On Tuesday, I wrote a brief summary of our trip last week to Paris and to Devon. In the comments, a reader named John (not my regular “John from New Zealand”) asked:
Sounds like a good trip. Could you perhaps sometime talk about how you balance your enjoyment of the good things in life such as travel when most of the world’s population does not have such opportunities available to them? How do we balance liberal guilt with a life of privileged affluence?
I’ll deal with the “liberal guilt” idea in a moment.
I’ve gone back and forth about issues of wealth (relative or absolute), travel, responsibility, and Christian commitment over the years. I spent several of my teenage years as a Marxist, sending small money orders to the Socialist Workers Party and hectoring my family members about the evils of private property. They rightly predicted that I was going through a phase, pointing out that it was a good deal easier for me to condemn wealth as a completely dependent high school student than it would be as an adult.
When I became a serious Christian, I began to think seriously about the demands of the gospel regarding money. As most of us know, Jesus has more to say about wealth and economic justice than about any virtually any other topic. His words to the rich young ruler, “sell everything you have and give to the poor” haunted me. I’ve never been convinced that those words were meant for this young fellow alone, rather than as general instruction to all of us.
My first step towards creating a “Christian relationship with money” began when I was first at All Saints Pasadena, and heard a sermon on tithing. Up until this point, I’d given a little bit to charity here and there, but the total would never amount to even 1% of my gross income. But I felt inspired by my pastor’s sermon, and committed to giving ten percent. (At that point, I gave 10% of my net, not my gross. That seemed a huge amount to me at the time.)
My wife and I tithe on our gross income today. 10% of everything that comes in goes out. And frankly, giving away that ten percent is incredibly liberating. It’s as good an antidote for guilt as I know, as it leaves me freer to make use of the remaining 90% of what we earn together. To put it bluntly, we pay God first, and then we pay the mortgage, the car leases, and the Amex bill.
But I don’t believe, as some do, that tithing on one’s income gives one carte blanche to do whatever one wants with what remains. In our marriage, we try and make thoughtful, ethically-informed decisions about what we buy. We try and ascertain where our clothes were made; we try (as much as possible) to buy “cruelty free” consumer products. It’s not possible to do this perfectly, and sometimes, when we’re rushing through Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s, we don’t read labels as closely as we should. But my wife and I are committed to challenging each other to make ever better decisions about how we spend.
We both love to travel (my wife even more than I.) We’re good at playing various games with frequent flyer miles (we use credit cards for everything, accumulating redeemable points with every purchase.) We’ve both spent plenty of time in cheap hotels, and we’re in a position today where we’re able to afford slightly nicer places. We’ve worked very, very hard to earn the resources to make our brief (albeit frequent) trips possible, and we both are willing to spend a great deal on eating out and fine hotels.
Tangentially, there are other things we spend very little money on. We have zero interest in high-tech anything. I don’t need or want a flat-screen HDTV. We have one Ipod that we share, and that was a gift. Our cellphones have no cameras, no interactive features. I’d much rather drop a bundle on a truly fabulous dinner than on some upgrade to a computer system. I’d rather spend discretionary income on exciting experiences than on material objects.
I’m acutely aware that jet air travel contributes to global warming. And since we average 2-4 intercontinental plane trips a year, that means we’re very much part of the problem. I was very happy to discover the Climate Care website. Climate Care allows you to calculate the carbon emissions of any particular plane trip, and then purchase an “offset.” The offset is a direct contribution to a program that reduces carbon emissions around the world. (You can read about Climate Care’s projects here.) Part of me wonders if this isn’t a bit like purchasing an indulgence, of course, but it allows me to feel that I am indeed offsetting the negative impact I have on the planet with a corresponding positive one.
I don’t feel much of this so-called “liberal guilt” these days. Tithing and giving to organizations like Climate Care really does help. We also “tithe on our time”. Both of us volunteer with various organizations, and if we add up the time we spend in organized volunteer work (in my case, with All Saints Pasadena), it easily exceeds 10% of the time we spend at our jobs. When you’re giving at least 10% of your income, and “tithing on your time”, it does wonders to alleviate the nagging sense that you’re not “doing enough.”
Look, I’m not spoiled. I sleep on the hard floors at All Saints on our many overnight lock-ins, I’ve done the mission trips to Mexican villages where there’s no running water and I invariably come home with Montezuma’s revenge. I like new experiences, new places, new things — and that can mean a week on a rural Colombian finca or it can mean a couple of nights at a lovely five-star hotel and a seven-course dinner at a world-class restaurant. I never believe I’m entitled to these luxuries — but my tithing and my service means that I can enjoy a relatively small number of costly pleasures without guilt or doubt.
