Christian theology teaches that every
single person on earth has been created by God, in God’s image, and is loved
very much by God. So, if God loves all people, who are we not to love them also,
right? Most Christians do in fact love other people, and get very concerned
when news reports tell of the devastating impact of wars, famines, and natural
disasters.
Speaking personally, I feel a profound
sense of sadness and pity when I see images on TV of malnourished children in
Haiti, or typhoon victims in the Philippines, or war refugees in Syria. And I
can usually be persuaded to write a small check to whichever relief agency is
trying to help these beleaguered folks. And, of course, when I write these
small checks, I feel very good about myself, especially when I factor in the
large checks I write on a regular basis to pay my taxes, much of which goes to
support various government social welfare programs. At those moments I’m
certain Jesus is very pleased with me, too.
But I recently came across something
by one of my favorite authors, Dr. Peter Kreeft, which forced me to reconsider
this issue. He writes, “Christ commanded us to love our neighbor, not
‘humanity’.” Kreeft explains that focusing all our charitable efforts on
abstract, far-away causes can give us the illusion of being very loving and
moral, but in fact we are not really following Jesus’ command. We are just
writing small checks out of our surplus to make ourselves feel good.
Or to put it another way, Charles
Schulz, the creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip, once had one of his
characters say: “I love mankind … it’s people I can’t stand!”
I wonder if that sentiment is true for
many of us? Do we easily write small checks to help disaster victims 10,000
miles away, but keep walking without making eye-contact when a homeless guy
pleads for a couple of bucks from two feet away?
At church, when we see an old
disheveled man, who has weird mannerisms and mumbles to himself throughout
Mass, do we think to ourselves, “Ugh, that guy makes me uncomfortable,” and try
to find a pew as far from him as possible, or do we take a few minutes after
Mass to say hi to him and ask if he needs anything?
Trust me, I’m not accusing anyone. Nobody
needs to ask himself these questions more than I do. Because, you see, I love mankind.
I know that all people on earth have been created by God. It’s just that
people, real individual people rather than abstract multitudes on different
continents, are kind of messy. They’re messy physically, and even more so,
they’re messy emotionally.
Sometimes it seems like my personal emotional
gas tank is on empty. My own stuff—my work and family and friends and all the
other projects I’m involved in—consume all my emotional energy. I don’t have
anything left for anyone else. Oh sure, I can afford to write a $25 check to
some relief agency, but do I have ten minutes to talk to someone who is
profoundly lonely? Umm, that’s a tough question. My knee-jerk reaction is to blurt
out, “No, I’m so busy I DON’T have ten minutes.”
However, if I thought about it
honestly, I’d have to admit, it’s not really the ten minutes, which I do of
course have. What holds me back is the fear of getting involved in someone
else’s messiness.
Well, Christianity is supposed to
comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable. As someone who is usually
comfortable, this topic has afflicted me. Now it’s time to go and comfort
someone, not an abstract someone, but a real flesh and blood messy someone. Please
pray for me, cuz I’m gonna need it.
cool!
ReplyDelete