What does it mean to be poor? If you just live in the United States you are more than likely to be richer that half the world. Most of us believe we understand the meaning of the word poverty. The meaning we give this word reflects the way we look at, think, and make sense of our world. The definition that many people give poverty is the condition of those groups of people we abstractly call " the poor". But these people are not abstract. They are human beings with names fearfully and wonderfully created in the image of God. we must remember this because the world tends to view the poor as stupid, unintelligent, helpless, nameless objects in which we have the right to bestow our compassion on in whatever way seems proper or right to us.
The poor, when we average it out, do not have food, shelter or housing, and clean water to drink. They have a need for schools, better roads, and means of better farming, etc. So what do we do? We make a plan to provide these missing things: food, low cost housing, wells and education. Christians add the gospel and the good news of Jesus Christ as one of these missing things also. When limited to this though, we view ourselves as the providers and put into the minds of the poor that they are incomplete human beings that need us to make them whole. Seeing the world in terms of relationships helps give us insights into what poverty is. This allows us insight to trace who is doing what to whom.
One of the aspects of being in poverty is being excluded. We make people poor when we label them as outcast. We must move beyond this understanding of poverty as a lack of things and knowledge. We must see that the true poverty is the spiritual poverty that these people lack. This does not mean that we neglect the physical needs, but we need to look at it more wholistically
It is clear in James 5 that God's judgment is aroused not only against the oppressors, but also on behalf of the poor. This passage is one of literally hundreds of passages in the Bible which teach us that as members of God's family, we have a moral obligation to manifest his concern for the poor (see Proverbs 14:31; 29:7).
Living in the suburbs, as most of us do, it's easy to think that the only people who are poor are those who are lazy, and we are ignorant of just how widespread this problem is. Consider the following facts.
- One quarter of the world's population (over 1 billion people) live in desperate poverty. 12-15 million people will die this year of starvation and malnutrition-related diseases. This figure includes 35,000 children each day, including 50 percent of all children in Central America before they reach age 6.
- Americans represent only 6 percent of the world's population, but we have almost 50 percent of the world's income and we use 35 percent of its resources. As a country, we eat enough food to feed the 1 billion people who live in desperate poverty. Most Americans have adequate access to medical care, but 40 percent of all Latin Americans have no access to any kind of medical care.
- Of course, there are also plenty of poor in the U.S. In Columbus' Windsor Terrace, for example, the average household (consisting of one parent with five children) has an annual income of $3,100.
Yet American Christians spend just a little bit more annually on missions (their major way of helping the poor) than they spend on chewing gum! Ironically, the roles of Jas. 5:1-6 have been reversed. Are we rich Christian living in an era of hunger?
Biblically, there is recognition that poverty can be a result of the individual's own bad choices or lifestyle (ex. laziness or greed) or even a judgement for disobedience. But most commonly in the Bible, the poor are seen primarily as victims of injustice or circumstances beyond their own power. "A poor man's field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away." (Prov 13:23) They are to be helped, not blamed. Poverty is an evil to be abolished. God himself is concerned for the poor, and about the social injustices which oppress the poor and weak. His response is to provide for the destitute, fight the cause of the oppressed, and honor the humble (Ps 109:31, 113:5-9 140:12, Lk 1:51-52). He calls us to have the same compassion and commitment.
So, firstly, we should ask whether we tend to see the poor as to blame for their poverty, or as victims in need of help, justice, and honor.
Secondly, we need to examine our own hearts to see whether we are genuinely concerned. A defining characteristic of those considered by God to be righteous is a concern for justice for the poor (Prov 29:7). Indeed, God seems to take our attitude to the poor personally - as if our kindness or contempt towards the poor is also towards him (Prov 17:5, 19:17). This is a position that Jesus also seems to adopt for himself (Lk 12:33, Matt 25:35-40). We must not close our hearts to the poor. "If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered" (Prov 21:13). The Lord said that the sin of the people of Sodom which brought judgement upon them was that they were "arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy" (Ezek 16:49).
