Disturbing love

I saw a post that asked us to love everybody. It would make the world a better place. Yes!! I agree!! Troubling, to the postee, how would you recommend doing that? I mean, it sounds great. Obama said in his presidential slogans “Yes, we can.” “Change we can believe in.” Wow, did he pull that off? To give him credit Trump said recently “Let’s make America great again.” Gee, a political leader with a slogan. Maybe they should have used “love everybody.”

            It’s great to say Jesus loves you, but where is the meat. I mean, it’s nice to say “love everyone or Jesus loves you”, but what do you do to show that works? I love my job (sort of). Canada post is rich with its use of love. They spend the whole week telling us over and over all the mistakes we make. The badgering is unreal. Then one day out of the blue they bring in coffee and donuts and say they love us. That works, right?

            I know churches that give to the poor. Yes, the poor in Africa, Asia, South America, and so on. They do it in the name of love. I know for a fact in one fund raiser they raised 25,000 dollars for orphans in Cambodia. Yet, the whole city of churches combined gave 5,000 dollars to the local food bank right in their back yard. There is something wrong and twisted in the hearts of those who say “love” like it’s a profound statement. Yet, they ignore those people right before their eyes. Why?

            Glad you asked, I have a theory on that. It’s like this. We in North America love to look good. There is a stark difference on a stage between a disheveled black child and a white one. Do we have disheveled white kids right down the street? Yes, but they are rich disheveled white kids. I always thought that gauging the poor is a terrible idea. Adding color to the gauge is also a terrible idea. A poor kid in a poor country is sad. A poor kid in a rich country is also sad. Unless you’re a white poor kid.

            What does God have to say about the poor. I found it astounding in the sermons I’ve heard about Judas and the fragrant oil. Pastors will preach on greed, Jesus being anointed, and bad Judas. I have never heard them talk about why Judas did what he did. I figured he did that because the image of giving to the poor is far better than using the money to anoint Jesus. The woman in the story made the wrong choices. Yet, here we have Jesus saying “we will always have the poor.” Don’t you find it odd that Jesus did not rebuke her for wasting money that clearly could have helped the poor. Or rather, why is Jesus so uncaring for the plight of the poor?

            I have a big nose so it is as clear as the nose on my face. Jesus knew the poor. He knew their hearts. He also knew the hearts of the rich. Aren’t all poor people just not rich people? There are many reasons people are rich and poor. We will always have the poor. The rich will always not give enough. Therein lies the problem. I feel that Judas would have honored the woman if she had been given the oil from Judas himself. I highly doubt Judas cared about the poor but one looks more compassionate than the other.

            It is troubling. In Canada, there is a push and rumor that charity money will not be a tax credit soon. There are millions of dollars that go to help the poor in Canada and around the world. I would bet my life that if the tax credit is pulled off the table that this giving well will dry up. The hearts in this country are just so deep in love. About as deep as their financial pockets. Did you know that Walmart and other businesses take your charity dollar at the till and claim it on their taxes? The words giving, charity, and love only go as far as the return we get.

            God says that the right hand should not know what the left is doing. To give without accolades is a tough draw. We like our stage presence. We love the tax break. To be honored for our love is a great event. Why do businesses promote all the good they do? To be wonderful people or promote their business. Before you say we should love or that Jesus saves, take an inventory of your heart. What are you personally doing to love unconditionally in secret. The answer might disturb you.

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