Bacon, Not Just Eggs
“People wait until late in their career to give back. But why wait when there is so much to be done?”With this in mind, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg pledged to give more than half of his billions to charity along with his co-founder, Dustin Moskovitz (Source: http://inquirer.net/). Zuckerberg added, “With a generation of younger folks who have thrived on the success of their companies, there is a big opportunity for many of us to give back earlier in our lifetime and see the impact of our philanthropic efforts.” (Ibid) They were the latest to commit to the“Giving Pledge” project spearheaded by billionaires Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. The roster of the almost 60 philanthropists who pledged to the project is a virtual Billionaire’s Who’s Who: CNN’s Ted Turner, Lucasfilm’s George Lucas and Oracle’s Larry Ellison among others. “Zuckerberg’s status as the world’s youngest self-made billionaire [he’s only 26 years old] comes from his ownership stake in Facebook, which has yet to go public with a stock offering. His net worth was recently estimated at nearly $7 billion.” (Ibid)
Though I’m very much grateful for their pledges, I remember a story I heard from my classmate, Pastor Leon, in our Preaching class at the International Graduate School of Leadership while he was nervously speaking before our class during our laboratory. The hen was bragging about its contribution to society. She boasted that she gave a lot compared to the pig. The pig wisely replied, “When you give your eggs, you are giving a donation. When I give my bacon, I will be making a sacrifice.” Pigs may not be paragons of wisdom, yet I think that put things in perspective. We may not be billionaires (yet :-), right Bro. Erik Ching?) but we can still give, make a lasting impact and even have the privilege of seeing the fruit of our efforts. I also believe that if we are not sharing our wealth with those in need while we are still poor, we won’t be sharing it when we become rich.
Paul lauded the dirt poor Macedonians for their generosity: “They gave as much as they could afford and even more, simply because they wanted to. They even asked and begged us to let them have the joy of giving their money for God’s people…. They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, just as God wanted them to do.” (2 Corinthians 8:3-4a, 5, CEV) That’s the key to generosity. We give ourselves first to the Lord and then to others. Let’s not wait to give for there’s so much to be done.
Though I’m very much grateful for their pledges, I remember a story I heard from my classmate, Pastor Leon, in our Preaching class at the International Graduate School of Leadership while he was nervously speaking before our class during our laboratory. The hen was bragging about its contribution to society. She boasted that she gave a lot compared to the pig. The pig wisely replied, “When you give your eggs, you are giving a donation. When I give my bacon, I will be making a sacrifice.” Pigs may not be paragons of wisdom, yet I think that put things in perspective. We may not be billionaires (yet :-), right Bro. Erik Ching?) but we can still give, make a lasting impact and even have the privilege of seeing the fruit of our efforts. I also believe that if we are not sharing our wealth with those in need while we are still poor, we won’t be sharing it when we become rich.
Paul lauded the dirt poor Macedonians for their generosity: “They gave as much as they could afford and even more, simply because they wanted to. They even asked and begged us to let them have the joy of giving their money for God’s people…. They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, just as God wanted them to do.” (2 Corinthians 8:3-4a, 5, CEV) That’s the key to generosity. We give ourselves first to the Lord and then to others. Let’s not wait to give for there’s so much to be done.
Brethren, let’s give bacon, not just eggs.
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