Generousity of Evangelical Christians

This morning I read an encouraging blog post by Atlanta pastor Shaun King.  He had observed how a large portion of the aid and volunteers in Haiti were evangelical Christians.  He then cites an article in the liberal NY Times that makes the same observation. 

It is encouraging to see such generousity from the church in the US especially when we are becoming a smaller and smaller percentage of society.  It seems that others are taking notice of our love for our neighbors. 

I encourage you to read the entire post here.

Do you think that evangelicals are leading the way in society towards compassion and generousity to those in need?

Time to follow Jesus

Any human tragedy is hard.  For those who are poor, tragedy can be overwhelming. 

All of us our aware of the devastation that the earthquake in Haiti has caused.  As has been widely reported, this country is extremely poor.  This makes matters even worse.  Think of the slow response to a disaster like Katrina and that happened in America with our endless resources. 

It is time to follow Jesus.  The people of God need to be involved.  It is wrong to ignore such a tragedy.  We must start by caring.  Sometime it is hard to even have compassion with the 24/7 bombardment with crime, death, disaster, etc.  But this is huge and God's people will be known for our compassion for the poor. 

Everyone must do something.  Give if you can.  I give through World Relief, but there are many good options.  Pray.  Even if you feel that you cannot give you can prayer.  Go?  Maybe God is calling you to be a part of a group to go and serve the people of Haiti.

It is time to follow Jesus.

The Blind Side

I recently saw the very popular movie The Blind Side.  I must admit that it was a very intriguing story.  But the whole thing left me a bit unsettled.

In summary, the movie is about a family who takes in a young man who is a ward of the state.  They offer him a home and eventually adopt him into their family.  The compassion that is modeled is compelling.  Their actions are portrayed as flowing from their faith since faith is shown as central to the family and their kids attend a Christian school.  The young man eventually gets a college scholarship to play football and is now in the NFL.

But the movie also left me asking a lot of questions that are still quite unsettling to me.

Was this man's dignity stripped of him in showing his story on the big screen?

Why was the movie's  portrayal of the mom in the story as the type of white woman that makes black people not trust white people?

Why does Micheal Oher, who the movie is about, say that he has no interest in seeing the movie?

Does this really model loving one's neighbor?

I also thought:   If I was black....

Would I have any interest in seeing this movie?

Would this movie seem insulting to me?

Would this movie give me a negative feeling about white people?

I'm not saying that the family who opened their home to Micheal did something wrong, but making a movie about this young man's story really unsettled me.

Any one else see the movie?  Thoughts?  Reactions?

Should tax dollars be used to help the poor?

There is much political debate over whether American tax dollars should be used to bring aid to the poor. Some believe that this is completely the governments responsibility. Others think that the government should not be involved at all.

What do you think?

I think that we should consider how God felt these things should be handled in the nation of Israel. Looking at the Old Testament law can give us some insight into God's dealing with a nation. A few of the many verses to consider:

I have heard many refer to Matthew 26 where Jesus quotes the OT and says the poor will always be with you. But few go back and look at what was being said. Deuteronomy 15 does say that the poor will always be with so "open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land". This is about generousity, but not about government involvement.

Exodus 23:11 talks about the Sabbath year. Every seventh year, the farmer is to not harvest his own land so that the poor may eat from it. That would mean that about 14% of the food from their field would be designated by law to the poor with no strings attached.

Leviticus 19:9,10 tells the farmer to not go around and pick up all of the leftover harvest, but to "Leave them for the poor and the alien". Again governmental law to leave some extra for the poor. Lev. 23:22 repeats this again in case they missed it.

Leviticus 25 talks about the year of Jubilee (which the Israelites never actually practiced). A time of land being returned to original owners. A time of resting from work. In this chapter, the Israelites are told that they are to care for the poor and not lend them money with interest. So much for all of the banks and payday loan places that exploit the poor.

Deuteronomy 24 talks about paying the worker who is poor daily because he needs it. It also talks about paying him a fair wage. So much for those who are against a minimum wage.

And then there is the tithe. This is the tax of the day for the Israelites. There were three tithes. Two to be paid yearly and on to be paid every three years. Basically a 23% tax when you average it out. One tithe was general. One tithe went to the feasts, celebrations, etc. The other tithe which was given every third year was for the Levites and the poor - orphan, widow, alien. So in Israel, 3.33% of all that people earned was set aside for assistance to the poor among them. This is talked about it Deuteronomy 14 and 26.

