What is the Giving Pledge?

Have you heard of The Giving Pledge? This pledge campaign was started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet in 2010. Its purpose is to inspire the wealthiest in the world—think billionaires and millionaires—to give away half their net worth to philanthropy during their lifetime or upon their death. 

Around 250 people have taken the pledge so far from 29 countries. You’d probably recognize a lot of household names on the list like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, MacKenzie Scott, George Lucas, and Hobby Lobby’s David Green.  It’s hard to estimate the total wealth that’s being promised to philanthropy, but it’s likely close to $1 trillion so far.

At first glance, it’s respectable and honorable to give your fortune away to worthy causes. But one word we can’t use with the Giving Pledge is courageous. Some pledgers will be giving their money away in their will. But it takes no courage to give when you die. Why? Because you’ll have no use for it then. It takes courage to give during your lifetime.

There’s No U-Haul Behind a Hearse

You may have heard that sobering saying, you’ll never see a U-Haul behind a hearse. When you die, all your assets will be devalued 100%—at least for your own personal use. They’ll mean nothing to you after you’re gone.

You might say, “That doesn’t apply to me, Andrew. I’m no millionaire—not even close.” Good, because I’m not talking to the 1% wealthy who have more money than they’ll ever be able to spend—but to the 99%.

I’m here to encourage you to give now, today, and not wait until later or even after you die. Make generosity a lifestyle until it’s second nature. You have to be intentional with giving or it will never happen. It’s a shame on the church if the secular world and nonbelievers are leaving behind a financial legacy through The Giving Pledge, yet we ignore Christ’s call to radical generosity. How much more generous should we be when we serve a risen savior and the creator of the universe?

Why Give?

Let’s go back to the oldest book of the Bible. Before the saying, “There’s no U-Haul behind a hearse,” there were these wise words from Job. He’s talking about the wicked, and he doesn’t mince words: He says, “Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures; a fire not fanned will devour him; what is left in his tent will be consumed” (Job 20:26). His treasures are in darkness because he was so focused on the here and now that he failed to live open-handedly. He failed to tithe and honor God with his wealth. He turned away from those in need. He hoarded treasures in his tent, only to find them useless for the afterlife. And he loses everything.

Look around you. Job’s talking about the wicked in this passage, but it’s not too far from describing the lives of many believers in Christ today. We live like Jesus isn’t returning. Look at our finances, and you’d see we’re living as practical atheists. We spend everything—leaving no room for giving. We pay lip service to Christ, but at the end of the day, we’re consumers, not givers. We say Christ is our Lord, but do our bank accounts?

But there is good news for us—great news, in fact! Jesus is our example. He had so little, yet he gave so much. He shows us that whether rich or poor, you can live a life of conscious, habitual generosity.

He even has a track record of using small investments to make massive returns. Take mustard seeds. They’re so tiny, the size of the sesame seeds you barely notice sprinkled on your hamburger bun. But Jesus compared a mustard seed to the kingdom of heaven, that it’s the smallest of all seeds but grows into a large tree that provides homes for animals (Matthew 13:32). We need to remember that it doesn’t take a huge amount of faith or resources to make a difference. The smallest of all seeds makes the biggest impact. God can—and will—do great things you invest your resources into his kingdom!

The Christian Giving Pledge

Here’s a Christian version of the Giving Pledge I’d like to share with you:

I, [your name here], won’t wait to give my resources until I have passed and I no longer need them. Instead, I will sacrifice now. I will set income limits and think differently about generational wealth and make it my mission to inspire a movement of Christians called the Giving Generation.

To make this practical, I also created what I call The Stewardship Pledge. There are three commitments:

1. You agree to give 10% now. This means you tithe 10% of your gross income to the Lord.
2. You pledge to split the difference every time your business profits or salary increases. This means you keep one-half of any income increase and give the other half away, for the rest of your life.
3. You adjust your beneficiaries on all your accounts and legal documents like your will and trust. Update your Transfer on Death and Payable on Death designations and put your favorite charities down for at least 10% of your total estate. Leave a generous legacy when you pass.

I promise you that the rate of return of entrepreneurs, real estate investors, oil tycoons, and hedge fund managers will never compare to the eternal rate of return that the generous will receive.

No matter how much you have, give what you can, give what God asks of you, give with an eternal perspective. And wait and see what exponential returns can happen spiritually.