In addition to the standard responsibilities of living in society, being a Christian comes with three responsibilities to others. We are expected to support our church, help people in need, and educate the public about the Word of God. By and large, Christians support religious efforts well. Churches that have a reasonably sized congregation usually receive enough funds to function. Local and international efforts at disseminating Christ’s message are well-funded. Where followers fall short is in helping others in need.

Countless Bible passages exhort us to help the poor and sick as much as we can. Since the Bible was written in ancient times, we can confidently modernize this message of supporting the needy in our community to one of improving the world as best we can. This aspect of Christian duty is notably neglected by Christians, despite Christ’s stressing its importance.

Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don’t have enough to eat. What good is there in your saying to them, “God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!” – if you don’t give them the necessities of life?
James 2:15-16

Christians also make a large effort at spreading the good Word throughout the world. Evangelizing is done by official church outreach programs, missionary organizations, and Christian NGOs. Over $30 billion/year is spent on evangelizing outreach globally. Importantly, over 90% of resources for Christian outreach is spent in locations with a Christian-majority population, so those receiving the message are likely already somewhat familiar with it. Christian organizations spend another $8 billion a year on conferences.

Whether or not you think that the importance of evangelical outreach warrants greater funds, you should recognize that material giving is low among Christians in absolute terms. Charitable donations are, on average, 2% of income per year in the United States, which ranks at the top of the World Giving Index. There are no statistics on the effect religiosity has on giving, although studies have shown that Christians give somewhat more than secular people, in addition to their religious contributions. Helping the poor or sick, or trying to improve people’s lives on earth, is the most neglected aspect of Christian altruism.

As research demonstrates, charitable donations are seldom made according to effectiveness at improving the world. Regardless of religious affiliation, people tend to donate or volunteer based upon their emotions, personal affiliation to the cause or organization, and the charity’s fundraising ability. However, with the Bible asking us to help others as much as we can, it is best to focus our donations on charities that will improve the world the most for a given amount of money.

After religious institutions, domestic charitable programs receive the largest portion of donations in the US. While it is understandable for our instinct to be to help those in our community or country, the best opportunities for giving are often in the developing world. Wealthy countries have made greater social progress than developing countries, so we tend to see diminishing returns by focusing our donations domestically. Additionally, currencies of wealthy countries go much further in the developing world. Poor countries often have poverty, injustices, and inequalities unheard of in developed nations. Such economic and social deficiencies, combined with favorable exchange rates, make it possible for people from high income nations to have a much higher impact by focussing their altruism abroad.

But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
1 John 3:17

Christians tend to donate to international development NGOs (INGOs) that are Christian-branded. This is understandable because, at a glance, it seems like we are killing two birds with one stone – helping the poor, and spreading the Holy Word. While this seems ideal, it is not rational to assume that any nonprofit is good at what it does. Maximizing per-dollar impact efficiency is unfortunately not the norm for international NGOs. Thus, even Christian INGOs should be scrutinized for their cost-effectiveness. Who knows if the Christian INGO you are considering donating to is good at helping others or religious conversion?

Religious NGOs may even by prey to moral licensing. An organization may be so confident that it is benevolent or doing “God’s work,” that it becomes lax in its responsibility to ensure cost-effective progress in helping its target population. It could also fall into the fatalism trap – the belief that as long as it is doing something to help people, it doesn’t matter if it is making as much progress as it could because it is God who is responsible for the results. It would be a challenge for an nonprofit to maximize effectiveness with such a perspective.

There is also the possibility that a Christian INGO does have effective programs for the poor, but makes little headway in religious conversion. Does it really matter if a service is provided “in the name of Jesus,” versus a secular charity, if the person helped doesn’t take one step towards Jesus? In order to ensure maximum effectiveness for both worldly and religious altruism, it would probably be most practical to target each goal separately — donate separately to the charity that seems to improve people’s lives the most and to the mission that has the best evangelizing programs.

Christians should practice effective altruism to fulfill their religious obligation to help others, and because helping people is itself an important thing to do. By devoting a significant portion of individual or institutional time and money to the most high-potential activities to improve the world, we can best fulfill the altruistic expectations set forth by Christ. Supporting religious activity and outreach are important but Christians will only realize their full potential to spread Christ’s love if they also make an earnest effort at tangibly improving the world as much as they can.