Here is an interesting piece about carbon offsets. (I haven’t read through all 155 comments, though.)
“I’m not spoiled.”
I hope I didn’t give the impression I was criticizing you for your choices. This issue is something I’m working on myself. My feelings of guilt are most likely a youthful stage and perhaps even a form of mild mental illness because they are not rational. Traveling to Paris is a dream of mine, but when I think about the privilege that action implies, it sucks so much of the joy from the dream.
Rationally, I know we as humans cannot exist without some pleasure. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Even undernourished people spend part of their income on things other than food and clothing and shelter, even though they need more to eat. Denying myself any form of pleasure or relaxation will not eliminate world poverty. In fact, doing that would be counterproductive because I could not continue. I would burn out and be unable to help anyone.
We were born into the circumstances we find ourselves in. We didn’t create the system. We don’t have the option to really remove ourselves from the system. So why do I feel guilty about my white, affluent, male privilege? Maybe I should focus more on actually doing something rather than just sitting around feeling guilty:)
Guilt is often a sense, John, that we’re not doing what we’re supposed to be. Tithing time and treasure does seem a good antidote.
that phrase “i’m not spoiled” really struck me too. since the word “spoiled” implies an attitude problem as much as the conditions that created it, i can’t say that you, or i, are “spoiled”.
but when i think just about the physical conditions that we live in, at least the vast majority of americans (myself included) ARE spoiled. sleeping on the hard wood for a few nights, or a month at a mission in mexico when the fact is that you do “invariably come home” to a soft bed and warm house are wonderful luxuries that many people do not know.
i’m certainly not attacking you for your lifestyle. and i also don’t think you should feel guilty for what you have since most of that was a trick of where you were born.
i guess i don’t really know what my point is other than i really didn’t like that “i’m not spoiled”.
Well, in that sense, I am spoiled. But I think of “spoiled” as referring to those unwilling to take themselves out of their comfort zone for even a short time.
Hugo, I found your comments on tithing really interesting. I have long thought that this is something that more people should do. And to take it one step further and apply it to your time as well as your income is intriguing and admirable.
I don’t ‘pay’ a tithe in either of these ways for a simple reason: my money and time cannot be divided up as easily as yours. My occupation is freelance writer, but spend very little time doing this at the moment. I am the mother of three small children, the eldest of which has Asperger’s Syndrome. She sometimes needs a lot of time and attention and at times can’t cope with being in school and I am registered as her carer. Parenting is necessarily a flexible role, but I have to have more flexibility than most because when most eight year olds go to school, their parents can assume that they will stay there for the day. In addition, my youngest is only in school mornings, so I only get a maximum of 2 hours ’spare’ on a weekday. Aside from looking after my children, I am a committee member for an organisation called LifeLines which finds penfriends for death row inmates and am editor of the quarterly newsletter. This takes up the bulk of my ’spare’ time, that is, time that isn’t spent actively parenting.
Both of these pastimes are hard work, however, both of them I do out of choice. Furthermore, both - I believe - are a form of making a positive contribution to the world. So what are they - an indulgence or an act of charity? They are, of course, both and neither.
As far as money is concerned, my husband’s wages and a disability allowance we get for our daughter is almost entirely spoken for in feeding, clothing and housing a family of five. (Trust me, shopping is practically a military operation and not something I do for fun.)
I think tithing is a great idea, it just is difficult to make work for everyone. I would probably prefer it if my life was more clear cut and I could more easily distinguish between what was work and what wasn’t. But given that it isn’t, I just try to live responsibly; making fairtrade and environmentally friendly consumer choices and being kind to my fellow man. It’s all about finding your own balance in life while doing what you can to make the world a better place.
I am not a religious person, but I think when it comes to living responsibly and free of guilt, we would all do well to follow Abraham Lincoln’s example: he famously said, ‘When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion.’
We are all from different circumstances and have different abilities. These differences mean we all have different ways of optimally contributing to this world. The affluent have the luxury of giving time and money whereas the most indigent must contribute most of their charity to themselves. We should compare our potential for helping others with our actual help of others. Any guilt should be a reflection of the lack of meeting our potential, not the lack others have relative to us.