A right attitude of honor, concern and compassion for the poor will lead firstly to a personal response of generosity, hospitality, and service (Job 31:16-22, Prov 31:20, Matt 25:31-45, 1Tim. 6:18 etc). It will lead us to an eagerness to give up not only our money, but also our time, energy, and comfort. The attachment to our own prosperity, comfort and prestige are often the obstacles to following God - an obedience shaped by the cross of self-denial, suffering, and service
We also need to be careful to be righteous and just in the way we pursue business and our own interests (Ps 112:5, Mic 6:8, Ja 5:1-6). By seeking the cheapest deal for ourselves, we are often pushing the producer into poverty. Buying and supporting Fair Trade is one expression of Christian concern for justice. There is a cost to living righteously, but there is always blessing with it (Ps 112:5-9, Prov 11:24-28, 22:9)
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Trailer Trash Savior
I am reading the book The New Friars by Scott Bessenecker. It is an excellent book about serving the poor and oppressed and trying to view poverty through the lens of Christ. While I don't agree with everything in the book, I still highly recommend it.
As I am reading though I turn to chapter 4, and am immediately hit by the title: " The Voluntary Poverty of God". Now over the course of the past 4 years I have greatly come to a new realization of what poverty is and a biblical view of poverty. I grew up knowing that Jesus was poor and never had money and lived a nomadic lifestyle, never really calling any where home. But there is a difference how you interpret that, depending on where you grow up and are raised.
The book though illustrates how Jesus came into the world, from a completely different view point than I am used to having been indoctrinated by middle-class white suburbia christianity. Read what Scott writes:
" Unwed teenage pregnancy brings disgrace in any culture. But in the rural towns of the Middle East it is scandalous. Even more so when the girl claims her fiancé is not the father. In a village of four hundred families there is little chance for anonymity . Everybody knows everybody else's business as soon as it happens. Such a pregnancy brings reproach not only on the girl but on her father and brothers, whose job it is to ensure something like this doesn't happen. Even a righteous family would suffer the shame of such an event for a long time. Interesting, isn't it, that God would choose to some into this world via a peasant family, stirring up a cloud of shame by the way he entered? Jesus was considered the illegitimate son of a carpenter by every family in that village. Did he really have to show up on earth in a way that produced such dishonor?.......... Those from Nazareth in Galilee were considered hicks by the hicks! Why on Earth would God choose to be born among a defeated people in a backwoods town under a shadow of dishonor through a dirt poor, unwed teenager? "
Think about that for a minute, ponder it. Ill give you a few seconds.........................................
Do you realize who we are talking about. Let me try to give you a modern day illustration. Jesus was the bastard child of a 14 year old girl who due to no health insurance probably has some missing teeth, and grew up in a trailer park with a flea infested bed. Any way you look at it its not pretty. This girl then gets married later, and the family of the husband, now father, is beating him over the head cause he's marrying into an instant family. All the while people look and stare and gossip about them while they drive down the street with their car that is painted red with rust and fueled with hope that it will get them to the store to buy formula for the baby. That is Christ's family.
We would look at that this picture or hear this story and huff at the shame and disgust of it. God doesn't.
So next time when a girl who's not married comes into the church with a baby, or anyone that you would look at with disgust, like the homeless man that sitting next to you on the bus, who has two weeks of stench permeating from his body. Think twice and act once. Love don't judge. Remember who are Savior chose to be his family.
As I am reading though I turn to chapter 4, and am immediately hit by the title: " The Voluntary Poverty of God". Now over the course of the past 4 years I have greatly come to a new realization of what poverty is and a biblical view of poverty. I grew up knowing that Jesus was poor and never had money and lived a nomadic lifestyle, never really calling any where home. But there is a difference how you interpret that, depending on where you grow up and are raised.
