Charity Disparity

Not long ago, I tackled the subject of giving to those who have been devastated by the earthquake in Haiti. I am still of the mind that we — especially believers in Jesus Christ — should be lending a hand in any way possible.

I am still of the mind that we are supposed to already have been doing something here at home, too. Jesus did say, Jerusalem, Samaria, uttermost, you know.

Unfortunately, we seem to have charity disparity. I don’t know if it’s a matter of people only having a certain amount of money or resources to give or that they have more, but it means sacrificing something, but when faced with the need to give to something like the devastating crisis in Haiti, instead of digging deeper, we divert the funds and resources we were giving in order to give it to Haiti.

If you’re one of those people, I have one thing to say,

STOP IT!!!

I’m hearing that homeless shelters, even here in Knoxville, are struggling because people have diverted their giving to Haiti. Admirable that they want to give to help, sad that they chose to help some at the expense of others.

If you were giving to your local homeless ministry, but you’ve stopped in order to send that money to Haiti while you continue to have dinner out on Friday nights, stop, or at the very least, change your thinking.

Funny how we want to give as long as it doesn’t inconvenience us. Trouble is, those we’re giving to have been extremely inconvenienced. They have no food, water, home, job or way to get those. I think we can dig a little deeper. Maybe skip a meal or a visit to Starbucks (GASP!) Maybe we cut back on our own groceries or movie viewing. Maybe we just become cognizant of how we spend money so that we have more to give away.

Please, if you were giving to your local ministries before January 12th and have diverted the money, do something about that. Look for ways you can do both. Take care of you and your family, then give and give and give. I promise, you’ll be blessed beyond what you give.

Related posts:

1. Have Compassion