Well, to be fair, tithing is not a mandate given to the affluent alone. Ten percent is ten percent is ten percent; those of us who belong to religious traditions that demand tithing understand that tithing is for all of us, even if it amounts to a dime.
My ten percent is more than some folks’ ten percent, and less than others. But the amount isn’t relevant, as Jesus’ story about the widow’s mite makes clear. What matters is that we give.
Obviously, this is binding on people of faith, not on the world at large. But my God, if everyone in the Western world tithed on their gross income… what a changed world we would see.
In reality, however, someone with very low wages or living under the povery line cannot afford to part with that ten percent; it would cause them significant hardship, where it would not do the same for someone with higher wages. So ten percent is not really ten percent is ten percent. It has different value and meaning depending on socioeconomic status. To imply that even the poorest individual should feel no compunction about being required by religion to give away 10% of his or her earnings reeks a bit of class privilege.
I agree with Jas. The majority of people in the western world could probably afford to give 10%, but there are people who can’t.
My problem is that my money is not just for my husband and I; we have a duty to provide for our children. While we are not living in poverty (although we came pretty close a few years ago when at one point we tipped up the sofa to see if enough money fell out for a pint of milk!) we do not have much spare money once we have seen to the basic needs of our children, that is, clothed and fed them and provided a roof over their heads. But I believe that we have a responsibility to see to other needs they have too and provide them with an education and encourage them to have a sense of curiosity and adventure. We can do this by providing them with new experiences. We cannot afford to take them abroad on holiday, but we can afford to take them to art galleries, museums, zoos etc…but not if we give 10% of our income away. We give a small, set amount away to a children’s charity each month (based in the UK, where we live), give varying amounts to other charities when we can and are responsible consumers. While I appreciate that 10% of our income might buy an African child something more necessary than a trip to the zoo, I think that building a basis for my children to be secure adults with happy memories and a wealth of experiences that inspire them to learn more and be great people is a precious gift and priceless.
I know that people may seek to rationalise spending money on luxuries and when you start to say what is necessary beyond the basics, where do you stop, but I do think that parents have a different life agenda to individuals without children. I teach my children that they are lucky and about the value and limitations of money, but I think that if I made them do without enriching experiences and a small smount of treats, they would be more likely to go the opposite way in adulthood and seek luxury and indulgence.
Again, folks, the tithing model is used by poor Mormons and poor Catholics and poor evangelical Christians; it’s rooted in biblical teaching (Malachi, other places). Theologically, it’s not optional, and if it’s evident of class privilege, take it up with the millions of poor around the world who find it possible to tithe despite their wretched circumstances. Take it up with the religious bodies that suggest or even require the tithe.
But for those who don’t have a strong spiritual commitment, it certainly isn’t binding. I’m not judging those who don’t tithe, I’m pointing out that tithing is a powerful spiritual tool for creating positive change in the world. Some might even say that by giving freely, we open ourselves up to receive more — but that might be too much mumbo jumbo for y’all.
Trust me, there’s a lot I could spend our tithe on around the house. But I feel called to give a tithe (we actually give above 10% of our gross, which, theologically, is where some say “true charity” begins). And giving this money to God and His purposes frees me from guilt in a way that nothing else does.
What counts? The red cross? Habitat for Humanity? Locks of Love? Dress for Success? How about the Sierra Club, Amnesty International or the ACLU?
I have a hard time sorting this out in my head.
I do give some money to charity, but I wonder if it is ok to count environmental and human rights organizations the same as soup kitchens or disaster relief ones?
Hugo, I think you are taking the comments more critically than they are meant. Not one person here has said that tithing is a bad idea; we are just debating how well the concept can be translated into a reality and how it might apply to our own circumstances.
I do not believe in God and so feel no religious obligation to do good, but I do have a strong sense of moral responsibility. I also feel I should point out that although tithing definitely has roots in the Bible, it was used in Britain (and probably elsewhere) for non-religious purposes also. So it is an idea which could be taken up by anyone who felt they wanted to.
My problem is not so much being able to afford a tithe, although that does play a small part, but rather how I work out my 10%. As I wrote previously, I rarely have paid work, but feel that I spend more hours a day working than many who do as at times my daughter requires attention for all her waking hours. Also, a lot of that time is spent working voluntarily for a humanitarian organisation. How would I work out a tithe on my time? Equally, some of the money I recieve is for my children, so how do I determine what is mine, in other words, what should be subject to a tithe?
