Advice for life from the Australian of the Year
Nathan Brown
Book editor
Signs Publishing Company
Australian of the Year Simon McKeon is an advocate of corporate philanthropy and individual giving. His message: where any of us have any capacity for giving, we should consider that as a valid option to make a difference in the lives of those who need it.
McKeon says giving is not just important for the beneficiaries, it is also vital for the giver. As an investment banker, he is attuned to the business realities. He says the most successful organisations are those giving to and working with their communities. “They will be connected with their community, not operating out of an ivory tower, and they will be better for it because they will understand what the community is needing and asking for.”
While the church should be more than a business, McKeon’s insight is helpful to our practice of faith, individually and corporately. However we might judge the success of the church, our connection with the community will be vital.
Church should never be about “ivory towers” or merely looking after ourselves. As Jesus taught, the church should be salt and light in the world. We should give because of what we have received, and we should serve primarily for the benefit of others, but when we do this, we will find we receive more again in return. Perhaps this is one of the meanings of this statement from Jesus: “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance” (Matthew 25:29, NLT).
And there is also a personal benefit for those of us who work as a church to connect with and serve the community. Rather than risking becoming “an unnecessarily narrow and unsuccessful person”—as McKeon says—we step into a life of generosity and cooperation, created and creating anew “in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10, NLT).
McKeon was talking about business, but his wisdom also reveals a dynamic of life—and even more so of the life of faithfulness.—Adventist News Network
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