The book though illustrates how Jesus came into the world, from a completely different view point than I am used to having been indoctrinated by middle-class white suburbia christianity. Read what Scott writes:
" Unwed teenage pregnancy brings disgrace in any culture. But in the rural towns of the Middle East it is scandalous. Even more so when the girl claims her fiancé is not the father. In a village of four hundred families there is little chance for anonymity . Everybody knows everybody else's business as soon as it happens. Such a pregnancy brings reproach not only on the girl but on her father and brothers, whose job it is to ensure something like this doesn't happen. Even a righteous family would suffer the shame of such an event for a long time. Interesting, isn't it, that God would choose to some into this world via a peasant family, stirring up a cloud of shame by the way he entered? Jesus was considered the illegitimate son of a carpenter by every family in that village. Did he really have to show up on earth in a way that produced such dishonor?.......... Those from Nazareth in Galilee were considered hicks by the hicks! Why on Earth would God choose to be born among a defeated people in a backwoods town under a shadow of dishonor through a dirt poor, unwed teenager? "
Think about that for a minute, ponder it. Ill give you a few seconds.........................................
Do you realize who we are talking about. Let me try to give you a modern day illustration. Jesus was the bastard child of a 14 year old girl who due to no health insurance probably has some missing teeth, and grew up in a trailer park with a flea infested bed. Any way you look at it its not pretty. This girl then gets married later, and the family of the husband, now father, is beating him over the head cause he's marrying into an instant family. All the while people look and stare and gossip about them while they drive down the street with their car that is painted red with rust and fueled with hope that it will get them to the store to buy formula for the baby. That is Christ's family.
We would look at that this picture or hear this story and huff at the shame and disgust of it. God doesn't.
So next time when a girl who's not married comes into the church with a baby, or anyone that you would look at with disgust, like the homeless man that sitting next to you on the bus, who has two weeks of stench permeating from his body. Think twice and act once. Love don't judge. Remember who are Savior chose to be his family.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Is Evangelism by Nature Political?
However otherworldly the reign of God may be, it is no less political, public, or material. If the first thing can be said about Jesus' evangelism, then, is that it announces and invites persons into a new government called the reign of God, a second observation is that because the new social order made possible by God's reign runs counter to the present order; Jesus' proclamation of God's reign requires a radical critique of the present order.
To be called to Discipleship, therefore, is to be called into a company of disciples that is both sign and foretaste of a new social order as well as participation in and agent of that new order. Any vision of evangelism that ignores the kingdom of God, or relegates it to a position of secondary importance, or fails to wrestle thoroughly with its content is destined at the outset to fail.
To be called to Discipleship, therefore, is to be called into a company of disciples that is both sign and foretaste of a new social order as well as participation in and agent of that new order. Any vision of evangelism that ignores the kingdom of God, or relegates it to a position of secondary importance, or fails to wrestle thoroughly with its content is destined at the outset to fail.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Some things to think about...
If we want to speak to a man, we must learn his language first. This phrase means more than just learning a different language, from a different country. It mean that we need to understand the culture in which we live in. In learning a new language ( meaning from a different country ), we learn the new language and learn the culture and how to live with and relate to the people of the language, but we don't change our own morals and our own value systems, unless of course we find our values flawed from learning the new culture. The same goes, however, with learning how to be relevant in a culture such as the 21st century, we change the language in which we speak, but that does not mean that we change the content of what we speak. We definitely should not give up our Biblical standings in order to be more relevant to the culture at hand. So many churches, though, have this view that in learning how to be relevant they need to change themselves, and this, I believe, is a lie of Satan.
To often, as well, Christians when sharing the Gospel respond and interact with the person as if the soul and the person are separate. Yet this is not the case, and although our flesh is sinful, so is our soul and what happens in the flesh can not be separated from the soul and likewise in reverse. The two cannot be separated.
To understand and speak to sincere but utterly confused 21st century people is costly. It is tiring; it will open you up to temptations and pressures. I feel that to often we are told in the church to run from any kind of temptation and pressure, but we are never told that to effectively witness to people means that you are going to open yourself up to such pressures. I think that it is important to understand this, and address this more in our churches. Christians need to understand that if they are going to be involved in living out the Gospel, that means that they are going to be in the world and exposed to all kinds of temptations and pressures. If we are always running from any kind of temptation, like the church preaches, then we do not build up a sense of immunity when we are tempted. When it comes I feel that most Christians instead of attacking it head on, either give in or completely run. They don't know how to handle certain situations. To effectively live out the Gospel and share it with a dying world, we need to understand how to deal with certain situations that arises and live in a secular world that we are so often sheltered from.
