The Idolatry Of Influence & Importance In Giving.
So they give massively to influential and important people because some of that influence/importance appears to rub off on them. They want to be able to say:
“I know him.”
“I support her.”
“I was there.”
“I contributed.”
“He knows me.”
“She personally thanked me.”
The gift becomes a passport into someone's perceived world of significance & relevance.
Meanwhile, the poor person has nothing to offer except a need. And that is precisely where the moral test becomes severe.
Can you value a person who cannot increase your status?
This is why Christ's teaching about the “least” is so revolutionary.
Jesus repeatedly shifts attention away from social importance & influence toward real human need.
In Matthew 25:34-46 He identifies Himself with the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick and imprisoned. The astonishing feature of that teaching is that the people being helped are not presented as prestigious recipients.
In the 40th verse he says: "And the King answering shall say to them, Verily, I say to you, Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me."
In all we do in the name of honour to the prominent, rich and influential in our midst, what we do to the least of the brethren and the least in society might rob us of eternal reward.
They are precisely the people that can be easily despised in the church, people society can overlook.
Christ's logic essentially overturns the world's hierarchy of importance: placing importance where there's physically nothing of importance.
As captured in the apostolic writings of 1st Corinthians 12:22-25 "Those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are important and those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another."
This is the order God set in the church but sadly in what is called church today it is the other way round, we bestow more abundant honour on comely parts which have no need while the uncomely part which lacks, receives little or no care and is even often despised, thus the huge disparity between the haves and the have-nots which is in the world is in the church today.
In an assembly you can have a brother or a pastor who is stupendously rich and another brother in the same assembly who is not sure of his next meal at the end of service, yet they all share the same grace in fellowship and are seen as brothers.
That's sheer religious hypocrisy and falsehood going on in the name of 'christian brotherhood".
It's a disturbing trend of injustice & Idolatry going on in the churches/assemblies, with the rich constantly receiving heavy seeds/money gifts, while the needy languish; very rich brethren stashing & laying up for themselves much of what the poor desperately need.
This is what happens when generosity becomes a mechanism for reinforcing social hierarchy, further widening the gap between the perceived elites and the low class: the powerful continue receiving resources because they are powerful, while the obscure remain neglected precisely because they are obscure.
In closing, let us take note and be mindful of the following:
The value of the recipient is not determined by their social usefulness to the giver.
The person nobody knows still possesses immense worth and is of great importance to God.
The person who cannot reward you deserves more compassion.
The person who cannot promote you deserves dignity.
The person who cannot repay you deserves help more.
And perhaps most importantly:
The person who cannot advance your ego may be the very person through whom your character is tested.
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