What Makes This Time Different?

I don't have TV...well, actually, my wife and I DO have a television, but we do not have cable. Nor do we get the daily paper. And you can count home internet access out. So please do not be offended at the next few lines of thought that I'm going to boldly put out here.

I didn't hear about the crisis in Haiti until about 3 or 4 days after it had happened. At first, I thought it was just an earthquake (upon later reflection, I wondered if there was such a thing as "just" an earthquake). To be quite honest, I still don't have all the facts that any other average joe could have picked up within the last 2 weeks. Of course, now, I have some more knowledge of the events that took place there in the recent past, and I have some views to call my own now.

I don't believe that I'm the only one like me who, when first informed of the Haiti crisis, was unfazed. You see, even as a Christ-follower, it can be difficult to process what's real and what's not. I never cared much for the "media debate" until last year or so...you know, the argument that the media taints everything with opinion and less fact than the truth demands? So, it is with a heavy heart that I admit that my first thought was "What makes this so different from other cataclysmic events that cameras haven't caught on film? Why should I give more credence to this one catastrophe than any other that the media hasn't come across yet?" And as the weeks turned, I did my best to live life as usual.

The only problem is that Christ does NOT call us to life as usual...He calls us to a life UN-usual. One that says "me" is less important than "you." That "mine" doesn't exist because "His" is all that matters. And I've known this fact for almost 2 decades now, so why on earth would I be able to turn my back on it now? I realized this as I read what the Lord said in Matthew 6:1-4:

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have nor reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Many people like to see the typical lessons that are taught, and are definitely true, in this passage...the ones about not being hypocritical, not exalting yourself before man, and the like. But the thing that got me, the real kicker in this passage, has everything to do with the state that Christ puts us in; He commands us to do these things in secret WHEN we give to the needy. It's not an "if"; rather, it's understood that we will give to the needy...we are to carry it out as He states when it happens.

So back to me for a moment. I read this the other day, absolutely floored by my lack of Christlikeness and asked God that same question I stated earlier, "What makes this time different?" And you know what the answer was? "You know about it."

We're not called to pick and choose which crisis is worth our time in prayer, labor, or money. We're called to help...and we know when to help when we know about the need. So I plead with you as I plead with myself. Don't be idle...let it be said of us, the Church, that we gave away what we had because our love was for Christ and the people He loves and not for our security, things, or comforts.