Poverty at the Gate 11/25/2010
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family,for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” - Luke 16:19-31 NIV When I was in college at Harding University I was required to take preaching classes. Although I'd been preaching for a few years already at that point, or perhaps for that very reason, I despised taking those classes. I especially disliked making a video of me preaching and refused to watch it. While I was rarely nervous about preaching to a congregation, preaching to a class one day make me shaky. I got through it fine though, and my text was the one I quoted about about the rich man and the beggar. I think my message was good and correct, but I missed the point Jesus was making. I've read articles puzzling out whether this was a literal depiction of hell or a symbolic representation. I've heard sermons based on this text that elaborate on the horrors of hell and the need for personal salvation. The day I preached it to my class I focused on the last bit, where Abraham says "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." I talked about how we have the testimony of Scripture, the witness of the apostles and prophets, and despite Jesus having risen from the dead, people still don't believe. Well, that's all essentially true. Putting myself in the mindset of Jesus at that time and in that context, as well as one can do this, it becomes rather obvious that his true focus was on the wicked greed and social inequality that was prevalent in Israel at that time. Why did masses of people follow Jesus around, looking for a meal or a miraculous healing? It wasn't just the fault of the Romans who occupied their land. It was the result of the collaboration of wealthy Israelites with the foreign powers. They would make loans with high interest, confiscate land taken as collateral and use their influence and other machinations to avoid paying their required taxes, leaving the burden on the poor and uninfluential. The rich man had a poor, sick man laying at his very doorstep. What did he do to help him? Nothing. Lazarus was starving and even had dogs licking his sores. This is the very picture of misery. The rich man did nothing, and went to the flames of eternity while the poor man was embraced by the noble patriarch of Israel. Notice that, as in the other parables of Jesus, there's no hard sell to make a decision to accept him and be saved solely for the sake of avoiding hell. What he tells us is that in this life we have many decisions to make, and if someone is in misery right in front of us, how can we do anything other than help? What kind of person lets those in dire need suffer while enjoying the pleasures of wealth? This past January there was a massive earthquake in the island nation of Haiti. This country is just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from the U.S., making mobilization to help relatively easy. Already sustained largely by outside governmental and non-profit relief and development organizations, Haiti received in those days a massive influx of resources. Now, months later, people are still living in tent cities with limited toilet facilities, scarce food and little concept of hygiene. Disease, now including cholera, spreads easily among our Haitian neighbors. Here we sit in the United States, complaining about a recession that takes our jobs and our homes, but we don't find ourselves in the place of the people of Haiti. Compared to them, our abundance is excessive. Never did I ever feel "guilty" about having "so much" compared to the rest of the world. Even when I lived in Brazil I'd see people living under bridges and viaducts, feel bad for them but think, "That couldn't be me, because I am who I am and was born where I was born, and I didn't make them poor." Fine bit of logic, that, but perhaps it's one of the reasons I wasn't ready to be in Brazil to stay at the time. My heart wasn't right. "Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God." - Bob Pierce The Scriptures time and again remind us that it is central to God's will that the poor, oppressed and neglected be served by the rest of us, and that the powers and authorities be called to account for their failure to maintain justice. We can argue about capitalism versus socialism, but the world has yet to see a truly free market, and even if we had one I doubt we'd do much better with our social obligations. Many people pray for, contribute to and go and help in Haiti. Great work is also being done elsewhere in our hemisphere, as in Honduras. My own future work is projected even further south, in Brazil, with a focus on helping poor and at-risk urban youth take advantage of their nation's emerging economy to get on the grid and find their way out of poverty. We simply must not turn a blind eye to the needs of those around us, be they on our streets, in our neighborhoods or even in our hemisphere. Will we reach out to those at the gate, sharing our wealth, or will not even the resurrection of Jesus convince us of the reality of his words and the message of the prophets? 1 Comment Helping Those In Need 06/04/2010
Not long ago one of my friends posted on Facebook about the duty of Christians to help those in need. One of the first comments in response came from a gentleman who stated that we should only help those who are Christians or who are already in process of becoming Christians. Really? That sounds more like conservatism speaking than the lavish, unbounded love of God. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” - 1 John 4:10 NIV “We love because he first loved us.” - 1 John 4:19 NIV While the world was in sinful rebellion, God took the first step. He had compassion on us in our miserable, unworthy state and took a risk. Those who argue that God knew the future (I disagree with such a view inherited from Greek and Roman philosophers rather than the apostles and prophets of God) seem to me to be simply looking for an easy way to get God (and by extension themselves) off the hook. Honestly, the whole deal could have gone bad. It didn’t, though. By God’s predetermined purpose Christ died for the ungodly while they were yet in their sins, and the love of God inspired in many a response. This radical love of God is something Jesus of Nazareth taught with regard to one’s “enemies.” In the original context Jesus’ peasant listeners would have understood he was speaking of the Romans and all those who oppressed them. