How To Live Rich

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." 1st Timothy 6:17-19

Although North America has only 6% of the world adult population, it accounts for 34% of household wealth. There are approximately 6.6 billion people in the world today and close to half of them (well over 3 billion) live on less than $2 a day!  I'd guess that if you live in the United States or Canada, don't own a car, and "have to ride the bus", you are paying more than $2 a day on just transportation alone.  If you can read this, you have discretionary income and time.   We, (you and I) are some of the richest people in the world.  This is not bad, but it does carry a unique set of responsibilities.

Three Attitudes to Avoid:

1. Don't be arrogant, rather be thankful, remember God provides you with everything you have for your enjoyment
2. Don't put your hope in wealth, but in God
3. Don't see your wealth as a burden. If what you have is a burden, something is likely askew with your gratitude, your generosity, or maybe both.

Three Attributes to Embrace:

1. Do good
2. Do be generous
3. Do be willing to share

Paul says, If you do these things, you will be making deposits in heaven, and will take hold of true life.


Question: What's one attitude or behavior that has helped you to be more generous? Please leave a comment below.

Budget vs. Generosity

Sometimes I meet people who wish they could give more.

“I want to give, but there's no more room in my budget”. Perhaps you have felt this way before. So, how can we be generous while staring down our monthly budget? Well, we could go with the flow… Most middle-class Americans simply don’t give.
 

• Giving by Class: The two groups in the United States that give the highest percentages of their income are the poor (those making less than $40,000 per year) and the rich (those making more than $100,000 per year). Middle-class Americans (those making between $40,000 and $100,000 per year) are the smallest percentage givers.
• Few Support the Church: Only one-third to one-half of U.S. church members financially support their churches. In 2004, just 9% of American "born-again" adults tithed.
• Church Donations: About $40 billion annually is given to churches in the US.
• Pets: In 2011, Americans spent over $50 billion on their pets.

         http://www.generousgiving.org/stats#

When it comes to budgeting and generosity, we could go with the flow, or we might take some simple steps to strengthen our giving:

1. Get to know the God who “knows how to give good gifts”. As you do, you will become more generous and God will entrust more to your care.

2. If you are not giving, start by giving away 5% of your next paycheck (you won’t miss it, and the benefits of doing so may surprise you).

3. If you are giving, prayerfully consider giving away just 1% more this year.

4. Don’t wait to get out of debt to begin giving. The joy of giving may actually be the incentive you need to get more serious about your budget.

5. Watch for moments to be generous beyond your bank account. If you are creative, you will find many.

How have you balanced the reality of your budget against your desire to be generous? Leave me a comment below… I’d love to hear.

A Generous Wind

Kite boarding is an up and coming sport that has almost completely overtaken windsurfing, at least in Hood River, Oregon where I spent a few hours recently watching (from the safety of the beach). How’s it done? Strap a small board to your feet and then tie yourself to a large kite. The payoff? That you get to ride the wind. Some kite-boarders have soared as high as 150 feet with airtime up to 40 seconds. Sound rewarding? Sound risky? It’s probably a fair bit of both.

It occurred to me that living a generous life is like that. There will undoubtedly be times when the risk is felt… times when people who we give our time or money to squander it. But there will also be times of great reward… times when we see the multiplication of our investment in a person. Generosity brings a fair bit of both risk and reward.

Jesus taught about the difference between those who ride the winds of generosity and those who sit on the beach. Well sort of… He put it this way:

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.  So also, the one with the two talents gained two more.  But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.  The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
 
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

“‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matt 25: 14-30

Did you notice what motivated the lazy servant to hide his Master’s money? Fear of the Master. By contrast, what motivated the faithful servants? I suspect it was the possibility of “sharing in the Master’s happiness”. They wanted to ride a generous wind and they were willing to assume some risk to reach the reward.

Can you remember a time when your generosity involved risk, reward, or both? I’d love to hear about it through a comment below.

Compassion for a Monk

 What moves you?

Perhaps it's the movie you watched last weekend, or the book you're reading, or maybe its the people you pass each day on the way to work...

A few years ago I was riding my bicycle on my usual path to work, and as I waited for the light at the freeway off-ramp, I saw a familiar face… one as consistent as the stoplights. Each morning ‘Monk’ stands at the off-ramp leaning over his cane and holding a sign asking for money. He had been wearing the same clothes for about a year. They call him Monk because he prays a blessing on the cars that pass by. He runs the business there and all the others who panhandle in the region know to 'schedule' their time and spot with Monk. It is serious business.

