But Why?

There is a segment of society -- in government and in the general population and in religious groups -- that believe that the good and moral thing to do is to give some of what you have to help out needy people. You can tell this is true because it is rewarded. The IRS will give you a tax deduction. People honor philanthropists. Christianity is not alone in urging to give to the poor. It's there.

There is a segment of society -- in government and in the general population and in religious groups -- that believe that the good and moral thing to do is to take some of what you have to help out needy people. There, now, I just took the same opening sentence from the paragraph above and changed one ... single ... word. And it changed everything. Well, not everything. Just the motivation and, perhaps, the value. You see, in both cases, needy people will receive some of what you have to offer in order to help them out. Good! But in one case it is voluntary and in the other it is required. And when you are required to surrender your goods to the poor, isn't it true that the reward is different? There is no merit in paying taxes to help the needy. You didn't have a choice. There is no glory in having your pay docked so people in need will be helped. It wasn't vountary. So, even though in both cases what you have is being used to give to the needy, the "why" changes the value.

That question, "Why?", is important. Meet, as an illustration, two guys -- Bob and Ted. Bob is a standard religionist who believes, as do almost all religions, that you get to heaven by being good. Ted is a Christian which alone teaches that you do not get to heaven by being good, but by faith in Christ. So, as you go about your day, you see both Bob and Ted down at the homeless shelter or the soup kitchen busily working away to help out. The question is Why? Well, Bob is anxious to get to heaven and so he's doing what he has to do in order to get there. Ted is so grateful for Christ's gift of salvation that he wants to share it with others and gets a real pleasure out of expressing that gratitude for others to see. Bob is hoping to get a good outcome for himself and Ted is looking forward to God getting the glory (Matt 5:16). Both did "good". Which one did well?