I'm loving Ben Affleck

I learned a lot from a brief conversation with a missionary last night. She told me that "missions groups" or "relief groups" can in the name of Christ (or the name of good) arrive in a community and actually do more damage than good. They dont mean to...they just dont do the ground work to determine the needs. We should take heed, and really do our homework.

She gave this example.

There was a village in "wherever"...and this group brought a medical clinic to town....free of charge, good thing right? Well on the surface yes...but there was already a doctor in the village. He wasnt a rich man..and charged whatever people could afford...maybe a penny...maybe a chicken.... Well, everyone went to the "free clinic" and put the doctor out of business. Then, eventually, the relief group left...leaving the village with no clinic and no doctor.....he had moved to another village where he could make a living.

It made me think of all of our efforts....why do we do them? Do we do them because we know the needs? Or do we do them...because they are what we think the needs are. Maybe even something more cynical than that…maybe we do them for acclaim and notoriety.

1 Corinthians 13:3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

I think this is what Paul may be alluding to. Matthew Henry writes; "How are those deluded who look for acceptance and reward for their good works, which are as scanty and defective as they are corrupt and selfish!"

I think about people like Bill Gates, and Oprah and Lance Armstrong...who do charitable things...now I am not the judge at all....but I just wonder their heart. I saw a story on Ben Affleck...doing what it takes to understand the needs of the the people in the Congo...is this love? I dont know...but kudos for going first to evaluate the needs.


"I've been coming here to learn about the Congo because I don't want to involve myself without first understanding what I'm getting involved in," he says in his narration.

http://abcnewsstore.go.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/DSIProductDisplay?catalogId=11002&storeId=20051&productId=2019974&langId=-1&categoryId=100015

Honestly...I can say I have never liked Ben Affleck....not as an actor, not as a human being....now I dont personally know him...but I know what I have read and some personal accounts from people I know.... but I know when people start showing "true charity" they are very close to the heart of God....possibly seeking Him through the things they are doing. So I pray for him...and his journey.