I’m sure most of you are familiar with the phrase “charity begins at home.” Usually, this popular saying is employed whenever we wish to justify the importance of taking care of our own needs before concerning ourselves with the needs of others.
Several years ago I served on a Presbytery Committee which had the unenviable task of allocating surplus monies to various mission activities. Some of the projects were local; others were in distant lands that the more geographically-challenged among us would have had trouble locating on a map. However, there was something to be said for doing a little of both. The advantage of the local projects was that they would allow us the opportunity to witness firsthand the fruits of our contributions. The advantage of the global projects was that they would be assisting people who were far more desperate for funding.
As our discussion progressed, one of ministers remarked, “Look, I’m not against helping people in faraway places, but I think we should first be helping folks in our own community. After all, doesn’t the Good Book say, ‘charity begins at home’?”
I didn’t want to embarrass him in front of the committee (and as a minister, he probably should have known better), however, the “good book” in which that phrase appears is not the Bible. It comes from a book titled Religio Medici, first published in 1642 by Sir Thomas Browne. And interestingly enough, Browne never intended it to imply that we should first “take care” of our own. He was using the word “charity” in the sense of “loving-kindness,” not almsgiving or philanthropy.
What Browne was getting at is that our charitable work on behalf of others should grow out of the same loving-kindness that we display among those closest to us. After all, what good is giving away great sums of money, far and wide, if we are as stingy as misers in terms of loving our own families.
Browne’s point is that the more we love our own families, the more we will be inclined to see the whole world as our brothers and sisters in Christ. That’s why “charity begins at home.”
Several years ago I served on a Presbytery Committee which had the unenviable task of allocating surplus monies to various mission activities. Some of the projects were local; others were in distant lands that the more geographically-challenged among us would have had trouble locating on a map. However, there was something to be said for doing a little of both. The advantage of the local projects was that they would allow us the opportunity to witness firsthand the fruits of our contributions. The advantage of the global projects was that they would be assisting people who were far more desperate for funding.
As our discussion progressed, one of ministers remarked, “Look, I’m not against helping people in faraway places, but I think we should first be helping folks in our own community. After all, doesn’t the Good Book say, ‘charity begins at home’?”
I didn’t want to embarrass him in front of the committee (and as a minister, he probably should have known better), however, the “good book” in which that phrase appears is not the Bible. It comes from a book titled Religio Medici, first published in 1642 by Sir Thomas Browne. And interestingly enough, Browne never intended it to imply that we should first “take care” of our own. He was using the word “charity” in the sense of “loving-kindness,” not almsgiving or philanthropy.
What Browne was getting at is that our charitable work on behalf of others should grow out of the same loving-kindness that we display among those closest to us. After all, what good is giving away great sums of money, far and wide, if we are as stingy as misers in terms of loving our own families.
Browne’s point is that the more we love our own families, the more we will be inclined to see the whole world as our brothers and sisters in Christ. That’s why “charity begins at home.”
posted by Dr. Robert Crilley at
9:56 PM
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