Buffett
So I was watching Warren Buffett on an internet video. In case you didn't know, he's loaded. And accordingly folks want to envy him and give him all the social acclaim that comes with money. And I admit that my ears perk up anytime I hear news of WB. But what's interesting to me of late is that he's been on this whole philanthropy kick. Recently he, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates got together to challenge some billionaires to give a way half to all of their fortunes.
What's interesting to me about all this is that it causes me to challenge the way I view money, it's role and relationship with society, people and Christianity. I'm not saying that Buffett is or isn't a super Christian, but it's causing me to think about how I view money and what does it mean.
I believe in giving of your money, time, talents, etc to God and others. That can come in many forms, but I'm a simple person raised from childhood in the church. So I can easily translate that into, "Give the church 10% of my income." Which that philosophy has good scriptural backing, but I do believe it's an overly simple way of looking at this issue of giving.
Now if you think I'm going to go on about giving your time and talents you're right. And if you think I'm going to down play the significance of giving money, you're wrong. Give time, talents, love and all that stuff. But I want to harp for a second on money.
From what I hear, the younger generation is pretty crappy about giving money. So we need to get on the ball here. I'm not saying 10% to your local church, but I am saying a predetermined amount to "Jesus-work". (Do you like how I just made up a word there?) It's really hard for me to go to Southeast Asia every month to love people, but I can contribute every month to Jesus-work in Southeast Asia. And maybe 5 years down the road I can go there. I can't spend 50-60 hours a week being a discipleship minister in downtown Little Rock, but I can give a portion of my income to help Betsy do that. So let me challenge you to set a predetermined amount, percentage, figure to give and find one, two, three organizations to give to and do it.
Now we all need to give of our time and talents. So just be sure you're doing that. Maybe that can take the form of scheduling a time to give blood. Maybe you use your professional skills in a non-profit way like tutoring or volunteering at a non-profit. Or maybe we just take time to visit with someone who needs some social recognition and attention.
So in conclusion... Give in all aspects.
The End
JEE