A few weeks ago our Church had an annual event called Global Summit in which we as a church highlighted the importance of taking the Gospel of Jesus to all nations. This year had a new twist. We hosted a group of people who are taking their tour-museum called the "Project Experience" to churches around the states. Project Experience is an interactive museum that exposes you to the cycle of poverty that is all too common in this world. I was privileged to be a tour guide and it was definitely worth it. I encourage you to check out this video for a taste of the Project Experience:
http://vimeo.com/20561555
After the Global Summit, I started to really think about the depth of poverty. I started to think I've probably never known what it means to need something. I'm prone to selfishness so I wonder sometimes if what I really consider a need is really just a "want" in disguise. What if what we want was never really promised to us? In Matthew 6, Jesus says to seek 1st the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you. What are "these things?" I can't help but wonder how many times I've interpreted "these things" as more clothes, the latest technological gadget, a good day, success in school, or even great relationships. But is that what Jesus is talking about here? Context would suggest that Jesus is talking about what you need. According to Jesus, what we need is simply food and clothes and that our Father in heaven will provide that for us. Yet, I can't help but think about the thousands of people who will go to sleep tonight naked and hungry. Where is God's provision for them? Answer - I'm hoarding it. I'm stealing God's provision for them and abusing it.
I do not believe in a God that provides little; I do believe in selfishness and I believe that is spiritual poverty. Still, I'm not wanting to cast guilt and point to my nonexistent hippie lifestyle as the way to go. There is nothing wrong with enjoying God's creation, and sometimes it is appropriate to splurge and celebrate with good taste. But I do want to show that physical poverty is merely a symptom. It is a symptom of something deeper - spiritual poverty. Spiritual poverty is really just selfishness. If we want to attack physical poverty we need to go to the source: spiritual poverty.
We cannot excuse sin as we engage poverty, and believe me there is enough to go around. On our side - the rich side - the sin is selfishness. Can we just admit that we all at one point or another have lived above our means? Can we all finally admit that at one point or another we haven't taken good care of what God has provided to us? I'll even admit that I'm quick to make excuses for my abuses, but at the end of the day it is the appetite of selfishness. Still, I do not simply leave people in the wake of poverty while enjoying life's spoils. Selfishness and hoarding bring a whole host of problems into my intermediate world as well. Selfishness has really been a source for much depression, suicide, and obesity. How many of these things are associated with a broken social circle? When relationships are warped and distorted selfishness is usually the underpinning reason. On their side - on the poor side - the sin is selfishness as well. There is something wrong about a family that will sell one of its members into sexual slavery so they can buy food. There is something wrong about making children fight wars so that your village can rise out of the slums.
We would be naive to think physically poor people are not prone to selfishness. If you give a poor person bread they are still poor spiritually, but the thing we must come to understand as Christians is that we don't help the poor because we feel guilty for being rich. We don't help the poor so that we can see a smile on their face. We don't help the poor to say we made a difference. We help the poor because we are fully aware that we ourselves are very poor as well. There are no sides on the issue of poverty. We are all poor spiritually and that results in selfishness which results in the abused resources God has given us. That's what makes Jesus sacrifice so important. Jesus wants to trade his generosity for our selfishness. If we try generosity on our own we will end up with a twisted society that is looking for recognition for their own generosity. We end up with a society that is "us(rich) and them(poor)." That is not genuine or reality. If we try generosity with God we will begin to understand that Jesus came for the poor. That is everyone. 2nd Corinthians 8:9 says, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." If we allow this truth to heal our spiritual poverty our generosity will begin to erode physical poverty.
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