"Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
“All who see me laugh at me and mock me; they shoot out the lip, they shake their head saying, He trusted and rolled himself on the Lord, that He would deliver him. Let Him deliver him, seeing that He delights in him!
Yet You are He Who took me out of the womb; You made me hope and trust when I was on my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon You from my very birth; from my mother’s womb You have been my God.
Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is none to help. Many [foes like] bulls have surrounded me; strong bulls of Bashan have hedged me in. Against me they have opened their mouths wide, like a ravening and roaring lion.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is softened [with anguish] and melted down within me. My strength is dried up like a fragment of clay pottery; [with thirst] my tongue cleaves to my jaws; and You have brought me into the dust of death.
For [like a pack of] dogs they have encompassed me; a company of evildoers has encircled me, they pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; [the evildoers] gaze at me. They part my clothing among them and cast lots for my raiment…” (Psalms 22:7-18)
Jesus says in John 13:34, “Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another.”
And in John 15:12-13 He says, “This is My commandment: that you love one another [just] as I have loved you. No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends.”
“Lord I want to give you everything, this is my offering - all of me, this is my offering” sings
Philippians 2:5-8 says, “Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:] Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was for a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, but stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even death of the cross!”
And Psalm 44:11-18 says, “You have made us like sheep intended for mutton [food] and have scattered us in exile among the nations. You sell Your people for nothing, and have not increased Your wealth by their price.
You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those who are round about us. You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the heads among the people. My dishonor is before me all day long, and shame has covered my face at the words of the taunter and reviler, by reason of the enemy and the revengeful.
All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten You, neither have we been false to Your covenant [which You made with our fathers]. Our hearts are not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Your path.”
Commentary notes about this, “At other times in history there was a definite connection between suffering and sin. But in this particular case it was not so. It seemed instead that the people’s plight was due to the fact that they were God’s chosen people. It was a case of suffering for God and for His covenant. The calamities had come to a people who had not turned their backs on God or violated His covenant.” [1]
They suffered not as a result of their sin, but as a result of their faithfulness in bringing forth the gospel of Christ. Peter says in 1 Peter 2:19-24, “For one is regarded favorably (is approved, acceptable, and thank-worthy) if, as in the sight of God, he endures the pain of unjust suffering. [After all] what kind of glory [is there in it] if, when you do wrong and are punished for it, you take it patiently? But if you bear patiently with suffering [which results] when you do right and that is undeserved, it is acceptable and pleasing to God.
For even to this were you called [it is inseparable from your vocation]. For Christ also suffered for you, leaving you [His personal] example, so that you should follow in His footsteps. He was guilty of no sin, neither was deceit (guile) ever found on His lips. When He was reviled and insulted, He did not revile or offer insult in return; [when] He was abused and suffered, He made no threats [of vengeance]; but He trusted [Himself and everything] to Him Who judges fairly.
He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. Be His wounds you have been healed.”
Paul sets an example of following Jesus and bearing up under suffering for bringing forth the gospel (and not for sin). He tells the church in 1 Corinthians 4:10-13, “We are [looked upon as] fools on account of Christ and for His sake, but you are [supposedly] so amazingly wise and prudent in Christ! We are weak, but you are [so very] strong! You are highly esteemed, but we are in disrepute and contempt! To this hour we have gone both hungry and thirsty; we [habitually] wear but one undergarment [and shiver in the cold]; we are roughly knocked about and wonder around homeless.
And we still toil onto weariness [for our living], working hard with our own hands. When men revile us [wound us with an accursed sting], we bless them. When we are persecuted, we take it patiently and endure it. When we are slandered and defamed, we [try to] answer softly and bring comfort. We have been made and are now the rubbish and filth of the world [the offscouring of all things, the scum of the earth].”
We are to love as Jesus has loved us. Mother Teresa writes, “We must not be afraid to love. We must not be afraid to love until it hurts because love is giving until it hurts.” [2] Steve Hanson mentioned this last week when I was on a mission trip to Haiti that giving is supposed to hurt.
