Service to others is a pillar of Christianity. Jesus taught that helping those in need was one of the most important aspects of life for just about anyone. Jesus went as far as to suggest that people should help others as much as possible. For example, Jesus praised those who would give so much to the poor that they themselves became poor. With such strong emphasis on helping till it hurts in the New Testament, one would expect to see Christians today putting altruism, or producing a positive change in the world, at the forefront of their lives.

For whatever reason, this is seldom the case. The level of philanthropy and volunteerism among Christians is approximately the same as among secular people. Christians today focus on other aspects of following Christ, such as attending church and gaining converts, while often dismissing Christ’s teaching that each of us should put in a major effort to help our fellow humans. Why is this so?

There are many possible reasons. Perhaps the influence of mainstream culture is strong enough that the desire to maximize one’s standard of living overrides the influence of personal faith. Perhaps Christ’s teaching of substantial altruism has faded from Christian culture over the generations to the point where it is no longer considered important. Perhaps Christians desire to help others in a major way but don’t know where to begin or doubt if they really can make a difference. However we got to where we are, it is worth revisiting Christ’s teachings on altruism, and asking ourselves if we are following them as we should.

What type of altruism should Christians engage in?

The world in which Jesus lived was vastly different from the world today. Life was centered on one’s own community, and people had limited knowledge or ability to communicate with the rest of the world. Helping others in the ancient world was probably a simple affair consisting of giving to beggars or local organizations that helped the poor or sick. It is therefore understandable that the altruism espoused in the Bible was simple and local, with emphasis on quantity (ie. sacrifice).

Today’s world is much more complex and global. Helping others is therefore, also more complicated, with countless possible options. It would be a mistake to assume that Christ would advocate to limit altruism to your own community, or to directly helping the sick or poor, if he were alive today. The fundamental message of Jesus’ teachings of altruism was to help others, or improve the world, as much as possible. In the Twenty-First Century, this requires a scientific approach that uses research and reason to optimize outcomes.

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Mathew 19:21

How Do We Define Good Altruism?

Most people judge their personal altruism from a self-centered perspective: How much am I sacrificing? Yet, what matters is not how much you give of your money, time, or energy to do good, but only the actual good that results from it. Christians are not immune to this cognitive bias. We tend to assume that God judges us based on how much we sacrifice, rather than how much we actually accomplish with our altruistic efforts.

It’s easy to acquire this view from reading the Bible. Numerous passages seem to emphasize sacrifice, rather than impact.Critical thinking is required to properly carry out altruism. Take this quick thought experiment: You are critically ill with a disease that you know from internet research can be cured with a simple operation. You visit a free medical clinic attended by a volunteer doctor who tells you he wants to perform a certain operation on you. From your internet research, you recognize this as a lengthy, outdated procedure, that has little effectiveness relative to the more modern operations. You mention to the doctor that you read that the operation he suggested is outdated and ask why he doesn’t want to perform the newer operation. The doctor replies that he prefers the old operation because it is long and difficult. He says that he enjoys performing the old operation more than the newer ones and believes that the increased difficulty of it will win him a greater reward in heaven.

How do you feel about the volunteer Christian doctor in the thought experiment above? Anyone can see that the doctor’s behavior is unethical and indefensible because he is exploiting the patient for his own benefit rather than considering what is best for the patient.

And yet, this questionable perspective of the doctor is how most of us view helping others. It only matters to us what we are personally benefiting from the action, in terms of spiritual merit, personal fulfillment, social recognition, or other benefits. We are less concerned about how much benefit we are providing to for others. Since this perspective ignores the well-being of others, it is not one that holds up to moral scrutiny.

Sacrifice For Its Own Sake Is Empty

Now that we’ve examined how the impact of altruistic actions is what matters, rather than sacrifice for sacrifice’s sake, we should take a look at what role sacrifice has in creating impact. Generally speaking, more sacrifice will yield a larger impact for the same action. Thus, once you determine what charity has the best likelihood of improving the world the most, giving more money to that charity will probably result in a bigger impact. A high-impact volunteering activity is also likely to yield a greater impact if more time and energy are directed towards it. While impact is ultimately the only thing that matters, greater sacrifice in carefully chosen actions should result in greater impact.

Giving more of your time and money may or may not require more sacrifice, however. A high impact Christian life may entail pursuing a well-paid career, allowing you to donate more, while still having more money for yourself. Finding more efficient ways of doing altruistic things, like a doctor who learns an improved, yet simpler operation, can create more impact while lessening the sacrifice involved.

All else being equal, greater sacrifice should yield more impact. How much do Christians today sacrifice for others, then? There is no question that Jesus taught the virtue of sacrificing for others, even to the point of putting yourself into poverty.

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Luke 12:33-34

Do Christians adhere to the ideal of astute sacrifice for the sake of improving the world? Looking at statistics of charitable donations for people around the world, few people in wealthy nations give enough to have even a minor decrease in living standard, regardless of religious affiliation. A large portion of giving is to one’s own religious organization, which is not strictly altruistic because it is financial obligation that you have to your church to allow it to function, not unlike paying tuition at school.

The average American volunteers 52 hours a year, which averages to one hour a week – not a significant sacrifice, especially when you consider that many volunteers don’t work or study full-time. Also, this figure includes volunteering for organizations that benefit yourself, such as your school or sports club. That is self-interested volunteerism, not altruism.

Quality Matters As Much As Quantity

At least as important as making a concerted effort to help others is the selection of altruistic activities for maximum effectiveness. Most people select where to donate based on two factors. One is personal affinity or feelings. If we see a touching commercial for stroke research, for instance, we are moved to donate to that charity. We may never even consider if there are other charities that could help others far more for the same size of donation. Therefore, the charities that have the most effective fundraising programs receive the most revenue, even if they have relatively low impact.

The other common factor for charity selection is solicitation. Most donations result from a charity asking for a gift. A common reason for this is to save face, especially when you see those around you donating to the same fundraising drive. Our instinct is to follow the crowd and seek peer approval. Giving out of solicitation also ignores higher impact alternatives.

Christians today have not been heeding the call of Christ to make a sincere, robust effort at helping people. We sacrifice little and help others based on the benefit to ourselves rather than to society. Only by practicing effective altruism, can we live up to Christ’s expectations. By utilizing scientific principles, we can determine which actions are most  worth pursuing, and which should be relegated a lower priority. Tools such as randomized controlled trials and surveys make it possible to estimate the effectiveness of various interventions on helping others, guiding our actions with evidence and compassion.