The Good Stuff VI (SA)

... for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.

 - From Luke 6

There's a truth, a fact, that can't get any traction in national dialogue. And it is this: Conservatives and Christians (especially evangelicals) tend to out-give all other groups when it comes to charity. They volunteer more, and they reach deeper into their pockets.

No, I don't have proof of this assertion. I take it as a given. It has been reported enough. And I have deliberately put some exaggeration into it, unsubstantiated, in hopes of getting some comment.

Why wouldn't Christians be more charitable? It's a major tenet of their teachings, or even, of their law.

Yes, we know the Old Testament is overflowing with directives that we welcome aliens into our communities and homes. The OT does not qualify the rule in any way, regarding the legality of the immigrants. But the OT also places great emphasis on caring for widows and orphans . . . and for embracing sexual purity.

The Old Testament; the entire Bible; demands that we be charitable. We are supposed to serve others. We are supposed to give away all our wealth. We are supposed to cut off any part of our body that causes us to sin. The Lord is quite demanding, and has placed impossible standards upon us. We know that. Most of us claiming to be serious evangelicals have studied the Bible. We are trained to have an attitude of teachability. We are urged to be humble, to listen, to be at peace with others. Over, and over, and over again.

And we know . . . long before any of our friends on-line point it out to us (as if they were the first to discover it), that hypocrisy is a problem for us, for them, and for everybody. If you're going to have high standards (shouldn't we?) then you are opening yourself up to the charge of being a hypocrite. When we are accused of hypocrisy, it stings. It hits the target. But only because our Lord emphasized it so much. When you can walk on water and bring a person back to life, that has been dead for days, then we will welcome your accusations.

The Bible is very clear - - - be servants. Be humble. Love as God loves. Take care of others. Heal the sick. House the homeless. Turn the other cheek.

Why wouldn't be a little more likely to give charitably.

I guess, when you love your enemies, it stirs them up even more against you. Children are aggravated when their taunts are not returned in greater anger. If they attempt to hurt your feelings, they expect your feelings to be hurt. But if you increase your kindness towards them, it drives them up a wall.

But not permanently.

I started a non-profit ten years ago. It received 501(c)3 status five years ago. It is only now starting to gain some traction. We are only now taking some entrepreneurial risks with it. We are only now winning the support of some very talented and resourceful people that can take us to the next level.

I'm too old to have started such a project. I should have been working on my retirement. I should be taking my kids and grandkids on memorable vacations right now. I should be of much more financial help to those that need it.

But I believe, fully, that every single second that I have invested in this program will be repaid, with interest; if not in this life, then in the next.

Christians are not perfect. Our own very public documents call us out, and our scoffers know it . . . and they relish in it. But our core values are ennobled by such aspirations as "love your enemies."

We've got some very high goals, indeed. But they're good goals. It is the salt of the earth.

And that's another example of The Good Stuff.