Earlier this year, Fast Company reported a surprising outcome of the economic downturn: more people were volunteering.  Perhaps this is understandable because as more people were out of work, they had greater opportunities to lend their now abundantly free time to causes that they deemed worthy. Interestingly, the category that had the highest percentage of volunteers was those who were engaged in some type of religious charitable work. More than any other option, when people chose to spend their time on helping, they choose to do so with an organization who's mission was not limited to this temporal life.

Perhaps the economic downturn was to blame for this as well. Perhaps, as times our tough, people want to invest their time in something that is of seemingly higher value. When I worked for a church curriculum publisher, we found that sales of Sunday School material went up when the economy went sour. Persummably the less people could count on money, the more willing they were to turn to God. 

For Christians though, this call to lend a helping hand isn't limited to the times when our schedule offers up greater opportunity. Instead, we should always be seeking to invest in other people's lives. After all, if we are Christ's hands and feet, we should be constantly searching for those He desires to minister to. He's counting on us to lend His hand. Not because He needs us to accomplish His work in people's lives, but because He desires that we should become more Christ-like by sacrificing our comfort for the good of others. 

Maybe when the economy picks up, charitable organizations will find that they are once again down volunteers. But let this not be so in our churches. Let the spirit of giving increase tenfold as we continue to be reminded of the greater return on our investment.