By Howard Aru
We live in harsh and cruel financial and economic times. We have loans to repay. Monthly rent to settle. School fees, food, electricity and water bills, property taxes, clothes, credit, fuel and other costs to cover. Not only these but numerous family and cultural obligations—deaths, sickness, bride prices and weddings to commit to. Amid all these personal commitments, to ‘give’ to others’ needs can be a tough call. The damn question is quite plain and simple—how on earth do you give when you have none?
Consumerised World View
Media adverts bombard us every single day. The media tells us that true happiness comes from buying more things—even when you already have enough to survive. For instance, with ladies, it’s those pot plants. You feel you must have the latest variety or colour, or your life would be empty, miserable and incomplete. That’s how they think and behave. Or those shoes, like Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines, who owned around 3,000 pairs during a time of widespread poverty. How and when she wore them, or whether she ever wore all of them at all, nobody knows. So long has she had those 3,000 pairs, that was all that mattered to her. Technology and the media have made our selfish lifestyles so pervasive and so hard to escape these days.
With men, the kavalactone session, as an example. They’d spend hours and several thousand vatus on it to socialise and engage in ‘wise talk,’ the significance of which normally evaporates and dissipates early the next morning with the rising sun. They repeat that addictive routine the next day, and the next, though the outcome and the goodness of which can be sheer nothingness as far as their immediate family members are concerned. As we approach another festive season, and as supermarkets and shops start putting up those adverts, coloured lights, and music, the pressure mounts. Such is our consumerised worldview. It moulds, conditions, and shapes us into helpless living fakes that so many individuals find themselves entrapped in.
‘Giving’ amid difficult times?
To begin with, giving (money, in particular) is not in our DNA. It is ‘not in our blood’ to give, as is a common expression today. Writer Ken Long (PhD) is a business consultant living in Sydney, Australia. He authored the book The Giving Equation (June 2020) in which he writes:
Our consumeristic mindset is reinforced by the messages we receive in the media. Our society equates personal happiness with the purchase of material possessions. We have a “work–spend–work-some more” lifestyle fueled by the desire to obtain things that we currently don’t have, thus (we are told), achieving enhanced fulfillment, satisfaction, and significance in our own eyes and those of others. When our consumeristic mindset becomes the lens through which we view the world, it provides the framework of values we use for decision- making and problem-solving.
We have a hard time giving, let alone think about the pressure it exerts on our scarce and limited financial resources. This article focuses on finance or money than any other form of giving because it is the most sensitive subject of giving under any circumstance in life. Any call to give triggers an immediate defensive reaction and a closed mind. The more we give, the less we have to live on—that’s how we’ve been conditioned trained and moulded to think. To any human mind, this is normal, natural, and perfectly fine.
Because the preamble of the Vanuatu Constitution declares that the establishment of the Republic of Vanuatu is ‘founded on traditional Melanesian values, faith in God, and Christian principles,’ it is worth reminding us of one of these—the Christian principle of Tithing. The word tithe means “a tenth part.” Tithing is a donation, or offering, of one-tenth of your income for the service of God. This command is still in effect today—though many churches do not practice it.
The principle of Tithing
Before my unchurched readers and friends shoot me down on this subject, I will hasten to cite the words of mutual-fund pioneer Sir John Templeton, well-known American-born British investor, banker and philanthropist on the whole subject of tithing. He writes:
I have observed 100,000 families over my years of investment counseling. I always saw greater prosperity and happiness among those families who tithed than among those who didn’t.
A few other examples of tithers include William Colgate (founder of the Colgate company—the product you brush your teeth with every morning) was a committed tither who progressively increased his giving from 10% of his income to 50%, and eventually gave 100% of his profits to God’s work after keeping only what he needed to live modestly. His giving supported numerous causes, including missions, Christian education (such as what would become Colgate University in the centre of New York), and Bible societies. He believed his business’ prosperity was a result of his faithfulness to God’s principles of giving. Besides William Colgate, other famous businessmen such as James L.Kraft (Kraft foods), and Henry John Heinz (Ketchup) also tithed. All three of these men started out tithing 10%, and so blessed were they by the practice, that at the time of their death, they were giving away almost 100% of their income!
Cure the Mindset
Our biggest challenge with giving is our mindset – shaped by a world view and the media to think ‘the more we give, the less we have to live on.’ Writer Ken Long categorises two types of ‘economies’ in a person’s life. One he calls the ‘Me-Economy’ while the other the ‘G-Economy.’ The former is solely and selfishly focused on self: the more money you have the more life and fun you have. Less money, less life, less fun. One of the reasons we are reluctant to give tithes and offerings for religious purposes is the reasoning that giving seems to be making a deduction from my future life. But Templeton, Colgate, Kraft and Heinz have proven this mindset to be totally wrong. The philosophy of giving in the G-Economy is based on the biblical verse of Luke 6: 38:
Give and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full – pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over.
Nothing is wrong with money. But our hunger and greedy quest for it can be self-destructive too. Worrying about money can cause anxiety, stress, sleep problems, and depression. The compulsive pursuit of wealth can be a destructive addiction, similar to drugs or alcohol, which takes over a person’s life. This obsession can lead to unethical and illegal behaviors too – as we’ve seen heavily debated on social media over the past couple of weeks. Not only that, but extreme financial distress, has led to suicides.
I met one of my foreign investment mentors (during VIPA’s early days) at the Sydney International Airport on my way to Vila sometime in 2012. He had struck a big investment deal, and was preparing to open a huge resort on Efate. Later on he committed suicide because he got himself overly indebted from the deal and could not bear the thought of facing this nightmare alive – so he sadly committed suicide.
John D. Rockefeller, founder of the Standard Oil Company, was the first American worth more than a billion dollars. In his 50s he was the richest man in the US. He was after wealth, but his health was in deep trouble. He was ready to die. His veins and arms were as hard as lead pipes. Then he thought out a plan. He would use his money to meet the needs of others. He sought God’s forgiveness, and then started a new life of giving – he gave to support numerous groups in society, especially the poor. A change happened. He became healthier. Story says, he was happier during his money-giving days than during his money-making days. When he eventually passed away at age 97, his arms were as soft as a baby’s. This amazed many Americans.
That’s why, it is more blessed to give than to receive. The idea that the more we give, the less we have to live is a fallacy promoted by the secular, commercialised, consumerised and selfish world that we live in today, promoted by the media. So, learn to give and be a blessing to others.
While Howard Aru has held senior roles in various Government ministries, institutions, and the private sector, the views expressed here are solely his own and do not represent those of any organisation with which he is affiliated.
