Today’s scripture: 2 Cor 8:1-15 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (David Zier):
I have been amazed many times when I find that the people who are the most generous tend to be those who seem to have the least to give. Let me explain.
I know of a church in West Virginia where the members and attenders are living in a tough economic area. The church struggles financially, and attendance tends to fluctuate. The attenders have as difficult of a time as anyone. Yet they help out a food bank once a month, and they are faithful. They have more people show up at the food bank at times than at a Sunday service, making sure that those who are struggling and in need have enough to eat, even when those in the congregation are struggling as well.
This is supported by a study at University of California, Berkley. In a series of experiments, a team of researchers at UC Berkeley found that people of lower socioeconomic status are actually more generous than those higher on the economic scale. One of the experiments gave participants the opportunity to share $10 with an anonymous stranger. A few days earlier, the participants had all filled out a questionnaire in which they reported their socioeconomic status. The results showed that people who had placed themselves lower on the social scale were actually more generous than upper-class participants were. The researchers say that finding is consistent with national survey results showing that lower-income people donate a greater percentage of their income to charity than upper-income people do.
A second experiment addresses the specific psychological experience of having less that causes people to want to give more. Participants engage in an exercise that made them feel like they were either of higher or lower status. Then the participants had to say how they thought people should divide up their annual income — on food, recreation, charitable donations, or other items. Those made to feel lower on the social totem pole said that a higher percentage should be spent on charity.
So what is it about being less “well-off” that causes people to be more generous? Researchers found that the rich aren’t as generous as the poor because they don’t typically feel as much compassion for others. This is not to say the rich are not compassionate, so let’s get that cleared up right now. But what the study suggested is that people going through tough times and of a lower socioeconomic status “get it” more than others and are able to be empathetic with those with whom they can identify. “Getting it” when in the middle and upper class is only thinking about it, not actually experiencing it as a real-life day-to-day struggle and situation.
As I read this, I realize that, no matter what I do, with the church or on my own, and even with being in a low socioeconomic status myself when I was young, I don’t have their experience to know. No mater how much compassion I may have, this study makes sense to me.
It seems that many people (me included!) are concerned with retirement accounts, where they live, medical benefits, etc. But those who are living on the edges can’t even fathom many of these things. One of the major conclusions of the study:
“Whereas lower-class individuals may give more of their resources away, upper-class individuals may tend to preserve and hold onto their wealth. This differential pattern of giving versus saving among upper- and lower-class people could serve to exacerbate economic inequality in society.”
Again, I am not suggesting that everyone fits into a category, but there is some logic here that makes sense. This also follows from today’s scripture, 2 Corinthians 8: 2-3:
“During a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means.”
One way for me to see where I am is to look inward. Assess myself. Pray.
Sure, I can pray for the poor. But I mean to pray for myself, to ask for God’s help in searching myself, and ask God to give me a more generous heart beyond my wildest imagination. Can you dare to pray that way? How do you define Generosity?
Thought for the day: Luke 21:3-4: “Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.