In 1985 when five of us met for the first time to talk about giving we had two issues we wanted to discuss.  In our experience we had identified two ditches along the road we wanted to avoid if we were going to stay in this work for a long time.  The first was the tendency to become cynical and disillusioned.  People receiving grants did not always do what they said they were going to do.  We each had some stories to share that were both sad and funny.  However there were enough instances of people either misrepresenting their work or being outright fraudulent to make us concerned about our ability to keep our healthy skepticism from turning into cynicism. 

The second was the tempation to think of ourselves more highly than we should and give in to pride and arrogance.  It is easy to attract flattery in this work and if people think you are susceptible to it then it can quickly turn your head.  As well having access to money can fool you into thinking you know better than the person doing the work.  One of the issues we did not consider was the idolatry of philanthropy.  Tim Keller in Counterfeit Gods describes the process of turning good things into idols when we look to those things for the satisfaction and meaning that is only to be found in God.  “The human heart takes good things like a successful career love material possessions even family and turns them into ultimate things.  Our hearts deify them as the center of our lives because we think they can give us significance and security safety and fulfillment if we attain them. 

We think that idols are bad things but that is almost never the case.The greater the good the more likely we are to expect that it can satisfy our deepest needs and hopes.  Anything can serve as a counterfeit god especially the very best things in life.”  Even philanthropy can become an idol when we think we can give or do good things for people to find meaning for our lives. I have done this myself and seen others do it.  We give hoping to find purpose or meaning or satisfaction and it’s not there.  Philanthropy and giving are good things but they cannot satisfy the soul.  So maybe we now have a third reason to meet? To avoid cynicism and pride but also to avoid the idolatry of giving.