Yesterday I was reading some pretty powerful material that one of my spiritual dads is writing these days. One of the focus verses was Proverbs 14:31. In The Message it reads like this:
“You insult your Maker when you exploit the powerless; when you’re kind to the poor, you honor God” Proverbs 14:31, MSG.”
Geez, insult your Maker?! That will hit you like a ton of bricks. Sigh. It's a powerful verse to say the least. As I'm reading through this devotional, the focus is in regards to how we handle the poor. Then this kicker of a question was asked:
How well do you think we’re doing as the Body of Christ with this topic? (serving & loving the poor)
This is one of those questions I’ll be chewing on for a bit. This is my first reaction….there will probably be more thoughts. I think we do an incredible job with this stuff when we’ve got our passport in our back pocket, our Nalgene filled with purified water, and when our feet are treading around in a foreign land somewhere. Ugh. I don’t like the way this is sounding, but I think it’s true. Why do we notice/see/serve the poor so much better abroad?
Last week as we were talking to our India team leaders, they shared with us that some of their students have started ministering in their free time to the population of homeless people that live at the local transit station in Calcutta near the team house. The issue is that they've been faced with some opposition. They have been directly addressed and strongly advised to not help these people because they are just free-loaders and they take advantage of the help that’s being given. This made me think about something…
I'm pretty sure that this situation is exactly the same here in the US. If a group of foreign exchange students came to the US and were living here for a short time and started a ministry to the homeless of Gainesville, would they be faced with the same scrutiny? I fear the answer might be yes.
So why is it that it’s ok in a foreign land but not your own? Why do we look at poor people differently in a foreign country and in our own backyard we think different about them? I don’t know. It’s not good. This isn’t judgmental, I’m in the same stinkin' boat. What have I done to serve those less fortunate here in Gainesville? It settles in my spirit about as well as food in India. Ugh.
Maybe it’s because when we’re somewhere besides “home,” it’s seen as a temporary thing. When we see the poor in our hometown this stuff hits too close to home.
Then I read through James 2:1-13 in The Message and he too speaks on this same topic. But I’m pretty sure James didn’t have parameters based on our physical location, at home or abroad, when he wrote this stuff. I'm reminded today that the poor are kinda a big deal in God's eyes. It's a good reminder of a perspective shift that's needed.
This is the stuff that's challenging me today as I continue to chew on this question: How well do you think we’re doing as the Body of Christ with this topic?
This is a solid thought, babe. I like this, “it’s because when we’re somewhere besides “home,” it’s seen as a temporary thing.” That is something I need to think on for a while.
Good word!
Grayson- this is so true. I appreciate your honesty. We’re all in the same boat…it’s something we will probably always be wrestling with. But I think it’s worth the battle. Can’t wait to see you in ATL in a few days!
Funny enough I was having this exact conversation during lunch today. I think God might have a theme across our community right now…. the question I’m wrestling with now is “How?” I think the simple answer is “just start.” Just say yes where I usually say no…. and then we’ll see what happens. That feels overwhelming….. and highly necessary.
Hm. Sometimes I feel like it’s dependent on how well we know them/their situation…. their- sin. Often times I believe the less we know of peoples situations the better, or more likely we are to help them.
Once we see they are milking the system, or that they’re addicts who’ve used up their relationships, burnt bridges and wasted tons of second chances we turn away.
I just wrote about this… it continues to make me examine how I put faces on sin and turn away, instead of be Jesus.
Thanks Kayla.
good word, kayla. and sometimes it is the sweet & shiny folks that i dodge from…because it does not appear temporary and I’m too insecure to go the distance with them. thank you. thank you.
“Bam”
As in, upside the head with a stick”bam”. Good stuff Kayla.
Powerful Kayla! WOW! You got my wheels turning! 🙂
xo
i’ve battled with the idea of serving people outside of ministry time just being in nairobi, taking a walk to java house, and feeling like i can either ignore impoverished mothers on a pedestrian footbridge, or sit down with them and share christ with them. i think jesus tells me to talk to them, but more often than not, i find myself shrinking back and not having the will to actually do something that he calls me to do, because it’s easy to excuse it as it’s not a “ministry time”