TAKERS AND GIVERS

The world is made up of givers and takers.

Every person and group in the world is to some degree a giver and a taker. Groups usually begin as givers, but over time, become takers. Religious, educational, and government systems, usually start with the noble cause of a giver. Churches start to serve. Education starts with the purpose to teach children. Government is established for the people.

Over time, these systems slowly depart from their original purpose and move from giver to taker. It is a slow process and hard to discern. I saw this happen with a large church where I was an associate pastor. The church gradually moved from a goal of serving people to people existing to serve the the church. There was more and more emphasis on attracting people to attend the church to become givers to support the church and its causes. It turned upside-down.

The educational system has slowly evolved from existing for children to existing for the adults. Unions have made the rights of educators more important than the children. Education is upside-down.

America started with a government to serve its people, but now the people exist to serve the government. Entitlements are changing us into a nation of takers through the redistribution of wealth. Hypocritical rhetoric of serving remains, to justify the “taking,” but actions are turning America upside down.

An institution becomes unhealthy when taking outweighs giving. It is hard to discern when that “critical mass” is reached, and most of the time we wake up one day and realize we passed the point of no return somewhere. We didn’t realize the scales had tipped from giver to taker until the resources ran out. And the people ask, “How did we get to this place?”

WHEN A PERSON, GROUP OR INSTITUTION BECOMES A TAKER THEY TURN INTO A PREDATOR OR PARASITE.

As a predator they increasingly control and enslave others to serve themselves.

As a parasite, takers suck the resources and life out of others. Their addiction to taking is insatiable and it rots the soul of everyone involved. The one who labors and has his wealth redistributed is denied the joy of voluntarily giving what he has earned. The soul of the one who receives something for nothing is diminished, being denied the pleasures of achievement. The soul of the authority giving handouts is corrupted having neither worked nor achieved.

Eventually, resources run out. There is simply nothing left. Several countries in Europe have reached this “critical mass” and America is almost there.

It is hard to reverse the process and history has proved that change comes only by rebellion that often turns bloody. Takers demand their rights and “fair share.” Givers resist, and it can get ugly. The system will resist change by deception, character assassination, ostracizing, firing, or in extreme cases, eliminating its enemies. Self-preservation is a powerful force in systems addicted to taking. Whistle-blowers and prophets suffer.

As America approaches the important election of 2012, the lines have been drawn. The takers and employees of the system are approaching half the population, and the producers are slowing down and resisting. Change is still possible by peaceful elections, because of our brilliant Founding Fathers who wrote a constitution that looked forward to times like these. However, if change does not come, another civil war is on the horizon. History is our teacher. By the accounts of wise observers, Washington D.C. is hopelessly divided already.

Before the 2008 election, Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback church in Southern California, hosted a civil debate with the candidates for president. This year he has cancelled that debate because the atmosphere is too poisoned for reasonable discussion.

England reached this point in the late 1700’s and was on the verge of becoming another bloody French Revolution. Then William Wilberforce stepped onto stage as a Member of Parliament with two great objects: to restore civility and eliminate slavery in England. He knew he could not abolish slavery without a return to manners. He was successful in both purposes and probably saved England from a bloody revolution. (I am reading his story in Eric Metaxas’ biography, “Amazing Grace,” which I recommend highly.)

We can still solve our problems peacefully by voting, but without a renewal of civil discourse, America is on the path to civil war as takers battle for more and more diminishing resources.