你是一个给予者，还是一个接受者？

Adam Grant, a management professor at Wharton, recently wrote a best-selling book called Give and Take.  In the book, he talks about many studies about helping others at their workplace.  According to him, there are three types of people:

• Takers: Those who want to get from other as much as possible, and give as little as possible; 
• Givers: Those who like to help others and add value to others without asking for returns; and
• Matchers:  Those who seek ‘tit-for-tat’, i.e., reciprocity, in their work relationships and interactions.

Now, guess which type is most likely to be at the top of the corporate ladder and stay there?

You might be thinking:  It will be the takers.  After all, isn’t that what we see and hear in our workplace?  Or, maybe it is the matchers? Well, no and no.  The overwhelming evidence shows that most often those who reach the top – and stay there – are givers, those who go out of their ways to help and add value to others.  They do favors without expecting return of favor (although in the long run they often do get rewards).  There are many takers who will get to the top, but they do not stay there very long.  This is because people will eventually see through those takers and stop helping them.

This research is stirring up the business world quite a bit (You can see a video clip on Today’s show here), because its results are  surprising to many people.  However, from a Christian perspective  it is hardly so.  Here are just a few verses on this topic:

• The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously. (Psalm 37:21)
• In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ “ (Acts 20:35)
  
• “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.” (Matthew 10:5) 

So Christians should not only be just believers, but also be givers, helpers and doers.  As is said in James, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:14-17)

In addition to the Bible’s guidance on changing our mindset,  how do we change our behavior to be more of a giver in practice?  There are many things one can do, but here are the three things the author recommends:

1. Look for opportunities for “5-minute favors”, and do them.  A 5-minute favor is something that does not cost yourself much, but may benefit others tremendously.  For example, giving a quarter to someone who needs it to feed a parking meter, answering an email from a stranger seeking advice, or connecting two acquaintances of yours.
2. Specialize in a particular type of helping, and establish a reputation in that area.  This will make your giving more efficient.
3. If you do things that other people in your organization typically avoid, then it will be especially appreciated.

Jesus is the greatest giver.  Let us remember Him, and give more.