Jesus once said "you will always have the poor with you." Many Christian have taken this verse as medication to try and eliminate their pangs of guilt for neglecting "the least of these." Oh well, the poor will always be with us so there's no point in doing anything to help them. I can pretty much guarantee that was not the point Jesus was trying to make (see Matt 25, Luke 4:18 among others) Now I am a minister so I can say this: It is embarassing how little the church has done to bring hope to the poor. Some say the church has dropped the ball. I say you can't drop what you haven't picked up. There are a zillion excuses, I mean REASONS, why the church has largely ignored the poor but in the end none of them will matter. All that will matter is did YOU bring hope to the least of these. Did you reach out and love. . . Did I? Now I know there are churches who have picked up the ball and running with it in profound ways but I'm guessing they aren't the ones who need to read this. The same goes with some of you. You are the people who have prevented despair from taking over. Thank you for your incredible examples. I think of Ray and Ellen McMillan and pray that I can have even half their heart.
Whenever I talk with people about poverty most of them say something to the effect of"There are 30,000 people dying every day of starvation, what on earth can I do about it." Despair has always been the enemy of hope. As followers of Jesus, we are called to bring hope. If we don't bring it, who will? We must bring it. We must act.
The truth is, the only way we will ever have a shot of eliminating extreme poverty is if we can convince the powerful leaders of our world to act. Next week, our Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be attending a meeting of the world's G-8 leaders. They will be discussing many things including energy, disease and other things that affect them. What probably won't get much air time is what to do about Africa or the other countries that are starving to death.
Take 5 minutes out of your day today and write a letter to Mr. Harper encouraging him to take action. Write then pray. Hope. Then pray again. Despair is the luxury of those who do not know Christ, but to those of us who do know, despair is the Anti Christ.
Faith, Hope, Love.
John
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
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12 comments:
Done and done!! Thanks for posting this John. Let's hope we can make a difference.
The day a Conservative government cares one iota about poverty is the day you'll see me in Church, belting out the tunes and speaking in tongues. I've always found it ironic how Christians *tend* (note: Tend. I know there are politically sane Christians, like you and Ang) to vote conservative. Jesus was *totally* a liberal.
Anyways, have a gander at this: http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/involved/action07.htm
i am feeling much hope these days. i believe it is possible for us to be Christ to the world. i don't think we have given the world a very accurate description of who Jesus was, and who we are supposed to be. no matter how much we have missed that calling in the past is no excuse to not put our hope into action today.
"I think Jesus lived out many of the ideals of both conservatives and liberals."
Many of the broader "ideals" of neoconservatism are diametrically opposed to the teachings of Christ. Do you think Jesus would have been against welfare or universal healthcare? Do you think he would've supported war? Would he have favored big-business, bowing down to corporate lobbies and the like? Would he have supported capital punishment?
I know Jesus wouldn't have embraced every aspect of modern liberalism, but, as far as I can tell, there's no denying that it is far more in tune with his social views than neoconservatism.
allen: It sounds to me like you may be a closet liberal on many issues. ;-) Btw, I agree that liberalism's focus on guilt (in areas like affirmative action and reparations) is deplorable, so I guess you could call me a closet conservative on *those* issues. There's a happy medium, in my opinion, although (again, in my opinion) it lies a bit to the left of center.
I think Jesus would've supported universal healthcare for the simple reason that, without it, some people would suffer. And I think he would've been against all war ("do not resist evil," "turn the other cheek," etc.), instead advocating a sort of nonviolent resistance (to the chagrin of those hoping for a more warlike messiah figure). As for capital punishment; seems like Jesus was all about compassion and forgiveness, and capital punishment is the antithesis of that. Lastly, Jesus clearly often placed the destitute above the wealthy ("it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven," "the first will be last and the last will be first," etc.). I don't think he wouldn't been too thrilled about the idea of someone amassing wealth while children are starving in 3rd world countries, and I don't think he would've supported the survival-of-the-fittest corporate mentality.
Anyways, there's a book called "Jesus Was a Liberal," by Jerry Wilde. You might want to check it out.
