Apr 11 2008
A Morning Thought on Poverty
The Gospel Coalition | Vision
We cannot look at the poor and the oppressed and callously call them to pull themselves out of their own difficulty. Jesus did not treat us that way.
I read a blog each day (or most days) called Of First Importance which mostly has quotes that remind me of the centrality of Jesus and His Gospel to my life. These are short reminders each day, and on many days I need them. Today there was a quote from this Gospel Coalition vision statement, including the quote above.
I have added some emphasis to the quote and I haven’t at all digested its context, but this quote struck me this morning because it’s something I’ve been thinking about in another context.
How should Christians, being like Christ, respond to poverty? This quote makes me wonder if our response needs to have in its context symbolism of what and how Jesus has done for us.
Lord willing I’ll have more thoughts on this later–no time this morning to expound. I wanted to put this here though so others can remind me later, and so I’ll remember to go back and look at this whole vision statement.
I thought it was interesting that you put this under “economics”. It reminded me that an elder once told me (when i was going through some hard times) that “there’s no room for waste in God’s economy. He USES everything.” I think this is true on several levels. I volunteered in a homeless shelter last weekend. The guy who ran the place said that “When we visit the poor, God is visiting with us. When we visit the poor, God is visiting the poor.”
James,
Glad that quote stimulated you. I’d highly recommend Tim Keller’s book “Ministries of Mercy” for a great treatment of how the gospel is the basis of caring for the poor.
Bart
This is a topic I have spent much time thinking over as of late. Several weeks ago I was called a Marxist during a conversation at church. That label does not fit though I do wonder about a return to the capitalism of the late 1800 up till about 1920 when a few had it all, and the masses had nothing (think Grapes of Wrath). I see a storm coming that will shake the very foundation of the christian church but I will not go on about it here.
Just to tack on to this discussion, a couple of posts by Josh Gibbs:
We Regard Jesus Christ, Enabler.
We Demand More Of The Poor Than Of The Rich.
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