Christianity and serving humanity

Abstract

The title proposed to me is an exceptionally beautiful. It could easily be translated in a simple question: “How can Christianity serve humanity”? or “How can Christianity serve humanity better”? At first glance, it seems a straightforward question that requires a simple answer. However, after a careful consideration, one realizes that it is a tricky question, precisely because it touches the core of Christianity itself: God and neighbour; the other. “Christianity” can be summed up in two commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second resembles it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” But how can we talk of “service”? Does it mean it building and running schools? Or managing houses for children or elderly people? Is it the offering of professional service for free? Is it giving advice, counselling, mentoring, accompaniment, encouragement? This is all good, but there is a risk of becoming merely functional.