A few months ago i was visiting Thailand and had a lot of “me” time so i wrote a short series here at biscuet.com about Giving. That series sparked a lot of conversations both online and offline. I received several emails from people who resonated with what i was writing. And in my offline world the things i wrote were changing my conversations and the way i interacted with friends.

If you have no idea what i’m talking about then you can find those posts here here and here.

Since writing those posts way back in February i still cannot stop thinking about giving and what our response should be. Our obedience in giving more away is a baby step in fulfilling our calling to reconcile culture.

So, in response to this constant theme in my mind i’ve decided to take a stand and respond and see what happens.

I have decided that every beggar who asks will receive something from me. It might be a few coins and it might be a few bills. I don’t know. I just know that as a response to this constant theme in my life i need to do something. I need to take action. People talk too much about how they want to change society and change culture and ultimately change the world. I hear a lot of talk and i see a lot of pictures of really trendy parties that are supposed to advocate for the poor, but i don’t see a lot of action. Real action. It’s time to take action.

Here are the rebuttals i will most likely hear and have already heard:
1) “You know, Biscuet, most of those beggars are fake beggars and don’t really need your money.”
My response: Who am i to judge how they will use my money? Who am i to judge the actions of anyone? What they do with the money isn’t the point right now. Giving is the point.

2) “You know, Biscuet, giving a few coins to every beggar on the street isn’t going to change the world.”
My response: Duh. It’s not about what that money will do to change society, it’s about what that money will do to change me.

You see, i think far too many people are eager to change the world, but never even consider changing themselves. Giving my few coins away will most certainly change my stoney heart.

We cannot reconcile culture until we restore the broken pieces in our lives. For me, it begins in this simple act of obedience and trust. Obedience by following people who are much wiser than me who said to give to the poor and to satisfy the desire of the afflicted. Trust to believe that my needs will be provided for as i give more away.

This is my response so i’m not saying it should be your response or needs to be your response. There’s no guilt trip or plead for you to follow me. This response isn’t about that either.

I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes and what i learn and experience.

In what area of your life do you need to start putting some action behind all that talk?