You Might Be Poor and Not Even Know It!

I read a parable once that depicted an interesting scenario. Imagine you're enjoying a grill-out in your backyard with your family when an Escalade limousine pulls up in front and a well-dressed group emerges. Immediately they begin snapping photos with their cameras as they explore your property, commenting on simple living. "What is that?" "A lawnmower - they walk behind and push it to cut their grass." "They cut their own grass?! And is that what they cook on?!" As they take pictures of the grill and walk back to their escort vehicle you hear them exclaim how the people back at Super-Rich Elite Church will really enjoy seeing the photos of such a poor area.

Still enjoying the barbecue?

Back when I first visited other countries considered less developed than my own, I took photos of the homes and living conditions, partially due to the simple fact that they were different from the U.S. Yet part of the reason came from the thought, "This is how the people live? What unfortunate circumstances!" Then when I returned I could show others the poverty I experienced.

But now I've realized something.

Who Is Poor?

I am not against abundance, technology, comfort, and convenience in itself. Rather, I consider much of it to be a blessing from God and evidence of Him giving people wisdom in making advancements in society. Additionally, I did observe true material poverty, where people lack adequate food, clothing, and shelter. By all means, we ought to seek ways to alleviate those issues and help villages and nations develop - as long as "develop" doesn't mean "make them live like us."

A well-constructed basketball hoop

Outside of a lack of basic needs, people don't seem to be all that concerned with what they don't have until they grow up with exposure to outside influences. They may struggle to buy food and necessities, but in developed countries (like the U.S.) people struggle to buy things they don't need. Who's better off?

Kids I spent time with in the Philippines may play games with flip-flops rather than with the latest gaming console or remote-control car, but they sure seem happy doing so. They may not go on nice vacations, but I'm envious of the close community they have. I no longer want to take photos demonstrating their "primitive" lifestyles but instead wish I could capture the richness of their lives. Rather than be the all-American hero coming to lift people out of their desperate helplessness, I now recognize my own poverty more clearly. Having an abundance of resources certainly enables one to assist others, but I can enter in a materially poor area as an equal, eager to learn about their strengths.

Redefining Poverty

Jesus has a different, or perhaps extended, definition of poverty.

"I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor blind, and naked." -Revelation 3:15-17

There lies the danger in material blessings. Our piles of stuff and abundance tend to blind us of our own poverty and true need and dependence on God. While our physical needs may be met, how can we remain poor, hungry, and thirsty as Jesus instructs?

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven...Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." -Matthew 5:3,6

Taking a vow of poverty won't make me more holy. But recognizing that all I have has been given to me makes me more grateful and generous, along with providing a proper humility. I pray that in my abundance I would still remain fully aware of my need and remain free from a "god-complex" where I see myself as superior due to material wealth. While I may be physically full, I pray my hunger and thirst for righteousness would only grow.

"The Poor You Always Have With You"

-said Jesus (John 12:8).

Similarly, in Deuteronomy 15:11 God says, "For there will never cease to be poor in the land." I could use these verses to say Jesus doesn't care about the poor, or maybe that as long as we save souls we need not be concerned about a person's physical state on earth. Of course, taking verses out of context has led to countless errors in applying God's word.

A village school

The rest of verse 11 reads, "Therefore I command you, 'You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land."

Additionally, if you observe Jesus' life you'll see quite the opposite of neglect for physical needs. He constantly healed the sick and improved people's lives in the here and now in addition to directing people to eternal life.

Quite a contradiction appears to exist in Deuteronomy 15:4, where God says to Israel, "But there will be no poor among you..." How can this be? There will be no poor, yet there will never cease to be poor? A land free of poverty was the ideal for ancient Israel as God blessed them abundantly...if  they obeyed His commands. As God's people they were called to showcase what His kingdom would be like. Unfortunately, they fell short of this ideal due to disobedience.

