In this week’s episode of You Are What You Give, Heather Johnston offered a window into an approach to giving that begins before reactions. It starts with the drive to be purposefully relevant.
This was a conversation about responding not to a need but to a calling.
Here are some giving insights that stayed with me.
1. Giving Begins With Identity, Not With Need
Heather does not describe her support for Israel as a response to a fundraising pitch, a geopolitical calculation, or even a humanitarian crisis. She describes it as alignment with a role she believes she is meant to play in history.
When giving is rooted in identity, it doesn’t fluctuate with headlines. It doesn’t depend on public approval. And it doesn’t collapse when the work becomes difficult or controversial.
This kind of giving answers a critical question:
Who am I called to be?
2. Service, Not Replacement
Much of the historical tension between Jewish and Christian communities has revolved around ideas of replacement: who inherits covenant or legitimacy.
What emerged in this conversation was fundamentally different.
Heather’s framework is not about replacing the Jewish people, directing them, or redefining their story. It is about serving- standing alongside rather than stepping in front.
Giving, in this model, is humble, honest and selfless. It focuses on the opportunity to fill a role and to assume responsibility.
3. Long-Term Giving Requires Staying Power
One of the key dimensions of generosity is endurance.
Heather’s involvement in Israel did not begin in response to a crisis, and it has not ended when conditions became harder, whether politically, socially, or personally.
Enduring giving is rarely glamorous. But it is often the kind of giving that can become consequential instead of seasonal.
4. Giving Is About Alignment
Sometimes giving is not about fixing something within reach, rather aligning ourselves with something larger than us.
Heather gives because life carries meaning beyond comfort, beyond consensus, and beyond convenience.
Purpose can and should drive our relationship with everything from people to the divine. And when we see beyond ourselves we are motivated to give.
Questions to Sit With
Who are we as people who give?
Are we giving to influence or to serve?
What challenges can our giving sustain?
Are we giving to fix or to fill a specific role?
Give yourself some time to think about your giving. This is great prep for this week’s Giving Challenge.