Be as Passionate as Wicked Men!
Do Not Abuse Your Charity
The seventeenth century Puritan minister Cotton Mather once said the following to his congregation: “Instead of exhorting you to augment your charity, I will rather utter an exhortation . . . that you may not abuse your charity by misapplying it.” He added, “Let us try to do good with as much application of mind as wicked men employ in doing evil.”
It is always interesting to see how quickly we will respond to emotional appeals to give even when there are no mechanisms in place for accountability and no thought to long-term impact or sustainability. It is common and easy enough for us to engage in non-sacrificial philanthropic acts that provide a balm for our consciences and leaves our deep commitment to consumerism and individual self-interest untouched. As Marvin Olasky reminds us in his book titled The Tragedy of American Compassion, “virtually everyone is pro-philanthropy”.
It is also amazing just how quickly and generously we will give to causes that generate excitement and what we may call “feel-goodism.” But, maybe it is time for us to become “thinking philanthropists”. As Einstein once said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Are you a thinking philanthropist? Are we using enough "application of mind" as we do good in society or are our actions motivated and directed primarily through our emotions?
We are always grateful for the strategic and thinking individuals who see the need for us to test new approaches to bringing help to the disenfranchised in Jamaica and in developing countries across the world. According to Keith Suter, “People can be very stubborn. They prefer to stick with old paradigms that are in trouble, rather than seek better ones.” We desperately need to consider new paradigms for social engagement and these paradigm must take into account the need for personal discipline, faithfulness, and integrity on the part of everyone involved. We must also be ready to confront the reality of an ever-changing world that if we want to engage sensibly in a discussion on transformation in our communities.