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." - Luke 6:32-36 NRSV Did you notice how Jesus described God’s attitude toward “the ungrateful and the wicked?” The word he used was “kind.” If one is looking for worthiness or even gratitude in the work of helping the needy, perhaps a little self-examination in light of the Scriptures is necessary. From a human perspective we want to see people who have already proven themselves worthy of assistance receiving what aid we can provide. From God’s point of view, though, when we do so we are putting the cart before the horse. There are, of course, other objections to be made in support of only helping Christians or those “close to the kingdom” and against seeking to aid any others. First, resources can be strained. If we focus only on those who are in the family of God already there will be more to go around than if we accept also those from the outside. We don’t want supplies to run low, do we? Jesus faced this problem in his own ministry on at least two occasions. He had his usual entourage which included the twelve disciples, but also a large multitude. People were hungry but no one had anything to eat, other than some loaves of bread and some fish. Here’s what happened one of the two times: "Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, 'Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?' He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.' One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 'There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?" Jesus said, 'Have the people sit down.' Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, 'Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.' So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, 'This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!' Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself." - John 6:5-15 NASB While this account is rich with content and meaning, one point should be abundantly clear: resources (or lack thereof) are no obstacle for God. While we must be good stewards of what God provides, if despite our best efforts material runs thin, we must look to Him for provision. Second, we don’t want to create a dependence on us in the needy. In other words, if we provide resources long enough, people will come to count on it. I’ve heard that something like this has happened in large parts of Haiti, though I have no direct personal experience to rely upon. One example would be the “free” rice that is shipped in as aid from other nations. Quite a lot of it gets sold on the market, and so cheaply that it has driven down the value of locally-grown rice. Don’t expect rice-growers in Haiti to be doing well until the nation is weaned off of foreign food aid, at least where rice is concerned. Mistakes have been made in the past. Today we are seeing more and more non-profits working under the venerable principle of teaching a man to fish, rather than merely giving him a fish. Men and women are taught trade skills and other techniques for better sanitation and food production in order for them to improve their own lives. Even where there are food and material “hand-outs” this is rarely the full extent of the work being done. A misgiving I’ve had regarding the annual “Dump Day” to raise funds to help people who live off of what they find in a Honduran dump is that, up until recently, I’ve only heard about the missionary and a crew going out weekly to the dump with food. Where’s the development and sustained outreach that lifts people out of poverty? With the most recent Dump Day there were two encouraging signs. One was the involvement of Bread for a Hungry World, an organization that seeks to provide material resources but also programs that focus on breaking the cycle of poverty. A second was news that with the extra money raised a clinic near the dump could be built, staffed (as I understand it) by public health workers. This is progress! Yes, Christians should seek to help their sisters and brothers in Christ. The love can’t stop there, though. The signs of God’s in-breaking new creation will be made clear in changed lives that reach out to those still in darkness, lost in the oppression of this present age and held captive by the evil one. Help starts at home, but it can’t end there. "So then,as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." - Galatians 6:10 ESV Poverty and Worldly Passions 05/28/2010
 Nick Kristof is a journalist I can respect. He goes to poverty-stricken areas of the world and shines a spotlight on injustice and inequality. His reporting about people who depend on what they can find in dumps to survive inspired me to write about the problem from a theological perspective, which in turn prepared my heart and mind for "Dump Day" when it came to my attention. Though there are times I agree with him in part while cringing at some of his ill-informed religious views, as in the article where he wrote of "two churches," he wins me over with his candor. A prime example of this is in a recent article where he talks booze and tobacco as part of the cause of poverty. There’s an ugly secret of global poverty, one rarely acknowledged by aid groups or U.N. reports. It’s a blunt truth that is politically incorrect, heartbreaking, frustrating and ubiquitous:It’s that if the poorest families spent as much money educating their children as they do on wine, cigarettes and prostitutes, their children’s prospects would be transformed. Much suffering is caused not only by low incomes, but also by shortsighted private spending decisions by heads of households. This is a truth I found while serving in Brazil, South America. While on the whole Brazil is not as miserable as most African nations, it is most definitely still a poor country in development. Time and again as my collegues in mission and I studied the Bible with people in their homes, we found that one of the greatest sources of trouble for them was their "addictions." Now, in the U.S. when I hear of "addiction" it usually refers to full-blown alcoholism, drug use or possibly even nicotine. In Brazil I heard the term thrown around a bit more frequently, and I'm beginning to believe that it's because many in the church there recognize the threat these habits pose to families. There