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It is quite right for genuine Christians to vigorously oppose this belief system. Such views are very far removed from the Christianity of the Bible and are thoroughly heretical. However, in their opposition to this distorted version of the Christian faith, a sizeable minority of believers take things too far. More than a few genuine Christians downplay the charitable aspect of the Christian life in an unbiblical way.

Although the core of the Christian faith has to do with salvation from sins by faith in Christ, and God's building of His church of holy, redeemed people, the Bible makes it clear that part of what constitutes a holy life is practical help for those who are in need. In fact, it is striking just how strongly this theme is emphasised, not only in the Old Testament but in the New Testament, written under new covenant conditions, too.

Here are some New Testament examples:

(1) In James 1:27, we are told, 'Pure and undefiled religious worship in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.' In this verse the Greek verb episkeptomai, translated 'visit', should be understood in the sense 'visit with a view to helping'. 

In the first century, in a social context in which there was no state financial help for those in poverty, orphans and widows were often particularly vulnerable. That is why James mentions these groups of people specifically. He is not suggesting that his readers should help only orphans and widows. His point is simply that Christians should help those who are in need, especially those who are in financial need.

Note in this verse how no less a thing than 'religious worship' is summed up as the performance of just two types of act, one of which is to help people in need. Of course, this shouldn't be taken literally to mean that helping people and keeping morally pure is all that is involved in Christianity. There is clearly hyperbole in James's statement. Nevertheless, this verse forcefully underlines the importance of helping those who need help. 

There is no suggestion in the text that the people who should be helped are only Christians. James is telling his readers to help any who are in need. To sum up, this verse teaches us that a major part of what it means to live a Christian life is to help people in need, especially those in financial need.

(2) In Luke 12:33, Jesus instructs His disciples (see v. 22), and by implication future disciples also, to sell their possessions and give to charity. This should not be taken to imply that every single Christian should sell everything they possibly can and give away all the money they make from selling. However, we must not go too far the other way either and ignore the radical nature of Jesus' command here. This verse is teaching us that selling possessions and giving away the money that is made to those in need should be a common practice for Christians. Because selling possessions to give away money would not normally be done while a person still has cash in hand, this verse is surely also teaching us that giving away all the money we have should be a common Christian practice too.

Jesus can also be found elsewhere in the Gospels teaching about the importance of charitable giving. In the story of the rich man in Matt 19:16-22; Mark 10:17-22 and Luke 18:18-23, He tells this would-be disciple to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor. The condemnation of the rich in Luke 6:24 and 16:19-31 implies that they should have given money away. In Luke 19:8-10, Zacchaeus, who gives away half his possessions to the poor, is understood to have done what is right. And in Matt 6:2-4 and Luke 11:41, giving to the poor is commended.

(3) Matthew 25:31-46 is another relevant Gospel passage. Here, in Jesus' teaching about the final judgment, various characteristics of those who will end up in heaven are contrasted with corresponding characteristics of those who will end up in hell. Those who get in to heaven are people who feed the hungry, give drinks to the thirsty, provide accommodation for strangers, give clothing to the naked, and visit the sick and prisoners. Those who end up in hell are people who fail to do these things. (It is not necessary to see this passage as teaching that we must earn our salvation. Saving faith is always accompanied by the performance of good deeds, and it is these accompanying deeds that are in the spotlight in these verses.)

Whether Jesus is teaching in this passage about the importance of doing good only to Christians or to all people is disputed. In v. 40 those who benefit from the types of good acts that are mentioned are referred to as Jesus' 'brothers' (or 'brothers and sisters', if we want to paraphrase in gender-inclusive language). This makes it probable that, in that verse at least, Jesus is teaching about the importance of doing good specifically to Christians. However, the absence of the reference to Jesus' brothers in v. 45 (which corresponds to v. 40) might mean that in this verse the focus is now on doing good to all people. Alternatively, it could be that there is simply an abbreviation of the wording used in v. 40 and that Christians alone are still in view.

We are probably best to conclude that this passage teaches us that practically helping those in need is extremely important, and that we should help all sorts of people but especially our fellow Christians.

(4) In Galatians 6:10, Paul tells the Galatians: 'As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, especially to those who belong to the family of faith.'

