1 Timothy 6:17-19, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy [. Instruct them] to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”

Part I

It’s A Story

The elements of story

Paul presents a long list of motivational messages. It’s an effective list. Except it’s not a list. It’s a story.

Paul’s message has a protagonist. It has a backstory and setting. It has a supporting character. It has a call to adventure. It has a climax and resolution. It promises a meaningful victory. It has a happily ever after. It’s a story.

An archetypal story has specific elements:

The connected steps of story

The story archetype goes through specific steps. These steps move through:

Original Identity → Challenge → Victory → Enhanced Identity.
The four stages in the hero story sequence.

Each step is connected. The backstory and setting are not just random details. They establish the main character’s identity from his values, his people, and his life story.

He then receives a call to adventure. This is the challenge. He’ll accept this challenge because of his identity. He’ll accept it because of his values, his people, and his life story.

This challenge will promise the hope of a victory. That victory is compelling because it links back to the main character’s identity. It supports his values, his people, and his life story.

Accepting the challenge then leads to a journey. This journey results in a victory. It also transforms the main character’s identity. He won’t be the same person at the end of the story that he was at the beginning. He returns as an externally honored and internally transformed victor. At the end, the resolution confirms this victory and identity transformation.

The connected steps of Paul’s story

These are the steps of a compelling story. They’re also the steps of Paul’s message. The story of 1 Timothy 6:17-19 progresses through the elements of

Original Identity → Challenge → Victory → Enhanced Identity.
The sequence of the donor story in 1 Timothy 6:17–19.

This isn’t just literary theory. It’s a practical outline for effective fundraising.

Story step 1: Original Identity

Practical fundraising message 1: “You are the kind of person who makes gifts like this!”

Why will the rich Christian share wealth? He will do so

He has, already in the past, not set his hope in the uncertainty or hiddenness of wealth, but on God.

God is the one who richly supplies us with all things for enjoyment.

He is continuing in the ongoing process of being not “high-minded.” He is not above or separated from the fellowship community. Others in his mutual fellowship-community also share God’s rich provision in this same way. (People like him make gifts like these.)

Story step 2: Challenge

Practical fundraising message 2: “Enjoy your wealth! Don’t bury it and die with it.”

Why will the rich Christian share wealth? He will do so

Story step 3: Victory

Practical fundraising message 3: “I don’t ask people for money. I ask people to do things – good things – that happen to cost money.”

Why will the rich Christian share wealth? He will do so

Story step 4: Enhanced identity

Practical fundraising message 4: “This is how to live your best life!”

Why will the rich Christian share wealth? He will do so

An expanded translation

This story progresses through the backstory, call to adventure, climax, and resolution. It follows the story cycle of

Original Identity → Challenge → Victory → Enhanced Identity.
The expanded story cycle.

It progresses through

These story steps appear even in a standard translation. But understanding each word in more detail helps. It helps to illuminate the story.

Words can hold a lot of meaning. This can come from the words themselves. It can come from their definitions, tense, voice, mood, aspect, case, number, and so forth. It can also come from their context. This might be from their immediately surrounding words. It might be from their allusions to other famous works. Often, words have – and are intended to have – multiple meanings.

Translating in a way that communicates all this is difficult. Even when it’s possible, it’s usually not practical. It would be too long. It would be too clunky. It wouldn’t read easily. But it can still provide some insight.

What would 1 Timothy 6:17-19 look like if we spelled out more of these meanings? This single sentence would expand. It might read:

As for those in the church who are wealth holders right now at this opportune moment,

continually come alongside them as an authorized messenger to instruct and advise them

that they are to continue in the ongoing process of being not high-minded (not above the fellowship community),

that they have already in the past (with continuing effects on the present) placed their hope not on hidden, uncertain, and disappearing riches but on God,

the one who has and is and will continuously and personally supply every one of us richly with each and every thing

for the purpose of ENJOYMENT:

all so that they may aggressively grab hold of the experience of living a life that is really and truly life indeed (both now and later).

Now that’s a sentence! Yes, it’s way too long. It doesn’t read easily. But it can provide insight. It gives more detailed instructions. It gives instructions for major gift fundraising. These are also instructions for storytelling.

