The Salt of The Earth
(1) Salt of The Earth
America used to be a Christian nation, but is no longer. There are many reasons for that, but one of the reasons is the Christians themselves who have become lukewarm because of prosperity. The two are inseparable. Jesus said that Christians are supposed to be the salt of the earth, which means we are supposed to preserve society, to keep it from decay. So if society is decaying, then it is the fault of professing Christians; therefore, we cannot point to the Satanists, the abortionists, or the A.C.L.U. as causing the decay in our nation today. Is Satan stronger than God?
A piece of meat cannot be blamed for decaying. It is supposed to decay, and it is going to decay without preservative. When the Church declines to the point that it can no longer keep the meat from total ruin, the Church will be trampled by a repressive anti-Christian government, like what happened in Russia.
God does not bring judgment upon sinners just for sinning, that is what sinners do. Only when their sin has reached a certain limit does God bring judgment upon them, such as upon Sodom and other cities throughout history. America is nowhere near being destroyed, but is declining rapidly. Certainly Sin City, otherwise known as Las Vegas, is on the list of cities that will receive destruction. But the majority of the judgment that has come upon America up to now, but not all, is because of the apostasy of the Christians.
Some Christians think the way to turn things around is to force sinners to stop sinning. Christians should not be trying to force nonChristians to live by Christian rules and regulations. You cannot force someone to become moral by making it illegal to sin. This does not mean we should allow unrestricted pornography and other vices, we should not. What I am against is using force of any kind, such as the anti-abortion movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s. I believe God was very much opposed to that movement which is why he brought judgment upon America in the form of numerous great floods, hurricanes, and killer snow and ice storms.
Even if you don’t force others to practice your religious beliefs, the Bible in no way advocates forcibly preventing sinful activity. Jesus said, “Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39) (NIV). Paul said we should not repay evil for evil, but should “live at peace with everyone” (Rom. 12:18). Jesus did not say to take our enemies to court, but, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink” (Romans 12:18, 20) (NIV). This is not surprising considering that it is the true Gospel. The above verses do not advocate physically taking over society and eliminating evil by force. On the contrary, Christians are supposed to love abortionists, not threaten their lives!
The lukewarm Christians have become indistinguishable from the world, in how they live their lives. The only difference is they believe they are going to heaven when they die. Other Christians have the mistaken belief that to preserve society it must either convert the meat into salt, or at least stop the meat from looking and smelling like meat by passing laws which make it illegal for it to look and smell like meat. You cannot prevent a piece of meat from decaying by making it illegal to decay; it will decay anyway. Neither will you stop decay by converting portions of the meat into salt. Jesus never said you preserve meat by converting it into salt; the remainder of the meat will continue to decay.
The close proximity of salt to meat will not work, which is the presence of many churches in a city, this will not prevent decay. What then will stop the decay? The only way to keep society from ruin is to be salt; Jesus said that Christians are the salt of the earth. So what can they do to preserve society? You must open the container and spread the salt all over the meat by doing good deeds, which is doing the work that God has ordained for us to do here on Earth.
Christianity did not become the official religion of the Roman Empire by outlawing gladiatorial games, or by outlawing baby killing, or temple prostitution; those things were outlawed after Christians became dominate in society. The Roman Empire became Christian because the early Christians practiced the true Gospel. This means they helped their neighbors, and they even helped the pagans when they were in need.
According to the Early Church writer, Tertullian, in The Apology, Christians spent more money helping the poor than the pagans did on their temples, which was a large sum. Julian the Apostate, Emperor of Rome, said “the godless Galileans feed not only their poor, but ours also.” This was one of their primary means of gaining converts. And during the plagues that sweep through the empire, the pagans fled the cities but the Christians stayed and even cared for the sick pagans who had been abandoned by their relatives. Christians died caring for pagans; such selfless acts of love caused many pagans to convert.
The care for the poor continued after Christianity became the only religion. Basil the Great (329-379) built a great hospital on the outskirts of Caesarea, and John Chrysostom, when he became Patriarch of Constantinople in 398, melted down the gold items and used the money for the benefit of the poor. He said, “The Church has gold not to store up but to lay out and spend on those in need.”
