Most people have a broad understanding of Bill Gates. Most notably is that he is the richest man in the world and co-founder of Microsoft. Without Gates, a window would solely be confined to a wooden frame and Mac users would have no culprit to put in the cross-heirs of their snobbish, technology-nerd attitude. Bill Gates has certainly helped shape the world from the desktops I currently use for correspondence to antitrust allegations with the Department of Justice.
There are many who would like to stop me in my writing at this moment to remind everyone of his questionable business tactics and all his shortcomings. (Here is a moment of silence for you to fill in…). Now that we all know that Gates is indeed human, putting to death any myths of him actually being a human platform encoded with BASIC. We are going to continue with speaking well of Mr. Gates here. If you aren’t ready to hear good things about the man, there is a website just for you.
I don’t know the man, nor do I have a strong desire to get involved in his personal life, but I am intrigued by him. In the last decade it appears that he undergone some soul searching and found that being the richest man in the world every year according to Forbes just isn’t that much fun when you can’t possibly spend it all. He has set a date for his retirement from Microsoft and established a world aid organization aptly titled the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The organization, which also encompasses the wealth of Warren Buffet, is driven primarily to globally enhance health-care and reduce extreme poverty, and, in the United States, to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology. This is are some pretty large goals that sound quite similar to those of Rich Warren’s P.E.A.C.E. Plan.
This week it was announced that the B&MGF was giving $306 million to develop farming in poor countries. It’s amazing in our world today where there is so much wealth in the hands of some, many more are in need of basic survival techniques such as farming.
I don’t know if Gates is a Christian and when it comes to his philanthropy, I really don’t care. Sure, his soul is coveted by the Kingdom just like all others, but there must be something inside of him that is nudging and moving him to make such decisions concerning his wealth. As Jesus teaches us in the gospels, it is not common for a man to just give away his wealth without expecting anything in return.
Some of you may be thinking “yeah, but he has so much money he doesn’t have to worry.” This is true. He probably will never be without something because it costs too much. However, when we give money we want to make sure that it is being used for the cause the name implies. We want the organizations we give money to be good stewards of the resources trusted to them. The church is the same way. Even though we are trusting God to provide for us in our giving, we would be disappointed if our church consistently managed money poorly each year.
In all of this rambling, I’m not here to make a judgement. I’m excited to see God moving people to be selfless and generous with what they have been provided. There is great joy in seeing people loving and caring for each other that transcends our religious beliefs and conviction because it is good. I’m sure the B&MGF will have an effort that doesn’t pan out the way they intended at some point, but I’ll be there to encourage them in their care and love for current and future generations of the humanity.
