My Wallet with a Cross On It

Mark Erickson
6 days ago
3 min read

My wallet is black leather with a small, metallic, silver-colored cross on it. It’s cracked along the fold and scuffed on each corner but has stayed in decent condition, despite traveling in my back pocket for over 15 years. At any given moment, it likely has my license, a handful of credit cards, $4 to $40 in cash, a couple of loyalty punch cards for local coffeeshops, and an expired coupon to Ace Hardware. I bought it as a teenager at a Family Christian Bookstore in Matthews, NC. (I was a good Christian boy, and it felt right.)

I don’t remember how I carried my money before I had this wallet. Maybe I had a cheap Velcro wallet? Or was it just loose in my pocket? At the time, it didn’t occur to me that this would be the wallet I would use for more than half my life. It also certainly didn’t occur to me what having a cross on my wallet really signified.

Years after I bought this “mature” wallet, I started working part-time at Canaan Group & Associates in 2018. I was recruited to help in an administrative capacity with no prior experience in fundraising, but CG&A was one of three spheres of influence that spurred me to more deeply reckon with generosity, giving, and money.

One early situation that spurred this reckoning was a Journey of Generosity (or JOG), a “one or two-day retreat designed to explore biblical generosity” in 2018. Our facilitator was Pastor Ted Strawbridge who served as the executive director for the Tennessee Valley Presbytery’s (TVP) church planting initiative. Ted has since passed, but he was loved for pouring into people like a busted fire hydrant. He was a difficult person to tell “no” which is how my now-wife Sarah and I ended up at the JOG. We came with minimal information and far fewer questions than we should have had, alongside a dozen or so other young people in a similar situation. But over those 24 hours, we were all faced with a concept of radical, sacrificial generosity that pushed us toward a deeper understanding of stewardship and our own callings to generosity for the sake of the Kingdom and our hearts.

My second round of generosity conversations arrived with a visit from Jason Coffey, Sr. Consultant at CG&A, who was also the fundraiser for TVP at the time. Jason called to see about visiting with me and Sarah to ask about our approach to giving and to share about TVP’s work. I had already known and been working with Jason for a few years, and I first attempted to dismiss us as too young and not wealthy enough to be worth his time and effort. However, Jason’s insistence was dignifying, and we hosted a real-deal professional fundraiser in our living room as a couple in our mid-20s.

Jason asked questions like:

“What does biblical generosity mean to you?”
“Do you have a giving strategy?”
“What do you think God wants you to do with your money?”
“What are you passionate about in Kingdom work?”

All questions that I’m pretty sure I answered with “I dunno, I haven’t really thought about it before.”

In my unconscious philosophy and approach to finances, where was I keeping my money? Was it in a cheap Velcro wallet? Was it just loose in my pocket? I kept my cash in a black leather wallet with a cross on it for about a decade before recognizing what God’s ownership of all things really meant for money. Since then, Sarah and my own personal journey of generosity continues within our church, our giving, and through my work and experience with CG&A.

And that’s the third conversation: the ongoing wrestling and reckoning with stewardship and giving that is inherent in our everyday work at CG&A. I’m constantly developing and learning from Troy Duble and my fellow CG&A team members, the nonprofits and churches we serve, and my own walk in trust and dependence on the Maker, Sustainer, and Owner of all things.

At CG&A, we believe that fundraising is an extension of your ministry and an opportunity for discipleship in generosity at all ages and stages of life. Contact us to talk more about how generosity conversations can become an integral part of your mission.