What Does It Mean to be Generous?

 

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  

Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 NRSVue

Do you consider yourself a generous person? How is that generosity demonstrated? There is the rather tattered definition of faithful giving as "time, treasure, and talent" which isn't employed often anymore but is actually useful. The notion is that all three are important, which they are, and that some without much "treasure" can give in other ways. While this is helpful, my experience in congregational leadership is that it was often a core group which was willing to give all three, according to their means, while some could never be budged to contribute in any form. 

Statistics show that in our society religious people are more inclined to give, in part because it is considered a sacred responsibility. As Christians we consider generosity a practical response to the gifts of God, particularly the sacrificial love of Christ.

What does generosity look like when people are no longer connected to faith communities in the same way? I'm impressed by the work of groups such as 100 Women Who Care and the male counterpart. The premise is that 100 men or women "congregate" four times a year, put $100 each in the pot, then decide on a worthy cause for that quarter, based on submissions from members.  Not all groups hit the hoped for number of 100 participants, which would amount to $10,000 times four, but its always a hefty sum for the charitable organization.  The Belleville area chapters gave money to Syrian Refugee Sponsorship and meal programs in the past and what a difference it mae

I saw a news release this past week about 100+ Men Who Care Quinte:

At its 34th meeting Monday, 100 + Men voted to present the Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre in Napanee with a $9,000 cheque from its membership. Including Monday’s donation, 100 + Men Who Care Quinte has donated over $280,000 to local charitable organizations since its inception nine years ago.

We give to Sandy Pines ourselves, so I'm delighted to see this. Still, as much as I admire these initiatives I do have concerns about the bigger picture. The percentage of Canadians who don't claim any charitable donations for tax purposes is growing. That shouldn't be surprising, despite our relative prosperity, because generosity is both caught and taught. Where do we learn to be generous anymore? 

And there does seem to be a trend toward "popularity funding" these days. There are lots of causes which aren't high profile which don't get the support in the same way. Sometimes I see huge crowd-funding totals as a heartstrings response to a tragedy when other individuals or organizations struggle. 

Then there are the "virtue signalling" givers who make a lot of noise about their charity when they aren't really giving at all -- think of a certain Orange Menace former president of the United States. Jesus warned about these people but it doesn't seem to matter. 

I doubt that these other forms of giving  will ever replace the level of generosity demonstrated by the "aging out" post-war cohort of religious folk. I think most people would be astonished at the level of giving in terms of "time, treasure, and talent" demonstrated by this diminishing group. In part because this is because they aren't inclined to draw attention to their efforts. Yet not only do many aging Christians give to and through their churches/synagogues/mosques/temples, they are often the stalwarts of service clubs and meal programs and a host of other community organizations which are also dwindling in numbers. 

Are we generous people? Maybe we can all do a generosity inventory to give an honest answer.