On a less charitable note, Sargent Tarzy told the following story “ On a street corner in downtown Manhattan, an old woman had a cardboard booth where she sold pretzels for 25 cents each. Everyday a well-dressed young man would hurry by and toss a quarter into her cup without taking a pretzel. One day, after tossing his quarter in her cup, he rushed off yet again. The woman called out to him, “Just a minute, young man!” He said, ”I Know , I know, He said you are wondering why it is I leave a quarter every day but never take a pretzel” “No!” The woman answered, “I wanted to tell you the price has gone up to fifty cents.”
Charity is the highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; it is the pure love of Christ. It isn’t always used to denote alms or deeds of benevolence, although it may be a prompting motive to do that. One can give and may not have charity as denoted by Paul to the Corinthians, he said, “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:3)
From the non scriptural way of seeing charity there are two words that come to my mind when I think of Charity or being charitable:
1. Compassion—a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.
2. Empathy, on the other hand, is the power to imaginatively or figuratively speaking, enter into another person and experience their suffering and feelings.
In a civil society, there has always been a debate as to whether meeting the needs of the poor among us (welfare) should be a function of the church or the state (government). From a Christian doctrine standpoint assisting the poor should be a function of the church. However, the church has no way of forcing members to pay (essentially be taxed) in order to support church welfare programs. Christian doctrine calls for a tithing (10% of increase) of the faithful. If members of the various Christian sects did in fact pay tithing, as called for in the Book of Malachi, there would be more than sufficient funds to provide for the poor and the needy. Malachi declared that, “Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. …And all nations shall call you blessed:” (Malachi 3:7-12)
However, most non-LDS congregations still pass around a collection plate which may provide only enough to support the needs of the Pastor.
As far as I am aware, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only church which tithes its members and also provides a means of collecting what is referred to as a Fast Offering. A Fast Offering is defined as fasting for two meals on the first Sunday of each month with the equivalent in money going into a fund to assist the poor. The Bishop of each ward determines how and where the fast offering money can be best used to aid the needy in the ward and community. He is assisted by the Ward Relief Society President Those who are provided assistance are expected to work for what they receive. They may clean the church or work at the local Bishop’s Store House, etc.
Families who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are taught that they should be self sufficient: putting funds away for difficult times, staying out of debt and to have a year’s supply of food in storage. Naturally not all families are able to do that, families who have serious health issues, or who are currently unemployed or who are handicapped and it takes everything they have to survive, But because most Christian congregations do not have a system to provide for their poor, the needs of their poor must default to the state or federal government.
Most government welfare programs are very liberal by nature and there is no expectation that those who have made a claim, will have to do anything to earn what they have been given. Nor is there any deadline established requiring that they become trained and/or educated so that eventually they will become self sufficient and end their need for welfare. Social welfare is often badly managed and tends to make people life long dependents and wards of the state.
Years ago we had a woman from Lithuania living with us for a few months while she was learning how students are registered at our local university. She was an employee of a university in Lithuania. One weekend she went with a few friends to a nearby city where she volunteered to serve the needy in a food-line. As she served a person who looked perfectly healthy and relatively young, she asked him why he didn’t get a job and be self supporting. His answer was clear and simple: “Why? When I can get free food and help from people without having to work for it.” John D. Rockefeller said that: “Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it.” That is a different way of putting the ‘old saying’; “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and you feed him for life”.
The extended families of those in need of assistance should be first responders if possible. However, in many cases close family members are unable to help either. There is a related story about a local Charity Organization who after reviewing their donations realized that a wealthy, liberal lawyer had never donated to charity. The executive decided that he would pay the lawyer a visit to see if he could solicit a donation from him. After introductions, the lawyer said; “Did you know that my mother is 85 years old and very sickly? Why, her medications cost more per month then she makes as income.” The executive said, “No! I didn’t.” The lawyer went on, “and did you know that my brother came home from the war badly wounded and is in a wheelchair for life and unable to work.” “No. I didn’t know that either.” On a roll the lawyer cut him off and said; “And did you know that my sister’s husband just left her and their three little children for another woman and that she is penniless?” The executive said, “No, I had no idea.” Then the lawyer said, “And if I refuse to give them any financial assistance, what makes you think I would give you any?”
Blaise Pascal commented that “Christianity is strange. It bids man recognize that he is vile, even abominable, and at the same time bids him desire to be like God. ”Pascal stated the truth, the scriptures remind us that we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. We are also reminded, therein, that we are His children—precious to Him, and that we have the potential for greatness. Yes! Greatness, if we should always work at becoming perfect, even Christ-like in nature and in behavior. As individual Christians, what is our obligation to those who need our assistance? A Christian should love his fellow men and therefore want to; do onto them as he would have them do also to him. Mosiah said: “That ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally…” (Mosiah 4:26)
If this is the commandment how do we elect to abide by it? C.S. Lewis described the dilemma best: “I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditures exclude them.” If we would follow or abide by C.S. Lewis’ suggestion we would probably be fulfilling our Christian obligation financially.
Now how about the charitable giving of one’s time and energy. We have an obligation to paint the widow’s house, repair the leak in a handicapped person’s roof and visit the sick and the downcast, etc. These are things that may not cost us money, or very little, and yet they may be as important or more important than giving of our income. May Heavenly Father bless us to know in our hearts when and how much to give of our income and to be guided by the spirit to know who and when another has need of our hearts and our/or hands. Though we usually attribute giving to being charitable or having charity, always remember the words I started with, “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:3) “And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up,.. (Moroni 7:45) Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. (1 Corinthians 13:1) Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal (nothing more than noise).
On Sunday, the Franklin Police Department in Ohio received a phone call that a young boy was wandering the streets in downtown Franklin alone.
Officer Steve Dunham found the 7-year-old boy in front of a drug store trying to sell his teddy bear. The reason? He wanted money so he could buy food because he hadn’t eaten in days.
“It broke my heart,” Dunham said in an interview with NBC affiliate WLWT.
“He told me he was trying to sell his stuffed animal to get money for food because he hadn’t eaten in several days.”
Dunham did what any morally good person would do and took the boy to Subway to get some food, where they “said a little prayer and ate dinner together.”
Dunham then took the boy back to the Franklin Police Department, where an investigation into the boy’s home revealed that he and his four brothers, ages 11, 12, 15 and 17, had been living unsanitary and perilous conditions.
Police Chief Russ Whitman told NBC that there were “cockroaches…cat urine [and] human urine” inside the house, which was full of garbage and liquor bottles.
“(Police) treated them like their own kids, and that’s exactly what law enforcement does in situations like this. How would we want someone to treat our kids? Hopefully, these officers’ actions change these kids’ lives and maybe change the lives of the parents to become better parents.”
Dunham did just that. He did more than buy the young boy a meal. He took care of the 7-year-old, comforted him, and provided him with a safe haven that his own parents never even gave him. And it looks like the two of them got along quite well.
“I came back to check on him and he was hiding,” Dunham said. “He jumped out to scare me when I came back in the building; he got me real good.”
The four boys are now reportedly staying with family members. The parents, Tammy and Michael Bethel, were reportedly charged with 10 counts of child endangerment and were ordered to have absolutely no contact with their children.