I read a report this week from the National Center for Family Homelessness (2014) that completely floored me. According to this report, 2.5 million children in the United States experience homelessness annually. 1 in 30 kids living in our country know what it means to have no place to call home. This 2013 figure is up from 1.6 million children in 2006. The rate of child homelessness is worst in Kentucky, where 1 in 15 children experience homelessness.
A day after reading this report, I came across an article summarizing research from the University of California, Berkeley. In three different experiments, social scientists found highly religious people to be less motivated by compassion towards strangers than atheists, agnostics, and less religious people. (Anwar, 2012) Before you allow yourself to be angered and frustrated by this research, consider that UC Berkeley social scientist Robb Willer stated the more religious “may ground their generosity less in emotion, and more in other factors such as doctrine, a communal identity, or reputational concerns.” (2012)
Are we more motivated by doctrine, duty, or how others perceive us than we are by compassion? In 1 John 3:17-18 we read, “If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” When we hear that 2.5 million children are homeless in our country, we should be driven by our compassion. Yes God commands me to look after the disenfranchised but without love, I am “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Cor. 13:1, NLT)
During this holiday season and beyond it, find a place in your heart for the poor and “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matt. 19:21, NLT) God calls us to charity driven by compassion, supported by His word, and founded in true sacrifice. John W.
