I think that this is a great mission and so many people are on board with this, as people usually are with charity.
Yet it seems that some are particular as to who you partner with to do charity. A recent article online showed a large group's discontent at TOMS for partnering with a Christian group. Many are on board with the idea of giving to charity just not alongside people that name the name of Christ, which I respect. But one thing that this does show is the selfishness of some even when taking up a good selfless cause.
Many years ago I once had a conversation with a man who organizes Christmas parades in which toys and food are given out for free and one of the questions I remember asking the man is, why do you do it? His response went something like "I do it because it makes me feel good, it makes me feel like I did something".
Now, initially you may not see the selfishness behind that statement but I want you to notice that this man's underlying cause for doing charity is "me" "It makes me feel good" "It makes me feel like I did something"
I don't want generalize and say that everyone that does charity does it for me but why were so many people opposed to the partnering of TOMS with a christian group? I believe one reason is the me attitude.
"I will give shoes to children so long as its not associated with Christians".
There is a concern for image there, it is not just about giving to underprivileged kids for this person but rather about doing it in a way they can feel good about it.
Religious and irreligious people alike enjoy to do charity. Many irreligious people and corporations boast of their charity and brag about how much they have done but this is all self-centered. My point in saying all this is to say: This is no different than what the very religious pharisees of Jesus' time did. They would brag about how much money they'd give for the cause of God, they would brag about their long prayers and what is evident from their religiosity is that their underlying motivation was me.
Now you may think "Well what is wrong with doing it for me? What does it matter as long as kids get shoes?" The problem with this is that it ignores the sinful and evil nature of me. The reason why we have underprivileged kids and the reason why we have poverty to begin with is because of that very same attitude. The me attitude.
Many have misunderstood Jesus and view Him as a humanitarian that did nice things to help people and feel good about Himself. They look at the Jesus that fed 5000 people, healed lepers, gave sight to the blind and think "That's what we should be doing, charity" but they fail to see the Jesus that hung on a cross, the Jesus that took the wrath of God to save sinners from their sinful nature. When Jesus fed 5000 people he was not saying "hunger is what is wrong the world", He was giving a glimpse of what a world without sin would look like. A world without the me attitude.
And so I don't want you to miss seeing that what is wrong with the world is a three letter word: sin. At the root of poverty, domestic violence, crime, etc. is sin. Should we do charity? Should we feed the hungry? Absolutely. Of all religions, Christianity is at its core most concerned about poverty and the physical world. One of the significance's of Christ rising from the dead in bodily form is that this physical world matters and we must care for the physical needs of our neighbors. The Christian believes that one day this world will be renewed and freed from the curse of sin, whereas other religions teaching's on the physical world are at best shallow, many even teach that the goal is to get away from the physical since only the spiritual is what truly matters, this is not so for Christianity.
So please do not fail to see that what is wrong with the world is the sinful nature of humanity.
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