It actually takes a combination of good deeds and right doctrines to fully preserve society, but here we will discuss how good deeds help to change the world. If we have to use the world’s weapons to fight evil then we have been overcome by evil. Paul said, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21) (NIV). Is this what many radical Christian activists are doing? Not even close. The only way to overcome evil is with good deeds! This is the very heart of the coming of the Kingdom of God here on Earth. It is another powerful message that is being completely overlooked. Showing God’s love to the world will actually overcome evil. Immediately after the verse about being the salt of the earth, Jesus said:
“You are the light of the world. . . let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14, 16) (ESV)
Letting your light shine is not letting people see how holy and righteous you are; it is showing God’s love through helping people in need! This is how we are salt to society. Letting your light shine is not standing on a street corner with a megaphone, yelling “Repent! Repent!” but it is performing acts of kindness. This is how we are salt to society. Peter spoke on this same subject:
Live such good lives among the pagans, that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us…. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. (1 Peter 2:12, 15) (NIV)
Here again, doing good deeds reflects positively on God and acts as a light to the world. But the amazing thing is, Peter said that doing good works will “silence the talk of foolish men.” Many people do not want the Christianity they have seen in America in recent years; Christians screaming hate-filled words. But if Christians were to spend their lives helping disabled and elderly people, the sinners would be forced to acknowledge all the good that Christians do, and they would have to give us a positive report, and many more people would want to become Christians. Doing good work is light to the world. God does not want the Church to merely tell the world that God loves them or that Christians love them, he wants us to show the world through acts of love.
“So in everything do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12) (NIV)
In other words, the main thing God wanted to teach his people in the Law of Moses was that they should treat others right, which included helping them when they need help. As we have seen, Jesus referred to meeting the needs of people as doing the Work of God (John 9:2-4). Jesus did not say the man was born blind so that God’s power might be displayed through a miraculous healing, but God’s work. God’s work here on Earth is to help those in need: Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, healing the sick, housing the homeless, and so forth. This passage in John 9 also commands us to do God’s work, “we must do the work of him who sent me” (NIV). But most of the Church in America has become greedy and has drifted away from doing the Work of God, which is the reason the Church is failing as the salt preservative of society.
In Isaiah 58 God explains how you can be healthy, have your prayers answered, have God’s guidance, and he will even restore the ruins of your cities. How do you get all of this? By having enough faith? Prayer and fasting? Seed-faith offerings? Raising an army and taking over? No, by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and assisting your relatives when they need help! Really, read it for yourself:
5 “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?” 6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 “Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter– when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” 12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets and Dwellings. (Isaiah 58 ) (NIV)
This sounds like an expanded version of Jesus’ mission statement, because this is exactly what he taught his disciples to do, and what the apostles taught the first Christians. It should be our manifesto. Doing what it says will change this nation and the world. There is a similar passage in Psalm 41:1-3:
Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble. The Lord will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes. The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness. (NIV)
Another translation says, “Blessed is he who considers the helpless” (NAS). The ESV says, “Blessed is the one who considers the poor!” Notice that both Isaiah and Psalm say that God will give us health and deliverance when we help the poor and weak. Since that is true, could the reverse also be true? Do we put ourselves under a curse if we do not help the poor and needy? Many Americans are living selfish lives and need to spend some time helping people in need.
The former executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of Health, Allan Luks, wrote a book called The Healing Power of Doing Good. He says that people who volunteer their time helping people in need report having less pain and better health than other people:
Research confirms that volunteers derive emotional and physical benefits from their efforts. In 1988, while serving as executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of Health, I conducted one of the first of these studies. . . . I surveyed 3,300 volunteers nationwide. We asked how often they volunteered and what their health was like before and after they began helping.
Ninety-five percent of those who did charitable work at least once a week reported experiencing a “helper’s high.” And 90% of them rated their health as better than similar people who didn’t volunteer — and better since they started volunteering.
In our study, the frequency of helping others proved crucial. Once-a-week volunteers were 10 times more likely to report good health than people who volunteered once a year or less. Even people with arthritis, headaches, back pain or another chronic condition reported significant relief from pain and discomfort while they were helping. Volunteering acted like a natural painkiller, reducing their awareness of symptoms.
Besides volunteering at least once a week, those who reported significant health benefits worked with strangers. Helping family or friends had little impact on the health of the helper…. [they also] had personal contact with the people they helped. They did not simply write a check or sort mail.
Where the volunteers worked didn’t seem to matter. Residents of big cities, small towns and Indian reservations all reported health benefits. Nor did it matter whether they read to blind people, coached Little League, etc. As long as they gave hands-on help to people outside their usual circle — and did so at least once a week — their sense of well-being increased….
