Posted on 04/01/2015 7:15:45 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
In news that must have shocked the vast majority of New York Times subscribers, columnist Nicholas Kristof this week divulged that he has seen evangelical Christians doing selfless, crucial service in the world’s most dangerous places among the most desperately poor, even though liberals know evangelicals are religious bumpkins.
Today, among urban Americans and Europeans, “evangelical Christian” is sometimes a synonym for “rube.” In liberal circles, evangelicals constitute one of the few groups that it’s safe to mock openly.
Yet the liberal caricature of evangelicals is incomplete and unfair. I have little in common, politically or theologically, with evangelicals or, while I’m at it, conservative Roman Catholics. But I’ve been truly awed by those I’ve seen in so many remote places, combating illiteracy and warlords, famine and disease, humbly struggling to do the Lord’s work as they see it, and it is offensive to see good people derided.
Surprisingly, Kristof doesn’t urge readers to develop a more complete and fair caricature of such “rubes,” but actually suggests liberals pause and reflect “the next time you hear someone at a cocktail party mock evangelicals.”
As an evangelical Christian, I don’t get to as many cocktail parties as I used to, and I didn’t realize that folks at such parties mock people like me with enough frequency that a columnist for “the paper of record” feels duty-bound to deal with the subject.
I do, however, spend a lot of time with other Christians, and it is not an extraordinary thing at church to meet folks who have traveled the world on medical missions, provided food and clothing to those in need, or helped in a variety of other personal ways. It’s also not surprising in my church to see married couples who have adopted or foster-parented multiple children whose delightful faces reflect a rich palette of human hues. I know a Christian couple from a tiny midwestern town who had more the 60 foster children over the years. Last I heard, they were living in Oaxaca, Mexico, serving people in the name of Christ. I’ve known Christians who would quietly slip cash into the hand of a needy person at their moment of greatest need, or who would let a stranger use their vehicle or their spare bedroom for as long as necessary — or who would drop everything to drive hundreds of miles to help someone.
When it seemed I didn’t have a friend in the world — but I did have a case of bronchitis that was blooming into pneumonia — a pastor and his wife took me into their home, fed me, did my laundry and nursed me back to health, without being asked and without asking for anything.
As odd as it sounds to me to hear Kristof’s surprise at the love and grace I see around me daily — I don’t want the moment to pass without recognizing Nick for recognizing it.
I must say that a disproportionate share of the aid workers I’ve met in the wildest places over the years, long after anyone sensible had evacuated, have been evangelicals, nuns or priests.
Likewise, religious Americans donate more of their incomes to charity, and volunteer more hours, than the nonreligious, according to polls. In the United States and abroad, the safety net of soup kitchens, food pantries and women’s shelters depends heavily on religious donations and volunteers.
The brothers and sisters in Christ I described above don’t need praise from men, not even from impressive liberal columnists for the New York Times. They hear the applause of heaven, and feel the joy of Jesus as they work in the power of his Spirit.
Nevertheless, I think it’s good for the country, for Times readers and even for Nick, whenever anyone gets a glimpse at the absurdity of his own bigotry.
Who’s got the shocked face?
April Fools? I cannot believe Kristof would EVER admit Evangelicals/Conservatives are even remotely good people.
I’ll give Kristoff credit for seeing and saying something worth hearing. Very occasionally, even self-styled “intellectuals” grasp the obvious.
That would be my bet...
John 15:18
KJV
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
What difference does it make - as long as the caricature supports The Agenda, it can be as incomplete and unfair as needed.
I have seen the exact same thing in person.
I’ve been trying to tell people this for 20 years, but no one believes me ... or they say “they are only doing it to hold out food and medicine in exchange for a conversion”. I have to say I’ve never seen that happen and don’t think they would do that. They don’t want a coerced conversion. Instead, they lead by example.
Also the Mormons are do huge amounts of aid work, build hospitals and medical clinics all over the South Pacific. They train local people to run the clinics and send those with aptitude to medical schools in the USA all expenses paid in exchange for a contract to come home and practice medicine. I know about that first hand as well.
All told it is religious organizations that do the bulk of aid work in the poorest places on earth IME. Sure, there are some secular groups who do good work as well. Doctors Without Borders for example and others fashioned like them. But mostly it is religious people.
“The brothers and sisters in Christ I described above don’t need praise from men, not even from impressive liberal columnists for the New York Times. They hear the applause of heaven, and feel the joy of Jesus as they work in the power of his Spirit.”
“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord’”
After serving as a missionary for forty years in Africa, Henry C. Morrison became sick and had to return to America. As the great ocean liner docked in New York Harbor there was a great crowd gathered to welcome home another passenger on that boat. Morrison watched as President Teddy Roosevelt received a grand welcome home party after his African Safari.
Resentment seized Henry Morrsion and he turned to God in anger, “I have come back home after all this time and service to the church and there is no one, not even one person here to welcome me home.”
Then a still small voice came to Morrison and said, “You’re not home yet.”
Then again, the article was published in the NYT yesterday. So, if it’s an April Fool’s joke, they aren’t doing it right!
I’m speechless...
Sure, it puzzles me that social conservatives are often personally generous while resisting government programs for needy children,
It's EASY to understand. Personal donations are FAR MORE EFFECTIVE.... both in terms of efficiency with a dollar, and success for those being aided.
Mark 4 later
Notice he included conservative Catholics in his general category of rubes.
Kristof is right for a change in recognizing the true meaning of being a Christian. His admiration of selfless acts of charity towards others less fortunate was illuminating since he never once mentioned that liberals are as charitable.
I know for a fact that the majority of blood donations come from people of deep faith, mostly of the Christian faith. Conservatives, especially Christians are also more generous in financial support for charities. So I guess we can be called rubes if it is to give us a backhanded compliment.
It’s really NOT an April Fool’s Joke...
Thanks for the ping!
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