What's in it for me?

On occasion, someone leaves me newspaper articles in my box at the church.  One article given to me recently is a critique of one of the factors in Obama’s proposed jobs plan.   Under the proposed plan, this wealthy man would have his taxes raised. He claimed that he wouldn’t mind paying more taxes if the tax plan were sensible, but since there would also be a cut to the deduction for charitable giving, the people who would really suffer are not the rich, but the poor, who receive that giving.  His reasoning is that if wealthy people don’t get enough benefit for their charity, they won’t give, and the poor suffer, so the tax policy isn't sound enough to be supported.

Ok, there may be a little truth to the theory that some people give more if they think there is a tax deduction.  But if it is that big of a deal, then we have a serious crisis on our hands.  If getting 28% of your giving back as tax deduction instead of 35% is enough for people to say they won’t give anymore, then I think they have lost the concept of giving. 

My understanding of a gift is that we give it because we want to and that we don’t expect anything in return.  It is also my understanding that I have been blessed with enough to give generously (though in this country I am not considered wealthy) and others have been blessed enough to give generously too.  Especially when we know that someone else, who has less, is in need. 

It is my understanding that God’s plan for the world is that none would go without.  And that God has given us enough that none have to.  The uneven distribution of resources comes from greediness and sin.  Giving is one way to combat our idolatry of money, to demonstrate and remind ourselves that something else (God) is more important than the accumulation of wealth.  Rich or poor, we are susceptible to that idolatry, and so we all must give to the degree we are able.  And the harsh reality is, if we who are wealthier do not care for the poor, nobody will.

It is my hope that this man is wrong, that a majority of people who give do it because they want to make a difference for those who receive, and that whatever the government decides to do with this particular piece of the tax law, those who have more will continue to see the need to share with those who have less in a variety of ways (including through the government).  May the hungry and the poor be blessed richly by the generosity of God through the gifts of God’s people and, wealthy or poor, may we all have generous hearts.