When it comes to poverty: think small
October 15, 2008 · Print This Article
Today is Blog Action Day. For more details, visit the Blog Action Day site.
For years I struggled with the idea of poverty. Why do we have poor people? Is there some way we can wipe out poverty? Why was I fortunate enough to be born into a comfortable, middle-class world? I felt guilty at times. I felt angry at times. And sometimes I just wanted to live my life and not think about poor people.
That kind of thinking gets you nowhere. The most freeing thing Jesus said about poverty was when he said, “The poor will always be with you.” In saying that, he gave the disciples permission to celebrate with him and enjoy life. But he never backed away from his strong command that EVERY DISCIPLE OF CHRIST MUST be about helping the poor.
As I got older I realized that the best way to understand Jesus was to think small. So I don’t spend much of my energy wondering which political party gives us the best chance to “address the issue of poverty.” I don’t spend any of my emotional energy worrying about why people are poor. Instead, my church friends and I spend a certain amount of our time intervening into specific situations of poverty. We have selected a few causes and we support them with great joy. How do we select them? Whenever someone in our community gets passionate about some act of social and/or economic mercy, we bless their desire and support it.
Currently we send money to India to support the indigenous Christian movement among the Banjara Gypsies. This money supports Banjara who are working to help other Banjara. We do this in part because one girl named Chloe got passionate and wanted to pray for the gypsies every Sunday. We go to Moldova every other year and work in an orphanage there. Some of our members now support Moldovan children by collecting money to provide an education for them when they leave the orphanage. Otherwise they would be pulled into prostitution and organized crime. We do this because one father and daughter had their hearts broken by the situation in Moldova and wanted to make a difference. One of our members is fairly passionate about water issues and has been to South America to help install water purifiers. We sent him off with prayers. He’ll probably go back soon. Two men in our church organize a Habitat for Humanity build every other year. We are currently in the middle of that. A couple of weeks ago I spent 8 hours with my oldest daughter, hammering away on a home.
We are a congregation of less than 100 members. But we feel empowered and powerful in the larger work of Christ against poverty. Not because we have the answers to the big questions. But because we have been set free to embrace our small role and know that if everyone did the same, it would be enough.
Gordon Atkinson - Real Live Preacher
Another comforting thing is when Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6, NET). Not that this excuses us from feeding the poor and freeing the oppressed, but it reminds me that though I may be blessed in living in a rich country, God has not forgotten the poor. In fact he blesses them and will bless them in the resurrection. So perhaps in identifying with them now, they will not be ashamed of me in God’s kingdom come.
As I write that, I feel selfish, and I don’t mean it that way at all (meaning I don’t think that if I give now, I get later). I just mean that we tend to think of the poor as forgotten and less than, but that’s the opposite of how God thinks.
As always Gordon, you take complex issues and break them down into simple and practical solutions. There is much freedom when we realize that we don’t have to do it all, just what we can do.
Thanks!
HI all.
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KivaB4B Team
Materialism has distorted the concept of God’s blessing for many. My mom used to say do not measure your blessings in dollars and cents. Today many have not learned according to the word of God real blessing or gain in life comes from godliness with contentment. Without these basic qualities, wealth, as abundant as one may possess it, still leaves one greedy, unahappy, and craving for more of it. I made a point in my book, The Myth of the Genrational Curse (Xulon Press, 2007), that it is the equating of the blessings of God with material prosperity that has led to a large extent to the perception by some that people who lack lots of material goods are cursed and those who have it are blessed. The truth is all who are in Christ are blessed with all spiritual blessings and spiritual blessings go deeper in bringing true joy and happiness than the material things in life can give.
One of the worst things about being poor is the lack of respect that you get from many. Some people will treat you as less than human ; eg. the time a long-distance bus driver locked the passengers out without their coats in sub-zero weather so he could complete his paperwork (including a 3 year-old). Many people can no longer help the poor with monetary donations, because they are pretty close to the edge themselves. But they can help by talking to a poor person, or treating them with respect. I remember someone sneering at a homeless woman who turned down whole wheat bread (they probably didn’t realize that living rough had ruined her digestion, and that fibre would only hurt her stomach and make her hungrier).
Poverty is a totally unenviable condition, but remember that when you have nothing at all, the thing that you are left with is yoursellf. You will learn about your self, your strength, your weakness, and your resources. These are valuable lessons, despite the painful circumstances that they come from. You will also learn about your fellow man - the ones who still speak to you when times are bad are true friends. Sadly, most people will turn away - and you will see their true natures too.
Sometimes the smallest thing can help a poor person, like giving them a job they can do, renting them a safe, liveable space (I know a family that has RENTED, at market value, 3 places in the last year where the walls/ceiling could have come down at any time and virulent mold was rampant), giving them a ride to the laundromat if they have no car, etc.
Well, I hope this has been an useful addition to this discourse..