Al,
In all seriousnes, you are correct. Everyone 30 and under in America seems to have a real heart for social issues. I think this is a reaction to the fact that many older people don't care or don't care enough to say anything, certainly not do anything. You do not seem to fit this category which makes me smile. . .and fart strangely. Much of what we're talking about is the ol pendulum swing. One generation values doctrine at the expense of people and so the next generation values people at the expense of doctrine. The allegiance of today's young people is only to those things which are real and bathed in love. Structure, doctrine, denominations, tradition aren't valued because we've seen what those things accomplished - people who cared more about being right then loving right. Granted this is a large generalization but anytime your talking about generations your talking generally.
Now to the brief reasons why we suck, I mean struggle.
Our struggles are respect for what has gone on before, respect for authority, respect for what it true and respect for even ourselves. We struggle with respect. We respect people who give us absolute freedom and allow us to journey but anyone who dares question our journey or our stances on various issues we lash out seeing them as trying to tame, trying to control or worse trying to conform us to their image of what God and the church, even life should we. We are our own people. Shaped by no one. We are who we are because of what we've made of ourselves not because of some system, program, tract or seeker service.
Another struggle of our generation is faith. If we can't see it, touch it, taste it, feel it or download it we don't want it. We only want that which we think is real. And the only way we know is through experience. Which is why spirtuality is important to us because spirituality is God experiencied. Our doctrine is simple - we believe in love. Jesus said it. We believe it. Our problem at times is loving those who who try to tame us. We don't like tamers. We have to be free. Yes, even free to journey in the dark, take detours off cliffs and even lay on our butts refusing to journey at all.
Those older then us think we don't care. At times they are right. Often their right. But I think the biggest reason we seem apathetic, cynical or spiritually irresponsible is because . .well we care too much. We care so much that we look around and watch what has gone on before us and shake our heads wondering how they could have thought slavery was biblical, women were inferior and homosexuals were children of Satan. We see what has gone on and realize that in many places it still is going on and so we conclude, what's the use. We care so much it hurts to see what Christianity has become. A religion with values different then its foudner and in some cases in conflict with. Our generation has an intense longing and passion to change things but doesn't see how we can or what is possible and so we despair. We give up. We lose hope. We walk away. Yet the beat still remains. The most tossed about word in the past decade is revolution. We want a revolution, not in the fad sense, or the raise your arms up in the air and tilt from side to side worship sense but revolution in the sense of - we want things to change. Another struggle we have is putting a name and face to the change we want to see. All we know is if things stay the same we'd rather puke and die then puke some more then have to sit through one more service where we sing very upbeatly I might add,"Jesus is coming soon, morning or night or noon, many will meet their doome - hech even trumpets will sound." Yee haw. Death and annhilation of the she devils of our world. Boo ya. Or how we can't wait to get off this God forsaken planet to our mansion in the hills. Because "I've got a manison, just over the hill top." A room full of high class people singing about mansions. Awesome.
Yes I know, thats just the songs, cosmetics of the church but still, what we sing reflects what we believe, at least it should or what the heck are we singing or doing.
The bottom line Al, is we are a generation that has sat back and watched not to mention read - probably too much - the flaws of the generation before us and so we have been cyninical disrespectful asses. We even know it but we smirk as we say "I know but its the truth."
To be honest Al, we need to stop being the ass of the church and start being its heart. Because we got heart, lots of heart, too much heart at times. But we need to act. Some have, some are trying but most are continiuing to vent. If we vent and that's all then we are no better, even worse then the generation we seek to judge. But if we vent then act, I think some great things could happen.
I close with Ghandi.
"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
We're trying. . .
John
P.S.
Re: The difference between the U.S. and Canada. The truth is, we hate you guys because you have a catchier anthem.
Allen said "There is no substitute for reading the Bible over and over until it begins to change you into the image of Christ. I know that many biblical scholars are not all that godly."
Since you're not a fan of long replies I'll try to be brief.