The story in an expanded translation

This expanded translation more precisely reveals the story steps:

As for those in the church who are wealth holders

This story begins by introducing the main character. This is a story about the Christian with accumulated wealth.

right now, at this opportune moment,

This is a story set in the land of temporary, disappearing wealth. The main character will have a temporary opportunity to do something wonderful. This setting will motivate accepting the forthcoming call to adventure.

continually come alongside them as an authorized messenger to instruct and advise them

This is a story with a supporting character. The guiding sage will come alongside the main character to deliver the call to adventure. Timothy is to come alongside [para-] to deliver this authorized message [-angelle]. He is not to do it just once. He is to keep on doing it. He does so even if the main character at first refuses the call.

that they are to continue in the ongoing process of being not high-minded (not above the fellowship community),

Next in this story, we learn about the main character’s backstory. We learn about his social values. Continuing these values will motivate accepting the forthcoming call to adventure.

that they have already in the past (with continuing effects on the present) placed their hope not on hidden, uncertain, and disappearing riches but on God,

Next in this story, we learn more about the main character’s backstory. We learn about his spiritual values. We learn about his life history of placing his trust in God. We learn about his life history of not placing his trust in hidden, buried wealth. These will motivate accepting the call to adventure.

We’re reminded again of the setting. This is the land of temporary, disappearing wealth. Accumulated wealth is referenced seven times in this one sentence. This is not an income-sharing setting. It’s a wealth-sharing setting. This setting will motivate accepting the call to adventure.

the one who has and is and will continuously and personally supply every one of us richly with each and every thing

Next in this story, we learn about the main characters’ wealth origin story. It was and is richly and personally supplied to him by God. This wealth backstory will motivate accepting the forthcoming call to adventure.

We also learn more about the main character’s backstory. We’re introduced to his people – his fellowship community. This is a mutual sharing community. Each of them has also been richly blessed in some way. Each faces the same challenge of what to do with those blessings. The shared social norm of enjoying those blessings through generous sharing will motivate accepting the forthcoming call to adventure.

for the purpose of ENJOYMENT:

Here, we reach the story’s “call to adventure.” The rich Christian is called to enjoy his wealth. The message is this: Don’t bury it just to die with it. Enjoy it! That’s why God gave it to you in the first place. That was His purpose in giving it to you.

How can the rich Christian enjoy it? First, he recognizes his abundance. Once he has enough for food, clothing, and shelter, he already has enough for contentment. (1 Timothy 6:8). Next, he rejects the bad alternatives. Bingeing with the excess leads to addiction, depression, and feeling dead inside. (1 Timothy 5:6; Ecclesiastes 2). Burying it just to die with it is foolish. (1 Timothy 6:7; Luke 12:2o). Finally, he follows the instructions for enjoying wealth. Next are the steps – and the results – of accepting this call to adventure.

He enjoys wealth by using it to accomplish something. He does intrinsically good work. The main character achieves a victory. He acts as a good partner in a great partnership.

He enjoys wealth by using it to bring beauty into the world. He not only accomplishes a beautiful good work, he does it again and again. He accumulates a great collection of these beautiful, good works. He becomes rich in them. The main character achieves many victories.

He enjoys wealth by using it to gain personal growth. His personal “I am” statement changes. He becomes a good, joyful, abundance sharer.

He enjoys wealth by using it to gain social growth. His social “I am” statement changes. He becomes a deeply connected, valuable member of a mutually supportive community family.

He enjoys his temporary wealth by converting it into a permanent accumulation. His “happily ever after” ending will be an enduring one.

His story is intensely active. His victorious living, inspiring identity, and “happily ever after” are the stuff of an ideal life. This ending resolution confirms that the generous sharer has indeed chosen the best life story ever – both now and forever.

This is the story. It’s the rich Christians’ story. It centers on their call to adventure. That call to adventure is:

“Enjoy your wealth!

Everything before this challenge explains why they will do it. Everything after explains how they will do it.

At first, Paul’s persuasive arguments to encourage generosity might seem like a long list. But it’s not just a list. It’s a story. It’s the donor’s story. Telling this donor’s story – and helping them to tell it for themselves – works. It worked 2,000 years ago. It still works today.

Part II

It’s A Hero’s Journey Story

(Overview: The greatest donor story ever told)

The attractive story arc

In a story, things happen. Things change. Otherwise, there’s no plot. There’s no story. This process of change is the story’s arc. Almost all stories follow one of six story arcs:

  1. Tragedy (riches to rags). Emotional trajectory: Fall.
  2. Tragedy (Icarus). Emotional trajectory: Rise then fall.
  3. Tragedy (Oedipus). Emotional trajectory: Fall then rise then fall.
  4. Happy ending (rags to riches). Emotional trajectory: Rise.
  5. Happy ending (Cinderella). Emotional trajectory: Rise then fall then rise.
  6. Happy ending (man in a hole). Emotional trajectory: Fall then rise.

