The more particular we get, the less charitable

The more particular we get, the less charitable

I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’m getting older. I find that my tastes are changing and I get more and more picky about the way foods are prepared. When I go to a restaurant for breakfast I don’t just want eggs, bacon, and a biscuit – I want two eggs over easy (but not too easy), Tabasco on the side (not Louisiana Hot Sauce), bacon that is crisp not burnt, and syrup with my perfectly baked biscuit, not jelly . . . not honey.

It was reading C.S. Lewis’ “Screwtape Letters” that caused me to stop and ponder my particularities and how they can become a real menace against the grace of the gospel. The more particular we get, the less charitable we can become, and therein flee mercy, grace, justice, patience and kindness extended to others.

This uncharitable pickiness knows no bounds of socio-economy. It is easy to spy such raped charity in the likes of British hierarchical Jane Austin characters as we see suitors undergo criticism from sharp-mouthed aristocratic maidens who disdain the underclass for their vile earthen ways. After all, crumpets and tea are next to godliness, as opposed to hoe cakes and chitlins which are next to . . . well . . .

Okay, so the underclass Jane Austin Brits don’t eat chitlins, but you get my drift. I digress . . . pickiness knows no bounds of socio-economy. Which brings me to the other end of the spectrum. Bring up Bar-B-Que in the South and charitableness is gone faster than a hambone tossed to a hound. The most backwoods Arkansan loves his BBQ one way. And that way is the way (no matter if the next county over varies). If you don’t like it, then you must be a &%$# Yank, or from Carolina.

So . . . charitableness. If we are not willing to be charitable in whatever particulars we may sway towards, then we are not willing to extend grace to others. Therefore, self becomes the center of our world rather than Christ. With regard to food, take care that you are not “gauged by the way (your) belly now dominates (your) whole life” (Lewis). Your particular interests can dominate your life so that you control others by your pickiness. Be careful. The gospel tells us to deny ourselves and live for Christ alone.


Let’s play ‘fill in the blank’:

With regard to _____________ (music, dress, traditions, affiliations, hobbies, computer software, tastes, clubs, etc.), I am gauged by the way my ___________, (ear, body, mind, feelings, intellect, education, etc.) now dominates my whole life.

What would it take for Christ to be in the second blank?