Does this mean that the US should set aside tax money to care for the poor? Not necessarily, but I think that we should consider our responsibility as a society to those who are less fortunate.

What do you think?

Helping Africa

This is a company that I learned about at the Leadership Summit. Good African Coffee. They believe that the key to supporting Africa is not aid. They believe that economic empowerment through trade will lift Africa economically.

Do you think that aid can be detrimental to the long term growth of people or nations?

Injustice

Did you see the movie Slumdog Millionaire? Many people did. The movie received eight Oscars and grossed over $326 million. You would think that everyone involved in this project is doing pretty well financially.

It is all of over the news this morning that one of the child stars of the movie lost his home today. Not his big home in Hollywood. His shanty in the slums.

You mean to tell me that a child who starred in a movie that grossed hundreds of millions of dollars did not receive enough money to help his family buy a home. It is unbelievable that this young boy was still living in the slums.

This is a terrible picture of the exploitation and injustice that is all to common in our world.

Hollywood gets rich on the backs of poor people and doesn't even care enough to help them out of poverty. This sounds much like the Walton family and what they have done through their Walmart empire.

God help us to love our neighbor.

What are your reactions to the story about this young boy?

Food

This topic alone makes many of us interested. Most of us like to eat.

Have you ever wondered what God thinks about food? What is it's purpose? Why does it exist? Some things are obvious, but not all.

To survive
To give us energy
For nutrition?
To enjoy?
To foster relationships?
To share?

For many in the world, food is only for survival. People hope to get just enough to keep them alive. Should this fact affect how we perceive food?
Is it wrong to enjoy eating food that we like?
When does food become an idol?

We know that gluttony is a sin. Do you know what gluttony is? When does eating become gluttony? Is our thinking about food more defined by our culture or by God? Where does God talk about food and what does He say?

Any thoughts?

Caring for "the poor"

Is it wrong to talk about “the poor” as a category? Many Christians, myself included, talk about our responsibility as the children of God to care for the poor. God’s heart for the poor is referenced from what is stated in the Word of God. Christian compassion is at the core of who we are as believers.

But something doesn’t feel quite right about talking about “the poor” or “the oppressed” as a category. It seems in some way demeaning. It gives the impression that they are less than. I get the feeling that to talk about the poor puts a separation of them and us as if they are different.

This becomes especially difficult when you know people who would be considered “the poor”. They are your friends. They are people you live close to.
To me, it is hard to hear them described as “the poor”. I think of them as … my neighbor, or someone I who is a part of our church, or as John Doe (insert any person’s name). It seems that there is a tension to speak of “the poor”, when the poor are the people you relate to. They are who you associate with.

Is it helpful to talk about the poor as a category or does that already cause us to treat them as different? Does anyone else relate to this tension that I am describing?

Total Church

I am reading a book right now called Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. I have found it to be quite engaging. They are leaders in a church community in England called The Crowded House. They focus on being an intentional gospel community and focus in urban communities with many social needs.

Here are some things that I have been reading:
"In any Christian ministry, including ministry among the poor, proclaiming and teaching the word of God must be central. And that is because the greatest need of the poor, as for us all, is to be reconciled to God and so escape his wrath. What makes Christian social involvement distinctively Christian is a commitment to reconciling the poor to God through the proclamation of the gospel."

"If we do not keep people's eternal plight in mind, then immediate needs will force their way to the top of our agenda, and we will betray the gospel and the people we profess to love. The most loving thing that we can do for the poor is to proclaim the good news of eternal salvation through Christ. It is by no means the only loving thing we can do for them, but it is the most loving thing we can do. It would be a crime of monumental proportions to knowingly withhold such good news."

These authors put a great emphasis on the responsibility of the church to be intentionally engaged in the lives of the poor and marginalized in society. But they also keep in perspective that the Gospel is the most important thing that any person needs.

Can we really care for people without being willing to share the Good News with them at some point?

Concern for the poor

I just returned from the CCDA annual conference. The CCDA spends a lot of time and attention seeking to bring the love of Christ to the “poor”. I have heard other Christians say that there is no mandate to care for the poor.

Do you think that Christians have a responsibility to care for the poor in society?

What Biblical evidence to you have?