homeless, cold, and hungry

--How many times have you been accosted by someone for food or money?

--How many times has someone told you not to give away your resources because it will be spent on drugs and alcohol?

Yes, I know that the homeless can be addicted to harmful substances, hence their life situation. But, don't they deserve the love of Christ as well?

After meeting a few guys on Michigan Avenue, including Bruce and Ugly Old Toad (he insisted upon that title) I began to rethink what it means to give, and give joyfully without a heart full of bitter suspicion.

How do I do this wisely and only give to the honest?  I can't.  There is no way that I can read the minds of these men, but what I can do is pray...pray that God lets me make eye contact with those who truly need help, and ones that I can help with the resources I have.  What kind of resources?  It may be 5 bucks, a turkey sandwich, prayer, or a smile that says to them "You are a human being too."  One of the things that bothered some of the men most was that people duck their heads and refuse to even look at them.  It hurts to be out in the cold, and probably hurts even more to be dehumanized by your fellow man.

If I am idealistic, you can let me know.  It's not the first time I have been accused of such a thing.  But the following haunts me, I cannot escape it...

The He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  Luke 14:12-14

Ugly Old Toad can't pay you back.

martin luther king jr.: the loving social activist

The following is a reflection I wrote a couple weeks ago for my class Christian Classics.  It will reveal my ignorance, but that is okay...we all need a little dose of humility now and then.

----My knowledge of Martin luther King Jr. has certainly been limited up until I completed the required reading for this course.  I have always known about him, and as a young child I often confused him with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton; my mother quickly corrected my error.  Because of my conservative upbringing, while I knew the importance of the civil rights movement, I cautiously handled anything that called for social action.  I was extremely impressed with the Martin Luther King I encountered in these readings, and I was excited to find that he was so much more than what I heard him to be.

     Martin Luther King called to our country's attention the plight of those who were being oppressed.  As Christians living in a comfortable, middle class society we forget that God cares for the oppressed and the downtrodden because we often are unaware of their presence.  Sometimes in our effort to pursue inward spiritual holiness, I believe we neglect those in need around us because we are focused upon ourselves.  I was impressed that King was able to show through quotations of church fathers and scripture that the oppression of the African Americans was wrong and that it was necessary for Christians to actively pursue justice.

    I was intrigued by the way King used peaceful protest as a means of direct force to bring about the process of change.  He was dealing with a hard issue for Christians; to what extent may we use force, yet remain peaceful and loving?  Sometimes it seems as though Christians (and others) will condone force when it is not directly related to them, for example, we will fight for justice through endorsement of a war for the protection of our country.  But, when it comes to protecting the rights of people of a different race, economic status, the elderly, or the unborn, we are afraid to rock the boat because the consequences of our peaceful, yet forceful protest will hit too close to home.  We are afraid to sacrifice anything, resources or peace of mind, for the good of someone else.  

     King wrote in his Birmingham letter that when the ministers said that the gospel had no social concern, they were actually separating the secular from the sacred, and the body from the soul (299).  This is unfortunate because Christ provided for the physical and spiritual needs of the lost that He came to save.  He did not simply forgive the sins of the lame man, but gave him the ability to walk.  While we will not be able to heal the way Jesus did, we can make life better for those around us by speaking up for their rights and showing them the love of Christ by caring for their needs.  We cannot separate our love for our neighbor from our love for God.

     It is interesting that King pointed out that we are afraid as Christians in America to be nonconformists.  Perhaps we believe that we are in a Christian nation, and thus things are mostly alright and much change isn't necessary.  Are we willing to take a look around us and see who is in need?  The manifestation of need is different than it was when King wrote his letter, but last time I checked we are still living in a fallen world that has more problems than we can solve on our own strength.

     I want to live out my Christian spirituality in a way that is deeply personal, yet purposefully active in a pursuit of peace and justice for those who are oppressed by poverty or injustice.  King is an example of this, he saw that the oppression of his people was unjust, and because of his commitment to Christ he found it necessary to speak out on their behalf and be a force for change.

    In one of the other readings we read in class, Loving Your Enemies I found that we can still apply much of what King said to our present day struggles with race relations and other social issues in our country.  This statement sums up the main thrust of his argument, "There will be no permanent solution to the race problem until oppressed people develop the capacity to love their enemies.  The darkness of racial prejudice will be displayed only by the light of forgiving love" (Tyson 430).  It is so important for us to recognize that in any pursuit of peace or justice we must love and forgive those who are causing the suffering.  This is a difficult truth to swallow.  How can we love those who exploit the innocent through sex trafficking?  How do we love those who harm and hate people of other races?  And even more difficult, how do we help those who have been hurt learn to love those who have offended them?  These are questions that can only be answered through the healing power of the gospel and the example of Christ.

    As Christians who are completely sold on the power of the gospel to transform the lives of hurting people, I believe it is important for us not to just show concern for those who are physically and emotionally hurting.  We must actively pursue their good and seek peace and justice.  Loving your neighbor is not just a feeling; we must prove our love for others by our actions.

poverty and justice: part 1

----As a Christ-follower how should I think about and act on issues like poverty and hunger?

I want to establish what I am not saying right away.  I’m not saying that Christians do not work in the world against evils like poverty and hunger.  They do, and the things they do have brought about changes and saved lives.  This I like and I recognize the work that they have done.  What I am trying to understand is what still needs to be accomplished, because last time I checked Jesus still has not returned and I am called to bring about His kingdom on earth. 

What evils are still prevalent and what injustices still need addressing?  I want to know what I am supposed to do and what things Christians should become aware of and begin to act on rather than staying in a spiritually stagnant status quo.

I started reading Ron Sider’s "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger" and it is radicalizing my mind already after having read the first chapter.

In the first chapter he cites statistic after statistic showing that poverty and hunger are two of the greatest problems in the world today.

Because of the issues of hunger and malnutrition, thousands of children are dying from starvation and disease.  Many children become brain damaged because they do not get enough protein for their brains to develop properly.

The statistics on children are particularly challenging for me because I have been and continue to be concerned for children and the unborn.  If I am going to be consistent in my care for the little ones in our world I need to seek the welfare of the starving ones as well as for the unborn.

----How can I help?  These problems seem so big and I know that I am small.  But, the God I serve is greater than any of the tragedies in this world.  I trust that if I am willing to learn and see these problems for what they are, God can show me what He would have me to do.  I am excited to continue reading this book and see how I can apply it to my life now, and in the days to come.

 

---When I throw away wasted food, what am I really doing?  If I say that it is wasteful and I should eat it because a child in Africa would love to eat it, it doesn’t seem to have much of an impact because I cannot mail him my leftover spaghetti.  But, if I look at it as I could have made less food, saved money, and then sent that child in Africa five dollars so he could eat for a month, now I can smell change and the stench of moldy food begins to fade.

 

the first post

So, I've finally caved.  I have considered writing my own blog for some time, and now here it is, in all its infant glory.

The question is, why?  I am now a blogger with the hopes that these posts will help me wrestle with issues that I am encountering on a daily basis.   I am confident that by writing out my current thoughts I will come to a better understanding of where I stand on particular issues.

I will also be randomly posting poems and short stories as the muse inspires.

This blog is a way for me to learn, so if you choose to think about these things along with me, I would be happy to have a companion.  So, welcome fellow sojourner!