Chaplain's Corner

Charitable Giving

  • Larry Hirst, Author
  • Retired Chaplain, Bethesda Place

Christmas is a time for charity. Special appeals by just about every charitable organization come in commercials in the media, over the phone, in the mail or by email. Who do we give to? Which charity is worthy of our gift? Do the people the charity claims to help really benefit from the gift?

For many charitable giving has become more about the tax credit than about real charity. Even the vast majority of Christmas gift giving falls short of real charity. But judging motives is dangerous territory and I don’t believe I’ll venture any further into that murky bog. Some organization that keeps track of these kind of things reported in 2015 that 373 billion dollars worldwide was given charitably during that year. That is a lot of giving.

When I think of it, to a large extent I have lived off the charity of people nearly my whole life. At twelve years of age I because a pastor’s son, my father left a career in the insurance industry to become a pastor. Pastors work hard but they are dependent on the charitable donations of members of the congregation for their salaries. I served as a pastor myself for 22 years, sometimes working up to 70 hours a week but I was still dependent on the charitable donations of the congregation for my salary. Even in my present position here at Bethesda I am dependent on the charitable donations of the people of this region to cover 50% of my wages.

The word charity comes from a Latin word and means “costliness, esteem, affection” it is the word used by early translators of the Vulgate (an early Latin version of the Bible) for the Greek word “agape” used by the Jesus and the Apostles to speak of “love for one another”. Basically, the concept is simple, it means to give generously with no regard for recognition or reciprocity. In other words, we do not give to be acknowledged for the gift and we do not give with a desire that the recipient in turn gives us a gift.

The conceptual origin of gift giving at Christmas, the gifts of the Wise Men to Jesus, is a good example of this concept of charity. Their gifts were costly in almost every way and the gifts manifest the high esteem and deep affection the Wise Men had for this child that was born “King of the Jews”. They gave without any expectation of recognition, we only know them as the Wise Men. We don’t know how many there were nor do we know exactly where they came from and we have no names. The names in the carol “We Three Kings” and stories about them like Henry Van Dyke’s The Other Wise Man (a very good holiday read) are purely fictional.

Another fiction written by O. Henry titled, “The gift of the Magi”, tells the beautiful story of a young couple and their dilemma as they approach Christmas with little money, each wanting desperately to give the other a special gift. If you have never read it, Google it and have a nice read, it will only take a few minutes and if you have never read it before, it will touch your heart.

Generous and anonymous – this is charity. Maybe by this time you have already made your decisions about charitable giving, but if you are like many, this is still on your “to do list” before the end of the year. Christmas is an expensive time of the year, gifts to buy, parties to attend or throw, special gatherings and so much more. As you think about charitable giving this year, generosity and anonymity will best reflect the long tradition of charity that grows out of the Bible’s consistent teaching that we love others with an unselfish and generous love.

Chaplain's Corner was written by Bethesda Place now retired chaplain Larry Hirst. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely that of the writer and do not represent the views or opinions of people, institutions or organizations that the writer may have been associated with professionally.