A commenter on atheist biologist Jerry Coyne’s Why Evolution Is True blog raised a point and asked me a question,
The question is about balance and as JC [Jerry Coyne] is observing here, the negatives of faith are severe and dangerous and some simple cross-cultural studies show that atheists and their secular governments also donate time and money so if we attack the harm of religion we aren’t in immediate danger of cutting off the source of volunteerism and charity!
Or do you think Christians only donate out of a sense of religious obligation?
My answer was deleted from there for some unexplained reason.
I’m not so concerned about “the negatives of faith” right now, because the context of the question was primarily Islam. I can find negatives to Islam as easily as Coyne can, perhaps even more so. I can find negatives to “faith” without much difficulty, considering that New Atheists like Coyne tend to lump all religion into one bucket, taking the word “faith” as if it fit all beliefs in the same way. Not all faiths are the same, and Christianity is unique in many ways.
As for Christians, then, do we only donate our time and money out of a sense of religious obligation? A couple of good studies show that in the U.S., religion is by far the greatest predictor of voluntarism, community involvement, and charitable giving: Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism, and Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites…and Other Lies You’ve Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media. These books contribute to refuting “the negatives of faith” where Christianity is concerned, but if I recall correctly, they don’t answer this commenter’s question about Christians’ motivations.
I can only speak, therefore, from my own experience, having worked with thousands of volunteers and donors in the course of 32 years in Christian ministry. Sure, some people drop a few dollars in the collection plate because they think they really ought to do it. But the ones who really get the work done—who run the free clinics and soup kitchens and crisis pregnancy centers; who teach in the Sunday Schools, sing in the choirs and worship teams, and maintain the church buildings; who move to far parts of the world to share God’s word and his love through education, hospitals, disaster relief, and much more—do it because they want to do it. The ones who really fund these efforts do it because they want to.
Many people have said to me, “I wish I could be more involved in ministry, but I can at least give and pray.”
Christianity is not about yanking on God to force some favor out him, or doing special stuff for him so that he’ll like us better. It’s about God already giving us all his love in Christ regardless of what we are or do. When we give to others, it’s an overflow of Christ’s uncontainable love pouring out of us.
We’re not perfect in this, I know, but I have observed it often enough to say it confidently: the Christians who are really doing and giving for Christ’s kingdom are happy to do it, and if anything they wish they could contribute more. It’s not obligation. It’s freedom, joy, and love. It is another indicator of the reality of Christ in his people.
P.S. I support every blogger’s right to set his or her own policy on banning commenters or deleting comments. I do not, however, agree with the tactic of simply deleting a comment the way Coyne did mine, in the middle of a conversation. It communicates something false: that I backed out of the discussion. When I find it necessary to delete a comment in the course of a conversation, which is very rare, I always leave a placeholder note to indicate I have done so and why.
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