Today, enough money and resources exist in the world to lift the materially poor out of physical poverty. Why then is my friend prostituting herself seven nights a week in Bangkok to send money home to her family? Why is a man I recently met living in a shack and working illegally in a country not his own? Poverty is not simply a result of lacking things; therefore, sending money or resources often won't have a lasting impact. Broken relationships, broken systems, and a broken connection with our Creator result in poverty. As a follower of Christ, how do I respond?

One error that permeates religious communities was addressed by Jesus. "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God" (Luke 11:42). Believers have a tendency to become this way, developing a greater concern for piety than for reflecting God's heart. "These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others" (v.42).

When the prophet Isaiah spoke to the people of Israel, they were actively performing religious activity and spiritual disciplines - offering sacrifices, singing songs of praise, and even fasting. Yet their hearts remained distant from God. A primary manifestation of hearts devoted to God is not religious activity, but reconciliation - repairing what sin has broken. God declares, "...seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause" (Isaiah 1:17). In Isaiah 58:10 God makes a promise: "If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness, and your gloom be as the noonday."

Salvation obviously holds great importance. But what is salvation? "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). Salvation is God overcoming the brokenness that resulted from sin and restoring our relationship with Him. In addition, sin affects our relationships with each other and with the environment. Bringing about reconciliation in these areas restores what sin has tainted. While full restoration won't come until Christ returns as righteous king, we are called to provide a foreshadow of His rule and reign.

Temple area in Cambodia

Darkness persists only due to an absence of light. As children of light we ought not tolerate systems of oppression and abuses of power. God invites us to know His heart by giving us a "ministry of reconciliation." I believe Jesus experienced great joy in fulfilling Isaiah 61, as He quotes in Luke 4:17-19, no matter what it cost Him, because He shared the Father's heart, which is all about restoring and repairing that which is broken. He has sent us to do the same. How will you be obedient?

"He has told you, O man, what is good: and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8

"For God so loved that He gave..."

John 3:16 may be the most commonly cited bible verse, showing up everywhere from bible tracts to signs at football games: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

It truly communicates the greatest news known to mankind. So why don't people believe it? Rather than the expected joy washing over a person's face upon hearing that God loves them, doubt appears. Perhaps it's difficult to believe in love without experiencing it; something's missing or lacking from God's expression of His love to the world. Here lies the challenge I wrestle with.

Those who receive the Son, Jesus Christ, experience new life. Jesus will make His home within us (Ephesians 3:17). If we, then, are inhabited by the power that raised Christ from the dead (Romans 8:11), should it not also be accurate to say, "For God's people so loved the world that they gave?" Could it be that people have a hard time believing "God so loved the world" because the people of God fail to show it? Shouldn't the world around us be convinced of God's love due to how we live?

Do I love so much that I give? As Jesus states after doing the lowly task of washing the disciples feet in John 13:15, "For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you." Christ is our example to follow; comparing our lives to those around us is an inadequate standard for how well we give. For instance, if someone wanted to know about Jesus and spent a day with me since I call myself a follower of Christ, what would they observe? They may conclude Jesus liked to keep busy all day while trying to be nice to people that crossed His path. I could protest, but aren't I supposed to represent Christ?

I tend to fill my schedule with activity, especially "Christian" activity, and feel good about being productive. Yet when I truly contemplate Christ's call to deny myself and take up my cross (Luke 9:23) and how He came "to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10), I cannot remain content with my Christian life. "A servant is not greater than his master, nor a messenger greater than the one who sent him" (John 13:16). So then, if I try to avoid discomfort and don't seek after the lost, am I not declaring with my actions that I see myself as greater than Christ, that I'm too important to "bring good news to the poor" and "set at liberty those who are oppressed" (Luke 4:18)?

When millions of people around the world remain in physical slavery, how can they possibly believe in a God who loves them when I and the rest of His people are too consumed with our own lives to set them free? As a follower of the One drawn to the broken and outcast, how can I live in a city, right here in Onalaska/La Crosse where drugs, alcohol, and emptiness continue to destroy life after life and not weep, begging for God to use me to reach them? The "something" that's missing or lacking is God's heart within my own that would compel me to obey His call!

