Stewardship

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Give to everyone who asks you... Luke 6:30

The World Giving Index listed Myanmar as number one country in terms of giving, tying up the position with the United States with the WGI score of 64%. At first I thought this sounds unusual for a country that has been closed to the world for decades until 2009. I tend to believe that Christians are the top givers, but this recognition to Myanmar reflects Buddhists are more generous. This attitude can be traced to the concept of dhana or charity, which for an individual Buddhist is one way of generating merits for the giver.

Christians are supposed to give more, but the reality is that most of us are not. Many today are experiencing what we call in the development community as donor fatigue. We feel we have given enough and the beneficiaries of our generosity are not making good use of our money. Those who choose to give are confused where and when to give. In the church, we limit ourselves to giving tithes and loose change for offerings and support to ministries. Some of us are even giving based on the “quality” of the sermon we heard, while others are giving to programs of the church where they can see “results”.

We always relate giving with money, but giving does not mean simply money but also material and non-monetary things that can be shared. We have possessions we do not use that we can give to others for their productive use. Time is also an important resource that we can share to others. In our harried world, we lost focus of the most important things in life like our relationships. We more spend time on things that has little impact on our life in the future, and less time for the people we love.

Willingness and ability are the two factors that determine how we give. The first is the hardest part to develop. Financial professionals advice that we should pay ourselves first. This is the first rule of wealth creation. However, this is the opposite of what the Bible says that we should give to God first. If we pay ourselves first, we will end up with a hoard of wealth to enjoy on earth, and if we give to God first, we will end up with eternal riches beyond what we can comprehend.

Ability is just an accessory to the willingness factor. If we are willing, we can find ways to give. Our ability to give and share cannot be measured if we are willing. But the most trivial reason for not giving will always be thought of if we are not willing to give. The important element of ability is the amount we give. If we are willing and able, we can give beyond what is expected of us. There is a saying, give till it hurts. This is true when we believe that the more we give, the more we receive.

We have to make giving as a hallmark of our Christian testimony not because God needs what we have, but because we were blessed and we have to share the blessings. We can make giving as a way of life.

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