Giving that makes a Difference

Leveraging a “foundational” difference in our country, surprisingly, most effectively takes place at the local church. By foundational I am not referring to foundations, but to a secure social and spiritual grounding that enables a community to have greater relatedness, tolerance, awareness, generosity, and hope, a better future. Several congressional representatives, Republican and Democrat, have admitted that government cannot do this. Especially today, the emphasis on divisive wedge issues and adversarialness do little for community. The media has been characterized as enthralled to the motto, “No fight, no news.” It won’t do to look there to leave a legacy of fundamental community. A new book by Chicago Marketing Executive David Goetz entitled Death by Suburb speaks eloquently of the pressures that families face and how hard it is for them to stand up to the juggernaut of social and commercial expectation. Families by themselves may be poorly suited to leverage a stronger society. Goetz next looks at how schools are also caught up in “our twenty-four-hour streaming advertising culture.”
"Today corporations hire agencies to sponsor field trips for elementary students – but not to visit Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium or kick over rocks for nymphs in the local stream. Kids ‘study retail’ at high-end sports stores. Students leave with a tote bag branded with the company logo. The school district gets cheap field trips. And no one gets hurt, right?"
Legacy gifts to schools may not contend well for a healthier world. What is left, then, is the local church. If you really want to leave a legacy for stronger community on a truly foundational level then the local church is where to turn.