After reading the bible God teaches Christians to work and make the world a better place. Christians are also taught everyone should benefit from what’s called “God’s Bounty,” God’s fair way of living.
Jesus told people to love thy neighbour as yourself. People should look after one another; a friend in need is a friend indeed. When I was hungry you fed me, when I was a stranger you invited me in, when I was in prison you visited me. New Testament, Matthew, chapter 25.
Christians have started to help the poor by creating charities. Christian Aid, Cafod, the TEAR fund etc. they have been set up to help the poor from the work of churches.
Overall the bible has a lot of teachings for Christians on how to treat people but in the book of Amos, chapter 5 versus 21-24, quote, “ I hate, I despise your religious feasts: I cannot stand your assemblies… Away with the noise of your harps, but let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never falling stream.” This justifies that you don’t have to worship anyone; you don’t have to pray at all. Just do one thing, let there be peace and human rights in this world for us to live in a safe world.
Task B:
There is no point in believing in god if you are not prepared to do something about.
The bible teaches Christians to help those less fortunate than themselves. Christians take the teachings of the bible and put them into action.
There are different ways in which Christians may demonstrate love and care for people:
- Christians may devote their lives to working to help the poor as ain worker.
- If its not possible to dedicate their lives to work towards helping their the poor, Christians may choose to do this for short period. Maybe work on their holidays.
- People can help the poor by joining charities in their countries, as maybe they cannot afford to go over seas.
- People could be thoughtful with their actions. When you go shopping remember there are people who can’t do that. Wasting less food.
- Most of all Christians may help those in need by prayer.
Putting the bible teachings into practise is another way for Christians to show their appreciation to god.
For example: Mother Teresa (also known as Agnes Gonxha) is a woman who put all her beliefs into practise. Mother Teresa was born on 26 August 1910, in Macedonia.
In 1928 Mother was sent a convent in Ireland, from there she was then sent to Calcutta on 6 January 1929. Mother received the name “Mother Teresa” at a convent.
“ I help the poorest of the poor. The biggest disease today is not tuberculosis or leprosy, but the feeling of being unwanted. People need to be loved.” This is a quote from mother, which shows that the true reason as to why she helps people is because people need to have felt the experience of being loved.
Mother has been serving those who need help for about sixty-nine years. Mother devoted all her time to those who needed her help.
Mother did not just only help Christians but helped all kinds of people. People with different religions and nationalities.
All this didn’t matter to her, as mother thought the mind is more sacred than the body.
Mother, her brother and sisters took people in. They nourished these people; they were fed, bathed, given a roof over their heads, given beds to sleep on and mostly shown what love is.
Mother Teresa is the first example of a devoted Christian although she was not the only one who has contributed to this world.
A man who helps the less fortunate by not taking them in looking after them but to help them make their own money.
Sir John Templeton was a man who grew up on a farm in Tennessee in USA. He completed a successful education at Yale and Oxford Universities. John Templeton helped other people financially. He helped people to invest their money to increase their wealth. He also helps create more Christian charities. In 1987 queen Elizabeth II, for services to philanthropy, knighted John Templeton.
Sir John Templeton is man who doesn’t care about money and took to consideration that he could give back to his country and to help Christians, to extend the education of all religions. Earning money through his natural talents, giving that money to help create as many charities.
Another man called Desmond Tutu.
Going onto charities. There are a lot of aid agencies in the world to help the poor. People choose to join these charities to help donate money to give to the poor. Not all aid agencies are based on religion beliefs. Organisations such as OXFAM, CHRISTIAN AID, CHILDREN FUND, COMIC RELIEF etc.
Helping the poor is the duty of Christians, to care for the poor and the weak.
My first example is CHRISTIAN AID. Christian aid is the official agency of 40 different church denominations in the UK and Ireland. The Christian aid originated just after the Second World War, as a response to the amount of casualties and people in Europe who had lost their homes, families and all their possessions in conflict. Too many people had nothing. The British and Irish churches set up an organisation called “ Christian Reconstruction”, which raised over a million pounds in donation.
Their motto is “We believe in life before death”. Christian Aid helps to give emergency relief to survivors of an earthquake and other tragic situations. Christian Aid provides food for emergencies; they work to make changes that will improve lives. They teach the poor how to depend on themselves. Christian Aid is involved with the health education and immunisation programmes, training local people to become nurses. It works to provide education, not only for children but also adults especially women.
Women are taught how to make their own clothes and how to make and grow their own food. If you give a man one fish, it would feed his family for a day, but if you teach him how to fish and provide him with other mottos.
Different agencies have different mottos.
CAFOD’s motto is,” Its times for justice”. Just like every other aid agencies there main aim is to get rid of poverty in the developing world. CAFOD works in partnership with the local people of the poor countries. CAFOD states that its vision is for a world where:
- Everyone has a piece of the good things in life.
- People should unite as a single human family from which no one is excluded and everyone respects one another.
- Lives aren’t dominated by greed.
- Every human should have access to food, shelter, and water a livelihood, health and education.
To obtain Christian beliefs is to why CAFOD exists. It all began when the National Board of Catholic Women. It was from a response to a request from the Caribbean Island of Dominica for help with a mother and baby health care programme. CAFOD are helping to fund 245 self-help projects in 40 countries. They are committed to self-help rather than just handling our supplies to people in poverty, is the importance of providing developing countries with the resources and skills that will help them to help themselves like Christian Aid.
There are various reasons as to why Christians feel obliged to help the poor. They feel it their duty to help the poor because there are sources to point them in that direction.
