Why do Christians serve those in need?
Rescue crews are wading through heavy flooding caused by Hurricane Milton, looking for people trapped in houses, cars, and other structures. First responders completed around 170 high-water rescues in just one county yesterday. More than one hundred residents in an assisted living facility in Tampa were transported by rescuers in boats to safety.
We should all be grateful for officials who act in such heroic, selfless ways, though they would probably tell us they are “just doing their jobs.”
The same cannot be said, however, regarding Samaritan’s Purse, Texans on Mission, and other religious groups whose volunteers are responding to the destruction of Hurricanes Milton and Helene. My friend, Dr. Duane Brooks, noted in one of his daily devotionals that Christians responding to disasters seldom have to compete with atheist groups, because they’re not there.
The numbers bear him out. According to Philanthropy Roundtable:
- Americans who attend religious services weekly and pray daily are nearly twice as likely as others to do volunteer work. Nearly two-thirds gave to the poor in the past seven days, compared to 41 percent of other Americans.
- People who attend worship at least twice a month give four times as much to charity as non-attenders.
- Such giving is not reserved for religious causes: 65 percent of those who attend religious services regularly also give to secular causes, compared with 50 percent of those who never attend religious services.
Why are Christians so motivated to help in times of need?
If I were a skeptic
If I were a skeptic, I would turn to Darwinian evolution to explain sacrificial altruism as a manifestation of our innate desire to propagate ourselves. Helping others advances our species and may make it more likely that others will help us in our time of need. The satisfaction we feel in such service is nature’s way of encouraging our sacrifice and compelling further service.
With regard to those who serve for religious reasons, I would offer a similar response: We want to advance our religious community while positioning ourselves to receive their help in the future. And since we believe that God will reward us in heaven for faithful service on earth (Matthew 25:23), we are even more motivated by selfish desires than nonreligious people.
Of course, we do not need to be Darwinian evolutionists to acknowledge that we have a God-given instinct to preserve and steward our lives and community. Nor do we need to disagree that such service advances ourselves and our faith community in this life and the next.
But there is more to the story.
“Not to be served but to serve”
Even when others do not see our true motives, “the Lᴏʀᴅ looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). And he cannot reward selfish transactionalism as he can genuine altruism.
Why is this?
The answer goes to the heart of Christian uniqueness. Ancient Greeks and Romans made sacrifices to the gods so the gods would meet their needs. Other world religions are similarly transactional: If we do what we are told to do, God or the gods will respond accordingly.
Christianity is uniquely different. We serve not so God will love us but because he already does. We love our Lord and our neighbor because our Lord loves our neighbor and us.
This frees us from the constant anxiety of doing more to receive more. When our relationship with God and others is based on our service, there is always more service to render. We are never done. We cannot have the peace of God that “surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) because our peace is based not on God’s grace but on our works.
However, if we serve others because we have been served by God and love others because we are loved by God, then we are free to love whether we are loved in return or not. We are free to give without thought for who can give to us, because we emulate the One who “came not to be served but to serve” (Matthew 20:28).
Three practical responses
What can you do to help those facing the devastation of Hurricane Milton and other disasters?
1: Pray fervently
- D. Gordon was right: “You can do more than pray after you have prayed but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.” When we pray, we experience what our omniscient, omnibenevolent, omnipotent, omnipresent God can do. And we are led to know what we can do and find that we are empowered to do it.
2: Give sacrificially
- S. Lewis observed, “I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.”
3: Serve strategically
I once heard Dr. Mac Brunson say that every Christian should have a personal Acts 1:8 strategy. How will you help those in need at home, in the larger area where you live, and “to the end of the earth”? According to Jesus, your “neighbor” is anyone who needs what you have to give (Luke 10:36–37).
I’ll say it again: We serve not so God will love us but because he already does. We give not to be blessed but because we already are. However, it is a fact that when we pray, give, and serve, we position ourselves to experience God’s best in response.
St. Francis of Assisi, in his first known letter to all Christians, assured us:
Men lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve.
What will you do today that you will “carry” to heaven one day?
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*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.
Quote for the day:
“He who does not serve God where he is would not serve God anywhere else.” —Charles Spurgeon
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