We’ve had some interesting conversations. Monk (his street name) keeps a massive knife on his belt. One day he told me about a man who had threatened a woman nearby, and Monk and “some of the guys” were going to “take care of him” when they found him. Monk and I had lunch one day and he shared with me about his dishonorable discharge from the military for his Heroin use in Vietnam. The drug has chased him ever since. My dad served in Vietnam. He shared with me about his dream of re-connecting with his kids someday, and I could hear the brokenness in his words about the pain he had caused them.

Our conversation this day was typical intersection chat. “Somebody stole my tent yesterday!” he said angrily, “and when I find em’ I’m gonna Cut em’ up!”

For the next few hours I couldn’t stop thinking about Monk. The weatherman was promising temperatures in the teens and likely snow. With no shelter I wondered how he would stay warm. He said he had been trying to get into The Hooper Detox Center for several weeks. For this and other reasons, I’ve never given him money.

As I thought about this man weathering the coming storm under an overpass, I couldn’t escape a sense of responsibility.

When Jesus saw the crowds of people I believe he noticed individual people like Monk, and it moved him. He knew their individual stories and spiritual condition. "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." Matthew 9:36

But I couldn't bring Monk home. Most of the shelters would not take Monk due to his heroin use, and those that would, he would not go to because of the rules (rules like: you can't wear a 10" knife on your belt).

Then, I remembered an old backpacking tent I had that would suit him well. I set the tent by the door to take with me in the morning and put a small bible in the top of the tent bag.

The next morning the temperatures had dropped, and I found Monk dutifully holding his cardboard sign. He must have wondered what I was doing as I got off my bike. I handed the tent to him. I told him it was a faithful old tent that had served me well. Just then, and just a little, Monk began to cry.

He wasn’t saying anything, and then he said “come here”! He gave me a great big bear hug. “You don’t know how much this means…” he said. I told him I had put a Bible in with the tent, then I said something like “The only real hope I have is Jesus. He’s the one who helps me when I need it.” Monk said “Yeah brother, me too!”

Over the next few weeks I didn’t see him. I wondered how he was fairing with the weather. The snow came, the temperatures dropped, and then the thaw. When the roads were passable again, I rode my bicycle to work and saw him there at the off-ramp. He was so happy to see me. He said, “I’ve been looking for you! Thank you so much for the tent Brother! It really helped me and a buddy make it through, and thank you for the Bible! I carry it with me everywhere I go!”

I recently bumped into Monk at a local restaurant, and he was looking much better. He stopped by my table to tell me he had been clean for several months. He really looked it. When I think about Monk, I'm moved with compassion. I see a child who is lost. A veteran un-thanked. A man who wants to know his place. A father who loves his children.

com·pas·sion

Def. "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering."

What inspires you to be generous? Can you think of a time you felt joy by helping another person out?  Please share your story with me by leaving a comment below. Thanks for reading!

Generosity's Baby Steps

Sometimes the mere thought of being generous can be overwhelming...  Where do I start?  How much can I really afford to give?  Why should I give away what's mine?

While there are answers we should seek to those questions, it might be beneficial to ask a few simple questions first:

What am I most thankful for?

Human generosity flows from gratitude.  When I'm thankful for the blessings of my life, then I am free to give out of joy.  Conversely, when I spend time and energy trying to hold on to the little I think I have, I cannot be generous.

Jesus put it this way:

"Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matt 6:21

If my treasure is money, my heart goes with it.  If my treasure is relationships, my heart goes with those people, and my money and time can easily flow to those people I treasure.

One thing I'm thankful for: My family has always had food on the table.  Always.  So much so, that my children don't really understand what hunger is.  For the provision of God in our lives I'm deeply grateful.

How could I be used to meet the needs I'm aware of around me?

To be generous, I must first have eyes to see the needs outside myself. Then, I can begin to think about creative ways to meet them.

On Easter Sunday, my family and I were headed home and stopped at the local Safeway to pick up some remaining items for an impromptu Sunday barbeque at home.  As I stepped out of our mini-van there was a grey-haired woman there who asked if we could help her out.  She had some things in a bag she had gathered as presents for her sisters kids and said she was headed to her sister's house but wanted to take some food along with her to be a blessing to them. Then she asked me for money.

Now I rarely give money to someone I don't know, particularly in parking lots and at off-ramps.  But that day, I had an epiphany.  I explained to her that my family and I were headed to the store and that she could come with us and pick out what she needed.  I also shared with her an amount that we could afford.  With our kids in tow, we did our shopping and met her at the front where we paid for the food she had picked out.

I don't know what she did with the food.  Most of it was perishable and would not be easily returned for cash.  I don't know if she was really going to see her sister,  but that day I felt great about being generous, I loved that my kids could participate in the joy of giving, and I had renewed hope that I could help a stranger.

