How Must We Invite the Less Fortunate?

Now that I've broached the subject of charity, what kind of action must we take to help less-fortunate people? According to Christ, it isn't by making a big production number out of our donations.

Look at what Jesus said in Matthew 6:1-4 (KJV). "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly."

It certainly is tempting to tell everybody about what great deeds we've done in helping the poor. But neither should we fear that we'll lose a blessing if our charitable giving is discovered by others.

What Christ attacked was the deliberate seeking of praise which the Pharisees did daily. He's calling all of us to be humble rather than proud of how we helped others.

The best example we have of how not to help disadvantaged folks is provided by governments. They make a show of helping the poor while wasting money doing it. Politicians are especially prone to blowing their own trumpets to show how much they seem to be accomplishing with our hard-earned money.

Let's not be like them but rather let's help when we can without press releases and photo opportunities.

I'll be writing more about humble giving in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven.  Pride, even while doing meritorious deeds, is what will bring many people down on the day of judgement.