Appeasing the Conscience
Benevolence, charity, alms...they all have to do with giving to the less fortunate. And, I'm pretty sure that most people, and certainly most Christians, feel like those are good things. I feel the same way.
However...
How does your life make use of charity? What does it do for you, as a giver of charity? I'm asking myself these questions, thanks to an article I just read by Shane Claiborne, a guy who works in Philadelphia living a life of ministry along side the city's most destitute inhabitants. Here's a quote from the article. (Let me preface it by saying that the quote will come across as, at the least, provocative, and, at the most, downright offensive. But, it's good for making you think.)
"Over the years I have come to see how charity fits into — and legitimizes — our system of wealth and poverty. Charity assures that the rich will feel good while the poor will remain with us. It is important that the poor remain with us, because our capitalist system hinges on it. Without someone on the bottom, there is no American dream and no hope for upward mobility.
Charity also functions to keep the wealthy sane. Tithes, tax-exempt donations, and short-term mission trips, while they accomplish some good, also function as outlets that allow wealthy Christians to pay off their consciences while avoiding a revolution of lifestyle. People do their time in a social program or distribute food and clothes through organizations which take their excess. That way, they never actually have to face the poor and give their clothes, their food, their beds. Wealthy Christians never actually have to be with poor people, with Christ in disguise.
If charity did not provide these carefully sanctioned outlets, Christians might be forced to live the reckless Gospel of Jesus by abandoning the stuff of earth. Instead, thanks to charity, we can live out a comfortable, privatized discipleship.
But when we get to heaven and are separated into sheep and goats (Matt. 25), I don't believe Jesus is going to say, 'When I was hungry, you gave a check to the United Way and they fed me' or 'When I was naked, you donated to the Salvation Army and they clothed me.' Jesus is not seeking distant acts of charity. He is seeking concrete actions: 'You fed me, … you visited me, … you welcomed me in, ... you clothed me...'
If we are to truly be the church, poverty must become a face we recognize as our own kin."
That's hard-hitting stuff.
However...
How does your life make use of charity? What does it do for you, as a giver of charity? I'm asking myself these questions, thanks to an article I just read by Shane Claiborne, a guy who works in Philadelphia living a life of ministry along side the city's most destitute inhabitants. Here's a quote from the article. (Let me preface it by saying that the quote will come across as, at the least, provocative, and, at the most, downright offensive. But, it's good for making you think.)
"Over the years I have come to see how charity fits into — and legitimizes — our system of wealth and poverty. Charity assures that the rich will feel good while the poor will remain with us. It is important that the poor remain with us, because our capitalist system hinges on it. Without someone on the bottom, there is no American dream and no hope for upward mobility.
Charity also functions to keep the wealthy sane. Tithes, tax-exempt donations, and short-term mission trips, while they accomplish some good, also function as outlets that allow wealthy Christians to pay off their consciences while avoiding a revolution of lifestyle. People do their time in a social program or distribute food and clothes through organizations which take their excess. That way, they never actually have to face the poor and give their clothes, their food, their beds. Wealthy Christians never actually have to be with poor people, with Christ in disguise.
If charity did not provide these carefully sanctioned outlets, Christians might be forced to live the reckless Gospel of Jesus by abandoning the stuff of earth. Instead, thanks to charity, we can live out a comfortable, privatized discipleship.
But when we get to heaven and are separated into sheep and goats (Matt. 25), I don't believe Jesus is going to say, 'When I was hungry, you gave a check to the United Way and they fed me' or 'When I was naked, you donated to the Salvation Army and they clothed me.' Jesus is not seeking distant acts of charity. He is seeking concrete actions: 'You fed me, … you visited me, … you welcomed me in, ... you clothed me...'
If we are to truly be the church, poverty must become a face we recognize as our own kin."
That's hard-hitting stuff.
posted by Trey at
1:39 PM
1 Comments:
Wow, that is some hard hitting stuff. But I think he makes a good point. It's too easy to write a check and turn a blind eye to the actual problems. It's too easy to keep our hands clean and not delve into the problems of the world. Of course, this extends far beyond rich and poor. It's easy for us to be shallow friends with so many people - avoiding the deeper issues each person faces. Heaven's either going to be packed out, or else it's gonna be a lot smaller than any of us expected...
By
cr, at 11:25 AM
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