Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31
“Objection #4. Some may object against charity to such or such particular persons, that they are not obliged to give them anything, for though they be needy, yet they are not in extremity. It is true they meet with difficulty, yet not so but that they can live, though they suffer some hardships. — But,
It doth not answer the rules of Christian charity, to relieve those only who are reduced to extremity, as might be abundantly shown. I shall at this time mention but two things as evidences of it.
First, we are commanded to love and treat one another as brethren. 1 Peter 3:8, “Have compassion one of another; love as brethren; be pitiful.” Now is it the part of brethren to refuse to help one another, and to do anything for each other’s comfort, and for the relief of each other’s difficulties, only when they are in extremity? Doth it not become brothers and sisters to have a more friendly disposition one towards another, than this comes to? And to be ready to compassionate one another under difficulties, though they be not extreme?
The rule of the gospel is that when we see our brother under any difficulty or burden, we should be ready to bear the burden with him. Galatians 6:2, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” So we are commanded, “by love to serve one another,” Galatians 5:13. The Christian spirit will make us apt to sympathize with our neighbor, when we see him under any difficulty. Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” When our neighbor is in difficulty, he is afflicted; and we ought to have such a spirit of love to him, as to be afflicted with him in his affliction. And if we ought to be afflicted with him, then it will follow that we ought to be ready to relieve him. Because if we are afflicted with him, in relieving him, we relieve ourselves. His relief is so far our own relief, as his affliction is our affliction. Christianity teaches us to be afflicted in our neighbor’s affliction. And nature teaches us to relieve ourselves when afflicted.
We should behave ourselves one towards another as brethren that are fellow travelers. For we are pilgrims and strangers here on earth, and are on a journey. Now, if brethren be on a journey together, and one meet with difficulty in the way, doth it not become the rest to help him, not only in the extremity of broken bones, or the like, but as to provision for the journey if his own fall short? It becomes his fellow travelers to afford him a supply out of their stores, and not to be over nice, exact, and fearful lest they give him too much: for it is but provision for a journey. And all are supplied when they get to their journey’s end.
Second, that we should relieve our neighbor only when in extremity, is not agreeable to the rule of loving our neighbor as ourselves. That rule implies that our love towards our neighbor should work in the same manner, and express itself in the same ways, as our love towards ourselves. We are very sensible of our own difficulties. We should also be readily sensible of theirs. From love to ourselves, when we are under difficulties, and suffer hardships, we are concerned for our relief, are wont to seek relief, and lay ourselves out for it. — And as we would love our neighbor as ourselves, we ought in like manner to be concerned when our neighbor is under difficulty, and to seek his relief. We are wont to be much concerned about our own difficulties, though we be not reduced to extremity, and are willing in those cases to lay ourselves out for our own relief. So, as we would love our neighbor as ourselves, we should in like manner lay out ourselves to obtain relief for him, though his difficulties be not extreme.”
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) in Christian Charity or The Duty of Charity to the Poor, Explained and Enforced (1732) Section IV.
I hope this exploration of the mental objections moves you as much as it does me.
When I read the objection, I wonder to myself how many times I have thought that. And then I love how Edwards answers with Scripture rather than self-righteous rationalization (which is our human proclivity).
My first thought when the light shined on extremity went to our responsibility to love our neighbor as ourself.
I felt happy that he went there, but only after helping us see that the rule of the gospel is to share the burdens of others. That touched me. I want to be quick to help others. And I need to let others know how they can help.
I want to thank those of you who have shared the burden of multiply stewards around the world with me. You have helped me build a team of ten accomplishing so much in so many places.
Read our 2023 GTP Annual Report to hear the amazing stories.
But today I realize a way you can share the burden with me. Rather than ask you to make a gift, become a monthly giver. Pray and ask God how much you can contribute and set up your gift here.
That would really encourage our global team and share the burden of multiplying generous stewards.