"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." - James 1:27
This isn't some out of place verse in the Bible, its pretty what has been said in many different ways over and over again from the old testament to the new testament.
The exact word for 'visit' in this verse means more than just visiting, it has the implication of 'taking care of'. Today, sometimes we take up a 'love offering' for those in need (or maybe just give our tithes and expect the Church to use the funds accordingly to serve the needy), thinking that is it for our duty and we're done.
Do we spent too much of our time and money pleasing and entertaining ourselves rather than serving? Do we perhaps over emphasize some parts of Christianity which are good and enjoyable but as a result cause the faith to be lopsided? I myself do not pretend to do all these, more often than not I find that I do not really want to be involved in such work either (such a chore), but if I simply pick and choose the parts of the faith that I want to follow, then that's not Christianity anymore, it's my own custom made religion.
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