Charity - Mere Christianity Book 3 Chapter 9 - Episode 22

Do you know what charity actually means? Let's discuss.

...Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who ask you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect...

1 Peter 3:15

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Transcript

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Would you say you're charitable? Some of you might start thinking about all the organizations that you happily give to. Or maybe you're thinking about how you need to give more to the poor. While generosity towards those in need is certainly a part of charity, Lewis says that that's only one piece of a much bigger picture. This is where we learn what Christians believe, why they believe it, and how to know whether it's true or not. We are doing that right now in this series by going through C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity one chapter at a time, because it is one of the quintessential Christian apologetics books. Today, we are looking at the first of what Lewis calls the theological virtues. They're the final three in the seven virtues, and that's charity. I mentioned in the intro that charity has a wider meaning and definition beyond what we have come to know it as. It is more than just giving to the poor and being generous. Lewis says that it's more even than just the forgiveness that we talked about a couple of chapters ago. These are all part of the wider sweeping concept of charity. Another word for charity is love. The Greeks had several words for love, where English mostly uses one. The love charity is talking about here isn't primarily romance or affection, but rather something much deeper. Lewis says that charity in the Christian sense is a state of the will. The way we are concerned about our own good and well-being, charity would have us placing that concern on others and their well-being. So in that sense, the charitable person would very likely give and give often, generously, to others. So that's why it's come to be the main definition of the word. That makes sense. Luna spends a couple of pages talking about natural liking for one person over another being different than charity towards another. He says that this natural liking is neither a sin nor virtue any more than a personal preference for foods. It's what we do with those inclinations that can become sinful or virtuous. He warns to watch out that our natural likings don't cause us to give preference to certain others, and that we don't actually damage someone by gratifying our own affections to the detriment of that person. He gives a great example of a doting mother spoiling her beloved child. We all know what that kid is very likely going to grow up into. A self-centered person that just isn't quite rooted in reality. That mom has satisfied her own feelings, but to the ruin of her kid who isn't going to do so great in the real world. Natural affection is good, but it's not enough. It's best to encourage and train ourselves to actually care about everyone, whether they are at the top of our list of who we naturally like and gravitate to or not. Now, this doesn't mean don't have your own close circle of friends who you're comfortable and vulnerable with. Even Jesus had a smaller inner core of trusted apostles. That's not what we're talking about with charity. We're talking about treating all people with love and kindness, regardless of how much you naturally like them. Lewis says if we just go ahead and act like we do like them before we know it, we will actually like them. And this is backed up by psychology. Our emotions follow our thoughts. Or put a different way, our emotions are heavily influenced by what we repeatedly focus on. Lewis says if we just go ahead and act as though we like someone, treating them kindly, speaking respectfully, seeking their good, we'll often find that we begin to actually like them. It's a common misconception that love works the other way around. We think first I feel loving, then I act loving. But Lewis suggests that many times loving actions actually create loving feelings. In other words, if I wait until I feel charitable before acting charitably, I may be waiting for a very long time. Instead, if I choose to act with kindness and concern for someone else's good, I often find that my feelings slowly begin to follow. I really do love how this is supported by a lot of psychology. While we don't control every thought or feeling that pops into our minds, we do have a great deal of influence over what we dwell on and what we repeatedly choose to do. The Bible says we can take our thoughts captive and bring them into submission, even. So if we reject the negative thoughts and train ourselves on the good and right thoughts, specifically speaking, to the thoughts of loving everyone and treating everyone with kindness. Especially because as Christians, we know that every person is made in the image of God and Jesus gave his life for them. Therefore, they should be treated with dignity. Well, then before you know it, it will become natural that we are charitable and liking to all. Okay, another warning from Lewis here. We are not to just fake it till we make it. It could certainly seem like that a bit, especially to an outsider. It's more so about starting from a place of knowing that, like I said earlier, every human is deserving of dignity because of who their creator is and what their savior did. Therefore, we want to follow God where he leads. And so we start from that conclusion and choose to love, and inevitably our feelings will follow eventually. Next, Lewis is something that I personally don't totally agree with, but maybe I'm just not understanding him correctly. But he makes the observation that secular or non-Christian folks will be charitable, but usually only to people they like. I think Lewis may be making a more narrow point here. I've known many non-Christians who were extraordinarily loving and generous people. His point probably isn't that Christians are nicer, but that their belief system provides a reason to love even when the feeling isn't there. Lewis does make the solid point though that one difference here is that the Christian, whether they are naturally charitable or not, knows that it is something we are charged to do as followers of Christ. That is our motivation to grow in this virtue. The non-Christian does it because he feels it's right, which it is, and that harkens back to the early chapters of this book, that inner moral law that we all know instinctively. It's one of the biggest clues and evidences of the existence of God. Now, this is where Lewis wraps it up. Our motivation. Emotions are not the biggest thing that God is concerned about. Like we said earlier, this is about the will, our will. As Christians, are we trusting and following God and his commandments? That's what he cares about because he knows that that's what will not only be best for us, our hearts, our minds, and our souls individually, but also it's what's best for humanity. And he chooses to work through us to accomplish his good, which I personally think is astounding and amazing. But he doesn't do this with the ultimate goal being that he will give us good feelings about it. He certainly can and does sometimes, but we can't wait around for the good feelings and love feelings to confirm that we're doing the right thing. The confirmation is that we know that that is his will and what he has told us to do. Lastly, in regards to us loving him and God loving us, this too we may not feel like doing. Our emotions may not always line up with it, and that's okay. That's normal. Because again, we can't always trust our feelings. Struggling with mental health myself, sometimes you just have to do what you know is the right thing to do, regardless of your fluctuating feelings. And eventually your emotions will follow suit. Sometimes the feeling will follow quickly, other times they don't. The timing doesn't change what is true, what we can always be sure of. God's love for us. I'll end with Lewis's own words. It is not wearied by our sins or our indifference, and therefore it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins at whatever the cost to us, at whatever the cost to him. Now, after going through this chapter together, I'll ask you again Would you say that you're charitable? That you find it rather difficult, or have you experienced this dying to yourself in a way, choosing to love others and seek their well-being, thereby growing in charity? Next time we will shift from charity, how we love others, to hope, what we are going towards. Thanks for tuning in today for this episode. I hope it was helpful. If so, please share it with a friend, because the truth is always worth knowing and sharing. Check out my website, seektruthhere.com, for more resources. Thanks again for listening. I'll see you next time. God bless.