for ours. We know what love is because Jesus laid down his life for us – and he calls us to do the same for others (1 John 3:16). If he gave so much, how could our response involve anything less than giving as much as we can? (1 John 3:17).

Radical generosity is a core discipleship practice. Jesus calls his disciples to “give up everything” (Luke 14:33). Being his disciple means not putting our trust in the security of our earthly possessions, but putting our trust fully in him.

If we’ve got what we really need, we should share everything. John the Baptist teaches us that, so long as we have what we really need, we should share everything else: “Whoever has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.” (Luke 3:11).

God owns everything. We are simply his money managers. The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it (Psalm 24:1). God even “gives us the ability to produce wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18). As money managers, we should steward what we’ve been entrusted with for the owner’s benefit.

Radical generosity is the path to our greatest joy

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:34). Our attitudes and resulting actions towards money show our attitudes towards God.

Radical generosity helps free us from the idol of wealth. We “cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). We will find great joy, freedom, and purpose as we trade away saving and consuming on earth for eternal treasure in heaven.

Jesus starkly warns the rich. Those who store up their wealth rather than giving and sharing it freely are warned sternly by Jesus. Jesus says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:25)

Radical generosity leads to joy. We experience joy through giving, and even more so as we align our hearts with God’s will. The Macedonians, despite their “extreme poverty”, gave with “overflowing joy” and pleaded for “the privilege of sharing in this service” of giving (2 Corinthians 8:1-4).

It’s an amazing opportunity for impact

Radical generosity is the surest safeguard from the choking weed of wealth. Jesus teaches that weeds can grow up and stifle our fruitfulness as Christians. And what do these weeds represent? ‘The deceitfulness of wealth and the cares and worries of this life’ (Matthew 13:22). Jesus’ desire is for each of us to bear fruit, 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown in us.

Money is a tool for eternity. While money doesn’t last for eternity, Jesus has tasked us with the Great Commission, so our money can influence people’s eternity. This mission requires resources. Generosity fuels gospel movements: it supports pastors, evangelists, church-planters, student workers, missionaries, content creators, theologians, and mercy ministries. It funds Bible translations, training events, digital outreach, and practical care that open doors to Christ. In God’s hands, money becomes a means of advancing the Kingdom.

Jesus puts it bluntly: “Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” (Luke 16:9). That is, we are to use temporary money to produce eternal fruit.

Christians should be known for our extravagant generosity, rather than our wealth accumulation or consumption. People will come to know Jesus if our generosity is so compelling that they want to know the God who inspires it.

How to live like this

We should start now

Radical generosity is for everyone. No one is too poor to be radically generous. Just as the impoverished widow at the temple gave “all she had”, the Macedonians’ “extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity” (2 Corinthians 8:2).

Radical generosity should start now. As students, we’ve got the perfect opportunity to organise our lives around giving and living on less before we get caught up in the constant pursuit of more. “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much” (Luke 16:10).

Generosity literally means “liberal sharing”. “No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had” (Acts 4:32). Alongside giving radically, we should share all the possessions we’ve got, whether that’s food in our kitchens, usage of our laptops, or access to our cars. Sharing our things or lending our money can often be harder than simply giving, yet generosity encompasses all this.

The Bible assures us we can’t give too much. “Whoever sows generously will also reap generously… and God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:6,8). We shouldn’t be afraid of being too generous; God will provide for our needs. Remember, as Britons, we are among the richest people in history - living even on minimum wage puts us in the wealthiest 6% of the world.

At the same time, we must also avoid the extreme of asceticism, where we reject good food or the ordinary joys God gives – for Jesus himself “came eating and drinking” (Matthew 11:19). God “richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment”, yet calls us “to be generous and willing to share” (1 Timothy 4:17-18). Radical generosity is not about stripping life of all good things, but about living simply and joyfully and sharing what we do have.

In practice

We recommend the modified Wesley: Get all we can, keep as little as we can, and give as effectively as we can.

“Keep as little as we can” frees us from the idolatry of wealth. At the same time, earning all we can and giving as effectively as we can channels the full potential of our resources toward Kingdom work, ensuring that what God entrusts to us is used to produce the greatest possible gospel impact.

Set a lifestyle cap now. Don’t ask yourself how much to give, but how much to keep. Commit to having the living standards of a student for life, by setting a lifestyle cap, a ceiling to your standard of living, beyond which you give the rest. This cap should shape not only your spending, but also your savings and pension planning, with the goal of saving only what’s needed to sustain that lifestyle for your whole life.

As life circumstances change, we can spend or save more, but we aren’t spending more on comforts or pleasures, but only to be strategic for God’s Kingdom.

Examples include spending to save time for ministry or work (living nearer your job, hiring a cleaner or buying a basic car), joining mission trips to broaden your perspective, or reducing long-term costs by saving for a house deposit.

But always check the motive—are you building God’s Kingdom or your own? Spending thousands extra on a bigger garden to host the annual church BBQ is unlikely to be effective generosity.

Lifestyle cap example

One Fruitful Work team member has capped their expenditure at £18k. This allows for the high costs of living in an expensive city, alongside hosting meals, many weekend trips, and some overseas holidays. They plan to revise this cap as costs change due to changes in living and commuting costs, or if they have children, but plan to never increase their standard of living beyond their already reasonably affluent lifestyle.

Write a giving pledge. Prayerfully consider making a personal pledge of radical generosity between you and the Lord. Share this commitment with a few trusted friends for encouragement and accountability. Create your own pledge, but consider using our pledge as inspiration. See page 62 for more on this.

A vision for generosity

What if the prevailing culture of Christian giving could change, such that it was no longer a rare exception to find someone living with radical financial generosity? What if hearing about Christians giving 50, 70 or 90 percent away for the Kingdom was commonplace? What if the Christian who saved all of their money and accumulated a fortune was the anomaly, because everyone else was so focused on giving?

Put it into practice

1. How does Jesus giving everything for you change the way you view your money?

2. If someone examined your spending over the past month, what would it reveal about your priorities?

3. Have you experienced joy in giving before? What made it joyful?

4. What would it look like for you to give in a way that genuinely costs you something significant this year?

5. If you set a lifestyle cap today, how high would it be and why — and what would you have to give up to guard against lifestyle creep over the next five years?”