The Elitism of Institutionalizing Doing Good

I know and have known several Christians, young and old, all over the world, who seize opportunities in some way to help complete strangers from all walks of life. Their acts of kindness range from paying for a military family's meal without them ever knowing who their benefactor was; to going out of their way to give blankets and clothes to a homeless person; to taking complete strangers in to feed and house them; to the giving of their time and energy in helping a struggling addict kick the habit; to helping build houses for Habitat for Humanity.

Let me tell you about these Christians. They are members of various local congregations striving to follow the pattern of the primitive (first) Christians who joined themselves together to make up the independent local congregations in the First Century that we read about in the New Testament. Ever since I was a kid, which was a long time ago (I am in my 60th year of life), I have observed these "random acts of kindness" beginning with my parents and have witnessed them all my life by different Christians I have known.

These Christians, I have known and know, were AND are vitally aware of the necessity of "giving a cup of cold water" and "of not neglect[ing] to show hospitality to strangers" (Matthew 25:31-46; Hebrews 13:1-3). However, in their doing of these many "random acts of kindness" they were just doing what they believed should be done as a Christian. They were not looking for some kind of "firehouse experience" which was somehow supposed to make them feel spiritual in a way they never had before. The fact is, they were and are spiritual people, putting the needs of others ahead of their own to serve, whose lives were seeking to live out OBEDIENCE to Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

These Christians never considered themselves a sect, no doubt others did (Acts 24:14), but they were simply striving to serve Jesus. Are there struggles among these Christians? Did they struggle to get along at times? Yes, of course! After all, anytime you work with imperfect people, even though they are Christians there will be struggles. However, they did not criticize and divide the local church because not enough was being done to suit them. Neither did they start a church that "ministers" to the needy because they did not see the need to institutionalize "doing good unto all men." They just did it (as individuals) serving for neither some inward experience nor sense of spiritual elitism. To the contrary, their aim was much simpler, to please the Lord.

The church we read about in the New Testament was never about institutionalizing the "doing of good to all" for some emotional experience and/or sense of feeling good about ourselves, or some "firehouse" experience. It was about Christians, who comprised local congregations, doing good as THEY had opportunity to help all those in need. (Galatians 6:10)