I hope you can see that none of this is a criticism of the idea but just genuine questions regarding how someone like me could apply it to their life.
Wasn’t it Peter Singer (him again!) who wrote an article about ten years ago that said that a family of four can live comfortably on $30,000 a year in the U.S., so if you really want to be morally on the up-and-up, you should donate all of your income above $30,000 a year to charity. (Adjust for the size of your family.) I remember it causing massive outrage among people who felt judged by Singer. (And he admitted that he doesn’t live by his own formula, although he does donate 20% of his income to charity.) I think it was in the New York Times magazine.
I guess I find tithing a little problematic for the same reason that I find the flat tax problematic: in practice, it’s regressive. 10% of a rich person’s income cuts into luxuries or savings. 10% of a poor person’s income cuts into necessities. It’s really wrong, I think, to suggest that a middle-class person forgoing an iPod to tithe is morally equivalent to a poor person forgoing medical care or sending her kids to bed hungry so she can give money to charity. If I were going to come up with a formula for charity, it would be progressive, in the same way that a fair tax system is. Poor people might tithe, or they might donate less if tithing would cause them to starve. (Or they might donate something other than money, if that would be feasible.) Rich people would certainly donate a higher percentage of their income than poor people would.
I’m coming at this from a non-spiritual perspective, so I’m sure I’m missing something about tithing. But I guess I also wonder how this ties into the bit about the camel and the eye of the needle.
(And just so we’re clear that I’m not trying to make anyone defensive here, I don’t tithe. I’m barely keeping my head above water financially, and while I know that I could give more than I do, it would entail sacrifices that I can’t bring myself to make. I’m not taking the moral high ground here.)
So Jesus was a flat tax proponent, eh?
Sally: Yes, that’s Peter Singer.
“Trust me, there’s a lot I could spend our tithe on around the house. But I feel called to give a tithe (we actually give above 10% of our gross, which, theologically, is where some say “true charity” begins). And giving this money to God and His purposes frees me from guilt in a way that nothing else does.”
Anyone can always find places to spend money that they give away. But like Sally explains, a middle class person not buying luxuries is completely distinct from a poor person cutting out necessities to comply with the tithing requirement.
So… now are you implying that because you are able to give > 10%, that this is true charity because it goes past your “duty”? That’s a troubling statement to me personally, as well. So those who feel compelled by religion to give 10% but can give no more are not engaging in “true charity” because they are only giving what they are required to give?
Jas, I’m not judging anyone here. I’m saying that my giving is in keeping with my understanding of a biblical requirement that weighs on all believers. And because the 10% is, to my mind, mandatory, truly free giving only begins above 10%. That’s just my view.
Sally, the article is here: http://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/19990905.htm
In _More Than Charity: Cosmopolitan Alternatives to the “Singer Solution”_, available at , Andrew Kuper says that it’s not enough to just donate any extra wealth. That view is based on a simplistic outlook. Rather, we need to understand how our actions affect the world in the bigger picture. Instead of sending all our extra money to OxFam or UNICEF, we might be better off sending some money to the Grameen bank project, spending some time in the streets protesting an instance of corporate injustice, and taking our tourism to South Africa.
He says it’s naive to assume that we can create a world where incentives to be entrepreneurs and engineers don’t exist. We need monetary incentives.
Humans are more than simply automatons that should be able to operate according to a strict utilitarian code of ethics. Our evolutionary past has incorporated elements into each one of us that create our sense of altruism and compassion. It has also created our senses of selfishness and parochialism. We didn’t create ourselves: we just live within the framework we were born into. The best we can do is work within that framework to further global justice, but we’ll never be able to step outside the framework into the role of a god in order to promote global justice.
the article is available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1747-7093.2002.tb00378.x
Sally, I recall that article, which was interesting but was forehead-smacking due to Singer’s usual love of idiotic “thought-experiments” that prove nothing. His main point, though, is correct; there is a moral obligation to spend less on flavored lattes and iPods and more on those who are poor and desperate.
John, saying “donating extra is not enough” is hardly the same thing as “there’s no real point in donating extra”. The theory you present seems to contradict itself–if monetary incentives are important, why should protesting in the streets make a difference?
i am encouraged to hear your word. thanks for sharing your thoughts. it’s a challenge to us all to not be selfish with our money, however we feel about tithe and offerings. Giving is definitely something that we all need to practice a little more. http://churchtithesandofferings.com