First off - claiming that reading the bible every day will change someone into the image of Christ is simplistic. Are you seriously suggesting that spiritual formation really comes down to - reading a book? Sure it more then a book its God's book but still, that's how we can become like Christ? Well it sucks to be the 3 billion people in the world who can't read. I guess we know where they'll end up. Apparently illiteracy can now be a considered a real threat against the soul of man. Sorry if I sound overly sarcastic but I've grown up hearing and singing the good ol "read your bible pray every day and you'll grow grow grow" tune and now as I reflect I am embarassed to be part of selling such a cheap gospel. We are children of the enlightenment which means logic has become our salvation which means the bible has become our salvation. The frightening thing is Jesus himself critisized the Pharisees for being "experts in the word yet missing out on eternal life because they didn't know him." I think there are many other ways to know Jesus and become like him then just simply reading about his exploits. Now don't misunderstand, I spend the first 30 minutes of each day in a special room reading and lapping up the life of Christ, and I love it and couldn't live without it but if my faith only existed in that 30 minutes I would be dead in the water. Al, the reason why our generation struggles so much with the bible is for years it has been introduced to us almost like a magic pill - take some every morning and you'll be protected against Satan and be healthy. The problem is we've witnessed many people doing just that but end up doing just that. So they know a lot but don't do a lot. Except for judging those who don't do what they do or read as much as they read. I think the bible is cruicial in faith formation but to say - just read and you'll become like Christ - I think is dangerous and even void of truth. Strong statement I know but if you believe that then you must believe the 3 billion illiterate people in the world are going to hell simply because they can't read. Perhaps you'll say "Well that's all the more reason for us to evangelize." True I guess but then they get our gospel and not the gospel because they never read it for themselves.
So, in order for them to be saved we are left with having to teach them to read. Which by the way is ironic because most of the people in the first century couldn't read.
Re:Biblical scholars.
Typically we decide how godly a scholar is based on how much he or she agrees with us. You mentioned this in your post. I do agree that as humans this seems to be natural but I'll be honest that my faith journey never began until I began to study those scholars who scared the crap out of me. The things they suggested sounded so wrong but for me to write them off as "athiests, uncommitted or sinful men" just because they have come to different conclusions then me is once again simplifying spiritual formation. I don't think our spirit can be whole until we do study all sides. My faith today is stronger then ever and I think its a direct result of not allowing fear to be in charge but being willing to consider something besides. . . just read the bible and everything will be fine.
Ok, obviously I suck at short replies. Guess I get a little passionate, which you know, is good right?
John
Sorry for misquoting you or reading into your comments. The truth is I reacted to the quote because all my life whenever a problem arose or something had to be decided the answer always came in the form of a bible pill. The result of this is I grew up believing the bible was magic and all I had to do to unlock it was flip to any page, and then read something, anything out loud. I now realize that the bible is a tool of God's to be used to show us the way. I guess the question is - is the bible the only bearer of truth? Can truth be claimed anywhere else?
John
P.S. How's Luke doing?
Wow, guys. Apparently this is the fun place to be. That is if you want to be misquoted and have preconcieved judgements thrown your way- which is always a good time:) Seriously, I am glad that our blog brought together 3 very different stances (although, not as different as you all seem to think) and it's good to hear from you, Allen (I wasn't convinced until the Luke update. Just not used to Allen sans funny side!)Interesting stuff. For me, I agree a little bit with everyone, blah, blah, blah and other diplomatic stuff. Thanks for all the thought provoking comments, and hey- if somehow an overload of blogging causes the internet to crash leading to world wide panic- no worries, OK?
Ang
There is little that can give a father more of a warm fuzzy feeling than to observe his two sons deeply, honestly, openly wrestling with understanding and implementing the will of our loving God. However, as I look on (and admire) such philosophizing, I sometimes wonder how much we will discover we missed the point when we finally stand in the presence of our Father. I am so grateful for his love and grace.
Hey Al,
Good comments. I agree. Lol, its also good to know that this is you. Believe it or not, the first few posts I wasn't totally sure. Which was why I popped the "How's Luke" question. If I had known it was you I would have been much more careful with my words. Sorry if I offended or came across disrespectfully or arrogantly. When I write I tend to be more free with my words then any other time, especially when its on a blog. I need to rein myself in a bit.
I think in many ways are values are the same we are just in different stages of dealing with them or trying to decided the best way to live them out.
I appreciate your wisdom and experience and I swell with pride when I think of you.
Speaking of, nice website by the way. I especially like the sermon page where you are standing there holding your bible looking all pro star. Snicker.
Love you brother,
John
Best regards from NY! » » »
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