Sharing the Wealth

Should there be conditions imposed on those you give money to?

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. - Matthew 6:19-24

When Jesus talked about sharing the wealth, he did not say anything about conditions.  Charity is to be based on love, unconditional love.

But that's not how all charity works, right?  

It does for individual giving.  Most donations are made because people believe in the good work the charity is doing.  They just want to help.

Foundations have criteria for giving that are broad, so in a way they are conditions or limitations.  If they want to support education, they probably won't grant money to a feeding program, unless it has something to do with students getting an education.

But some wealthy philanthropists have a desire to bring about change through their donations.  Money can change behavior and even influence a change in character.

So, I wonder.  Are we all too influenced by the power of money?

The lion's share of financial support at Caritas of Port Chester, the feeding program I am involved in, comes from individuals wanting to support what we do, which is to feed the hungry.  They believe in our mission to eliminate food insecurity in our communities and they use some of their stored up treasure to further the cause.

God bless them.

But we also seek support fro foundations offering opportunities for large grants.  That is where we could easily trip ourselves up.

Foundations support programs that align with their goals.  That makes sense, since they provide the funding.  So, in order to win the grant, we could be tempted to come up with a program that fits their needs, but doesn't really align with our goals.

If we do that, we are letting the lure of the money change our mission. 

Then we have to ask ourselves which master we are serving.

So, my take-away from today's reading is not about how I spend my personal wealth, but how I stay true to the reason I seek financial support.  I have a commitment to those we serve and to all those individual donors and supporters to stay the course.

We can and will seek foundation support, but it has to benefit the mission and not lead us astray.

I guess that is what Jesus wants us to be aware of.  Wealth, our own and that of others, is power, and that power can pull us away from the light.

Stay focused, he tells us, and follow the light.

More to come...