Comic Relief
Dear Friends,
What are we to make of charity fundraising efforts like Comic Relief and Children in Need? Even using the word ‘efforts’ could sound disparaging; it’s not meant to. These are indeed extraordinary efforts. An enormous amount of time and money is given up in order to raise not only awareness but also badly needed funds to support various causes. Celebrities give their time for free. People give money they otherwise wouldn’t give. Certainly, many needy people and projects are helped as a result.
At the same time, it feels somewhat different to the kind of giving the Bible envisages. I’m glad that celebrities give their time to encourage giving to charity, but why do we need them to do it at all? I’m happy that people give their money to such needs, but why do we have to be entertained in order to get us to give? Instead, it seems to me, Christian giving is motivated by the gospel first of all, as Paul reminds the Corinthians: “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (2 Corinthians 8:9, NIV). His grace to us is our great motivation for showing grace to others.
Interestingly, there is at least one common feature. These TV appeals keep telling us what others have given, in order to encourage us to be generous also. And Paul is not embarrassed to encourage the Corinthians in their giving by telling them how the Macedonians have given: “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity” (verse 2).
This is far from being the last word on this subject; it is only the beginnings of a reflection, an attempt to think biblically about something which is basically good, and yet which the Bible would lead us to do differently. But let this not be an excuse for us to give less; but rather to give more generously – and also to think more carefully about why we give and what we give to.
Chris Hobbs
Vicar