He noted John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” Mother Teresa writes, “Love has to be built on sacrifice. We have to give until it hurts.” [3]
“I'll be strong and courageous, I'll live my life for You and You alone my only King, because Your my God throughout the ages. Here am I. I am Yours. Send me” sings.
Steve Hanson had noted that it is not supposed to be only 10% of ourselves that we give but we are to give all of ourselves to others until it hurts. Mother Teresa writes about the poor, “And we cannot serve them just by giving them a few dollars or a few rupees from the abundance. We must give until it hurts. We must give our heart to love them and our hands to serve them whoever they may be, wherever they may be.” [4]
Mother Teresa notes, “We must give until it hurts. For love to be true it has to hurt. It hurt Jesus to love us; it hurt God to love us because He had to give. He gave His Son…” [5]
So who are the poor we are to serve? One author, Aristide, in his book, “Eyes of the Heart,” notes that at the time we entered this century, there were 1.3 billion people living on less than one dollar a day and half the population (3 billion people) living on less than two dollars a day. He notes that the top 20% of the population held 86% of the wealth and that this was an ever growing percentage of accumulation of wealth.[6]
One can lack economic resources and still be incredibly rich. They can give freely out of the abundance of their soul while not having anything financial to offer. I met people like this in Haiti. People who lacked financial resources but were full of joy, generosity, wisdom and love.
One particular individual comes to mind. While financially he may not have been considered among the wealthy or privileged, he clearly was incredibly spiritually rich. He poured out love, acceptance, and hospitality to us and others around him. The joy on his face radiated the richness of his soul. He gave of himself to us by serving, accepting and loving us.
One can be rich in God's wisdom of God and economically very poor. Solomon had taken note of someone like this. Ecclesiastes 9:13-15a says, “There was a little city with few men in it. And a great king came against it and besieged it and built great bulwarks against it. But there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city.”
However, lacking financial resources often causes other suffering in the ones who lack. Aristide writes, “Behind this crisis of dollars there is a human crisis: among the poor, immeasurable human suffering...”[7]
Often those who are financially poor lack access to resources they need. They fail to receive adequate nutrition, medical care, housing, and other assistance. They also lack access to education opportunities that would help empower them and advance them and their children. They lack conveniences of technology, cars, dishwashers, washing machines, etc. that free up ones time and empower. They are reduced to a life of struggling just to survive day to day with no hope of future change.
Aristide writes that we have not reached the consensus that to eat is a basic human right and not a privilege for those who can afford it. He notes that this is an ethical crisis.”[8]
We live in a global economy and societies that cater to the privileged and those who have wealth. We have 16 choices of flavors for our morning blend of coffee. At the same time, statistics report that even in 2012, children die every day due to malnutrition. And 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water -approximately one in eight people.[9]
Aristide writes, “Global capitalism becomes a machine devouring our planet. The little finger, the men and women of the poorest 20%, are reduced to cogs in this machine, the bottom rung in global production, valued only as cheap labor, otherwise altogether disposable.” [10]
Besides lacking economic resources, people who are financially poor are often treated poorly. They are not given the human dignity and respect that they deserve. As people in the world value wealth and those who are economically successful, people who lack resources are often looked down upon and not heeded.
Ecclesiastes 9:15b-17 goes on to say about the wise poor man who saved the city, “Yet no man [seriously] remembered that poor man. But I say that wisdom is better than might, thought he poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heeded. The words of wise men heard in quiet are better than the shouts of him who rules among fools.”
People will follow along without question the person who drives an expensive car and wears expensive clothing. Often people immediately try to impress people who have privilege and power. However, they are also quick to question or look down upon someone who cannot afford these.
Most people will not seek out someone who is in economic poverty for advice or take their advice to heart. People in poverty can feel like they are not capable of making a good decision for themselves and look to others that are further up on the economic line to make their decisions for them.
However, ones financial position does not necissarily correlate with poverty. There are many people who are financially wealthy and have many privileges that are poor spiritually. They lack capacity to make wise decisions and/or are in bondage to addictions.
Mother Teresa speaks of the poor as all those who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, thrown away, rejected in society. They are those who have lost their human dignity, disregarded and are considered the lepers of society. [11] They are those who are desperately in need of love.
