i agree i can’t assume a dollar in the check-out lane is all this guy’s doing for the poor. and i’m with you that i also can’t assume that other guy doesn’t care about cancer unless he wears a yellow wristband.

but what gets at me, i think, is the popularity of such forms of giving and why we prefer them. two ideas come to mind:

1) many of us choose to give in these ways, because it doesn’t require any commitment, time, or sacrifice. we can meet our responsibilities for helping others while keeping a distance. i’m not willing to go to a nursing home and hug on women who poop their pants, but i’ll pay a buck to put a christmas tree in the window at mcdonald’s to support said nursing home. i’m not willing to tutor an underprivileged kid on wednesday afternoons, but i’ll buy a raffle ticket for tickets to a college football game — and the benefits go to the boys’ club. why bother getting stink on us or giving more than money when we can “sacrifice” by buying the album we already wanted at a few dollars over normal price?

2) some of these forms of giving are becoming status symbols — or at least fashionable apparel. and we wouldn’t have given a dime before it was cool.

still, giving is giving and helping is helping… to some extent. so i’d rather it happen than not. i think.

Bravo!

Thanks Tim. Great post!!

"living in tension" is a great way to put it! I feel the same.

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tim Stevens, Lance Bauslaugh, Don, Bruce Dodge, Billy and others. Billy said: Just read a great post on ‘slactivism.’ Read it here http://www.leadingsmart.com/2010/05/ribbons-magnets-and-colored-bras.html [...]

Have you read the book, When Helping Hurts? It's a great book that goes a bit further on this topic

I turned on baseball for a few minutes yesterday and saw pink bats, pink bracelets, pink necklaces, pink undershirts and thought "Holy Mackerel!" I wear a yellow LiveStrong band partly because my mother died of cancer in 2004. But to be perfectly honest, my money does not go there. While I believe those are worthy causes, their goals are less "eternal-focused." I also don't put stickers on my car (for obvious reasons). Since I don't FB or Twitter I don't even know what you are talking about with those references. I do agree with JamesBrett that I should not assume people don't care nor should I place a big emphasis on something because someone does wear them. I appreciated what kem (and you) are trying to say. It is far more important to care and show than just wear.

Just the other day, I was purchasing something from Walmart, and after I swiped my debit card, I was asked, "Do you want to donate a dollar to the Children's Miracle Network?" I said, "No."

Inside I was thinking, "I can't believe I just said 'No' to a $1. And I'm a Pastor in the community."
I wondered what she was thinking.
I wanted to tell the cashier all of the ways, I've involved locally, regionally, and globally, but I didn't.
I just walked away.

Interesting. I have to chew on this for a while. I did go to the FasTrack article, where in the end, the writer seems to come to the conclusion that this is an effective way to either boost awareness or raise money in micro increments. The writer and respondents don't seem to aware or concerned with the apparent human detachment that comes from what I see as uber-efficiency. I must admit, while attending the Leadercast last friday, I picked up my phone and texted the number to give 10 bucks to compassion intl. it was quick, easy, and it kind of felt good. (I also racked up some additional personal debt without even pulling out my credit card.) As far as the bracelets go, I see them and pretty much ignore them as noise anymore. It never occured to me that someone would have an opinion of me for not displaying these things. Now I wonder! Thanks alot Kem!!

Agree. It's not just the work of serving and sacrificing that makes a difference, it's the "working and working out" it does to us.

I agree with it too. My sister is so wrapped up with the Breast Cancer stuff, she gets anything and everything she can. She doesn't have breast cancer, nor does she no anyone that has it but she has to have all the "pink" items. To me it's gone too commercial and has just become noise. I do support people who have gone through these struggles and sympathize with the families who have lost people to those battles, but I'm not going to wear a wrist band, put a ribbon on my car or update my FB status because everyone else is. Its becoming more of a fad, just because I don't do it doesn't mean I don't care it just means that I think there are better ways to raise the money or help support the cause.

Yes, technology is a mearly a magnifyer of our boomer-led pursuit of the American Dream – working hard to be comfortable and raising kids that "make us proud". Get God to sanction our houses, cars, club soccer teams, high ACT scores (so our kids can be like us), and mission trips (so they can be a little bit better than us), then leveraging technology to get it done.

Our confused kids respond with a double message:
1. Thanks for cell phone, gifts, camps and praises when I do well and look nice. Keep it coming and,
2. (Your life is hollow and I don't want mine to be) Send me to Africa (so I can get far enough away from all of this to find some meaning).

