The ACT of Charity or Community – One Religious Viewpoint

An author recently used the following quote from the Christian bible to explain that "giving and doing good towards others are like adding capital to your heavenly account...the good you do comes back to you!”.

              “The bible says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:20-21)

I submit that there can be a different definition or meaning for this particular passage or instruction. I submit that this is direct communication to us to keep our sights on our own hearts and allow our personal God to use what we give - unconditionally.  That it is a communication to “follow our hearts”, to do for others based on what we believe in our hearts to be our personal God’s will. I submit that this is a direct instruction to not judge others and to not judge the actions of others.

Although many have tried to scientifically and mathematically determine the sociological (or “ripple”) effect of one thing or another in our world, it can never be completely evaluated because all we have is our own comprehension in our own time. The most knowledgeable people on earth can take into consideration the here and now, can consider the historical facts and to some extent can evaluate the future effects but what no one can do is predict the future or all of the “ripples” with complete accuracy – there are just too many variables and there is just too much information for mere humans to conceive or log into any equation.

I submit that the only way to truly know where to give of ourselves is through a personal, internal relationship. Your God - be it monotheist or not - may be called “God” or “Yahweh” or “Allah” or “Being” or “Holy One” or "All-Glorious"or “Bhagavan” or any number of hundreds of names but knowledge of your deity’s will can only be gained through a personal relationship. Given that this is not able to be accomplished through a face to face, sit down conversation, it must be obtained through intentional, internal soul searching. In my world of Christianity, this would be “prayer”.

This passage, from the “Sermon on the Mount” as related through the Christian bible, specifically admonishes us to “do” based on our personal council, our own personal belief and to do it with a heart that is in tandem with God’s. I submit that with the knowledge and love of our own God in our hearts, there will be “good” in the future outcomes of all giving – no matter what we believe we see happening in the here and now.

The seventh chapter following the sixth cited above is devoted to the concept of judging others. The first four verses specifically give us clarity on this point;

¹⁾Do not judge so that you will not be judged.

²"For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.

³"Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

⁴Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?

These are pivotal instructions. Our earthly world is based on judgments. From individual interaction to corporate interaction to global interaction, judgments are our “stock in trade” today, so the problems of personal judgments range from simplistic to extremely complex. You’ve heard it restated often in the Native American quote "walk a mile in another man's moccasins." This is knowledge that we, as mere humans, don’t have. We don’t know all that is happening with the other person, we don’t know who or what else is affected by actions or decisions of another. I submit that through the relating of this story, God is asking that we allow God to fulfill the promise of our individual faith. That God is asking us to spend our efforts in service to others rather than in taking over the job of “judging others” which is God’s alone.

 

Giving to charity or contributing our efforts in community service is tough in today’s times. We, as humans have become jaded. I submit that this is not - as many feel - because the world has become more greedy. History is full of apparently greedy, mean, hateful characters that take advantage of others but because we now live in a global world that produces much more information that is available to everyone, it is just more obvious and more likely to skew our personal outlooks. I submit that basic human nature hasn’t changed in thousands of years – that basic human nature is good and giving. Our gifts of charity or service to others is one of the basic purposes of life. Responding to other humans in need is inherent in our beings, I submit that negative behavior is learned from our encounters here on earth but that even these behaviors can serve a purpose, allowing us to give and to reach out to each other – connecting our souls.

Outpouring of charity and humanitarian efforts during times of disaster taps into our souls, touching a part of us that can tend to elude us on a day to day basis. Realizing that we are not alone in our journey here on earth, bringing us outside of ourselves and becoming more accepting of other’s beliefs in an all powerful deity that may “look” different than our own is at least a bit of good that is created through a very bad situation.

Our “job” then is to continue participating in humanitarian efforts or acts of charity, expanding our worlds to include all of mankind, expanding our beliefs to realize that our God is so powerful as to understand every single individual’s personal soul and respond with love. Giving of charitable dollars or of service then becomes - not an act to be dissected and judged - but an act of inner love.

Rate it

Share it with your friends and networks

Join HubPages and leave a question or comment