We live in a society that puts people in a line rather than a circle. We frequently put those with more privileges or power above us and those with less underneath or below us. Then we follow those 'above' and feel we have a right and knowledge to direct those who are 'below' us. Someone 'above' with privilege and power feels superior to someone 'below.'
There are several examples of living in a line in history with devastating results. Hitler justified extermination of the Jewish people on the grounds of Germany's superiority. Hitler and Nazi followers viewed life in a line where those who are superior win out and crush those underneath them – creating a superior race. Superiority is also the basis of Darwin's theories.
When one puts themselves and others in a line, they cannot love them because they are constantly comparing and competing. God did not make some people superior and others inferior. God gave all people gifts and created them in His image. The weakest part of the body that is most vulnerable is as valuable to the whole body as the strongest part (1 Corinthians 12:22). Both have something to add.
When one sees themselves as superior and others as inferior, they feel justified in oppressing others for their own gain. Solomon made the mistake of using his privilege and wealth to oppress the people for his own gain. He was more concerned with being world renown for his 'wisdom' than bringing the kingdom of God forth and serving the people. (1 Kings 10:23-24)
Often people view the world out of lenses of what Steven Covey calls a “scarcity mentality.” It is one where there are only so many pieces of the pie. We have to fight to get a piece and then protect what we have. This leads to comparison, competition and diminishing others for ones own gain.
Steven Covey talks about rather seeing the world out a lenses of an “abundance mentality.” This is where as we let go of what we have to serve others, the pie just gets bigger. We do not need to protect what we have or compare and compete with others for more. Those who have the greatest piece of the pie are in a position to empower, care for, and serve those with less so that they might have more for themselves.
So how would it look to see others as completing them in fulfilling a greater mission of good rather than competing with them for resources, power and privilege? What if rather than competing with and oppressing those who are beneath in a line, one clearly sees all others as their equals in God's eyes?
Even in some churches, I have seen privilege and power used at times to control others rather than serve others for their benefit. [a] How does it look to use one's resources, privilege and power to build up and empower others with less rather than diminish or oppress them? And what does it look like to give until it hurts?
The clock reads 3:33pm.
I think it starts with changing our paradigm. Steven Covey once noted that our behaviors are based our paradigm of the world. To change our behaviors, we need to change our paradigm. We need to change from one that maintains a scarcity mentality based upon economic resources and has ourselves at the center, seeing people in a line to one that maintains an abundance mentality and has God at the center, seeing people in a circle.
“How could I stand here and watch the sun rise, follow the mountains where they touch the sky, Ponder the vastness and the depths of the sea and think for a moment the point of it all was to make much of me. Cause I'm just a whisper and You are the thunder and I want to make much of You, Jesus; I want to make much of Your love” sings in the background.
When we have God at the center of our lives, [b] we naturally love what He loves – other people. We can see people how they were created to be. They are not objects to be used for our own advantage. Rather each person is a work of God. They are His poem, His masterpiece. Each has tremendous value.
Lord, forgive me where I have had a scarcity mentality or saw people in a line rather than a circle. Forgive me wherever I have protected or used my privileges, power, and/or resources for my own personal gain rather than empowering others.
Give us an abundance mentality and empower us to use all that we have to serve others. Teach us to give generously of our heart, time, gifts and resources until in genuinely hurts. We long to look more like You.
a. Oppression of others can be as subtle as protecting ones own resources at another's expense. This happened with agricultural subsidies. As one learns in economics class in college, subsidies protect our farmers ability to produce which protects our food supply in America. However, 'protecting' ourselves in this way has also oppressed others.
