Monthly Archives: September 2015

On Giving

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“No one ever became poor by giving.” – Anne Frank

In 2014 the Gross World Product (GWP) was between $87 trillion and $75 trillion. GWP is a count of all the money “made” from sales of good in a year in the whole world, legal goods. That comes to $16,000 per person. This means everybody! The old. The sick. The hurt. The children.  This means that if money were divided equally each person would have about $16,000 a year to live off of. How much did you spend last year?

The Motley Fool said that the average American spends $140 a day or $51,000 a year. That’s crazy!  $51,000/$16,000=3.2 (Subtract one for yourself) So that means that the average american is using 3.2 people’s worth of money! Now I’m certainly not saying I’m exempt from this situation. I am fortunate to have a high income. I have been considering how to effectively use this gift I’ve been given. What could we do with that money instead? Give it away!

This study by the National Center For Charitable Statistics shares some facts on giving. The “normal” US family gives between 2% and 6%. Honestly, 6% was better than I was expecting, but that’s for people who make $10 million +. For us “mortals” There’s a correlation between lower wages and higher percentage of income given. Ranging between up to 4% for people making $45k while those making between $100,000 and $2 million are giving around 2.5%. While that is more money total, we should all remember the great words of Uncle Ben “With great power comes great responsibility.”

There are a myriad of reasons the “normal” person doesn’t give. One is we are afraid we won’t have enough. We compare ourselves to our neighbor who undoubtedly has more stuff than we do, but if we compare ourselves to, for example, the Syrian refugees, we seem to have a lot. If you are reading this on a computer you already have electricity and internet which puts you ahead of most people in the world. If you have electricity you likely have running water and a reliable grocery store within 30 minutes of your house. If you have a steady job you are already more privileged than most in the world.

No one told us it was good to give. Some people are just so caught up in the consumer lifestyle in the US from watching crap like Jersey Shore and The Kardasians that they think all you can do is spend money on stupid crap. For these people I will just say, stop watching that crap. Also stop going to the store to buy whatever strikes your fancy. I know the power of advertising as much as anyone. I walked into Walmart yesterday just to “Look at the new Star Wars toys” since I’m a bit of a Star Wars nerd. Now there is nothing inherently wrong with Star Wars or entertainment (besides Disney disregarding 30 years of continuum books to make boatloads of money on new toy deals but that’s an argument for another day). But the sheer volume of new toys for that is staggering! Also I succumbed to buying a handful of new Hot Wheels, naturally Fast and Furious branded. Marketing is tough stuff! That’s why it’s just better to stay away!

Another reason we don’t give more is we don’t think our money will be used effectively when given to a charity. This is a valid concern. Some people I talk to don’t want to donate money abroad because they are unsure if it will actually reach the people they are trying to help. That is a great and valid concern, but we shouldn’t let it paralyze us. There are plenty of sites that independently audit non-profits and give them effectiveness ratings. An alternative would be that you could donate to a charity in your town. Most of us spend time with people in the same boat as us, economically. We feel uncomfortable going to a different part of town where the houses are a bit run down. We should embrace those people. They are our neighbors also. The more we embrace uncomfortable situations the more comfortable we will become in them. We also might just help some of those people out of those situations and that will be good for everyone. For these people I’d reference Matthew 6:21.

“Where your treasure is there also your heart will be.”

If you are donating money to some organization and also volunteering there you will be able to be sure that your money is actually helping others. An added benefit is that you aren’t out spending money if you are volunteering!

How will we see this world improve for everyone? We have to start with ourselves. If we don’t help our neighbor, why would we expect anyone else to help them?

So how does your giving compare to the “average person”?

How does your yearly spend compare to the world per capita income? Could you live on less and still enjoy life? I’d challenge you to think about those questions.

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Ghandi

 

Being Jesus

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Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

I have been talking with many different Christians lately. Many ask me if I “know” Jesus or if I know that I’m going to heaven. I must confess that “No” I certainly am not that sure of anything like that, at least not in the manner they are implying. Jesus hasn’t come knocking on my door lately asking how I’m doing (at least not a clearly identified Jesus!) and I haven’t gotten my reservation card in the mail yet either. I can identify many sins each day that are mark me as worthy of eternal damnation. I think many Christians get too caught up in “faith in Jesus”. Too many are focused on “believing in Jesus” or ”knowing Jesus”. Others get caught up in personal prayer (which is not bad) or making sure they attend every required religious service. Some will walk past a person in need while on their way to a service, never giving them a second thought. All their thoughts are on their mental image of Jesus. We are all to focused on these things but aren’t focused on “Being Jesus for others”. This seems more important to me. And it seems more important to Jesus also.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers…. Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

We are told here to ‘Go and DO likewise.” Jesus didn’t say “Go and think about your neighbor.” or “Go and pray to God”. He calls us to action. To love.

A recent Christian (and I’m sure a good man) I was talking with, asked why I (try to) do good things. “To what end do you do these good things?” He then asked if I thought they would get me to heaven. I said surely I wasn’t that foolish. Often we think of evil as “murder and rape” but we forget the evil we do every day. We are tempted to compare ourselves to the worst we can think of. We don’t often compare ourselves to Mother Teresa and say “Oh I’m so good!” I assured him that I might have more faith than himself, since while I wasn’t sure my faith in Jesus would get me to heaven, I was sure Jesus’ love and forgiveness would get me there. I think if more Christians busied themselves with just loving our neighbors and not immediately bombarding them with questions of “Are you saved” we might be helping the Holy Spirit on his mission of conversion, as we must acknowledge that it’s not us who saves any person but the Holy Spirit.

Love your neighbor.