"Less is more (or more is less): the conundrum of giving"
Less is more. This oxymoronic cliché finds its way into almost every context imaginable. Many people benefit from this maxim in such areas as exercise, use of pain killers and keeping up with that friend from high school. A little less jogging on Monday avoids overwork, and ultimately allows for more effective jogs during the rest of the week.
But when “less” refers to money, then most people disagree. More money is always more: more stability, more flexibility and ultimately more happiness. So of course, in no situation could less money mean more money. And for many people, without money there is no happiness. Less money is less happiness.
Travie McCoy’s song “Billionaire,” featuring Bruno Mars, currently sits at number eight on Billboard.com’s top 100 most popular songs. This genuinely catchy song uses surprisingly profane lyrics to communicate a simple message.
“I want to be a billionaire so [expletive omitted] bad / buy all of the things I never had,” Mars sings.
[chorus] “Every time I close my eyes / I see my name in shining light / a different city every night oh / I swear the world best be prepared / for when I’m a billionaire.”
That “Billionaire” ranks in the top ten most popular songs in the US makes a much stronger statement about the song’s audience than it does about its writers. Everyone, it would seem, wants to be a billionaire.
A couple of Mccoy’s verses nod toward generosity, quasi-rapping that his billionaire persona would financially help needy children among other philanthropic gestures. But this attempt at morality suggests that without billions in the bank, helping those in need is simply unfeasible. McCoy, whether intentionally or not, makes the statement “because I’m not a billionaire, I cannot help those in need.”
The Bible, not surprisingly, expresses an entirely different view of financial generosity. The poor widow from chapter 21 of Luke gives much less everyone else in the temple, but Jesus himself declares that she gave more than all of the other people in the temple. Jesus explains that her offering’s value is not exclusively tied to financial worth, but to the nature of it. Jesus demonstrates how sometimes less is more.
During a different episode in Jesus’ ministry, he stands talking to rich young man, perhaps a billionaire, who enquires about the afterlife. In Matthew 19, Jesus explains that in order to gain treasure in heaven, the young man must give his earthly possessions to the poor. The young man sorrowfully gives up on Jesus’ teaching because he cannot bear to relinquishing his monetary and physical assets. This rich man keeps more, but he gains eternally less. Jesus demonstrates how sometimes more is less.
Giving financially for the cause of Christ has much less to do with the financial status of the giver and much more to do with obedience to Jesus’ call. Perhaps the giver may end up with less material resources, but he or she will gain much more from supporting the Gospel than the “less” amount of money could ever provide. Less is more. But a lack of generosity leaves the non-giver with more money, but in the case of the rich young man from Matthew 19, lacking generosity results in losing eternal life. More is less.