Aristide noted that the impact of American subsidies of rice on Haiti's population was devastating. He wrote, “Haiti, under intense pressure from the international lending institutions, stopped protecting its domestic agriculture while subsidies to the U.S. rice industry increased. A hungry nation became hungrier.” [12]
The Wikipedia notes about subsidies, “The impact of agricultural subsidies in developed countries upon developing-country farmers and international development is well documented. Agricultural subsidies depress world prices and mean that unsubsidised developing-country farmers cannot compete; and the effects on poverty are particularly negative when subsidies are provided for crops that are also grown in developing countries since developing-country farmers must then compete directly with subsidised developed-country farmers...” [13]
Also, having wealth and privilege can mislead one to think that they know better than those who don't have wealth and privilege on how things could best be done. Giving can be done in a way that creates more problems and pain than it does benefit for the people it is supposed to serve when one tries to conform others to their ways by their giving or has hooks attached to their giving.
Aristide describes a situation where international agencies convinced Haiti's peasants that there pigs were sick and had to be killed so that they did not spread disease to other countries. These Creole pigs were extremely important to the economy and hearty -made for their environment. They ate waste products and could survive for three days without food.
Haitians were promised that better pigs would be given to them to replace these pigs when they were exterminated. Two years later, they were given pigs that required clean drinking water (unavailable to most the population) and food that cost $90 a year when the per capita income was only $130. The result was devastating to the economy. [14]
Additionally, sometimes giving does not empower but creates dependance. When one is given resources out of pity, a dependance can be created that does not help the person. In Haiti, some street kids have found that they can enjoy the freedom of running the streets freely while begging for money. Giving the street kids money because one feels sorry for them rather than figuring out how to truly help them only rewards begging and further encourages them to continue in their current way of living.
When I was in Israel on a tour some years ago, I was approached on occasion by young children who wanted a dollar. They sometimes even offered a postcard in return. I was told not to give them any money. What would sometimes happen is that their parents or guardians would keep them out of school and teach them to beg for money from tourists. By giving them money the parents/guardians were being rewarded and encouraged to keep their children from school.
Sometimes the issue is not that one is giving in a way that creates dependance, but that one is giving out of guilt, pressure, manipulation or another motive.
b. When we have God at the center and can see the world in a different light, we naturally respond to him in generosity to others. Giving generously is a response from the heart towards God.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. 'For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.'"
This verse speaks that giving needs to be done from the heart rather than from other motives or pressure from outside. Giving is a response from the heart towards God. It is not a burdensome duty to love God with all our heart, time and resources – it is an act of worship.
“A heart called to worship” sings in the background.
In Exodus 25:2 the Lord says, "Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give.”
And in 1 Chronicles 29:9 it says, “The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly.”
The focus of our giving needs to flow from our heart and relationship with God. As God pours his life into us, it is out of the over-abundance that we give to others. Giving needs to be motivated by love – love from God, love of God and sharing this love with others.
Giving to earn God's or other's approval does not benefit us. Giving to be viewed as a 'good person' or to earn our way into heaven will never gain us anything. 1 Corinthians 13:3 says, “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
When we give of ourselves, our gifts, our time, our resources and our heart out of worship, God does promise to prosper our efforts. In Deuteronomy 15:10, Moses tells the people to be generous towards their needy brother. He says, “Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.”
And where this loving and generous giving needs to begin is within our own family. Mother Teresa writes, “what I want from you is that when we look together and we see the poor in our own family, that we begin at home to love until it hurts. That we have a ready smile, that we have time for our people.” [15]
She goes on to write, “So I think it is good for us to begin to love at home. Then once we have learned to love with the love that hurts, then we will be able to give that love, our eyes will open up, we’ll see, we’ll see. Very often, we look but we don’t see or we see and we don’t want to look, and so let us begin to practice at home. That tender love for our people, the husband for the wife, for the children, for the people working in your factory.” [16]
1. MacDonald, William ; Farstad, Arthur: Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1995, S. Ps 44:17
2-5, 11, 15, 16. Mother Teresa. “Where There Is Love, There is God.” Random House, Inc. New York, NY. 2010.
6-8, 10, 12, 14. Aristide, Jean-Bertrand. Eyes of the heart: seeking a path for the poor in the age of globalization. Common Courage Press, Monroe, ME. 2000.
9. Water. UNICEF/WHO. 2008. Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special Focus on Sanitation. Taken from statistics at: http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water/. Last Accessed: 1/23/11.