Phyllis Moen, PhD, a Cornell University sociologist, looked at the health and longevity of 427 women in 1956 and again in 1986. She found that the healthiest women were those who had multiple roles in life and belonged to volunteer organizations. (Doing Good Things Helps Your Health, Bottom Line/Health, August 1, 2000)
Another recent study concluded that people who give money to charity or directly to the poor are happier people:
Lead researcher Elizabeth W. Dunn, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, said she wasn’t surprised that doing something for others made people happy.
But she was struck by how big the effect was and that how people spent money was more important than how much money they had. (Gift-givers report greater happiness than misers, by Randolph E. Schmid, Houston Chronicle, March 22, 2008)
When asked for help, many churches simply say, “I will pray that God will meet your needs.” They expect God to meet the needs of the poor without their help. But why would God mysteriously meet the needs of the poor? If God could mysteriously meet the needs of the poor why couldn’t he meet the needs of churches without Christians having to give their hard earned money to spread the Gospel or build churches? When the offering plate is passed in church, what would happen if everyone put in a note that said, “I will pray that God will meet your needs?” Get the picture? Some things just will not get done on this earth all by themselves. Some things require our active participation, such as spreading the Gospel and helping the poor! Or is it, spreading the Gospel of helping the poor!
A religion that says “Go, I wish you well… but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?” (James 2:16) (NIV). Many churches fit that description. Such churches are worthless and will be thrown out and trampled underfoot by an invading army. Our religion is supposed to be “good” for society.
Galatians 6 is not about giving to a TV preacher so he/she can buy a jet plane; it is talking about helping people in need. Take special notice of this verse in two translations:
Help carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will obey the law of Christ. (Gal. 6:2) (GNB)
Help carry each other’s burdens. In this way you will follow Christ’s teachings (GW)
Paul knew the truth, he knew that Jesus taught Christians to help each other, and not only after a tornado or hurricane, but with everyday problems. This teaching of Christ was such that Paul called it the “law of Christ.” And yes, it says that in the literal Greek. Paul was speaking to Christians who wanted to spend their money and time on material goods to satisfy their own selfish desires, rather than to help others. Paul continues teaching on this subject in Galatians 6:
You cannot fool God, so don’t make a fool of yourself! You will harvest what you plant. 8 If you follow your selfish desires, you will harvest destruction, but if you follow the Spirit, you will harvest eternal life. 9 Don’t get tired of helping others. You will be rewarded when the time is right, if you don’t give up. 10 We should help people whenever we can, especially if they are followers of the Lord. (Galatians 6:7-10) (CEV)
Again, the above passages in Galatians contain powerful statements that are not given their due importance. The subject of this passage is how we spend our time and money. Do we spend them on ourselves or on others? It says that if we spend our money and time on ourselves then we are sowing to the flesh and will reap destruction, but if we spend our time helping others we will reap eternal life. Therefore, doing good deeds is a requirement of the true Gospel.
The apostle John said, “let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18) (NIV) .The “truth” of the Gospel that Jesus and the apostles preached was not merely that we can have eternal life, but that we must help the needy in order to have eternal life. Everywhere in the NT where the phrase “good news” appears, to be more accurate, read it as saying the “good news to the poor.” Such as, “to the surrounding country, where they continued to preach the good news” to the poor (Acts 14:6-7) (NIV). Because it is not the good news of salvation from hell alone, or even the good news of eternal life alone, though these are part of it, it is mainly the good news of the Kingdom of God coming to meet the needs of the poor! But modern Christianity has twisted the Gospel to be the good news of becoming prosperous and having a great life, while your brothers and sisters live in slums without clean water or food.
(2) Christian Materialism
I pointed out in another chapter that the Gospel Paul preached was to repent and prove it by doing good deeds (Acts 26:20) (NIV). This shows beyond any doubt that the Gospel Paul preached was not salvation by faith alone, included helping the poor. But isn’t this a gospel of works? Earning our salvation? Shouldn’t it be voluntary to do good works? Good works merely follows the believer, right? If good works merely follows the believer, it means 99% of the Christians in America today are not really saved because they are not doing the works commanded in the Bible!