Gratitude for God's provision and some creative generosity clicked that day.

Question: What sparks your generosity?  Please leave a comment below to tell me about it...

A Generous Man

A generous friend can change your life.

When I was nineteen I sensed that God was directing me to move to Hawaii.  A good friend named Bill who had been generous with his own home and resources had some friends he thought I might be able to stay with for a few weeks.  So I flew to Hawaii on a one-way ticket, my bicycle in a box, and less than $100 in my pocket.

Doug and Elizabeth Glenn opened their home to me.  They gave me a place to sleep, cooked delicious and healthy food for me to eat, and made me feel like a member of their family.  I got a job, pitched in around the house, and did what I could to be helpful.  Still, they kept giving.  They loaned me their car whenever I needed it, they let me use all of their possessions just as though they were mine, and they introduced me to their friends.  Those friendships have borne much joy in my life over the years.

Doug was a goldsmith and jeweler.  When I noticed what he was doing in his shop, he invited me in and began to teach me his craft.  He could take a piece of paper and a pencil and draw a matching ring, necklace, and pair of earrings and then create them.  He cut the stones, melted the gold, polished, and perfected some of the most beautiful jewelry on earth.  And he spent hours with me to show me how he did it.  He helped me buy a polishing wheel, gave me a handful of rough semiprecious stones and taught me how to cut, polish, and sell them.  Doug and Elizabeth made a place for me over about two years.  Their hospitality was a gift.


Doug passed away a few years ago.  Though I hadn't seen him in over ten years, I needed to be there for the memorial.  I found myself surrounded by hundreds of people who had story after story of Doug doing similar things for them.  There wasn't enough time to tell about the fullness of his generosity, but strangely we didn't have to, we all knew the same man.

Generous people:

• Smile
• Ask how you're doing
• Make themselves available to other people
• Are connectors...  they see the potential in people
• Intentionally schedule "free time", so that they can be free in sharing it with you
• Are not ignorant of reality, they simply choose to believe more than they see with their eyes
• Make their own needs known and are very well cared for when they are in need
• Give money out of the overflow of the blessings they have received
• Are the first to trust
• Have great hope
• Love 

Lord, let me be such a man.

P.S. You can see some of Doug's craftsmanship here

Powerball Generosity

Recently the Powerball lottery shot through the roof and many of my friends rushed to buy a ticket.

Why?  For a chance at winning millions.

Why?  Now that's a good question...  Because of a desire to be rich.  Many will say that if they won the lottery they would give away most of the winnings, but the truth is that few lottery winners are truly generous.  The fact is that most of those who win the lottery handle their money in the same way as they did before they won and thus, many lottery winners squander the money.  Simply Google "lottery winners who went broke" to read about their stories and the research done in this field.

Generosity has no correlation to how much money you have.  Let that sink in.  Being poor or rich has nothing to do with how generous a person is.

That's what Jesus taught in Mark 12:

⁴¹ "Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
 ⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

She put in more than all the others.  She was all in.  And God noticed.

Am I all in?

Am I the kind of person that the generous God of the universe would entrust with true riches?

Boundless Generosity

I wouldn’t have said so out loud, but I used to think that God was rather miserly with His blessings.  I had read the great stories of how He’d blessed Abraham, Moses, and David, but that didn’t seem to be my story.  My theology told me not to question his omnipotence, and God is indeed all-powerful, but when it came to His work in my life, I used to view God’s blessing more like a lottery… as though a few people are chosen to be deeply blessed by God, but most of us simply are not. My prayer times reflected this belief and I set the bar at a manageable height for God because I didn’t want to be disappointed if my prayers went unanswered.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Over the last few years I have begun to experience the Lord’s generosity.   I've seen the Lord provide for the needs of my family and seen Him use our resources to provide for the needs of others.  Still, I did not ask for greater opportunities and blessing, in part, because I did not think God could or would be that generous.   

Somehow God caught my attention… it’s as though He was asking “Can you see the horizon of my generosity? Can you find the end of it?  How much can you trust me for Ray?”

When God introduced Himself to Moses in Exodus he described himself as "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin."

The LORD is generous in His compassion, grace, patience, love, faithfulness, and justice. The spectrum of God’s character is revealed to us through the prism of His generosity. God is not simply patient; He is slow to anger and gracious. God does not simply love; He is love itself burning and boundless. 

Is it possible that God might invest so much of Himself in you and I that His generosity would begin to mark all facets of our character?

Reposted in part from Arrow Leadership "Lead On Fall 2010 issue"