A Generosity Riddle

Riddles can be a fun way to stretch your brain and challenge your creative thinking. So, here’s a simple one to ponder: Three people are serving an elderly person in an assisted living facility. One is a volunteer joyfully leading a social activity with residents on her own time. The other is a staff member graciously helping a resident solve a problem as part of her job. The third is an adult child carving out time in the day to lovingly visit her parent who is a resident at the facility. Of these three individuals, which one is being generous?

This riddle highlights some questions that surfaced during a recent Generosity Plan session at Dynamis. If we get paid to do something, can it still considered generosity? Or, can it be considered generosity if we’re doing something as a responsibility? These questions are good because they are attempting to get at the core of what defines generosity. At Dynamis, we define generosity as “the act of demonstrating God’s love in a way that gives him glory and blesses another.” We believe that as long as we are giving God glory and blessing someone else, we’re being generous.

Doing something that has compensation or responsibility attached to it doesn’t automatically disqualify it from possibly being generous. We can be generous at work when we are getting paid. We can also be generous when we are fulfilling family responsibilities. Since we can bring generosity into all areas of our lives, maybe instead of asking if what we do is generous, perhaps the better question is, “How can I do it generously?”

Scripture seems to support this idea. In the book of Colossians, the Apostle Paul writes, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ” (3:23-24). When we look at what we do as if we are working for the Lord, then we are worshipping him and carrying out his mission simultaneously. This is the heart of generosity – worship and mission. We give God glory, and we bless another.

There are countless things that can be considered generosity if we are reflecting God’s glory and blessing others. What truly makes this generous is when we are acting selfless – doing something first for God and second for others. Let’s challenge ourselves to think bigger about generosity than the typical boxes we tend to put it in. Consider how the spirit of generosity can become even more present in everything we do. So, back to the riddle. The answer is…all of them!