Today is Blog Action Day, an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. The idea is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion. Last year the topic was the environment, this year it’s poverty.
As a missional-minded Christian I find myself thinking about how to reach out to and help those who experience poverty on a daily basis. Over and over again the bible speaks out against systemic poverty. There’s recognition that poverty is a part of the ongoing brokenness of humanity, but there’s also the promise that in God’s Kingdom injustices such as poverty will be overcome. Still, poverty remains a pervasive problem in the world today.
Most of us in the middle class don’t often come face to face with poverty. From time to time we may feel “broke” because we have over-extended our finances and over-stretched our credit. But in my opinion that’s different than being truly poor.
There are a number of personal finance books out these days with titles like You’re Broke Because You Want To Be that remind people of this in very frank ways. And while I think there’s some room for sensitivity in helping people to recognize how their consumerism-driven habits are wreaking havoc on their long-term financial sustainability, these forthright books do have the upside that they bring to light some of the differences between being broke and experiencing “real” poverty. Trent over at The Simple Dollar blog writes on this quite well.
I think that over time we can become disillusioned into thinking that we know what poverty is like, especially during times of “economic turmoil” like we are currently experiencing. But unless we’re put in situations where our lives cross paths with those who are impoverished we can only speculate and pretend we know what it’s like.
This is especially troublesome for Christians. As we try and find ways of participating in God’s work towards the continuing realization of the Kingdom, we are called to reach out to those who are hungry, thirsty, and without shelter. This inevitably includes the poor. Yet how can we reach out to those we don’t even know or ever encounter? How can we provide any sort of real help to those who are poor if we don’t also seek to establish relationships with them?
I’ll be honest in saying that I personally don’t have a lot of experience with those who are truly poor. I’ve helped with service projects, food pantries, and disaster response trips that sought to help those who were deeply in need, but even then there was little opportunity for real relationship. Now, in my work as a pastor, I occasionally come face-to-face with poverty in very real ways, but it’s not very often and it’s rarely because I have taken the initiative to reach out to those who are poor.
If Christians are to engage in working towards God’s Kingdom then at some point we will have to start taking real steps towards alleviating poverty. Groups like Sojourners and the ONE Campaign have been campaigning for a while now to fight poverty and are working to raise poverty-related issues during this year’s election. Next week I’ll be preaching with an eye towards the election and poverty will surely be one of the Kingdom-related issues I’ll encourage people to think about as November 4th draws near.
So what experiences do you have with poverty? In what ways have you been active in helping to alleviate the plight of the poor? How can we as Christians find real and tangible ways of reaching out to those who suffer in poverty in our communities and around the world? Feel free to share any of your thoughts in the comments …
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I spent the first few years of my life with my Mom and I living off of foodstamps.
When I was 19, there was a brief while where I was homeless. I slept on a parkbench a couple times, slept in a friend’s car, etc. I even had a referral to a food-shelter (although I had a job at this point, I wasn’t making enough to feed myself).
I think the glass ceiling for poverty though is that donut-hole area — the spot just below the poverty line, where you might be making a little more than minimum wage, but are supporting more than just yourself. To break through the glass you really either need to make connections with people, or get an education.
As for what I’ve done personally — There have been a number of times where I have given clothes, blankets, and food (but never money) to folks that asked for it. People have to create their own opportunities, but sometimes we all need a helping hand to make it to those opportunities.
i appreciate this, Matt! yes, i get very annoyed when i hear people in my social circle complain about being “poor,” because aside from a couple families, i don’t have truly poor friends. and the friends i have who really are poor, who never complain about it in social settings!
I’ve used the word “poor” to describe my own situation a few times–and I think there is some legitimacy in that, but no entirely either. “Poor” describes a range of situations, and I’ve definitely had times of living from paycheck-to-paycheck and defaulting on my bills and running low on food, but I’ve also had support structures–mainly friends and family–that have kept me from falling out of the system altogether. The people I think of as being poor, though, are folks who regularly can’t make enough money to afford the basic necessities. And when I’m asked, I give what I can, and yes, it’s often money. I don’t feel guilty for giving money, because I’m fortunate to have what I have, and feel responsible to share with those who need and give to those who ask. A woman even propositioned me once because she needed money. I didn’t ask what she needed money for, but just gave her some cash with no questions. Those in extreme poverty are without power or means to change their situation, and those of us with that power must do what we can to help our neighbor.