Whoever oppresses a poor
man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honours him… Whoever
is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed… Whoever
closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered…
Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the
poor…
Proverbs 14:31, 19:17, 21:13 &
22:9
When I began teaching financial capability skills in
schools, I wanted what I taught to be consistent with what I believe as a
Christian, even though I was not there to teach about religion. I therefore explained
that giving to charity and other worthwhile causes is as much of an important element
of financial capability as budgeting and saving. I did this not because most
people consider such generosity to be desirable but because I see it as
essential to the way the world operates, whether or not people believe there
even is a God.
For most of the time I have been a Christian, I have
believed that Christians should do ‘good works’ and make positive contributions
to society without any sort of ulterior motive. In this, we follow the example
of Jesus of Nazareth. It seems to me, that as Jesus travelled around First
Century Israel and the neighbouring areas teaching people about God, he never
restricted his help to people who would respond to his teaching. He never said
to anyone, ‘I will heal you if you
promise to follow me’. He never said, ‘I will turn water into wine and multiply
a few loaves and fishes to feed hundreds if
you promise to worship God’.
Jesus did, of course, want people to see God for who
he really is and to commit to living as disciples, and he did invite people to
follow him, but I cannot think of any occasion where this was a pre-condition for
his help. So I trust that, whether or not anyone became a Christian because I
taught personal finance skills in schools, many teenagers went on to
successfully handle their money – at least, better than they would have done
had they not listened to me or ready the literature I gave them – and in due
course established a habit of giving to charity.
Most societies consider giving to charity, to provide for
the needs of the poor and for other good causes, is a desirable characteristic
in people. Most of the world’s major religions (if not all of them) promote
charitable giving. But there are good reasons for generous giving that have
nothing to do with religion and that is why I hope this series of Reflections
on giving to good causes and how they should be funded, will interest people
even if they have no religious conviction.
I will continue this thought tomorrow.
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Copyright © All Souls Clubhouse Community Centre & Church and Philip Evans
2013.
Scripture
quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright
© 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
Handling
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