This instruction is so simple that it needs little comment. Although Paul surely has more in mind here than just practical help, practically helping those in need is obviously a significant part of what he is referring to.

The passages we have looked at show us, then, how important it is for Christians to be engaged in practically helping those in need. It is clear that we should help all people, both our fellow Christians and non-Christians. However, Gal 6:10 and probably Matt 25:31-46 teach us too that helping fellow believers should be a special priority. Because we Christians are all part of one spiritual family, this is not a surprise. 

There are plenty of other New Testament passages that also speak about Christian giving, but I will not spend time discussing them so as to prevent this article from becoming too long. In addition to the texts we have looked at, see Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; 11:29-30; 20:35; Rom 12:8; 15:25-28; 1 Cor 13:3; 16:1-3; 2 Cor 8:1-15; 9:1-15; Gal 2:10; Eph 4:28; Phil 4:18; 1 Tim 6:18-19; Tit 3:14; Heb 13:16; Jas 2:15-16; 1 John 3:17. And the teaching of John the Baptist in Luke 3:11 is certainly also relevant for the Christian era. These passages reinforce the conclusion we have just reached, that giving practical help to people, especially to fellow believers, should be a basic part of what it means to live a Christian life.

I think one reason why some Christians are at times rather hesitant to help people practically is because they are keenly aware of the concept of personal responsibility. It is true that personal responsibility is an important factor to take into account when contemplating helping someone. And it is usually quite right for us to withhold practical help in situations where people can do something for themselves without much difficulty. 

However, we should be careful not to take this too far. There will be many occasions when we simply don't know all that is going on in someone's life. People may at times not be as irresponsible as it might appear on the surface, and we should always be prepared to give someone the benefit of the doubt. 

Furthermore, there is a big difference between someone being able to do something without a great deal of trouble and being able to do something, but only with great difficulty and by enduring real distress. It would be a hard-hearted person indeed who would make light of this difference. For example, just because a man manages to make enough money to feed his family doesn't necessarily mean that we shouldn't help him financially. His job may involve very long hours working in bad conditions, and God may well want us to give him some money to lessen his hardship.

I think another reason why some Christians are hesitant in their giving is because they are wrongly influenced by the Old Testament regulations about tithing, i.e., giving one tenth (e.g., inLev 27:30-33; Num 18:21-32; Deut 14:22-29). Some believers seem to have the idea that God doesn't usually expect Christians to give away more than ten per cent of what they earn. Others, although not thinking that God typically sets a limit at ten per cent, apparently believe that ten per cent of what they earn must be given specifically to their local church.

It is very important to note, however, that the Old Testament commandments about tithing - which in fact never included commands to give a tenth of monetary income, only a tenth of certain foods - are part of the law of Moses that was superseded in Christ (see, e.g., Gal 3:23-25;Rom 7:6; Heb 7:18-19; 8:13; Acts 15:1-29). Christians are therefore under no biblical obligation to tithe. Even the argument that Old Testament tithing provides a general principle that it would often be good for Christians to follow today is a very weak one. The New Testament has a lot to say about Christian giving, as we have seen, but it is noteworthy that in none of the passages on this topic is there even a hint that some sort of tithing principle is in view.

There is therefore no clear or even vague rule for Christians today telling us how much of our money we should give away. Nevertheless, we must not think that God is somehow neutral on the matter. There is no doubt that He knows exactly how much He wants each person to give. We have already seen that selling possessions in order to give should be a common Christian practice. In view of that, I think in the affluent Western countries of the present day God probably wants most Christians to give away more than ten per cent of their income, in many cases considerably more than this amount. And in light of the passages we looked at, a substantial portion of what we give should typically go towards practical help for the poor, especially the Christian poor.

Finally, we must of course never refuse to help someone because we think that they don't deserve it. God 'causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the upright and the unjust' (Matt 5:45), and we should also do good to people even when they clearly don't deserve our help.

In the world today there are millions upon millions of people in dire poverty, who badly need practical and financial help. They include many Christian brothers and sisters. Let us therefore be generous in our giving, motivated by love but also by the prospect of our reward of eternal blessing in heaven that will never disappear.

I have been a Christian for over 25 years. I have a Ph.D. in New Testament from the University of Edinburgh. I am a UK national and I currently live in the south of Scotland.