is moral and social harm done, and also financial harm. If a father receives his wages on Friday and then spends the night out at a bar, what will be left for the family the next day? Sadly, this is a scenario played out on a regular basis in Brazil and elsewhere. Those in more well-to-do nations can often make do, but for those living just at the line between having a place to live with food on the table and being hungry on the street, spending on luxury addictions isn't the best choice. Look, I don’t want to be an unctuous party-pooper. But I’ve seen too many children dying of malaria for want of a bed net that the father tells me is unaffordable, even as he spends larger sums on liquor. If we want Mr. Obamza’s children to get an education and sleep under a bed net — well, the simplest option is for their dad to spend fewer evenings in the bar. One young couple we studied the Bible with during my time in Brazil had three beautiful young daughters. The oldest was around 10 at the time, and the youngest was just a toddler. This vibrant couple really seemed to be getting into our studies, but there was a roadblock. They knew that if they were baptized into Christ they'd be expected to stop going out drinking. It wasn't that we taught people to abstain entirely. The trouble was that this couple really enjoyed going out and getting plastered together. They said it was one the the things they shared in common. Worse still, when they went out they left those little girls alone. Beyond the money they were squandering so they could come stumbling home in the wee hours of the morning, "three sheets to the wind," they were putting their children in danger. Kristof proceeds towards the end of his article to provide various possible solutions to the problem. For my part, let me say that sometimes I come down way too hard on churches and ministries that don't incorporate some element of social justice and community development into their work. This is something I've criticized myself for recently. Though I believe this to be the case, I do not want to leave the impression that personal evangelism that includes a challenge to repentance has no place. In fact, it is the core of what the church does. Our mission is more than meals, shelter, education and job training, as vital as these are. None of these have any lasting meaning or value if we are not also challenging ourselves and others to live new lives that demonstrate the new creation that is breaking into this world from God. Well-meaning humanitarians sometimes burnish suffering to make it seem more virtuous and noble than it often is. If we’re going to make more progress, and get kids like the Obamza children in school and under bed nets, we need to look unflinchingly at uncomfortable truths — and then try to redirect the family money now spent on wine and prostitution. Let's be honest about all the causes of poverty, and let's work to get people to deal with them. Even a church that only focuses on "Gospel preaching" can bear lasting fruit measured in transformed lives and families, though of course I think it's missing valuable tools in expanding the effect. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) See: Moonshine or the Kids? (NYTimes) I Am Because We Are 12/08/2009
The above video is the trailer for a new documentary. Madonna and her "Raising Malawi" charity are behind it. The focus appears to be on the damage HIV/AIDS is doing in Africa in general, and Malawi in particular. It's hard, heartbreaking stuff. "Ubuntu" is a term that comes up in the video, and is part of the phrase translated as "I Am Because We Are." Normally when I use this word, I'm talking about the GNU/Linux operating system of the same name (click here for that). If you think about it, there's a truth to this statement. I would not be who I am, were it not for other people. In a deeper sense, there is a connectedness about the human family. Indeed, I am to be my brother and sister's keeper. Many people and organizations representing diverse ideologies and motivations are working to end poverty, alleviate suffering and bring hope to millions around the world. If you haven't already, why don't you join one of them now in whatever way you can? Jesus Banquet in Honduras 12/04/2009
Trey Morgan, Steve Tucker and others are heading down to Honduras next week. Why? To feed people in a dump. They aren't just going to be handing food out from the back of a pickup, as is the usual strategy. They're going to be providing a full meal at tables with chairs. The plan is to feed people until they are full. I've already written about the theological imperative to carry out this sort of work. Some of the world's most wretchedly poor, in nations around the globe, eek out a living daily by scavenging in the garbage for recyclable materials and food. Men, women and children find themselves in this situation. Some even live at the dump, setting up shacks atop the heaps of trash. The first time I became aware of this problem was in 2002, around Christmas. I wrote about it in what passed for my blog at that time, and later re-posted the entry to igneousquill.net (click here to read). Grinding and humiliating poverty of this sort was then news to me. It isn't any more. I wish it were history. The truth of it all, though, is that the "dump people" of the world need more than a hot meal today. They need the powers and authorities that rule their lands to be called to account and to repentance. They need medical care. They need education and means to lift themselves out of their hardship. Even if you aren't a Christian, or even a theist, I hope you can see the human duty we share to help those of our extended global family who find themselves in miserable, dire straits. My hope is that what started as a "Dump Day" and is presently to be a "Jesus Banquet" will become a sustained effort to bring help and a door out of the dump to people who really need it. Read more about it: An explanation (with links to a series of posts on the topic) about the situation of "dump people" in Honduras. A Banquet at a Trash Dump? and I'm So Blessed by Trey Morgan, explaining a bit more about the current effort. Blog of a missionary in Honduras. Brian Nicklaus has declared that all proceeds from the Second Annual Blogprophet Calendar Auction will go to help the people in Honduras. Help Out: Contributions to help provide food on a regular basis to people in the Honduran dump may be sent to: Childress Church of Christ (attn: Honduras) PO Box 239 Childress Texas 79201 21st Century Third World Gehenna 12/03/2009