The reason this country is on a downward slide is because of the Church; the Church is weak and sickly, but it is not poor. Christians in America have more than enough money to preach the Gospel to all ethnic groups of the world, and help the poor, but the money is being used to build gigantic church buildings and other monuments to men. There are several churches in Austin, Texas that cost several million dollars each. River Bend Baptist Church cost $10,000,000 (ten million); Westlake Bible Church cost $5.5 million; and a Lutheran church cost $4.9 million; all these numbers are in 1990s dollars. The same misuse of God’s money is being repeated all across America.
George Barna’s research about Christianity in America reveals the pitiful spiritual condition of Christians in America:
After nearly two decades of studying Christian churches in America, I’m convinced that the typical church as we know it today has a rapidly expiring shelf life. . . . the Church in America is losing influence and adherents faster than any other major institution in the nation. Unless a radical solution for the revival of the Christian Church in the United States is adopted and implemented soon, the spiritual hunger of Americans will either go unmet or be satisfied by other faith groups.
Having devoted the last eighteen years of my life to studying the American people, their churches, and the prevailing culture, I’ve concluded that within the next few years America will experience one of two outcomes: either massive spiritual revival or total moral anarchy. As a committed Christian, I am urgently praying for revival. As a rational social scientist confronted with a warehouse full of behavioral and attitudinal data, well, the prospects are not encouraging. (Barna, The Second Coming of the Church, page 1)
Christianity used to battle paganism, it now battles materialism, but it’s a battle it is currently loosing. Materialism has overcome a large percentage of Christians in America. Of all Christians, preachers in particular, like to drive Cadillacs and Lincolns and other luxury cars, as if a luxury car somehow validates their ministry, being evidence of God’s blessings. When John Chrysostom became Patriarch of Constantinople, he donated his large salary to benefit the poor.
One preacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma built a big skyscraper that was only partly opened before he ran out of money and eventually had to sell the colossal thing. He claims that it served its purpose for God, but that is not true. The idea was from his own mind. If God had told him to build it, it would have been completed and put into full operation. People sent him money because he promised them a harvest of money if they would send an offering to help him build it. Millions of dollars were diverted from the Gospel and charity work to build the colossal monument to his own ego.
(3) Who Is My Neighbor
An expert in the Law of Moses asked Jesus what the greatest commandment is; he replied it is to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:40) (NIV). The main thing God wants his people to learn is to love God and love others. If you truly love God you will love others by helping them. This means that you can say you love God but if you do not share your wealth with the poor, your words are proven false by your actions. Saint Augustine said:
The love of God is the first and greatest commandment. But love of our neighbor is the means by which we obey it. Since we cannot see God directly, God allows us to glimpse him in our neighbor. By loving our neighbors we purge our eyes for seeing God. Love, therefore, your neighbor; and you shall discover that in loving your neighbor you come to know God. (Treatise on St. John’s Gospel)
At another time an expert in the Law of Moses asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus responded by asking him how he saw it. The man answered with the same answer that Jesus gave above, that we should love God will all our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus then said he was correct, “Do this and you will live” (Luke 10:28) (NIV). The expert in the Law then asked, “who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered with the story of the Good Samaritan who found an injured man, tended to his wounds, and paid for his stay at an inn while two religious men passed by without doing anything to help. Jesus then asked:
“In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbor toward the man attacked by the robbers?” 37 The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who was kind to him.” Jesus replied, “You go, then, and do the same.” (Luke 10:36-37) (GNB)
Some translations say, “Go and do likewise.” These are some of the most important and powerful words in the New Testament. It is a command from Jesus to all of us; a command that can change the world.
But how much time and effort must we spend to help the needy? In the example of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan tended the wounds of the injured man and paid for his stay in an inn. In other words, he personally took action to save the man. The Samaritan did what was necessary, then went on his way and took care of business. Later he returned and paid the inn anything more that was owed. The Good Samaritan did not give up his life to serve the needs of the helpless like Mother Theresa, but he did do what was necessary to help the injured man who he had come across. Perhaps it was pocket money to him, but maybe not. A man’s life was at stake, and he was willing to pay for his recovery.
Today, we have the opportunity to know about many needs throughout the world. You should do whatever you feel that you can do to help others. And if you want to give your whole life and fortune to serve those in need, all the better.
Jesus taught the same repentance message as John the Baptist, that Christians should be willing to sacrifice their worldly possessions to feed and clothe the needy. Therefore, anyone who claimed to be converted must prove it with action. Those who apostles-in-training were required to give up everything they had, then live by faith.