To often, as well, Christians when sharing the Gospel respond and interact with the person as if the soul and the person are separate. Yet this is not the case, and although our flesh is sinful, so is our soul and what happens in the flesh can not be separated from the soul and likewise in reverse. The two cannot be separated.
To understand and speak to sincere but utterly confused 21st century people is costly. It is tiring; it will open you up to temptations and pressures. I feel that to often we are told in the church to run from any kind of temptation and pressure, but we are never told that to effectively witness to people means that you are going to open yourself up to such pressures. I think that it is important to understand this, and address this more in our churches. Christians need to understand that if they are going to be involved in living out the Gospel, that means that they are going to be in the world and exposed to all kinds of temptations and pressures. If we are always running from any kind of temptation, like the church preaches, then we do not build up a sense of immunity when we are tempted. When it comes I feel that most Christians instead of attacking it head on, either give in or completely run. They don't know how to handle certain situations. To effectively live out the Gospel and share it with a dying world, we need to understand how to deal with certain situations that arises and live in a secular world that we are so often sheltered from.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Wht ds t mn 2 b a Chrstn
To be a Christian does not mean that you love church, you love to sing, you love to listen to boring sermons and get up early on Sunday to go to church with your family. No, to be a Christian means that you love God and you want to serve him. You find Jesus beautiful and not useful for your own gain. You should seek to experience God's love not just know about his love. The devil and the demons believe and know about God's love, but it's actually experiencing his love that saves us. Don't think that you are going to be more spiritual if you simply pray more or read your Bible more. When you read your Bible, read it not for what you can get out of it, like a self-help book, but read it to learn about your Savior. Pray, not for things that you want and when bad things happen, but for the needs of others and to praise God. I promise you, it may not feel like it at first, but your faith will come alive much more if you do this. Because you cannot please God by what you do. God will only find pleasure in you through Jesus Christ and you only find Jesus by seeking after Him and seeking after His beauty.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Meeting at Starbucks with God
The term "devotions" as I see it represented in todays culture ( Christian and secular), represents a short portion of a Christian's daily routine. This routine includes a short time spent in prayer, Bible reading and perhaps even ( for the really "spiritual" christian) a silent time of meditation. All this sounds great, but did our devotion to God become a cliche we use flippantly to represent a five-minute spiritual coffee shot in the arm? I'm not saying that any of that is bad but, we must be careful not to treat or devotional time with God like we do our double shot expresso - quick, sweet, and a temporary energy boost. Its not an easy bake formula for spiritual growth, its a valuable connection to God!!!
The purpose of meeting with God is not just to keep us spiritually "awake" during the day; its a time spent together for relational intimacy and connection. Our whole lives should be offered up as a devotion to Him. Romans 12:1 states this clearly...
" I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
Also in I Corinthians 6:19 - 20 it says: " Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."
You ARE a devotion to God, and you should continually be in prayer and worship of God. Its not a punch in... punch out time card.
So if we are to be connected to God all day... How, when and where do we spend our quality time with our Savior? If we look in the Bible we find that throughout Biblical history people have risen early in the morning to meditate on God. Jacob in Genesis 28: 16- 18 built an alter before the Lord in the morning. The prophet Samuel parents rose early and went out of the city to worship in 1 Samuel 1:19. Then in 2 Chronicles 29:20- 31 King Hezekiah came in the morning before the Lord to offer up his sacrifice. Job in Job 1:5 arose each morning to sacrifice his offering to the Lord. Also Jesus himself in Mark 1:35 got up early while it was still dark to go and pray in a desolate place.
Each day we should also start our day in prayer. If you don't have time in the morning, the answer is simple get up earlier ( even if you have to take a nap later in the day) Go before the Lord expecting to learn something new about Him. Dive into his Word... don't skip stones over it. Every time try to read something that you haven't read before. If you haven't read the Bible all the way through you'd be surprised at the new stuff you find or new stories you may not have heard or forgotten.
Another reoccurring thing I find in those passages that are listed is that the people worshipped somewhere that they were least likely to find distractions. Samuel' parents went completly out of the city. Jesus found a desolate place. Find your quiet place that you can focus on God. FOCUS!!!! you will never be 20/20 with God but it sure should be our goal.