They recruit worthy social outreach groups on FB next to their bikini profile pics then teach us how to donate online and find our HS classmates, all while agreeing to 2 hours of spectating on Sunday mornings.

Technology won't cure our self-centeredness. But it just might magnify it enough to quicken our path toward deep repentance. In the meantime, I suppose we'll keep using magnets and window stickers to brag about our favorite causes and favorite kids.

Agree. It's taken over almost every aspect of our society. Take running, for instance. Nearly every weekend in Indy, you can run a 5k race for some cause. Next weekend alone, if I had the time, money, and stamina, I could run to support Faith Christian School, Head for the Cure, The Molly Datillo Scholarship Fund, Zionsville Community School Arts programs, The US Armed Forces, the Exotic Feline Rescue Center, and the Orphans of Casa Bernabe without leaving central Indiana. It's enough to burn us out on awareness.

You almost feel guilty running a race with no cause behind it!

For Christians, Jesus was very clear about this: doing good and then telling people you're doing good isn't the goal. In fact, Hewarns against it and goes the complete opposite direction (Matthew 6:1-4). In our day, could we apply this by actually striving for this (from the post): "If you never see me put a magnet on my car, RT your Twitter campaign, join your Facebook cause or put an overlay on my avatar, don’t assume I’m not sacrificially engaged in something bigger than me." Should that not be our deafult mode – no wristbands, no bumper stickers, no "look-at-how-good-I-am-because-I-give momentos?

Good stuff to wrestle with!

I'm so jaded when it comes to giving to causes. Part of it is that I lived in Kenya, Africa for 5 years. I saw real physical need there deeper than any in the USA. And that did not come from a visit – but from seeing the need for weeks, months and years on end.

In America, the spiritual need is as great as anywhere. Do I give to that? Yes, sometimes. Not as often or as deeply as my ideals say I would.

And my wife and I do give financially to many causes. But I rarely give a extra dollar to the cause mentioned at the checkout counter or to the homeless person at the stoplight. Maybe I should.

I think GCC should do a series with that title and content. Plenty of people are sorting out those thoughts these days. Good stuff Kem.

You and Kem have addressed a discomfort I have been finding with the plethora of causes that inundate my daily world. Sure, I can click for the cure or put a magnet on my car or give $1 at the check out stand, but there is no sense of commitment or depth to these causes. I am sure all of them are good causes that address a genuine need, but we are being invited to participate with minimal personal commitment.

Part of the reason I choose to support a cause is that I am changed by that participation. When my commitment is personal and deep, I have an opportunity to grow spiritually. Jesus was personally involved in healing the sick and feeding the hungry. From Him we can learn the value of hands on commitment. I think superficial causes have a place as long as we continue to make room for the more satisfying deep personal commitments as well.

I agree it has gone kind of haywire, since every cause wants in on the benefits of easy funding. I admit my congregation raises funds through tools like SCRIP gift cards and the goodsearch.com search engine, which basically are "painless" ways of raising funds. And I have appreciated the convenience at Kroger's grocery stores around Thanksgiving of having pre-priced bags of groceries prepared that you could buy and simply place in a contained for a food bank – I thought that was brilliant a few years ago. But the point is certainly well taken – it has become so far removed from anything remotely sacrificial that it is less meaningful.

It's the political causes that are beginning to get to me — everything from support California Farm Workers in their quest for safe working conditions to marriage equity to beating back the threats to healthcare reform to… Why can't we just elect representatives and be able to expect they will vote the way they campaigned? Why must we sign petitions and make phone calls and send faxes for every single issue to come before Congress or our state legislature? Why can't we trust elected officials not to rob the store?
But that would be a "why" question.

I've wondered about all the "stuff" you buy to "contribute". A "portion" goes to the cause. Someone is still, IMHO, profiting from it. Instead of "contributing and getting something tangible back" (like a hat or T-shirt), I think you should just take the entire price of the item, with Tax, and write a check directly to the cause for the full amount. Now, THAT might make a larger difference. Give without expectation of receiving ANYTHING: Not a pink hat, yellow band, NOTHING.

Each year our Church gives a Mother's Day gift, usually a book, to all the Moms. While that is great, this year they took the money that would cost and they are going to treat kids from the local children's home to a trip to SEA WORLD. That is GREAT!

Just my $0.02US. <grin>

[...] Tim Stevens. He wrote about a post from one of my other “must read” writers, Kem Meyer. His post was agreeing with her post named, Helping Humanity is in Style & Is Easier than Ever. She [...]

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