Charity . . .

After reading this chapter I am find myself processing the need to be outside the normal Christian bumble that our North American Churches provide. Coach D makes the statement that, “Christians do not fail when they see needs up close; we just fail by arranging our lives so that we never see needy people” (118). I started to ask myself where are the needy people around me today? I sit in my lawn chair near my dorm and look at all the students who pass by, I see the men and women who work for the Maintenance Department, I even see children riding bikes on Spring Street. But are they needy? Or have I come to a place where only the people around me are just like me?

Drury makes the statement that “Charity is giving aid to the poor, motivated by a selfless love. It is love in action, love with gloves on, sometimes known as the biblical virtue of loving-kindness.” He does not just give this definition lightly, he goes on in the chapter to say charity is not just looking around, like I have done today, but is going and finding those that are poor in spiritual and physically. We are not just called to wait for the poor to come and ask for help. Like Jesus we must leave our comforts and travel to the place of need and give of our selves.

So, what will I do? Will I plan a drive-through, sign up for our mission trip at church, will volunteer at the local soup kitchen, help out at Step-by-Step, or take an offering for the poor in Lexington? I don’t know, I do know I need to do more than just sit in my lawn chair thinking about charity…