Things Jesus Never Said - Part 3

'Charity begins at home'

Eh?

Tomorrow, I shall be leading a lunchtime seminar at Portsmouth College. It's part of a series called "Things Jesus Never Said", and tomorrow we will be focusing on the well known phrase "Charity begins at home".

It is such a well known phrase, that many people assume it was said by Jesus...or at the very least is in the Bible. Not true. In fact, the first recorded occurrence of the phrase comes around 160 BC, said by Terence (a Roman playwright). It was popularised again by Charles Dickens, who said "Charity begins at home, and justice lives next door".

In a sense, of course, the phrase is right - providing that we hold on to the ancient meaning of the word. 'Charity' comes from the Latin word 'caritas' - which meant loving affection between people (and usually towards God as well). It was different from other forms of love (e.g. sexual or erotic love). Taking the word charity in that original sense, I have no quibble at all with the idea. If there is not loving affection at home, how can there be authentic loving affection elsewhere?

But, unfortunately, in our less than literate society (oops...got on my soap-box there for a moment), the word charity has become only associated with the act of giving away money (which may of course be part of loving affection...but only part).

By associating the word with the famous phrase (which they incorrectly believe to be biblical), many people have come to believe that they must look after themselves and their immediate family first...and only if there is surplus, should others be helped.

That is not what Jesus taught.

Jesus told us to love our enemies, and our neighbours. Jesus said that when we care for the sick, or prisoners, we are caring for him. Jesus said that his family are those who do his father's will. He even predicted that his message would drive a wedge between father and son, mother and daughter. In other words, Jesus placed our responsibility to the wider world, to society and to God on a higher footing than mere family relationships (as important as they are).

Jesus therefore invited us to look beyond family...and to place the needs of others before those of our families. Wow! What a thought! And how counter-intuitive!

We live in a society where people are sometimes stupidly loyal to our families. Vendettas, between family members, are common in many of our cities and towns. "My family, right or wrong" seems to be the cry. So that whatever a family member does, how ever much they hurt someone else, or how ever stupid and selfish they may behave...people back their family members to the hilt. "You insulted my sister!" becomes the cry of the thug who sets out to kill someone who simply looked in the direction of his sibling.

The other, perhaps even more worrying effect of the misuse of this famous phrase, is what it does to international relations. We British, for example, fiercely guard our borders against refugees who want nothing more than to earn a living wage. We do it on the basis that 'charity begins at home'. "Let's look after ourselves first - and then we'll throw a few crumbs to the rest of the world".

How different from the message of the Bible: "Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God" (That's the prophet Micah).

"Love your neighbour as you love yourself" (that's Jesus).

Far from saying the charity begins at home, Jesus encouraged us to look beyond our families, to all our neighbours throughout the world.

What a different place the world would be if we heeded him.