This Wednesday, I tried to preach on "giving." As a fairly big chunk of my sermon, we had a discussion about this blog post from Stephen Dubner, a co-author of the fantastic and provocative book Freakonomics.

Dubner presents the following familiar New York City scenario to five commentators and authors, and invites their response:

You are walking down the street with $10 of disposable income in your pocket. You come to a corner with a hot dog vendor on one side and a beggar on the other. The beggar looks like he’s been drinking; the hot dog vendor looks like an upstanding citizen. How, if at all, do you distribute the $10 in your pocket, and why?

The respondents' answers are fascinating.

1. Arthur Brooks, a professor, lays out the competing value systems that shape how we respond to the scenario—how do we balance the "sovereignty" of the beggar versus the impact of the gift? Brooks says he buys the beggar a hot dog or gives to a recognized charity.
    
2. Tyler Cowen, a writer and blogger, argues against giving the money to the beggar on the grounds that such giving creates a market—an incentive—for begging, so he buys the hot dog for himself.
    
3. Mark Cuban, billionaire entrepreneur, keeps his $10 for himself (no surprise).
    
4. Barbara Ehrenreich, author, gives the answer that I found most distasteful: she invokes Jesus' injunction to give to those who ask... and then confesses that she has no use for Jesus. Ehrenreich apparently finds Jesus useful only for shaming people into virtue. (I'm dumping my copy of Nickel and Dimed in the garbage!)
    
5. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, economist and writer, gives the most rambling, but also, in my experience, the most accurate answer. He says "it just depends." Whether we give or not depends upon a thousand small circumstances—how we're feeling, what we read before we reached the street corner, whether the beggar looks like a great-uncle.

So what do I do? My response, I admit, depends upon the circumstances. I went through a period of about a year here in New York where I would keep dollar bills in my pocket, just to make sure I was prepared to give to EVERYONE who seemed like they needed it. These days, I'm a little more hit or miss. I do always look the person in the eye. If I'm giving something, I say, "God bless you." If I don't, I often say, "I'm sorry, I can't today... God bless." I try to give kindness, if not always money.

I do struggle with this decision each and every time. I agree with Ehrenreich, that Jesus has something clear to say on this issue. Unlike Ehrenreich, I actually believe that the health of my soul is at stake in whether I'm obedient or not.

The heart of the question, for me, is one of will. How pliable is my will? How willing am I to give my money--something that I do not believe, at bottom, is truly mine? How taken am I with the illusion that I have earned my money?  How well have I assessed my need for what is in my pocket?

The secondary question is "who is my neighbor?" Who do I see when I see someone asking for money? Do I feel threatened? Or do I see an opportunity to share... an opportunity to empty myself, and let God's will be done?

"Have the same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus." Easier said than done when it comes to giving.