James 4:8 says: " Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." God's design for our lives is that prayer, reading, worship, and meditation be used as life expressions to grow in love and intimacy with the Father. Isn't that why we are all here anyway, to be closer to Him?
The purpose of meeting with God is not just to keep us spiritually "awake" during the day; its a time spent together for relational intimacy and connection. Our whole lives should be offered up as a devotion to Him. Romans 12:1 states this clearly...
" I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
Also in I Corinthians 6:19 - 20 it says: " Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."
You ARE a devotion to God, and you should continually be in prayer and worship of God. Its not a punch in... punch out time card.
So if we are to be connected to God all day... How, when and where do we spend our quality time with our Savior? If we look in the Bible we find that throughout Biblical history people have risen early in the morning to meditate on God. Jacob in Genesis 28: 16- 18 built an alter before the Lord in the morning. The prophet Samuel parents rose early and went out of the city to worship in 1 Samuel 1:19. Then in 2 Chronicles 29:20- 31 King Hezekiah came in the morning before the Lord to offer up his sacrifice. Job in Job 1:5 arose each morning to sacrifice his offering to the Lord. Also Jesus himself in Mark 1:35 got up early while it was still dark to go and pray in a desolate place.
Each day we should also start our day in prayer. If you don't have time in the morning, the answer is simple get up earlier ( even if you have to take a nap later in the day) Go before the Lord expecting to learn something new about Him. Dive into his Word... don't skip stones over it. Every time try to read something that you haven't read before. If you haven't read the Bible all the way through you'd be surprised at the new stuff you find or new stories you may not have heard or forgotten.
Another reoccurring thing I find in those passages that are listed is that the people worshipped somewhere that they were least likely to find distractions. Samuel' parents went completly out of the city. Jesus found a desolate place. Find your quiet place that you can focus on God. FOCUS!!!! you will never be 20/20 with God but it sure should be our goal.
James 4:8 says: " Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." God's design for our lives is that prayer, reading, worship, and meditation be used as life expressions to grow in love and intimacy with the Father. Isn't that why we are all here anyway, to be closer to Him?
Sunday, May 17, 2009
wisdom teeth don't make you wiser
I am not much of a video game player but when I’m playing a video game or watching a movie, part of me is always aware and thinking that everything in the story was created by someone (or a team of people). The writer, the director, the actors, they have decided together who the people are, where they will go, what they will do, how the story will turn out. What difference does it make? Well, in a really involved video game, getting inside the head of the people who wrote the code helps you figure out how to beat the game. In a movie, keeping up with what the director is up to helps you figure out what he’s trying to say. The same is true with God!
Read Proverbs 8: In this passage, Wisdom delivers some BIG news: She was there “in the beginning.” God used her as a “craftsman” when He was designing and implementing all of creation. The very universe we live in was designed based on God’s wisdom.
What difference does it make? Wisdom is telling us that the better we get to know God, the more of His wisdom we acquire, the better we’ll understand the world around us. In other words, if you want to figure out how life works, Wisdom can tell you. She saw the blueprints before construction even began. Guys, the Bible is chuck full of wisdom. You may not figure everything out, or get all the answers but if you honestly seek after wisdom, you'll have it much more figured out then people who don't.
People who reject God’s wisdom (fools) are missing out on the ancient source for understanding all of life from the ground up. They’d rather just observe the world around them and come to their own conclusions.
Most people remember Galileo for his run-in with the Catholic church over his scientific discoveries regarding the theory that the earth revolves around the sun. While it’s true that the church pressured Galileo into suppressing his own ideas, most people don’t realize the famous scientist was a Christian committed to the truthfulness of the Bible He didn’t feel any of his discoveries contradicted Scripture. He said: “God is known by nature in his works, and by doctrine in his revealed word.” He understood that those two things go hand in hand.
Get to know the mind of God and his wisdom through the Bible, and get to know Him better through observing His Wisdom-fueled craftsmanship in nature. That’s the path to figuring out both the big picture and how to work the controls of your own life today.
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