Joel and I have recently been considering the plight of the poor and marginalized people in the developing world. We've come to realize that this is through our study of scripture that God is passionate about justice for the poor and oppressed.
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked clothe him..." Isa 58:6,7
Religion that God our Father accepts is as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world Jas 1:27
In fact Jesus even says that whatever you do not do for one of these people it is as though you have chosen not to do it for him.
If we are to truly love our neighbours as we love ourselves then we will do for them what we would want done for ourselves. I know that if I was dying from malnourishment in Africa I would want people in the western world do something to help me.
We been trying to evaluate what we can do to help even if in only small ways. Some of the things that we've been doing include trying to cut back what we buy to only the bare bone essentials so that we can share more, boycotting cash crops and those who produce them, boycotting Nestle and it's subsidiaries, eating less meat for cost and protein waste reasons, sharing about justice with others, and reading about strategies for how we can help in bigger picture sort-of ways.
Do any of you have comments on what more we could do or how we might be misguided? When we look back we are amazed at how seduced we were/are by our culture. What we ate/eat, value, spend time on, and spend money on have not been dictated by what will most please God but more by what will most please us. We know that there must be so many other things that we have given more value to then those in need so I ask you to give us guidance on how we might better serve others. We also want to consider where we spend your energy. If we do something to primarily please ourselves then I think that it needs careful evaluation. We are not free to do as we choose but are slaves whose primary goal should be to serve our master and further his purposes. Whenever we fail to make our master's priorities first in our lives we sin.
I long for the day when the struggle to be a slave to righteousness ends and I can find perfection in Christ. Only God can help me persevere.
Posted by rose at July 4, 2004 10:53 PMHow we may be misguided?
Following your heart and exercising love and compassion and understanding, and acceptance of others seems to fall in second place to following a book which has been warped by mankind and used to perpetrate so much violence and evil. We all find god in different ways - no one would be condemned to eternal damnation just because a white person didn't let them know about god. Think about your motives and the outcomes. Remember that idealism isn't reality. Respect other religions rather than condemning them. Be OPEN MINDED. Walk a mile in someone else's shoes. Keep your ears and eyes open, and stop imposing your will on others. I think people should try to be like Jesus, even though I don't necessarily believe the story, he is beautiful. Jesus would NEVER stand outside and verbally abuse women who are in pain. Ever. It doesn't spread love, only hate.
Posted by: at January 24, 2005 08:33 PM