In The Land of Excess.
In the Western way of living being jobless equals destitution and fallout for some. In many other countries, no infrastructure on which to stand some still cling to hope when it’s nowhere to be seen. For many christians we can find ourselves in between the proverbial “rock and hard place.” In a culture oriented around goals and growth, so the church has caught wind of these ideals and build they have. Like the catholic churches built their cathedrals we now build our buildings to house our christians as comfortably and contained as possible, a place where we can serve our perfectly brewed coffee even Starbucks might be jealous of. Stadium seating with ushers to assist, audio and video spectacles that some venues won’t ever even compare to, and of course a band to utilize all this great equipment for the sake of a kingdom; for the sake of worship. Don’t hear me wrong, I’m a christian and I too have indulged on the amenities the modern church has offered me and though it’s not inherently wrong the question begs to be asked, “who’s paying for this?” Of course, it’s you and myself through tithing and the rest of the body, well let’s be honest about 50%-60% of it. Ok, I get it, nothing wrong with a little coffee and donuts though I find a fruit tray and tea to be a bit more health consciense. I’m getting away from the point, poverty is a real thing and we only get glimpses of it through a tv or computer screen or the occassional homeless man or woman that asks to have what we consider an unreasonable amount; most of the time. I sound harsh, I know, but to be truthful these are all things I’ve either done myself or seen many do in my lifetime. We forget we have it pretty good over here, sure some people are occupying Wall Street and I understand we ought to take care of what those who came before us worked so diligently to build but perhaps there’s a lesson to be learned from it all. Perhaps it’s time we got uncomfortable, perhaps we realize things like the NFL and the NBA ought to have salary caps, and maybe just maybe we ought to be thinking about somebody other than ourselves. Again I urge to not assume I’m talking about you, how dare I be so bold and ignorant right? You see, I give a little money every month to an organization called World Vision and I know they are doing something wonderful with this little chunk I provide every month. I know a little fella in Sri Lanka named Asanka and his family are being taken care of and that $35 dollars goes WAY further there than it does here. But is that where it ends? Is that where we say, “ok, job well done” and that’s it? It can’t be, and I think the first step is for us to determine the difference between need and want. For example, food is a necessity and a cell phone is not. Shelter, some might argue, but it’s a necessity and the latest and greatest in fashion is not. I’m preaching to the choir here folks, don’t throw me under the bus. In my eyes and the eyes of many that is the first step, and the next step is to understand that you can make a difference. You get to live in a country with infrastructure, more than millions of other people around the globe you can go and work and earn a wage. It really begins with a choice, choosing to abandon the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality and speak up for the disinfranchised, the voiceless, the impoverished, the malnourished, the enslaved, the broken; real people just like you and me. We can’t continue to make the choice to live unaffected and naive to the global need of many people, people that are no different than you and I. We have a voice, we have the ability to speak up for them and we have the ability to give. In a world of excess, credit lines and credit scores, mortgages and 401k’s we still have a voice and now’s the time to use it. You can support a child, you can support a family, you can help change the world for the better. Even if poverty never ends, you and I still have an opportunity to make a change for SOMEONE. We’d do it for ourselves, now let’s do it for someone else.
