Giving away our money

Recently several folks have asked me about giving away money. We see people almost every day asking for money. They call us on the phone. They knock on our doors. Often they are people with signs standing beside the road. Sometimes it is closer to home. Should we give money to someone simply because they ask us to?

From the perspective of our faith tradition, the resources we have are not ours but God’s. I find that a helpful way of thinking about it. The question then is: what is the best way to use the portion of God’s wealth that is in our hands?

Knowing that God has priority concern for those who are most vulnerable, we are called to examine where we can live simply so that we have more to share with those who are in need. But also when we are giving money it is part of our calling to use the money where it will do the most good. Giving money to a friend might make us feel better than giving it to a more desperate stranger but it isn’t about our feelings, it’s about God’s priorities. Giving money to a person who says “thank you” may feel better than sending it off to an agency or a stranger we will never see but giving to the agency or stranger may be the most faithful use of our funds. Just because someone calls us on the phone or knocks at our door doesn’t mean that their need is the highest priority. And sometimes giving money to someone isn’t going to help them do anything more than continue their self-destructive behavior.

Jesus counsels his followers to give to anyone who asks but I don’t believe Jesus meant this to be interpreted as inflexible law but rather as reflective of a particular principle. I interpret this saying to mean that we are called to give freely and generously to people in need. It is the need that is the reason to give not the act of someone asking.

For example, I have known several guys who panhandled to get money. It was nice that they had money to spend on the things that thought they needed but I knew those guys because they came into the homeless shelter where I worked. The shelter provided them with food and shelter, community and counseling. From my perspective, giving money to keep the shelter open was more important than giving money to the guy with the sign. And since shelter is not a solution to homelessness but simply an emergency response to a dire need, resources spent on shelter should also be matched with resources given to overcome the inability of our nation to provide a sufficient quantity of affordable housing.

Having said all of that, if we make a mistake or get taken advantage of, we should extend to ourselves the forgiveness of God’s grace.

Here are my guidelines for giving:
• It is better to give haphazardly than not at all.
• It is better to give strategically than to give impulsively.
• It is better to give with God’s priority for those most in need over our priority of those who are closest to us.
• It is better to give with an eye to addressing both the immediate need and the injustice that is often the cause of the need.
• It is usually better to talk with people who are familiar with the broader picture before you give.

Please feel free to use me as a resource if you have questions.

Rich