Christian charity changed the world, and then Karl Marx showed up. Americans still provide 1.44% of the GDP in charity. We're still the most generous nation on earth, but that's dropped off by half since 1924. Church giving has dropped off from 2.8% to 0.7% of the GDP since 1924. And most of church offerings go to clergy and buildings, while governments assign 20-30% of the GDP to social programs. Private church and the church were basically irrelevant in the area of true Christian charity.