“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27 NIV)
According to a report from the Giving USA Foundation, Americans donated 119.30 billion dollars to churches and religious groups in 2015. Most of this money was spent on staff salaries and maintaining buildings. Very little went to aiding the poor or the helpless. This bothers me greatly.
Churches try to attract members who are wealthy, influential, and powerful. They also try to cater to those who are likely to have the means to donate to the church rather than to need its resources. This ensures a steady stream of revenue. Jesus instructed us to give to the poor. Yet we, as Christians, continually neglect the needy and marginalized members of society. We complacently stand by while our contributions are used for everything but charity. This is hypocrisy.
“The sickness or, you can say the sin, that Jesus condemns most is hypocrisy, which is precisely what is happening when someone claims to be a Christian but does not live according to the teaching of Christ.” (Pope Francis)
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