Originally posted by bunch
Ah, but what if by being seen to do charitable work, one sets an example & inspire others to do likewise?
Go into a good church every Sunday morning for about a month. You'll quickly find out what is going on, and see all of the examples you need to see.
I can tell you from experience that it is NOT the people who are doing the real visible and publicized charitable works that are the example to follow.
I've known both kinds.
It is the guy who goes about it quietly, noticed only by those who are LOOKING for an example and those whose life he touches (especially those he does NOT do charitable works for, but with whom he associates and interacts regularly) who is getting it done. He's the guy who remains in the background, practically anonymous. He neither wants nor needs attention or accolades. He will seek out those in need, and help them, even without them knowing it. Because of how he approaches it, he never offends nor embarasses anyone, he finds those really in need because those who are not in need do not know him and therefore do not seek him. He has trusted friends and associates he uses as sources to find those in need. He is the man who would deny being such a benefactor. THAT is the man you should seek as an example. I know a few such men, one in particular comes to mind as being among the greatest I have ever seen. He and his wife treated me as they did their own sons. He calls me friend. I am not worthy. He serves his God, his family, and his community, because he and his God know that it is the right thing to do. He has been both a deacon and an elder in the Church of Christ, he and his wife were both youth ministers, and ran the youth program.
I have a friend who was every bit as wild as I was when we were in our teens and twenties. He is now a youth minister at the church we grew up in. If you were ever his friend, he will know if you have a problem, and he will come to you, you will not need to call or seek him out. Because he is always, QUIETLY looking out for his friends, his family, and his children of his youth program. You will see him, and he will take the time to ask about you, your family, and your mutual friends. Then you will see one of those mutual friends and you will both say the same thing: "Hey, you know I saw Ralph a few days ago, he was asking about you and your family". But, like the others, unless you are looking, you will not see the good things he is doing. But if you are truly seeking an example, or direction, he will quietly lead by example, you need only to watch. He will not tell you or anyone else of the good works he does, you will know because you see him, you help him, or someone you know sees him and tells you.
While it is nice if everyone sees some of the work the churches do, only those who are truly seeking an example or direction who will really see it anyway, and they will see it whether it is done in some grand public manner or not.
What is sad is that each generation has been taught to expect the government to do more and more. Each generation seems to grow further from God, from the churches, and from the good things they do for the community. The power of the church becomes more limited as the generations grow further away and attend church less. The government takes more and more as taxes, and so each generation gives less to the church, and expects the government to do more and more since they take the money. But the government can never serve the community in the ways the churches could.
