Yesterday on my way back home after doing some visiting, I stopped off at a supermarket to pick up some groceries. There outside the entrance were two young men working for Save the Children (Rädda Barnen). They were there to try and stop shoppers and persuade them to become regular givers to, in this case, help give some of the hundred million or so children without an education, a chance to go to school.

It’s pretty easy to see these workers as a nuisance and a pest. They are an inconvenience in your simple desire to shop unmolested and you know what they want before they start, they want your cash, pure and simple. I’ve avoided more than my fair share.

But stop right there, what is my fair share? And more to the point what is a fair share for a child born into poverty? What would the world look like if we could figure out an equitable way of giving people their fair share without resorting to disastrous attempts at state compulsion?

And what exactly do I do with Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 5:42. Here it is for those of you who haven’t memorized it.

⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Matthew 5:42

“But, but, but” we splutter and out rushes a long list of caveats as to why Jesus probably didn’t really mean that and why should be wise or we’d end up poor and needing help until we’ve given ourselves a long list of reasons not to give to the one who asks from me.

I wrestle with this every time I walk past a beggar in Sweden because the only time I carry cash is when I’m in a foreign country but I don’t have that excuse when I’m stopped by these charity volunteers because well I have a bank account and they have an ipad. Simple.

Now, I don’t feel obligated. I can say ‘no’. I can, choose the charities of my choice and do it in my own time. Except, of course, I often don’t. And I’m not sure what I’ve got against helping refugees (NRC, UNHCR), or children in poverty (Oxfam, Rädda Barnen). Turns out I don’t have anything against those things so I’ve said yes four times now. I think I should do some more research to find out the values of these organisations and how effective they are at actually using my cash to do what they say they going to do with it (and having worked for an NGO I’m reasonably confident they do good work) but you know, I’m busy and sometimes lazy.

If you don’t want to give to the organisation that stops you in the street. Fair enough. It is an inconvenience and a nuisance. But you know what is a bigger inconvenience and nuisance? Being a refugee because of war. Not being able to go to school because of poverty. Perspective can help. Perhaps take that reminder to consider whether you can give an extra £10 a month to anyone or anything else without making any noticeable difference to your way of life? If you can, you probably should. You’ll feel better about yourself if you do. Giving is good.

There is a mechanism that helps people have a fair share and it’s called generosity. At what point would I have to consider a lifestyle change or even a reduction in personal impulse spending because I’m giving so much to those in need? I’m not yet at the point of considering this sacrificial. I don’t even know if I’m close to that and no it’s not because I’m a big earner, I’m not. But I can manage to do this without having to think of cancelling Netflix or something and that hardly qualifies as a sacrifice. All I’m saying is, there’s still room in my discretionary spending for a little more generosity.

And I’ve no idea how generous I can be. Do you? There is only one way to find out. So after giving my tithe to my church and yes, committing to the charities I’ve chosen, I’m willing to consider the possibility that it might be a good thing if I gave a little more. Because I can. Because it’s a good thing to do. Because, you know, Jesus said it.