Bill and Melinda Gates initiative “Giving Pledge”, created to help the rich people in our world to facilitate their giving to charity becomes more and more attractive as an alternative to release funds in a credible way to trust-worthy charities. Investor Warren Buffet was one of the first one to jump on the wagon.

Now, Hobby Lobby CEO David Green and his wife are among the latest billionaires to pledge to give a majority of their wealth to charitable causes. What interests me is that The Greens who are Christians, have together with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and at least 50 others made a bold pledge to be part of Giving Pledge.

What speaks to me is the un-like awareness and willingness of these people to share their assets through programs, causes and projects to underprivileged people, meeting some of the challenges people in different parts of the world are exposed to.

As the rich and famous in Sweden are trying to avoid their responsibilities to pay taxes by tax (avoidance) planning or strategic moves to – and citizenship in other nations and states to escape responsibilities in this area, participants in the Giving Pledge program are known, not only for their charitable giving, but their sense of responsibility to pay taxes in their home country.

The way the Greens look at their lives and praxis really impress me: Something interesting happened over the years as Hobby Lobby emphasized people over profits: Profits grew anyway. The philosophy is part of founder and CEO David Green’s mix of conventional and unconventional wisdom in growing the company from a $600 enterprise in 1972 to more than $2 billion in gross sales in 2009. Hobby Lobby, will open its 455th store this fall, and expects a $2.2 billion in gross sales for 2010.

Keep Sundays free!

To give employees family time, stores close all day on Sundays and at 8 p.m. other days. These hours benefit Hobby Lobby by attracting quality employees who value time for family, Green says.

Hobby Lobby’s full-time employees enjoy a minimum wage of $11 per hour, which also has worked to the company’s advantage. “It hasn’t been a cost…. You don’t have to retrain, which is very costly. They don’t come and go. If they are making $7.25 an hour working for you, they can go down the street and make $7.25 an hour, so they are more likely to leave.”

Green says his business practices are rooted in his deeply held Christian values. He stands on his principles even when they pinch his pocketbook. The highest-profile example, of course, is store closures on Sundays since 1998, which jeopardized $100 million a year in sales on what was the busiest day of the week. Another time, Green vetoed the sublease of a closed Hobby Lobby to a liquor store, instead paying $330,000 a year on the 10-year lease.

For David and Barbara Green, giving back has always been part of their business model.

“Coming from a family of preachers, the idea of giving back has been part of my life as long as I can remember,” David Green says. “When Hobby Lobby was created in the early 1970s, I was committed to use profits to help ministry work.”

Green has contributed to missions throughout the world, orphanages and ministries in the U.S., among many other things. “Hobby Lobby,” he stresses, “has always been a tool for the Lord’s work.” “For me and my family, charity equals ministry, which equals the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

People like the Greens are like a breath of fresh air and fight the spirit of Mammon by living in the opposite spirit. I long for the day that more people (Christians) will stand up in our nation to carry responsibility for the needs in our world and the expansion of the Kingdom of God, through sacrificial financial giving.

If you are reading this and want to invest in some worthy causes in Stockholm make sure to get in touch with me and I will link you up to some very important (non-private) causes!

May God bless you and keep you!

John