蜜芽传媒

When I was a penny-pinching student in the 1990s, I was struck by comedian Jack Handey鈥檚 piercing one-liner:

鈥淚f I ever get real rich, I hope I鈥檓 not real mean to poor people, like I am now.鈥�

This joke was rather too close for comfort. Generosity, I realised, isn鈥檛 about how much we give, but about who we are - and how much we choose to keep for ourselves.

That challenge has come into sharp focus for me again with Bill Gates鈥� recent pledge to give away 99% of his wealth, mostly to facilitate better healthcare for African mothers and children.

In a recent blogpost he wrote:

鈥淧eople will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that 'he died rich' will not be one of them."

The founder of Microsoft is being incredibly generous, especially when contrasted with governments who are retreating from global responsibility. One study from Boston University estimates that as a direct result of USAID cuts alone, 200,000 children around the world have already died.

Bill Gates will remain a billionaire, even after donating 99% of his wealth. But ultrahigh net worth individuals do not have a monopoly on generosity. We must all wrestle with how to be generous with the resources that we have. In a world of seemingly infinite need what moral equations could possibly answer the question of who should receive our charity?

Some people take a utilitarian approach, seeking to get the most beneficial bang for their buck. Others are steered more by emotionalism. But generosity is not an exact science, and sometimes well-intentioned acts of charity are not well-informed and can end up doing more harm than good.

Generosity has a central place in Christian theology. The gospels show this in action from Jesus - but also pass on Jesus鈥� teaching about how to be generous. On one occasion Jesus sat near the Temple in Jerusalem watching people bring their offerings. He observed the rich giving large sums from their surplus, and a poor widow who quietly dropped in two tiny coins.

She, Jesus said, had given more than anyone else -because she had given everything she had.

When God does the accounting, it鈥檚 not the size of the gift that counts - but the size of the sacrifice. However much we have - or don鈥檛 have, our generosity connects us to the God who gave us everything and with those in need around us.

True generosity doesn鈥檛 just depend on government鈥檚 aid budgets. Nor does it depend on the world鈥檚 billionaires - though I encourage others to follow in Bill Gates鈥� footsteps. True generosity depends on all of us.

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