Christian = Love. Right?

I’m interested in causes that seem (to me) to be “loving.” One such issue is healthcare reform. It pains me no end that Christians seem to be anti-love. Why are some Christians more concerned with keeping their money from “freeloaders” than in taking care of those in need? Christians should be at the forefront of these causes!
I can find many, many verses that tell us to be generous with our money.
Luke 12:33: Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
Matthew 19:21: Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
James 1:27: 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.
Especially, read Matthew 25:31-46 and try to interpret it another way.
I’ve experienced first-hand what it’s like to have inadequate healthcare. When I was a college student, I had no insurance at all. Don’t tell me I was a freeloader. I was living on my own, I was a student, and I had two part-time jobs. Now I have decent healthcare, and I am not so prideful to think I’m any better than those who don’t. Everyone deserves decent healthcare.

(If only this were the only issue in which Christians seem to be so selfish.)

Am I a minority of one? If it’s just the “Christian Right” making us appear this way, and if they’re a minority, then Christians left and center should speak up loudly enough to drown them out. The word “Christian” should be synonymous with love, caring and generosity. Instead, we appear to the world as stingy, selfish, prideful, hypocritical money-grubbers.

Pecae, love & grace.

The Problem with Giving

The problem is that it’s never enough. The more you give, the more people ask for. It doesn’t go away. Does it even make a difference?
Sometimes the question “What do I do to help?” seems utterly overwhelming. You can put money in the basket, donate to charities, volunteer locally, go on a mission trip… but it’s never enough, and you know it. Poor children still don’t have enough to eat, people still die in disasters, the earth is still covered in trash. Charities keep asking for “more, more, more.”
Just do what you can. Pick a cause that’s dear to your heart and give what you can in time and money. Spend time with a lonely person, listening. Don’t try to fix it all – you can’t.
You’re not rich? Me either! Well, wait. By the standards of the world I might be. Let’s see… I have a house… lots of nice clothes… I eat good food every day and I have clean water… I have this computer… Okay, so I am rich. I guess I can spare a little.

Mark 12:41-44 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,worth only a fraction of a penny.
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

Peace, love & hope.