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One "first responder" church was Life Christian Church of Orange Beach, Alabama, "We're feeding FEMA. And the police. And the National Guard," along with 4,000 residents of Waveland, Mississippi, Pastor Rick Long told The Independent. In the church's tent city, the British newspaper reported, "the federal authorities are relegated to a tiny corner … where they do little more than process paperwork."

Churches have become first responders because "they're already there," researcher Bryan Jackson told the Times. "They represent a focal point in the community."

But it's not just that they're already there. They're already giving. "It is impossible to doubt that faith and charity go hand in hand," Roy Hattersley wrote in The Guardian. "The only possible conclusion is that faith comes with a packet of moral imperatives that, while they do not condition the attitude of all believers, influence enough of them to make them morally superior to atheists like me. The truth may make us free. But it has not made us as admirable as the average captain in the Salvation Army."

But it's not about imperatives, per se. Christians are used to giving not because they have to (there is no church tax), nor even because there is a need. We give because of who we are: people created in the image of God to give, for giving is an act of love. We were made to give. And one of the beautiful outcomes of Katrina's terrible devastation is that Americans have shared in this blessing, this common grace.

Copyright © 2005 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

More Christianity Today coverage of hurricanes Katrina and Rita and their aftermath is at our full coverage area.

This column appeared in the magazine's November 2005 print issue as the eighth entry of "Weblog in Print," CT's effort to duplicate on paper our popular online Weblog feature. Earlier entries include:

Abolishing Abstinence | Telling underage kids not to have sex is surprisingly controversial (Aug. 24, 2005)

Dirty Qur'ans, Dusty Bibles | If Leviticus or Jude suddenly disappeared from Scripture, would we notice? (June 20, 2005)

Who's Driving This Thing? | Everyone is asking who leads the evangelical movement. (Feb. 21, 2005)

Bad Believers, Non-Believers | Do religious labels really mean anything? (Oct. 19, 2004)

Pro-Abortion Madness | The abortion lobby has abandoned its rationales amid pro-life gains. (Aug. 17, 2004)

Grave Images | The photos from Abu Ghraib have reopened debate on the power of pictures.

Misfires in the Tolerance Wars | Separating church and state now means separating belief and action (Feb. 24, 2004)

A Theoblogical Revolution | Billy Graham's vision goes from print to online, then back again. (Jan. 16, 2004; Weblog update: "New Kids on the Blog," Feb. 13, 2004)

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November 2005, Vol. 49, No. 11