13. Wikipedia. Agricultural Subsidy. Located at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_subsidies. Last Accessed: 1/23/11.
Yet You are He Who took me out of the womb; You made me hope and trust when I was on my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon You from my very birth; from my mother’s womb You have been my God.
Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is none to help. Many [foes like] bulls have surrounded me; strong bulls of Bashan have hedged me in. Against me they have opened their mouths wide, like a ravening and roaring lion.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is softened [with anguish] and melted down within me. My strength is dried up like a fragment of clay pottery; [with thirst] my tongue cleaves to my jaws; and You have brought me into the dust of death.
For [like a pack of] dogs they have encompassed me; a company of evildoers has encircled me, they pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; [the evildoers] gaze at me. They part my clothing among them and cast lots for my raiment…” (Psalms 22:7-18)
Jesus says in John 13:34, “Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another.”
And in John 15:12-13 He says, “This is My commandment: that you love one another [just] as I have loved you. No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends.”
“Lord I want to give you everything, this is my offering - all of me, this is my offering” sings
Philippians 2:5-8 says, “Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:] Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was for a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, but stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even death of the cross!”
And Psalm 44:11-18 says, “You have made us like sheep intended for mutton [food] and have scattered us in exile among the nations. You sell Your people for nothing, and have not increased Your wealth by their price.
You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those who are round about us. You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the heads among the people. My dishonor is before me all day long, and shame has covered my face at the words of the taunter and reviler, by reason of the enemy and the revengeful.
All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten You, neither have we been false to Your covenant [which You made with our fathers]. Our hearts are not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Your path.”
Commentary notes about this, “At other times in history there was a definite connection between suffering and sin. But in this particular case it was not so. It seemed instead that the people’s plight was due to the fact that they were God’s chosen people. It was a case of suffering for God and for His covenant. The calamities had come to a people who had not turned their backs on God or violated His covenant.” [1]
They suffered not as a result of their sin, but as a result of their faithfulness in bringing forth the gospel of Christ. Peter says in 1 Peter 2:19-24, “For one is regarded favorably (is approved, acceptable, and thank-worthy) if, as in the sight of God, he endures the pain of unjust suffering. [After all] what kind of glory [is there in it] if, when you do wrong and are punished for it, you take it patiently? But if you bear patiently with suffering [which results] when you do right and that is undeserved, it is acceptable and pleasing to God.
For even to this were you called [it is inseparable from your vocation]. For Christ also suffered for you, leaving you [His personal] example, so that you should follow in His footsteps. He was guilty of no sin, neither was deceit (guile) ever found on His lips. When He was reviled and insulted, He did not revile or offer insult in return; [when] He was abused and suffered, He made no threats [of vengeance]; but He trusted [Himself and everything] to Him Who judges fairly.
He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. Be His wounds you have been healed.”
Paul sets an example of following Jesus and bearing up under suffering for bringing forth the gospel (and not for sin). He tells the church in 1 Corinthians 4:10-13, “We are [looked upon as] fools on account of Christ and for His sake, but you are [supposedly] so amazingly wise and prudent in Christ! We are weak, but you are [so very] strong! You are highly esteemed, but we are in disrepute and contempt! To this hour we have gone both hungry and thirsty; we [habitually] wear but one undergarment [and shiver in the cold]; we are roughly knocked about and wonder around homeless.
And we still toil onto weariness [for our living], working hard with our own hands. When men revile us [wound us with an accursed sting], we bless them. When we are persecuted, we take it patiently and endure it. When we are slandered and defamed, we [try to] answer softly and bring comfort. We have been made and are now the rubbish and filth of the world [the offscouring of all things, the scum of the earth].”
We are to love as Jesus has loved us. Mother Teresa writes, “We must not be afraid to love. We must not be afraid to love until it hurts because love is giving until it hurts.” [2] Steve Hanson mentioned this last week when I was on a mission trip to Haiti that giving is supposed to hurt.
He noted John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” Mother Teresa writes, “Love has to be built on sacrifice. We have to give until it hurts.” [3]
“I'll be strong and courageous, I'll live my life for You and You alone my only King, because Your my God throughout the ages. Here am I. I am Yours. Send me” sings.
