Does the Fear of Hell prompt us to give?
Several weeks ago, I referred to the story of Lazarus and the rich man. I mentioned how the Bible has come so close to suggest that the doors of hell are well open if we fail to take care of our fellow human beings rather than holding to our dogmatic beliefs.
According to the parable, the rich man was having the best time of his life on earth while Lazarus was a poor man who was homeless and couldn’t even take care of his health and always hungry. He had soars on his body that dogs were licking. Although, the rich man allowed Lazarus to camp at his door, he didn’t seem to notice him. He couldn’t just see him. When they both die, the rich man goes to hell and Lazarus to heaven. It is quite of a story. (Luke 16:19-31)
In the history of the Pilgrims who accosted in the US in the 17 centuries, mostly puritans in their religious beliefs, the fear of Hell was prevalent. Max Weber, a well renowned sociologist documented the fear of hell among the descendants of the Puritans. He found a correlation between religious beliefs and economic development. It is from him that we got the expression “the Protestant ethics.”
Weber observed that the puritans struggled with the idea of salvation. They embraced a Calvinistic approach that God chooses some for salvation and other for damnation. Because no one is sure whether he/she is elected, claimed the puritans, one has to work hard to want to be among the elects. The puritans understood their vocation as “calling.”
In our modern time, Harvard economists’ scholars McCleary and Barro discovered that religion produces traits conducive to economic production. They contend that those who are religious tend to develop a moral compass that makes trust possible. Without trust no business could be effectively conducted.
In my own research in South Africa (a component of my PhD dissertation), I found out that people tend to give to church not only out of the fear of damnation but also for sake of receiving some kind of “blessings” from the divine. It is the idea of sow and reap of the prosperity gospel.
Americans are known to be generous, but we still give less per capita compared to other industrialized countries. And recently, our share of giving in charitable institutions have been declining. It could be because we become complacent about our Christian convictions or maybe we don’t see the relevance of religious institutions as before. I am not sure which one is it.
Does the fear of hell prompt us to give to churches or is it out of love or moral conviction that we give. My take is that our understanding of God, salvation and our call to serve and advance God’s Kingdom should impact the way we give to churches. There is nothing more rewarding than to see lives being transformed in the name of Jesus, the gospel being shared, the community being uplifted. This is rendered possible by a collective effort to make it happens.