In 1 Timothy 6, which story arc does Paul use to encourage wealth sharing? He uses a personally attractive story. So, it’s not a tragedy. We might read a tragedy, but we would never want to live one. Some stories have no victory or happy ending. But those aren’t attractive roles to play in real life. No one wants to live those stories.

Paul’s story is attractive. It’s attractive to the donor. It has the ultimate happy ending. It ends with,

“storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:19).

Paul’s wealth-sharing story ends happily. But it doesn’t start there. Before this passage, Paul starts with death and suffering.

“For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it, either … But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:7, 9-10).

Paul uses a negative-then-positive story. He uses the fall-then-rise or “man-in-a-hole” story arc. Modern research shows the power of this approach.

The attractive story arc in research

In fundraising experiments, a negative-then-positive story works. It works better than a negative-negative, positive-positive, or positive-negative message.1113

This story arc also works better at the box office. A statistical analysis of 6,174 movie scripts grouped them into the six story arcs described above. It found,

“The highest box offices are associated with the ‘Man in a Hole’ [negative-then-positive] shape which is characterized by an emotional fall followed by an emotional rise.”1114

It works better in books, too. Another “big data” study looked at 4,803 novels from Project Gutenberg’s fiction collection. It grouped the novels into the same six story arcs. The stories with the highest median downloads used sequential “man in a hole” fall-then-rise arcs.1115 The negative-then-positive story arc works. It works in novels and movies. And it works in fundraising.

The attractive story arc in practice

Paul’s message starts negative. He interrupts the life of endless accumulation. His message starts with

You are going to die! Your wealth holding is temporary! Don’t suffer and strive to just keep stacking up even more. This leads to evil, pain, and death. (See 1 Timothy 6:7, 10-11.)

Paul interrupts. His message is noisy – even rude.1116 It’s OK for us to interrupt, too. We interrupt because we care. We care about the other person. We see the end of their path. And we don’t want that for them.

They’ve been richly blessed. We don’t want them to just bury it in the ground. We don’t want them to just hide it away in a napkin. We don’t want them to explain this to the master, saying,

“for I was afraid” (Luke 19:21).

“and I was afraid” (Matthew 25:25).

They’ve been richly blessed. We don’t want them to just lose it to misfortune or death. We want them to enjoy it.

Paul interrupts. He starts negative. But then he turns positive. He tells them,

Now is the time! You have a window of opportunity! You can do beautiful, wonderful things! You can grab hold of the life that is really life! (See 1 Timothy 6:17-19).

Paul uses a negative-then-positive story arc. He uses a negative-then-positive fundraising message. Modern experiments and massive data analysis validate this approach.

The hero’s journey

This passage includes every story element. It’s telling a story. It’s telling a negative-then-positive story. It’s telling a story about the donor.

So, what story genre is this? Is it Fantasy? Horror? Comedy? Science fiction? Mystery? Detective? No. It’s a hero story. It’s a donor hero story.

This description can sometimes cause confusion. A hero story is not about someone who is already a hero. It’s a story about someone who is on a “hero’s journey.” The hero’s journey protagonist doesn’t consider himself a hero – because he’s not. Not yet. He’s not yet a hero, but he is on a heroic journey.

Through this journey, he grows. He overcomes challenges. Ultimately, he wins a victory. Only when the story ends does he emerge as a hero. Only at the resolution is this new status confirmed. Only then does he become the externally honored and internally transformed hero.

This “hero’s journey” story has specific elements:

The hero’s journey repetition

We’ve all seen this story before. In fact, it’s found across cultures and ages.1117 But it’s not just a historical artifact. The highest-grossing movie franchises all use this same story. Humans are drawn to this story. Consider the original Star Wars, the Matrix, the Hobbit, Harry Potter, or even The Lion King.

MUFASA: You have forgotten who you are and so forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.

SIMBA: How can I go back? I’m not who I used to be.

MUFASA: Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true king.

The Biblical hero’s journey

Movies are interesting. For some reason, most people seem to like the same story. Whether they know it or not, they seem to be hard-wired to connect with this story sequence.1118 But what does all that have to do with the Bible?

