An open letter regarding charity in Christendom

To whom it may concern,

Throughout the ages, scripture has been constantly interpreted so as to address right conduct in modern circumstances. Constantly changing technology and shifting cultural practices means that our faith is dynamic, and constantly pouring into new expressions of human life. Regarding charity, its means and relevance, much should be said. To bring ourselves into Christianity, more so than to “get with the times”, Christians are thinking about methods of charity that take advantage of our modern circumstances to love our neighbour through mercy.

Addressing charity in modern circumstances, we do not abandon scripture, but return to it with a renewed curiosity. Scripture has had incredible durability throughout history and across socioeconomic conditions. King James had as much to learn from scripture as Solomon, or St. Francis of Assisi or any of us. Christian precepts are enduring and transferable, such that the Cattle Laws in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 25:4) were reapplied by Paul to profess that a labourer should be fairly compensated (1 Corinthians 9:9–10). This aspect of scripture - fostering proper conduct within a Christian life - is a potent aid and source of inspiration across contexts. 

A Christian’s existence in their local brick and mortar community is amply supported with indications in scripture about best practices. The Christian is well advised about how to love these “next door” kind of neighbours. A Christian’s existence at home is once again well advised by scripture about family management, and familial love. A Christian walks through the city centre, and encounters the poor- they are aware of 2000 year old practices of almsgiving, and provided amply with scriptural encouragements to do the same. But there are modes of existence that require further examination of scripture to bring the Christian’s life into a fuller faithfulness. We open the question, where does the Christian derive advice about online conduct? 

This online space encompasses the three previous ones: local community (which we might reframe as “close community” in this context), family, and encountering the poor. The third could come in the form of a phone call from a sales scammer, which framed differently, is an untrivial encounter with the needy, albeit it in a coercive fashion- not so different from the beggar who wears their most torn clothes when holding their tip jar so as to elicit more sympathy, or the fake veterans, concealed by the countless real individuals who have slipped through the militaries’ grasp. Otherwise, the Christian encounters the needy while watching the news, learning about an alien disaster in a far away place which they could hardly spell, let alone put on the map. The Christian encounters the needy through the countless Youtube ads and side banners for charity initiatives. These are all occasions for expression of mercy and charity, but in an emotionally slimmed down, disconnectedly online way. 

The Christian prays that their whole life is given to Christ. Likewise, this online existence is an occasion for faithfulness. In our language, being online is an incorporeal touching. The Christian connects incorporeally with the rest of Christendom on Sunday by taking communion, the Christian joins with the community of believers and non-believers when they are “online.” They participate in a reciprocal affection, exchange of attention and mutual dependence.

The description of being “online” is closely tied with being a participant in “globalism”. Just as economic activity creates myriad and inseparable webs of connectivity between people from far away places, so does “being online” connect humanity across borders within these digital places. We might widen our consideration of contemporary modes of being to encompass these kinds of unseen connections of interdependence. This online and global existence, as it pertains to relating to one another in a Christian way, can be taken to mean the interconnectedness unique to our time. Now, the choice to buy one coffee or another means choosing or forgoing a long and unwieldy series of global supply chain connections, which, put to Christian scrutiny, are better called chains of human connection. We live in a time where a simple consumer choice - buying this coffee or that coffee - results in a vast, unimaginably vast, chain of economic effects. Global supply chains are too complicated for the consumer to fully consider. We pray to God that he weaves all of the decisions we make with incomplete information to the betterment of everything. We pray that where we do not have the eyes to see the results of our actions, our all-seeing God knows and protects us. This new level of global interconnection warrants the Christian to reconsider their impact on this world-wide neighbourhood. Unwillingly, our most basic decisions affect a plethora of persons. 

Should a Christian consider this vast network of economically interdependent individuals as neighbours? Are foreign peoples connected in a religiously significant way? We believe that Jesus answered this question thousands of years ago. Jesus was posed the question, "Who is my neighbour?" His reply dramatically widens our conception of neighbourhood. The story of the Good Samaritan puts us on a road - a transitional, liminal place, where one might not expect to have multiple reencounters. The Good Samaritan, Jesus confirms, was a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers, not because they lived next door to each other, but because the good Samaritan showed mercy. This is the confirmation of neighbourhood. The expectation of more encounters is not the salient fact. 

Indeed, Jesus chooses to answer “Who is my neighbour?” by a tremendous opening. His answer is a riddle if neighbourship is defined by proximity. To Jesus, a neighbour is not someone regularly encountered. Neighbourship is not qualified by being “next door”- the next door neighbour can very well not be a neighbour in the Christian sense. It is through mercy that the neighbourhood is established. Neighbourhood is an attitude adopted by the Christian towards, really, anyone. If a neighbour can be found in the most transitional and liminal space, the road, then a neighbour can truly be found anywhere. We might call the whole of Earth a transitional place towards heaven and away from, or out of, hell - so that we all might be neighbours, through love and mercy. Online connections should be considered neighbours, as should the connections made by global trade. 

It is not only those who are encountered through happenstance that the Christian can love, as the Good Samaritan loved the man who fell among the robbers. Paul supported communities of Christians in far flung places. Out of all the letters Paul wrote to Churches, Paul is not believed to have visited Colossae, Laodicea or Rome, and yet he loved these people, expressed through his dedicated letter writing and advice giving. Paul even encourages us to give to congregations that we will never see in the flesh: “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.” (Romans 15:25-27)

These dependent forces- global interconnectedness, and onlineness, are a new sphere into which Christian love can be poured. But this is not only an opportunity for loving and for reaching out and expanding ministry. On top of this, the online places and our global interconnectedness present a challenge to duty. Through casual consumer choices made for the sake of a sensual preference, terrible damage is done to both the environment over which God gave man stewardship, and to the human persons who the Christian is charged to respect and value as an equal in moral importance and capacity to suffer. Since many of those our consumer choices affect are invisible to us, the Christian seeks out opportunities for love and mercy.

We conclude that the Christian has both a duty and an incredible opportunity to expand the faithfulness of life through participating in the global economy and online spaces in a Christlike way. We pray for the wisdom that would train up the mind and the hands in this practice. We seek a humble beginning in carrying out this enquiry  - please be in touch. If this work interests you, then please connect with James Hartree by scheduling a call through his website.  

Consider me your brother in Christ, 

James Hartree - Resurrection Anglican Church