Steve Hanson had noted that it is not supposed to be only 10% of ourselves that we give but we are to give all of ourselves to others until it hurts. Mother Teresa writes about the poor, “And we cannot serve them just by giving them a few dollars or a few rupees from the abundance. We must give until it hurts. We must give our heart to love them and our hands to serve them whoever they may be, wherever they may be.” [4]
Mother Teresa notes, “We must give until it hurts. For love to be true it has to hurt. It hurt Jesus to love us; it hurt God to love us because He had to give. He gave His Son…” [5]
So who are the poor we are to serve? One author, Aristide, in his book, “Eyes of the Heart,” notes that at the time we entered this century, there were 1.3 billion people living on less than one dollar a day and half the population (3 billion people) living on less than two dollars a day. He notes that the top 20% of the population held 86% of the wealth and that this was an ever growing percentage of accumulation of wealth.[6]
One can lack economic resources and still be incredibly rich. They can give freely out of the abundance of their soul while not having anything financial to offer. I met people like this in Haiti. People who lacked financial resources but were full of joy, generosity, wisdom and love.
One particular individual comes to mind. While financially he may not have been considered among the wealthy or privileged, he clearly was incredibly spiritually rich. He poured out love, acceptance, and hospitality to us and others around him. The joy on his face radiated the richness of his soul. He gave of himself to us by serving, accepting and loving us.
One can be rich in God's wisdom of God and economically very poor. Solomon had taken note of someone like this. Ecclesiastes 9:13-15a says, “There was a little city with few men in it. And a great king came against it and besieged it and built great bulwarks against it. But there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city.”
However, lacking financial resources often causes other suffering in the ones who lack. Aristide writes, “Behind this crisis of dollars there is a human crisis: among the poor, immeasurable human suffering...”[7]
Often those who are financially poor lack access to resources they need. They fail to receive adequate nutrition, medical care, housing, and other assistance. They also lack access to education opportunities that would help empower them and advance them and their children. They lack conveniences of technology, cars, dishwashers, washing machines, etc. that free up ones time and empower. They are reduced to a life of struggling just to survive day to day with no hope of future change.
Aristide writes that we have not reached the consensus that to eat is a basic human right and not a privilege for those who can afford it. He notes that this is an ethical crisis.”[8]
We live in a global economy and societies that cater to the privileged and those who have wealth. We have 16 choices of flavors for our morning blend of coffee. At the same time, statistics report that even in 2012, children die every day due to malnutrition. And 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water -approximately one in eight people.[9]
Aristide writes, “Global capitalism becomes a machine devouring our planet. The little finger, the men and women of the poorest 20%, are reduced to cogs in this machine, the bottom rung in global production, valued only as cheap labor, otherwise altogether disposable.” [10]
Besides lacking economic resources, people who are financially poor are often treated poorly. They are not given the human dignity and respect that they deserve. As people in the world value wealth and those who are economically successful, people who lack resources are often looked down upon and not heeded.
Ecclesiastes 9:15b-17 goes on to say about the wise poor man who saved the city, “Yet no man [seriously] remembered that poor man. But I say that wisdom is better than might, thought he poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heeded. The words of wise men heard in quiet are better than the shouts of him who rules among fools.”
People will follow along without question the person who drives an expensive car and wears expensive clothing. Often people immediately try to impress people who have privilege and power. However, they are also quick to question or look down upon someone who cannot afford these.
Most people will not seek out someone who is in economic poverty for advice or take their advice to heart. People in poverty can feel like they are not capable of making a good decision for themselves and look to others that are further up on the economic line to make their decisions for them.
However, ones financial position does not necissarily correlate with poverty. There are many people who are financially wealthy and have many privileges that are poor spiritually. They lack capacity to make wise decisions and/or are in bondage to addictions.
Mother Teresa speaks of the poor as all those who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, thrown away, rejected in society. They are those who have lost their human dignity, disregarded and are considered the lepers of society. [11] They are those who are desperately in need of love.