This story is also a Bible story. It’s the single most important story of the Old Testament. It’s not just the hero’s journey. It’s the Moses journey. Let’s pick up this story in Exodus 3.

“I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob … Assuredly I will be with you,” (Exodus 3:6, 12b).

“‘I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.’ But the LORD said to him, ‘Who has made the human mouth? … Is it not I, the LORD? Now then go, and I Myself will be with your mouth, and instruct you in what you are to say.’” (Exodus 4:10b-11a, 11c-12).

The hero’s journey is a story model. Here, it’s a Biblical story model. It’s the story of Moses. It’s the story of his call to adventure. It’s the story of his hero’s journey.

But wait, isn’t God supposed to be the hero of every Bible story? No. God the Father cannot be on a hero’s journey. He’s not on a path of self-improvement or identity transformation.1119 He’s not the hero in the story; He’s the author of the story. He’s the author who occasionally inserts himself directly into the story.

Shouldn’t we avoid the hero story because it’s vain and egotistical? No. Remember, the main character doesn’t start as a hero. Would Moses, tending his father-in-law’s sheep, have considered himself a hero? No. Because he wasn’t. Not yet. He wasn’t yet a hero. But he was about to go on a hero’s journey.

Even then, he resists the call to adventure. Like all prospective heroes, he refuses. He has to be persuaded to begin the journey. He doesn’t start out as an inspirational character. As with each of our lives, the person at the end of the story is different from the person at the beginning. The story is about the journey.

It helps to know the character roles

1 Timothy 6:17-19 shares a story. It’s a story about the donor. It’s a story about the donor’s journey. That journey starts with a call to adventure.

An authorized messenger – a guiding sage – delivers this heroic call to adventure. It’s a call to leave behind the ordinary, small, self-focused world. It’s a call to leave behind the ordinary world of personal consumption and endless hoarding.

It’s a call to go on an adventure. It’s a call to enjoy wealth by using it to do good. This adventure promises great victories. It promises intrinsically meaningful victories. It promises a collection of publicly visible victories. It promises an enhanced identity. It promises a “happily ever after” ending. It’s a heroic call to adventure. It’s a heroic journey. It’s the donor hero story.

Understanding this story helps in the work of fundraising. It gives us the right story. It gives us the right role. Once we know these, we know how to act. We know what to do.

Having the right story character works better than a list of tips and tricks. Suppose a person had never seen Elvis perform a song. What list of written instructions would it take to get them to do a credible Elvis impersonation? The list would be long. And it probably still wouldn’t work.

But once we’ve seen the character, we know what to do. Once we know the role, the behavior is easy. We don’t even need a list of instructions.

The fundraiser plays a critical story role

The hero’s journey can be the donor’s philanthropic journey. In this journey, the fundraiser is not just a salesperson. The fundraiser is a central, archetypal character. The fundraiser is essential to the donor’s story.

Without Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke never leaves Tatooine. Without Morpheus, Neo never takes the red pill. Without Gandalf, Bilbo never leaves the shire. The fundraiser is the guiding sage who challenges with a choice.

We challenge the donor to leave behind their small, self-focused world. They are busy with their career or their business (or their father-in-law’s sheep). We interrupt them. We challenge them to go on a journey to make an impact on the larger world. We challenge them to free those who are in bondage. We show them how their identity (their faith, values, people, and life story) compels them to accept this challenge. We get turned down. We persist. We know that it’s all part of the story.

We supply the donor with magical instruments to complete the journey. The charity itself is the donor’s instrument of impact. This magical tool allows them to accomplish what they could never do alone. We show them how to use the charity to accomplish their philanthropic goals.

We show them how to use giving opportunities, gift agreements, or gift structures. This might include endowments, virtual endowments, gift agreements, multi-year pledges, or planned giving instruments.

We can point the donor to friends and allies who can help. These might be other donors who have made similar commitments. These might be professional advisors or technical experts. We provide donors with advice, guidance, and planning to help them complete that journey.

We help them accomplish good work. We help them succeed in making an impact. We help them benefit their original world – their people and their values. We help them take another step in their hero’s journey.

Over time, they will not simply do a good work; they will become rich in good works. They will become a new person – a ready, happy, abundance sharer with the fellowship community. They will grab hold of that which is really life.

That’s a great story. It’s a great donor story. It’s the greatest donor story ever told! As fundraisers, we have an essential role to play in that story. We can be the guiding sage. We can help donors to live their heroic life journey.