Even those who were not going into full time ministry were required to give large amounts to the poor. After hearing one of Jesus’ sermons, Zacchaeus repented and declared, “here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor” (Luke 19:8) (NIV) and he agreed to pay back anyone he had cheated. He did not just repent, but he proved his acceptance of the Gospel by helping the poor. Jesus responded by saying, “Today salvation has come to this house.” This is what is required to have salvation; you must repent of your sins and you must give to those who are in need, otherwise you are not a true believer. If Zacchaeus had not given a large sum to the poor he could not have claimed to have become a follower of Jesus. “Go and do likewise” was a command, not a suggestion.
(4) Rich Toward God
Augustine said, “not to give to the needy what is superfluous is akin to fraud,” and, “whatever you have in excess is not your own.” John Wesley said, “any Christian who takes for himself anything more than the plain necessities of life lives in an open, habitual denial of the Lord.” I personally believe that they took it to an extreme; we don’t have to live like monks. The tax collector only gave half of his net worth, but Jesus said he had attained salvation. In Matthew there is the story of a woman who poured expensive perfume onto Jesus. Some of his disciples objected because that perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor:
“He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. 11“For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. 12“For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.” (Matt. 26:10-11) (NKJ)
The literal translation says, “she worked a good work toward Me (LIT). Some people have used this passage as an excuse for not giving to the poor, but what Jesus said was that no matter how much money you give to the poor, it will not wipe out poverty, there will always be poor people. That is certainly no excuse to be greedy, but this passage and the one about the tax collection shows that Jesus did not require everyone to give up all their goods of value to the poor. There are times when you can spend something on yourself or as a gift to someone you love. In this case the act was a good deed to Jesus, because he was soon to die.
Along these same lines, Jesus told the story of the rich man who died and was sent to hell for his greed. Like many wealthy Christians, the man rejoiced in his abundance. But he had a problem, his barns were not big enough to store all his grain, so he tore them down and built bigger barns. Now he could relax, because he had enough to last him the rest of his life. The man said:
“‘Then I can say to myself, ‘I have enough good things stored to last for many years. Rest, eat, drink, and enjoy life!’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Foolish man! Tonight your life will be taken from you. So who will get those things you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 This is how it will be for those who store up things for themselves and are not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:20-21) (NCV)
Jesus said when you feed the hungry, you feed him, when you clothe the naked, you clothe him, so to be rich toward God is to help those in need. Being rich toward God is not giving money to a preacher so he can stay on TV, but is giving to the poor. Notice also that Jesus did not say that he should have given up all his wealth to the poor, he merely said that he should have given a large part of it to the Work of God. God blessed him but rather than giving out of his abundance to those less fortunate, he kept it all for himself so he would not have to worry about the future. His trust was in his stored grain, rather than in God.
What this rich man did is widely practiced today by Christians in North America; it’s called a large retirement account. Many ordinary people are actually millionaires because of the size of their retirement accounts. But Jesus suggests that people who do not give large amounts to the Work of God will die and leave their hoarded wealth to others. Perhaps if they do not die, they will suffer illnesses and be forced to use the money for medical bills or other major problems. This doesn’t refer to small retirement accounts that supply what retired people need to cover living expenses and medicine, but only to the large accounts. Jesus did not say that the rich man should have given all this worth, but merely that he should have given richly to help others.
Many retired people visit casinos and gamble away many millions of dollars every month. Rather than throw their money away gambling, they should give money to help other elderly people who do not have enough to meet their needs. Shame on these greedy, wasteful people; some even claim to be Christians!
Francis Chan, pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, California had this to say in an interview with New Man Magazine:
A lot of people have determined what they want to believe. So when they go to the Scriptures they go in making them say what they want them to say. I would love to just take care of myself, have enough retirement for my family and me. That makes sense to me. It’s logical to me, and I have the means to pull it off. I could very easily make a case for that biblically and say it’s OK for me to do that. But when I really read the Scriptures as objectively as I can and ask, ‘What’s it really saying?’ it’s nothing of that sort. It’s all about caring for the least of these, sacrificing and risking my life. I can’t be thinking about what my life will look like in 30 years if my true brother in Christ is dying right now and will die this week unless I get food to him. In America we try to mesh what is American with what is biblical, and we come up with this church we have today. (Crazy Lover: Time to Get Passionate About the Love of God! By Drew Dyck, New Man Magazine, Vol 15 No 16, April 2008)
I was glad to learn that I am not the only one in the U.S. who believes it is wrong to hoard wealth for a future you may never have.