We live in a society that puts people in a line rather than a circle. We frequently put those with more privileges or power above us and those with less underneath or below us. Then we follow those 'above' and feel we have a right and knowledge to direct those who are 'below' us. Someone 'above' with privilege and power feels superior to someone 'below.'
There are several examples of living in a line in history with devastating results. Hitler justified extermination of the Jewish people on the grounds of Germany's superiority. Hitler and Nazi followers viewed life in a line where those who are superior win out and crush those underneath them – creating a superior race. Superiority is also the basis of Darwin's theories.
When one puts themselves and others in a line, they cannot love them because they are constantly comparing and competing. God did not make some people superior and others inferior. God gave all people gifts and created them in His image. The weakest part of the body that is most vulnerable is as valuable to the whole body as the strongest part (1 Corinthians 12:22). Both have something to add.
When one sees themselves as superior and others as inferior, they feel justified in oppressing others for their own gain. Solomon made the mistake of using his privilege and wealth to oppress the people for his own gain. He was more concerned with being world renown for his 'wisdom' than bringing the kingdom of God forth and serving the people. (1 Kings 10:23-24)
Often people view the world out of lenses of what Steven Covey calls a “scarcity mentality.” It is one where there are only so many pieces of the pie. We have to fight to get a piece and then protect what we have. This leads to comparison, competition and diminishing others for ones own gain.
Steven Covey talks about rather seeing the world out a lenses of an “abundance mentality.” This is where as we let go of what we have to serve others, the pie just gets bigger. We do not need to protect what we have or compare and compete with others for more. Those who have the greatest piece of the pie are in a position to empower, care for, and serve those with less so that they might have more for themselves.
So how would it look to see others as completing them in fulfilling a greater mission of good rather than competing with them for resources, power and privilege? What if rather than competing with and oppressing those who are beneath in a line, one clearly sees all others as their equals in God's eyes?
Even in some churches, I have seen privilege and power used at times to control others rather than serve others for their benefit. [a] How does it look to use one's resources, privilege and power to build up and empower others with less rather than diminish or oppress them? And what does it look like to give until it hurts?
The clock reads 3:33pm.
I think it starts with changing our paradigm. Steven Covey once noted that our behaviors are based our paradigm of the world. To change our behaviors, we need to change our paradigm. We need to change from one that maintains a scarcity mentality based upon economic resources and has ourselves at the center, seeing people in a line to one that maintains an abundance mentality and has God at the center, seeing people in a circle.
“How could I stand here and watch the sun rise, follow the mountains where they touch the sky, Ponder the vastness and the depths of the sea and think for a moment the point of it all was to make much of me. Cause I'm just a whisper and You are the thunder and I want to make much of You, Jesus; I want to make much of Your love” sings in the background.
When we have God at the center of our lives, [b] we naturally love what He loves – other people. We can see people how they were created to be. They are not objects to be used for our own advantage. Rather each person is a work of God. They are His poem, His masterpiece. Each has tremendous value.
Lord, forgive me where I have had a scarcity mentality or saw people in a line rather than a circle. Forgive me wherever I have protected or used my privileges, power, and/or resources for my own personal gain rather than empowering others.
Give us an abundance mentality and empower us to use all that we have to serve others. Teach us to give generously of our heart, time, gifts and resources until in genuinely hurts. We long to look more like You.
a. Oppression of others can be as subtle as protecting ones own resources at another's expense. This happened with agricultural subsidies. As one learns in economics class in college, subsidies protect our farmers ability to produce which protects our food supply in America. However, 'protecting' ourselves in this way has also oppressed others.
Aristide noted that the impact of American subsidies of rice on Haiti's population was devastating. He wrote, “Haiti, under intense pressure from the international lending institutions, stopped protecting its domestic agriculture while subsidies to the U.S. rice industry increased. A hungry nation became hungrier.” [12]
The Wikipedia notes about subsidies, “The impact of agricultural subsidies in developed countries upon developing-country farmers and international development is well documented. Agricultural subsidies depress world prices and mean that unsubsidised developing-country farmers cannot compete; and the effects on poverty are particularly negative when subsidies are provided for crops that are also grown in developing countries since developing-country farmers must then compete directly with subsidised developed-country farmers...” [13]
Also, having wealth and privilege can mislead one to think that they know better than those who don't have wealth and privilege on how things could best be done. Giving can be done in a way that creates more problems and pain than it does benefit for the people it is supposed to serve when one tries to conform others to their ways by their giving or has hooks attached to their giving.
