Reader Question: Charity Protocol

Do you feel charity should be denied if the person asking for the charity is taking advantage or, like Faustina, do you think charity should be given completely (as much as you can) without concerning yourself with the truth of their situation or intentions (as any sin would be on them not you)? -Bob

Kicking off a new year of Questions! Thanks for this one, Bob! It wasn't the first one I got, but it was the one that really caught my attention right off the bat, especially in a time surrounding the holiday season, where charity is simultaneously everywhere and stretched to its breaking point. The Biblical perspective on charity is not complicated. If they are hungry, feed them. If they are cold, warm them. If they are sick, comfort them. To do so is as if you did it for Christ himself, to ignore them is like ignoring Christ. So it is always GOOD to be charitable... that isn't up for debate. As it happens, it is also rather practical; give aid because once you needed aid, and one day you or one of yours will need it again. Sort of a social safety net built right into Biblical law.
Where things get complicated is in the actual carrying out of the command to be charitable. There is a lot of need in the world, and unlike in the society that Biblical law was crafted to build, the government and religion are not basically one and the same. We've long learned why that's a bad idea (see basically any Biblical King, even the supposedly good ones) but it does create a situation where attempts to provide for those in need are fractured, and so no one group is capable of addressing ALL need. My church has limited funds, and yet this year we have found ourselves more swamped with requests for aid than ever before. Our designated "Agape Fund," a discretionary fund that allows me to give aid to those who ask for it, is supposed to last the year, and had never, before 2017, been fully used. This past year it got tapped out in MAY, and had to be renewed to handle emergency need. 

The philosophy of the Agape Fund is one of no questions asked. I get a name and an address, but I don't verify stories or take a peek at the car that brought them. (Some of my Elders do... which has led to some conversations.) Aid given freely and without question... once every six months. It comes from a place that I landed in about fifteen years ago... when it comes to small time needs, some food, some gas, etc, I'll help anyone once. I don't know their lives or circumstances, and in general assume that small requests are, by their very nature, extraordinary. Fifty dollars isn't a solution to any systemic problem, but it can help in a tight spot, which is the sort of help I and my church can give.

So when do we give aid, and to who, since we clearly can't help everyone who needs it?

I do feel that, with small time aid, it is a waste of time to spend time vetting the person who came for aid. Do your best and trust them to use that aid appropriately, end of the story.

When the aid gets bigger, or the need more repeated, then responsibility on vetting grows if only to make sure that this is the best use of limited resources. You also need to consider which need your goal is... do you keep one house warm for a winter, or supply emergency food or gas for twenty?

These are not questions with easy or obvious answers. Coordinating with other charitable sources in the area to try to cover as many different needs and areas as possible would be helpful, though not always possible. As for those taking advantage, one of the things I have noticed as someone who as worked with charities is that "they are taking advantage" is A) not nearly as prevalent as some think and B) a lot harder to determine than some would guess. The nice car they drive doesn't mean they didn't have grocery money. In an age of predatory credit, a person's possessions aren't always an indication of their actual means.

At the end of the day, I do not think it is ever WRONG to give charitably. But wisdom in that giving can see to it the aid actually goes where it is needed, and it is far better to make a choice on what  kind of giving you intend to do, if only to assure that those in need are able to reliably find you when you can help them, and to assure that you are able to offer the help you are able to give.