Facebook and Privatized Giving

I recently launched the Facebook cause PIONEERS-USA as one of the first steps toward initiating unreached peoples advocacy groups for our organization. Facebook allows you to recruit your friends to join and give to the causes close to your heart and also posts how much you and your friends have given to these causes--creating a competition of sorts.

It sounds good, but it's caused me to think about the concept of the "right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing" (a la Matthew 6:3). Isn't it wrong to talk about what you're giving? Shouldn't your giving be privatized?

I say "No." Privatized giving is one of the banes of 21st-century evangelicalism. It has allowed wealthy Western Christians to keep and spend vast sums of God's money without a shred of guilt, simply because none of the brothers and sisters to whom they're supposed to be accountable have a clue how much their giving. Guys join accountability groups to combat porn addiction. Women join support groups for eating disorders. But when's the last time you heard someone ask a fellow Christian about whether they really needed a new 18-foot bass boat?

In Matthew 6, Jesus wasn't prohibiting public giving, he was condemning those who give for the purpose of impressing some, demeaning others and raising their status with God. As the author of Hebrews says, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (10:24).

I guess that's where Facebook comes in. Who'd a thought?