Sunday, November 30, 2008
Poverty and Moderation
Once again it has become fashionable to disdain wealth. Poverty has suddenly become a very fashionable cause. Criticism of this nation's materialism (as though it were confined to the United States), comes about as often as cases of Charles Shaw leave Trader Joe's.
What to do? Well, I realize nobody asked, but since this subject is close to my heart, I wanted to air my thoughts. The subject of moderation has recently come to my attention for two reasons: First, the trampling to death of a poor Walmart employee last Friday awakened a fear of the insatiable appetite people have for more stuff; second, I have seen a web site dededicated to an "Advent Conspiracy." This website attempts to shift people's focus from giving presents to something else. I here quote the website:
"Before you think we’re getting all Scrooge on you, let us explain what we mean. We like gifts. Our kids really like gifts. But consider this: America spends an average of $450 billion a year every Christmas. How often have you spent money on Christmas presents for no other reason than obligation? How many times have you received a gift out of that same obligation? Thanks, but no thanks, right? We’re asking people to consider buying ONE LESS GIFT this Christmas."
The alternative they present is to give money for the digging of wells so that people in poverty have access to clean water. In case anyone wondered, I am pro clean water for the poor. Clean water is good. My critique comes at this point: are we simply replacing one distraction (giving gifts out of obligation) with another (giving clean water out of obligation)? After all, if Jesus' main goal in the incarnation was to eradicate poverty, he failed miserably. I will concede that I think it is more noble to give clean water to the poor than give an obligatory cheese log to Aunt Mabel, but do either of them equal the gospel?
Christ came to transform hearts. Where the care of the poor fits into that is a matter I ponder constantly. Many on the Christian Left have become vocal regarding what they see as the ignoring of the Scriptures as they speak of poverty. There is much truth in this critique. My argument would therefore be, what shall we do about it? Since the vast majority of the Biblical quotations regarding the evil of ignoring the poor are directed at Israel (since they did not follow the Torah by taking care of the widows and orphans in their midst), I think we can learn something from God's condemnations. God expects us to care for the poor among us, care for our families, and do whatever we can to lighten the burden on the needy and defenseless in our midst. What makes this so complicated in 2008 is that in a global economy, suddenly 6 billion people are "in our midst" rather than 600 or 6000. This makes the problem seem so large that it seems insurmountable.
I have two thoughts. The first one has to do with Walmart. Since wealthy Americans probably don't do much shopping at Walmart, I think we can assume that none of the people who trampled that poor man to death on Friday were particularly wealthy. I could be wrong, since I did not take income statements at the door of the store, but let's just call it a hunch. Furthermore, it is not outside the realm of logic to term these folks as middle class or poor, by American standards (a caveat: if you are an American, in almost every case you are wealthy compared to the rest of the world). Therefore, this disturbing level of materialism and greed was exhibited not on Wall Street, but on Main Street. Because, the problem of greed is just as bad (if not worse) on Main street as it is on Wall Street, but trumpeting that fact will never get anyone elected president. This materialism and greed that infects humanity is what Jesus Christ came to eradicate. This is where our initial focus should be, however noble it is to help the poor.
Second, if we cannot understand the place for celebration in the life of the Christian, we run the risk of being immoderate. Jesus not only hung out with the poor and outcast, but he also partied at such a level that he himself said that some accused him of being a drunkard (Matthew 11:19). What can we learn from that? How can the Second Person of the Trinity be so engaged in celebrating that he ignores the needs of the poor for one second? Maybe we can learn that the real source of our energies needs to be the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ first and foremost. That will continue to be my advent conspiracy.
What to do? Well, I realize nobody asked, but since this subject is close to my heart, I wanted to air my thoughts. The subject of moderation has recently come to my attention for two reasons: First, the trampling to death of a poor Walmart employee last Friday awakened a fear of the insatiable appetite people have for more stuff; second, I have seen a web site dededicated to an "Advent Conspiracy." This website attempts to shift people's focus from giving presents to something else. I here quote the website:
"Before you think we’re getting all Scrooge on you, let us explain what we mean. We like gifts. Our kids really like gifts. But consider this: America spends an average of $450 billion a year every Christmas. How often have you spent money on Christmas presents for no other reason than obligation? How many times have you received a gift out of that same obligation? Thanks, but no thanks, right? We’re asking people to consider buying ONE LESS GIFT this Christmas."
The alternative they present is to give money for the digging of wells so that people in poverty have access to clean water. In case anyone wondered, I am pro clean water for the poor. Clean water is good. My critique comes at this point: are we simply replacing one distraction (giving gifts out of obligation) with another (giving clean water out of obligation)? After all, if Jesus' main goal in the incarnation was to eradicate poverty, he failed miserably. I will concede that I think it is more noble to give clean water to the poor than give an obligatory cheese log to Aunt Mabel, but do either of them equal the gospel?
Christ came to transform hearts. Where the care of the poor fits into that is a matter I ponder constantly. Many on the Christian Left have become vocal regarding what they see as the ignoring of the Scriptures as they speak of poverty. There is much truth in this critique. My argument would therefore be, what shall we do about it? Since the vast majority of the Biblical quotations regarding the evil of ignoring the poor are directed at Israel (since they did not follow the Torah by taking care of the widows and orphans in their midst), I think we can learn something from God's condemnations. God expects us to care for the poor among us, care for our families, and do whatever we can to lighten the burden on the needy and defenseless in our midst. What makes this so complicated in 2008 is that in a global economy, suddenly 6 billion people are "in our midst" rather than 600 or 6000. This makes the problem seem so large that it seems insurmountable.
I have two thoughts. The first one has to do with Walmart. Since wealthy Americans probably don't do much shopping at Walmart, I think we can assume that none of the people who trampled that poor man to death on Friday were particularly wealthy. I could be wrong, since I did not take income statements at the door of the store, but let's just call it a hunch. Furthermore, it is not outside the realm of logic to term these folks as middle class or poor, by American standards (a caveat: if you are an American, in almost every case you are wealthy compared to the rest of the world). Therefore, this disturbing level of materialism and greed was exhibited not on Wall Street, but on Main Street. Because, the problem of greed is just as bad (if not worse) on Main street as it is on Wall Street, but trumpeting that fact will never get anyone elected president. This materialism and greed that infects humanity is what Jesus Christ came to eradicate. This is where our initial focus should be, however noble it is to help the poor.
Second, if we cannot understand the place for celebration in the life of the Christian, we run the risk of being immoderate. Jesus not only hung out with the poor and outcast, but he also partied at such a level that he himself said that some accused him of being a drunkard (Matthew 11:19). What can we learn from that? How can the Second Person of the Trinity be so engaged in celebrating that he ignores the needs of the poor for one second? Maybe we can learn that the real source of our energies needs to be the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ first and foremost. That will continue to be my advent conspiracy.
# posted by Unknown @ 3:25 PM 
