Anyone can do good things - feed the hungry, donate clothing to the poor, give money to the indigent, or other things that benefit society. Even our tax money supports those who need support. You may ask, “Why bring that up?”
I’ll explain.
God picked Abraham (then called Abram) from among all the residents of the Earth. That was not because Abraham was a particularly good person. After all, his father sold idols, and both of them were probably polytheistic. There’s no proof either way, though.
So God selected one man and set him apart from the rest of humanity. God chose, not Abraham, and that made him different from everyone else. Generations later, God told the Hebrews to be different from the rest of the nations - set apart, or holy. Then He gave them a set of laws to follow that would keep them set apart.
Again, “Why bring that up?”
Since atheists and pagans can do good things, how are Christians supposed to be different? “A difference that makes no difference is no different.” So how can Christians be different from everyone else and still do good things?
SIDEBAR: Did you know there are three separate tithe commands? That amounts to 30% of your income being given to the church. Well, the third one is “only” every third year, but still, that would REALLY set apart a Christian who followed that. I doubt any atheist would give to charity at that rate!
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So for the rest of us Christians? How do we set ourselves apart? There’s a hint in Deuteronomy 16:5 where the Bible says the Passover sacrifice was to be done at the place designated by God. That meant the Tabernacle, or later, the Temple. Why was that?
The pagans of Palestine offered sacrifices anywhere and everywhere, even out in their own fields. They set up shrines on the tops of hills, and slaughtered their animal sacrifices there. So if the Hebrews were to do the same, how would they be different?
The whole idea was to be holy - set apart - from the rest of the population. Christians are called to be different.
Today, that might mean we should give most of our sacrificial donations to the church. Sure, you can give some to charitable organizations, but primarily it should be through the church. Even though the federal government is helping a lot of the needy in our society, their motivation is suspect. Take a look at the Freedom from Religion Foundation if you doubt that assertion.
So if Christians want to be holy - set apart - from the rest of society, they should give to the church. With the government taking over charity, it’s more important than ever to take back the mandate of the church, which could be summarized in what Jesus told Peter after the Resurrection: Feed My sheep.
If the church isn’t relevant to society we’ll continue to see declining membership. But the motivation shouldn’t be the numbers of people going to worship. The thing God values is us loving Him. He said to do good, so we should do good because He told us to do it. The government’s motivation, ultimately, is not to win people to the Gospel message, but to be everything to everybody. It’s the ultimate atheist organization. (JOKE: atheism is the original non-“prophet” organization.)
If you’re familiar with the story of the Prodigal Son, remember the father welcomed the younger of two sons back before the kid could say how sorry he was - BEFORE. And recall, the elder son was ticked because he’d done what was right all along, and didn’t get rewarded.
That means the older son was obeying the father to get stuff, not because he loved Dad. The younger son came back, not to get more stuff, but because he recognized Dad’s love. That’s why we should do good stuff - in recognition of God’s love for us.
We should give to church instead of other charities because that’s where God is worshiped. That will differentiate us from atheists and make us holy.
And because some of these secular organizations are actively working to make church (and God) irrelevant.
Be holy. Give to the church.
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