I was recently at a wonderful event in Atlanta called “Generous Giving” which celebrates the joy of giving what we have to others.
I had the privilege of listening to Francis Chan, Ron Blue, and our friend Mark Batterson explore the wonders of generosity. I shared about our “Outrageously Generous” God and all that’s been given and entrusted to us.
Then something really awkward happened.
At the end of the presentation, the emcee closed out the session by thanking me for my comments, then in tongue-in-cheek fashion suggested that if I really practiced what I preached, I’d give him my iPad 2. The emcee looked at me and I looked at him. And more than 500 hundred people looked at us as we stared at each other in this what-do-I-do? moment.
I didn’t want to give him an iPad 2.
Really.
Why?
Because I don’t own an iPad 2. I don’t even own an iPad 1. The emcee had seen an iPad 2 on the table near me and not recognized that it wasn’t mine. And I didn’t think it was right to take this other guy’s iPad 2 and rush up to the stage and give it away.
The moment finally passed, but I’m still chuckling about it.
Because you cannot make up that kind of awkwardness. And you can not give what you do not have. Not just when it comes to iPad 2’s.