"Serpents! brood of vipers! how may ye escape from the judgment of the gehenna? Because of this, lo, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes, and of them ye will kill and crucify, and of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and will pursue from city to city; that on you may come all the righteous blood being poured out on the earth from the blood of Abel the righteous, unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar: verily I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation." Matthew 23:33-36 (Young's Literal Translation) Gehenna is a real place that exists in our world. It's a valley located south of old Jerusalem's walls. This, "the valley of the son of Hinnom," was where Israelite children were sacrificed to the god Moloch. That was centuries before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. In the days of Jesus it was a garbage dump. It seems dead animals and even the corpses of disreputable criminals were thrown there, where smoke was constantly rising and worms devoured corrupt things. Throughout his life, Jesus warned those in power and all who failed to embrace his way of peace that their end would be Gehenna. In the nearly two millennia since those days his words have been reinterpreted to be speaking of another place, a "hell" in the afterlife. Although certainly the Bible does teach consequences and judgment beyond death, as well as speaking of an end of this present age and the inauguration of a new one, this was not the point of what Jesus had to say. Gehenna, first a place of cruel sacrifice and then a fetid, smoky dump, was to be the resting place for the cadavers of those who rejected the way of non-violent resistance. Those in power who stirred up the masses against not only the Roman oppressors but also any who refused to go down their bloody path could expect, according to Jesus, only to be consigned to the shameful landfill of history. There are still Gehennas in our days. In more affluent countries, like the United States, it is practically unheard of for people to find their way into landfills to make a living. In other countries, particularly those of the Third World, one can go to virtually any dump and find people eking out a living. They search the garbage for recyclable materials to sell and anything of value that may have been tossed out carelessly. Yes, they even look for food. One year while I lived in Brazil I read about a teenager who got up every morning well before sunrise to meet the trash trucks as they arrived at the landfill. He would search the garbage for food and take what he found back home to his mother. He didn't want his younger siblings to find out where their food came from. If you watched the video above, you know that this is an experience shared by others throughout the world. In the movie Slumdog Millionaire there is a scene in a dump in India that bears further testimony to this sad international reality. People around the world are surviving, barely, on the margins. A naive North American might suggest that the solution would be a big fence, sort of like the one they are trying to build to keep people from crossing the northern Mexican border into the United States. The thinking would be that if people were kept out of the dumps, the problem would be solved. Actually, a lot of people would die. As the video above points out, a sweatshop would be a definite step up from a filthy hell. Think about how unimaginably bad a step down would be! In the eyes of the rest of society, those scraping bottom to survive appear damned, but they are not the truly accursed. The wicked are those in power who are complicit with systemic evil. Corrupt systems and complicit powers put the poor and weak in the garbage and Jesus on the cross. This latter was to their own undoing: "And you, being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, you, I say, did he make alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses; having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he hath taken it out that way, nailing it to the cross; having despoiled the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." Colossians 2:13-15 (American Standard Version) Through his death and resurrection Jesus exposed the powers for what they really were (and are) and overcame them. The ultimate tool of the tyrant is death, and once Jesus faced that and came out the other side into new life, there was no more cause for fear. "Since therefore the children partake of blood and flesh, he also, in like manner, took part in the same, that through death he might annul him who has the might of death, that is, the devil; and might set free all those who through fear of death through the whole of their life were subject to bondage." Hebrews 2:14-15 (Darby Translation) In his appearing at the conclusion of this present age, the New Testament Scriptures testify that tables will be turned. Those who have engaged in persecution and oppression will be thrown to the bottom, overturned and obliterated by fire from the presence of God: "...if so be that it is righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you, and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day." 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 (American Standard Version) The task of followers of Jesus in our times is one that has never gained wide acceptance, even though it is found throughout both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. We are called seek out the marginalized and stand with them. A sweatshop may be better than a garbage dump, and a garbage dump preferred over death, but disciples must not, cannot, leave human beings in those conditions without help and without hope. Acrid smoke and bitter anguish is better suited to the corrupt powers than the world's poor and weak. "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:11-12 (American Standard Version) | 
Adam Gonnerman - Former missionary, ESL teacher, customer service rep, social media manager and web producer; currently employed as a project manager in New York and volunteering through HOPE worldwide.
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