People are generous in the Holiday Season, formerly known as Christmas. It used to be that folk were especially generous at this time of year because of God's generosity to humanity in Christ, the original "reason for the season." In most mainline church congregations December is the key month for giving and through the years those of us "in the financial know" would sweat it out over whether some key members would come through in the clutch. To be honest I quietly fumed that while the majority of contributors would give week by week, month by month, albeit modestly, there were the "I'll save you" gifts at the 12th hour by a few.I resented that we were supposed to be thrilled by these high profile contributions. I'll add that there were also people who gave a lot without any desire for acknowledgement.
Today fewer people are connected to communities of faith than in the past, but they do give to charitable causes. When the coalition of congregations sponsored Syrian refugees in Belleville there were impressive contributions from individuals and organizations who weren't church folk yet wanted to support our effort. Some got public recognition for their gifts but some didn't because they didn't want it.
I got thinking about all this watching an episode of the guilty pleasure streaming series, Billions. It's an outrageous tale of the rich, rude, and famous and the attempts by the legal system to bring them low for their crimes and misdemeanours (I just had to use that phrase).
Damien Lewis & Richard Thomas (yes, John Boy) in Billions
At one point billionaire Bobby Axelrod, played with relish by Damien Lewis, is recruited by another rich guy to take The Giving Oath. The premise is that fabulously wealthy people pledge to give away the majority of their fortunes before or at the time of their deaths. In the conversation the recruiter admits that the prospect of giving the filthy lucre away with fanfare is almost as satisfying as making it in the first place.The selfish Bobby likes the idea because it will make him look good, but he is later scolded for not delivering.
This is an obvious poke at the Giving Pledge, the real-life equivalent which includes Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and 200 other "richer that God" mortals. Some of them including Gates and Buffet, have already given billions to excellent causes bringing health and well-being to the poor and disadvantaged of the world. Others have signed on but drag their gold-plated feet when it comes to ponying up.If you won't be a philanthropist you can always act like one.
Generosity is a curious thing. It makes us feel better and sometimes it makes us look better. It doesn't always mean that we are better. Some suggest that anyone who is a billionaire has trampled on others to get there, and this may be true, so generosity can be a form of white-washing for grubby images.
I'm going to suggest that as Christians we have all taken a form of giving pledge. Whatever Scrooge-like tendencies we have we can repent and choose to love lavishly and be generous with what we have, in this moment, without calculation of reward or acclaim. I hope we all respond to the Christmas and Easter stories "with glad and generous hearts" and that we do so 12 months of the year.
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1 comment:
Bobby, in The Giving Oath" is much like Ananias and Sapphira in the New Testament story. There really is no point to lying about what you will give or have given.
I agree with your frustration over the rich who wait til the last minute to "Save" a congregation. (And I have known at least one who insisted on a plaque with his name on it every time he made a big contribution. NOT the true spirit of giving, at all)
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