Nothing more really needs to be said; however, some may need additional moral reasoning around this issue. So let's go.
A couple of questionable arguments get made at this point. One is that we all are
needy; therefore, no special preference needs to be made to anyone or group. Is it not naive to think that the "well-off", in general, suffer as much as the poor and the oppressed? Come with me over to visit Will to the right. Look into his eyes. His basic physical needs are not being met. He goes hungry toward the end of every month. In the winter, he was cold because they did not have enough blankets and their dark, mold infested house had no heat. They had to run all four burners on the stove to heat the place, causing $300 gas bills. Do they pay the gas bill or buy food? His birthday was yesterday. He had no cake, no presents, no party. He had no toys to play with. His living situation - 7 people in a 2 bedroom duplex - is contributing to his behavioral outbursts. He is frequently in trouble and crying. Compare him to the kids in the well-off neighborhoods.If everyone is suffering then nobody is suffering. If suffering is disproportionate, then should not the effort be directed disproportionately? The healthy do not need a physician.
If there is any validity to this, then reaching out to your neighbor, as good at that may be, is not the same as reaching out to the poor and suffering. It also suggests that the well-off Jesus followers, who tend to hang out with the well-off, will need to put some well-directed, intentional effort into reaching out to the poor and oppressed. Pay someone to plant the church flowers. Let’s use our time to be compassionate.
5 comments:
From press release today from the Secretary of Education regarding high school drop out rates:
"Nationwide, only half of African American and Hispanic students graduate from high school on time. That’s unacceptable, especially now that 90% of our fastest-growing jobs require education or training beyond high school."
All things are not equal.
its not a racial thing, it is a poverty thing. but it just so happens that a disproportionate amount of minorities are living in poverty or in poor areas/neighborhoods. so then it may be a racial thing, but the poor white folks aint graduating high school either.
but what do we do about it or can we do anything about it? these folks drop out because they have to either work, have no families to help them so they find families on the streets or they become involved in drugs. the other half graduate but how do we stop this cycle or help this cycle to stop, because no matter how many beds we build (which i am not criticizing at all), they still live in these environments. we cant relocate them away from the drugs on the streets, the areas where violence is greater, and the educational resources are less.
I agree it is a poverty thing. That is why things are not equal.
What to do about it? We pay attention. We listen to what God has already said to us in the bible. We push back the distractions and listen to the deepest part of our being where the Spirit will speak to us some more.
We do whatever moral reasoning that needs to be done (which is what we are doing here), but then we obey what we hear.
We don't know what to do? We find someone who does and join them. We put forth intentional, well-directed effort with the attitude that His grace will be enough for us to engage in the task.
As Jesus said, the harvest is ripe, we need to pray for workers. If the sleeping giant would wake up, we could make a huge dent in the situation without breaking a sweat.
We are working with William and his family now. If the body at Grace got behind them, we could do a whole lot for this family without missing a beat at Grace. We could help William problem solve on how to meet his families basic needs. We could give them assistance as appropriate. We could mentor him spiritually and with life issues. We could develop relationships with him and his family. We could invite them over and let them see another model of family life. We could build them beds so that they each can sleep in their own bed. We could speak words of life and light to the kids.
Who will hear God's calling to do this? Pray that people at Grace will.
Imagine if others Jesus followers also started doing this with other families.
I've chosen my side. I am with Jesus. I want to learn to love like he did and speak words of life like he did. And I want to join with others who want to learn to do this with me. Let's go visit William and love him and his family.
yeah, i agree with what you say. i was a little pessimistic in my post. haha. maybe i was speaking of the overall problem and policies that could be put in place. but hey thats what sociology classes do to you!
what would it look like if grace or any church/community of people did that for a family, especially one in william's situation. that would be amazing! it has to be from the people and not the government.
Unfortunately, you are talking "what if."
Since the people are not doing it, shouldn't the government do it?
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