Aristide describes a situation where international agencies convinced Haiti's peasants that there pigs were sick and had to be killed so that they did not spread disease to other countries. These Creole pigs were extremely important to the economy and hearty -made for their environment. They ate waste products and could survive for three days without food.
Haitians were promised that better pigs would be given to them to replace these pigs when they were exterminated. Two years later, they were given pigs that required clean drinking water (unavailable to most the population) and food that cost $90 a year when the per capita income was only $130. The result was devastating to the economy. [14]
Additionally, sometimes giving does not empower but creates dependance. When one is given resources out of pity, a dependance can be created that does not help the person. In Haiti, some street kids have found that they can enjoy the freedom of running the streets freely while begging for money. Giving the street kids money because one feels sorry for them rather than figuring out how to truly help them only rewards begging and further encourages them to continue in their current way of living.
When I was in Israel on a tour some years ago, I was approached on occasion by young children who wanted a dollar. They sometimes even offered a postcard in return. I was told not to give them any money. What would sometimes happen is that their parents or guardians would keep them out of school and teach them to beg for money from tourists. By giving them money the parents/guardians were being rewarded and encouraged to keep their children from school.
Sometimes the issue is not that one is giving in a way that creates dependance, but that one is giving out of guilt, pressure, manipulation or another motive.
b. When we have God at the center and can see the world in a different light, we naturally respond to him in generosity to others. Giving generously is a response from the heart towards God.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. 'For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.'"
This verse speaks that giving needs to be done from the heart rather than from other motives or pressure from outside. Giving is a response from the heart towards God. It is not a burdensome duty to love God with all our heart, time and resources – it is an act of worship.
“A heart called to worship” sings in the background.
In Exodus 25:2 the Lord says, "Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give.”
And in 1 Chronicles 29:9 it says, “The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly.”
The focus of our giving needs to flow from our heart and relationship with God. As God pours his life into us, it is out of the over-abundance that we give to others. Giving needs to be motivated by love – love from God, love of God and sharing this love with others.
Giving to earn God's or other's approval does not benefit us. Giving to be viewed as a 'good person' or to earn our way into heaven will never gain us anything. 1 Corinthians 13:3 says, “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
When we give of ourselves, our gifts, our time, our resources and our heart out of worship, God does promise to prosper our efforts. In Deuteronomy 15:10, Moses tells the people to be generous towards their needy brother. He says, “Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.”
And where this loving and generous giving needs to begin is within our own family. Mother Teresa writes, “what I want from you is that when we look together and we see the poor in our own family, that we begin at home to love until it hurts. That we have a ready smile, that we have time for our people.” [15]
She goes on to write, “So I think it is good for us to begin to love at home. Then once we have learned to love with the love that hurts, then we will be able to give that love, our eyes will open up, we’ll see, we’ll see. Very often, we look but we don’t see or we see and we don’t want to look, and so let us begin to practice at home. That tender love for our people, the husband for the wife, for the children, for the people working in your factory.” [16]
1. MacDonald, William ; Farstad, Arthur: Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1995, S. Ps 44:17
2-5, 11, 15, 16. Mother Teresa. “Where There Is Love, There is God.” Random House, Inc. New York, NY. 2010.
6-8, 10, 12, 14. Aristide, Jean-Bertrand. Eyes of the heart: seeking a path for the poor in the age of globalization. Common Courage Press, Monroe, ME. 2000.
9. Water. UNICEF/WHO. 2008. Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special Focus on Sanitation. Taken from statistics at: http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water/. Last Accessed: 1/23/11.
13. Wikipedia. Agricultural Subsidy. Located at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_subsidies. Last Accessed: 1/23/11.
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