Do Good

 

 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Philippians 2:3-4)

 

            If we are not to focus on our attempts to be “good enough,” on the acquisition of status in our own eyes, or on selfish ambition or vain conceits, how are we to spend all the time we’ve freed? Instead, today’s passage says we’re to see to the interests of others. This is where some people raise a fist and say, “Yeah, Social Justice!”

            But that’s not what today’s passage says. It says, “each of you.” That means you going out, you seeing to the interests of others, not some government agency. You, not some charity. I’m not suggesting that grouping together and working as a charity or with a charity is wrong. I am suggesting that our attitude and involvement are crucial.

            If you make the government responsible for caring for others, how do you ensure that your tax dollars are spent as you want them spent?  How do you make sure the policies enacted actually benefit the others you want to help? Some may complain that personal caring isn’t as efficient as centralized “assembly line” caring. Others may complain that personal caring is embarrassing to the recipient. There is some validity to these ideas, and personal caring doesn’t mean that there can be no organizational caring. But the point is that the organization needs to be local, and accountable to the local care-givers.

            What is important is not the number of people served or the number of dollars spent. What is important is the improvement in the well-being of the person being helped: spiritual (first and foremost), physically, emotionally, socially, and economically.

            In other words, the goal is to stop worrying about whether or not we’re doing good enough, and just do good.