Freakonomics... or Jesus-nomics

I tried to preach on "giving" on Wednesday night.

As a fairly big chunk of my sermon, we had a discussion about this blog post from Stephen Dubner, a co-author of the fantastic and provocative book Freakonomics.

The blog presents the following familiar New York City scenario to five commentators and authors, and invites their response:

You are walking down the street in New York City with $10 of disposable income in your pocket. You come to a corner with a hot dog vendor on one side and a beggar on the other. The beggar looks like he’s been drinking; the hot dog vendor looks like an upstanding citizen. How, if at all, do you distribute the $10 in your pocket, and why?

The respondents' answers are fascinating.

1) Arthur Brooks does a nice job of laying out the competing value systems that shape how we respond to the scenario--essentially asking how we balance the "sovereignty" of the beggar versus the impact of the gift; Brooks says he buys the beggar a hot dog or gives to a recognized charity...

2) Tyler Cowen argues against giving the money to the beggar on the grounds that such an action creates a market--an incentive--for begging and he buys the hot dog for himself...

3) Mark Cuban keeps his $10 for himself (no surprise)

4) Barbara Ehrenreich gives the most shockingly repulsive answer: she invokes Jesus' injunction to give to those who ask... and then confesses that she has no use for Jesus. Clearly, for Ehrenreich finds Jesus useful only for shaming people who aren't as morally virtuous as she is... (I'm dumping my copy of Nickel and Dimed in the garbage!)...

5) Nassim Nicholas Taleb gives the most rambling, but also, in my experience, the most accurate answer. He says that "it just depends." Whether we give or not depends upon a thousand small circumstances--how we're feeling, what we read before we reached the street corner, whether the beggar looks like a great-uncle.

So what do I do? My response depends upon the circumstances. I went through a period of about a year here in New York where I would keep dollar bills in my pocket, just to make sure I was prepared to give to EVERYONE who seemed like they needed it. These days, I'm a little more hit or miss. I do always look the person in the eye. If I'm giving something, I say, "God bless you." If I don't, I often say, "I'm sorry, I can't today... God bless."

I do struggle with this decision each and every time. I agree with Ehrenreich, that Jesus has something clear to say on this issue. Unlike Ehrenreich, I actually believe that the health of my soul is at stake in whether I'm obedient or not.

The heart of the question, for me, is one of will. How pliable is my will? How willing am I to give my money--things that are not, at bottom, truly mine? How taken am I with the illusion that I have earned my money?

The secondary question is "who is my neighbor?" Who do I see when I see someone asking for money? Do I feel threatened? Or do I see an opportunity to share....

"Have the same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus." Easier said than done.