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Charity and Entitlement
Dear Friends,
Who would ever think that a society could become so degenerate and vicious that it would inculcate in the minds of its members that virtues were vices to be hated? Even in seriously wicked societies, men still pine for the flourishing of virtues and welcome their being and exercise in others, if not in themselves. Thus, men who are liars, thieves, adulterers, and murderers may refuse to give up such sins in themselves, but they would prefer, if not demand, that others around them restrain themselves from practicing such transgressions. It would seem that few people would prefer living in a neighborhood full of people who lied, stole, and killed, as opposed to their living amongst honest and decent folk. Yet, when the queen of all virtues is held in contempt, can the hatred of her attendant graces be far off? We live in a day and amidst a society where love is becoming rare in its exercise, due largely to our culture’s systematic attempt to declare it a vice worthy of contempt and destruction.
Many may think I overstate the case. Some may object that many people in our society do love, and that even those who do not would welcome being loved. I believe that the trend is otherwise. Some may say that at least Christians esteem and practice love. I maintain that love is a vanishing virtue even amongst those who profess to worship the God who is Himself love.
It may seem incredible that anyone, let alone the majority of a given society, should hold in contempt the exquisite treasure of which Paul writes in
1 Corinthians 13. Who would not at least admire a virtue that is patient, kind, not jealous or arrogant, that does not brag or act unbecomingly, that is not provoked, does not hold a grudge, and does not seek its own way? Yet the rarity of this highest virtue, not simply being practiced but being esteemed and desired, indicates that many people regard charity as a curse to be avoided.
What accounts for the fall in love’s stock in our day? I believe that two features prevalent in our culture are strongly antithetical to love. The notions of egalitarianism and entitlement have perhaps done more than any other forces in our day to stigmatize the exercise and even the concept of love and the gracious fruits that issue from love.
The belief and practical determination that all people are and ought to be equal, not simply in opportunity, but in attainment, undermines the desire to give or receive love. The narrowing of the egalitarian aspiration to one’s acquisition of his fair share of material possessions and political, psychological, social, and economic power further serves to make love appear as a condescending vice rather than a crowning virtue. People who are taught to assume that they are as good, worthy, capable, and deserving as the next fellow will hardly be receptive to the notion of a compassionate regard from another whose charity may serve to lift them from their low and needy place of misery. Hence, something as beautiful and beneficent as the loving exercise of compassion becomes viewed as a patronizing insult to one’s essential dignity.
Reinforcing the egalitarian impulse is the concept of entitlement that has gripped not only the lower members of our society, but the higher members as well. Across all strata of our society there runs now an impulse toward entitlement that has been exalted to sacred status. The poor consider themselves entitled to an equal share of material things; the middle class think themselves entitled to the fruits of their labors; the rich are entitled to their property. All men make impossible demands on the health care system, feeling entitled not only to live to aged extent, but also to do so with minimum pains and maximal powers.
Into this vortex of pride and presumption, with its emphasis on demanding supposed rights and de-emphasis on fulfillment of responsibilities, the notion of gracious and giving love seems not only foreign, but also useless at best, insulting at worst. Those who have imbibed the spirit of egalitarianism and entitlement not only refuse to exercise love, but hate to receive it as well, viewing it as a force intent on ruining their rights and stealing their dignity.
The Church of Christ in our day has sensed this devaluation of love in our culture. In many quarters of the Church, there is commitment to an endeavor to speak to the proud and presumptuous in terms they not only understand but demand, namely, affirmation and empowerment. Such approach to our decaying culture may win some degree of acknowledgment from presumptuous men, but it will never melt their hearts and refashion them into people who lovingly count others as better than themselves.
Our calling is not to disguise our love for our Lord or one another. We are not to turn the precious coin of His love for sinners into the useless currency of pandering to men’s pride. The love of our God is the treasure of all treasures. Let us value it accordingly, and give it to others freely, rightly reckoning that its warmth will yet melt many hearts that are not only icy but also stony. Beloved, whatever man makes of it, let us love, because love is from God.
Yours in Christ’s love,
William Harrell
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