"I am the vine; you are the branches...apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Step one is clear. I must be connected to Christ; He is my Source. Next, I ask. "You do not have because you do not ask" (James 4:2). Well, I want God's heart and His power and wisdom to rescue the lost, so I better ask for it.

For me, that's been a great start. I simply cannot stand idly by while people question if God really loves. I am proof. And my aim will be to prove the goodness of God to the world by laying down my life for the sake of others in Christ's name, no matter how difficult or how much I have to give, because that's what Jesus did.

May we keep "looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross..." (Hebrews 12:2).

When God Isn't Real

"Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide Yourself in times of trouble?" -Psalm 10:1

Stories from the Slum

Following a children's program at a church in a poor neighborhood, I stepped outside and saw an elderly woman sitting outside her home. Upon seeing me, she began waving her hand excitedly to call me over. Once I arrived at her side she held my hand and started speaking many sentences in Thai as if I understood. When she revealed a long scar on the outside of her thigh, I remembered. Last summer we met this woman at a different house, and at that time she hadn't been able to walk for a year and a half, so we prayed for her.

One year later, she remains lame. So again, I prayed that God would give her strength to walk in the name of Jesus. Nothing happened. Instead of God showing Himself to be the Most High, she will continue in the cultural religion she has followed her whole life.

In the same slum, a young girl around the age of ten escaped an attempted rape by biting the man and running. Children here lack safe places to play and often lack love. One can easily say "God is love" and that He is ever-present, but the reality remains quite different in this place, and numerous others around the globe. God may dwell among the nice churches and loving homes in America, but here, God is not real.

 "O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and You will not hear? Or cry to You 'Violence!' and You will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong?" -Habakkuk 1:2-3

While wrestling through these questions and thoughts could potentially dismantle a person's faith, the Bible describes many individuals with similar doubts. I find it both interesting and comforting that God's message to us includes examples of people questioning where He is as they struggle to understand His ways.

Where was God when upright Job suffered great loss? When God's so-called chosen people remained enslaved for 400 years in Egypt? Or when David, anointed by God to be king, spent months running for his life? Or when Christ, the Holy One of God, was brutally whipped and nailed to a cross...

 In reading these accounts, we have the advantage of knowing the outcome. When personally experiencing those circumstances, however, the questions tear at us with greater intensity.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." -Isaiah 55:9

Will I humbly trust and continue to seek Him, even when He doesn't show up the way I want Him to or would expect? Or even more challenging, when I see injustice and evil in the world do I take responsibility for making God real in places far from His love and hope? Is that not what we are called to?

Children come to the program at church because it's safe as well as a place where they experience love. In the slum, God is becoming real because followers of Christ give of themselves to spread light in a dark place, enduring harassment from some villagers to make Christ known.

Perhaps God wants us to experience how He feels and that by sharing in His compassion we have the privilege of knowing Him more intimately. Perhaps He wonders why we don't take Jesus seriously when He says in John 20:21, "As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." Why are we living here on this earth if not to advance the glorious kingdom of God by bringing goods news to the poor, binding the brokenhearted, and proclaiming liberty to the captives (Isaiah 61:1)?

 

"O Lord, You hear the desire of the afflicted; You will strengthen their heart; You will incline Your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more." -Psalm 10:17-18

We forget God often chooses to use us to do His justice and mercy.

Letter to a Prostitute

During a night of outreach in a popular red light district in Bangkok, I felt helpless in reaching a prostitute we met with at a bar. After leaving, I wrote the following:

                    

Dear Miss, I wish there were words I could say.

Wish I could guide you to go a different way.

You think the money makes it all alright

To compromise and stay with him all night.

Sex sells and you know how to flirt.

Smiles with make-up to cover up the hurt. 

Dear Lost, longing for a life

Free from bondage and empty strife;

The night life has treated you well

With alcohol to forget it’s hell.

Oh God, I don’t know where to start

To reach this fragile, broken heart.

 

 

Dear Whore—not anymore;

See what love the Father has in store.

Dear Adored, could you open your eyes

And see the beauty found in Christ?