Sunday, October 10, 2010

Christian Selflessness For No Good Reason

Throughout much of the church, and throughout much of the rest of the scope of Western civilization, helping others has been considered a prime virtue.  Whether it is the homeless or the diseased or the elderly or someone else, it is considered that the person who helps someone else is a really good person.

In Christianity, this virtue is help up in high regard, since the beginnings of the religion when it was called the Way.  And there is nothing wrong with the act of helping others who are in need.  While I personally don’t consider it to be the highest or most holy of things to do, it certainly is something that a righteous person would do, if she or he is able.

The problem I find with this notion of helping others or giving to charity is that a good number of Christians (at least Western Christians) do so for the completely wrong reason.  The primary reason that giving is done is for the sake of other people and for a Christian to do so, he or she is doing so with a wicked heart.  I know that’s a hard thing to hear, but you are not honoring God when you give solely for the sake of others.

Remember the story of Ananias and Sapphira in the book of Acts?  They died not because they didn’t give away all they had, but because they claimed to have given away all they had.  They lied to the Apostles in order to receive honor and praise for what they had done and so God struck them down.  It was a very shocking tale because leading up to it, there were many great things that God was doing through the work of Peter and John and the others.  It meant that God was still the same, that He was to honored most of all and that people were not to be honored.

This is the behavior that many people take these days.  The rhetoric isn’t about helping others so that God will be honored, but helping others so that they can be helped.  Often times you hear about all the great things that Christians have done for people and how they are generous and charitable.

But I think God finds these things to be despicable because often times, the real reason for doing so is left out.  The real reason for helping others is so that people can honor God, not people.  At least, that is the true reason for helping others, within the scope of Christianity.

This is for a good reason.  When you help out people, they will not necessarily reciprocate the help when you need it.  Not that you should expect it, but other people will not be as charitable as you are.  Some may even be downright mean about it all and instead spite you for helping them.  It has been known to happen in the past.  Heck, there’s a parable about it from the ancient Peru Indians involving a cobra and a warrior (it may be Mayan or Aztec, I can’t remember).

The point is that we, as Christians, need to help others so that God may be glorified.  In fact, that’s for everything else, not just helping others.  We are called to bring glory to God and not to ourselves and to do so in everything we do.

So the next time your pastor says that you should help others because it is the good thing to do, then you may need to hit him square in the jaw and then explain that this is for His glory, not ours.  Well, don’t hit him, but yelling may be required to get your point across.