It is painful to recall such things, but I too experienced and also witnessed the same assumptions and expectations. Once all the leaders in my chapter were called together and rebuked for not reaching the Christmas offering goal.

I was part of the Offering Committee for many years, and my wife was bookkeeper for awhile. But nobody (including myself) saw the clear violation of integrity this presented.. a husband and wife team…one counts, the other keeps the books? That should never happen.

And yes a “spirit of giving” was never taught to me as including giving to people or organizations outside of the ubf world. As you say, giving “to another organization or cause didn’t count.” This “giving spirit” heritage point is inward focused. The reflief offerings mentioned in the history are most likely real, but so small that they really can only be a facade, meant to give the appearance of giving outside of ubf. [It is interesting to note that this heritage point is expanded upon in the 50th Anniversary book to become “social responsibility”. ubf does run a hospital called Bethsesda, but even that seems to be also a front for making ubf recruits.

So even though ubf is accredited by the ECFA, that really only applies to the Chicago chapter, and not to the satellite chapters and certainly not to the international chapters.

I hope that this abusive practice has been stopped. But I fear it still may be happening in many ubf chapters around the world.

The bad: God gave. God also receives our praise, worship and thanksgiving. If we give and do not receive, we stifle and stunt our own growth and maturity. We might even think that we are better than others because we give.

The ugly: As with all the core values and legacies, the ugly seems to be similar in that they can cause UBF people to be elitist with a (false) sense of superiority and hubris over others who do not do what UBF does. Just because we may give while others receive, it really does not make the giver superior or better or more deserving or worthy than the recipient. Before God, who alone is righteous, all of us are equal sinners before Him.