Local neighborhood social media sites have become a great way for neighbors to help each other. I was first drawn to our local site when my cat snuck out of the house and disappeared. It was suggested to me that I give a description and post pictures on the site. Unfortunately, the cat was never seen again. But in the process, I discovered so many other uses for this local online community, such as local business recommendations and neighborhood events.

There was one post that caught my attention. One of the community members was asking for some type of professional services. In his description, he made it clear that he didn’t expect to spend a lot of money and that he was hoping his “Christian neighbors” would take a hit for him because it was the neighborly Christian thing to do. Personally, I thought he was laying the guilt on a bit too heavy, and I felt obligated to call him out on it. I asked him if he had considered, as a Christian, that it was his obligation to pay a fair price for a professional service that he appeared incapable of doing himself? Are you really going to insult and belittle the worker by not giving him his worth? There is a principle drawn from God’s Law that states we should not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain (Deuteronomy 25:4). The Apostle Paul quoted this law in 1 Corinthians 9:9 to demonstrate that it’s not oxen that God is concerned about but rather people. Again, in 1 Timothy 5:18, he connects the law to the concept that “a laborer is worthy of his wages.”

The main point I drew from this interaction is that the Christian community is not a place where people should go expecting to be served. Rather, it is a place to go expecting to serve. If we go into this looking for what we can get rather than what we should give, we have clearly missed a key fundamental point in how the Christian fellowship is supposed to work.

The Apostle Paul stated, "I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive." Act 20:35 NKJV

If you’d like to go deeper into this concept of give vs get nature, here is a short read entitled “Generosity Is of the Heart” available on the United Church of God website.

By Lynn Leiby

Jun 20^th, 2025