(5) Volunteerism and Philanthropy
The Christians today are setting back and letting government and secular society do its job of helping the poor and needy. Meanwhile, secular organizations are urging more Americans to volunteer their time. There was the President’s Summit on America’s Future in April of ‘97 which received a lot of publicity, and a few years before that was the Thousand Points of Light by the first president George Bush. This is an area where Christians have failed and so others are stepping in to take their place.
According to articles in U.S. News and World Report and Newsweek magazines, corporations have reduced the amount of their charitable giving from 1.8% of pretax income in 1987 to 1.2% in 1995 in an effort to increase profits (Sloan, Newsweek p. 36). The amount of giving by rich Americans has also declined. It seems the more they have the less percent they give. The majority of all charitable giving is done by ordinary individuals. So we cannot sit back and wait for the next guy to do it.
Proving that you don’t need to be rich to give, is Thomas Cannon of Richmond, Virgina, a retired postal worker who has given away more than $96,000 in his lifetime. When he hears of a needy person he will send a check for $1,000 and record it in a log book. His story has been featured on TV news programs, newspapers and magazines.
Another man who is doing good works is Brian Menzies of Sanford, FL. He started Charity Cars in November of 1996 and gave away 26 cars in the first ten months. Menzies is a used car dealer who was homeless for a time in the 1980s until someone gave him a break, so he now wants to help others. He fixes up donated cars and gives them to former welfare recipients to help them get to work. Only six percent of welfare recipients own cars. (Mike Schneider, “Free cars free some from welfare rolls,” Austin American-Statesman, p. A7)
Social workers say transportation is one of the biggest obstacles to training welfare recipients and finding them work. Many jobs are in the suburbs, while welfare recipients are concentrated in urban or rural areas. Many of them must work nights or weekends when public transportation is limited or not available. So this limits the number of jobs which the poor can accept.
Why did it take a former homeless man to step up and provide transportation for those in need? Because people who have jobs and cars just do not know how hard it is to survive without them. Don’t wait until you are in need to realize that people on the bottom need a helping hand to get out of the pit they are in?
Former news anchor, Tim Russert, is known for saying, “No exercise is better for the human heart than reaching down to lift up another person.” He was on the board of directors of several Catholic charities, so I am sure he gave generously to those causes. But he was also a typical American who believed in the American dream. He lived in a 6,220 square foot home worth 7.2 million dollars. He probably gave as generously as could be expected from a wealthy American Christian who was not taught the true original Gospel, but he could certainly have given much more.
Only a few people in the corporate world have been able to turn away from its greed and materialism. One who did was Millard Fuller, one of the founders of Habitat for Humanity in 1976.
With a relentless pursuit of success, he became a millionaire by the time he was 29 years old. But his marriage, health, and integrity suffered, which forced him to reexamine his priorities. He then gave away all his material goods! Millard Fuller said: I am a Christian person, fired and motivated by the Christian faith, and I feel that it was divine guidance that caused me to take this step. I feel strongly that material abundance was getting in the way of my family relationships and my spiritual life, and that attachment to material things was what got me into trouble. Giving it all away was a dramatic, radical step, one which society might consider somewhat foolish, but I was raised in the Church and have done a lot of Bible study over the years. The teachings of Jesus are very clear. You cannot serve God and money– you have to choose. (Milton Meltzer, Who Cares? Millions Do, p. 89)
Habitat for Humanity has built more than 200,000 homes for people around the world. Compare the above examples of selfless giving to an example of unabashed extravagance. The University of Texas at Austin completed a new football stadium in 1997 with private sky boxes that rent for $50,000 each for the privilege of watching a season of football games! While homeless and poor people struggle to survive just blocks away.
I could fill a chapter with examples of people who are sacrificing their time and money to help others, but I could fill a book with examples of needs that are not being met. It is time to step up and start helping. Christians who want to help others should do so in the name of Christian love and charity. They should not merely take part in a secular volunteer program. It is Christians who started all this in the first place, even the Red Cross was started by a Christian as a form of Christian love; the cross refers to the cross of Christ. So when you do your acts of righteousness, do them in the name of Christ. Alms giving and good works were unknown among the pagans. Go and do likewise.