Tag Archives: justice

What is poverty?

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What if poverty isn’t about a lack of food, money, or clothing?

What if our attempts to help the poor can actually hurt them?

Good intentions aren’t enough.

Brian Fikkert—co-author of When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself 1, and founder and executive director of the Chalmers Center (whose vision is for “local churches to declare and demonstrate to people who are poor that Jesus Christ is making all things new”)—looks at the deeper meaning of poverty [video]:

We were created for a relationship with God, self, others, and the rest of creation.

It’s a beautiful mess.

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Let us commit to learning together how we can walk with the poor in humble relationships, rather than only providing temporary handouts to them. We cannot “fix” them. Only Jesus can.

I too am poor.

You are too. 

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Continue reading →

  1. I can think of no better book on poverty and truly helping the poor than When Helping Hurts (Amazon, WTS Books). ↩
 

Giving thanks in times of trouble. (When you need God’s justice.)

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Each day has it’s own trouble. Our worries could come true, our fears take form. Yet, I think it is only those who can look over the landscape of their troubles and put a name to them who can personally plead for vindication.

It goes from, “Why is this happening to me?” (anxiety over circumstances) to “Lord, be my Protector, Provider, and Strength. You are my Justice.” It becomes personal. It begins with a twinge of moralism — since I’ve lived such a “good” life why has this bad come my way? — and leads through confession to redemption. I think it is harder to confess our faults when a clear enemy is out there hoping for our downfall. When we think we are in the right and cannot see our contribution to the problem.

When your troubles have a name — an enemy in flesh and blood — and you pour out your whole heart to God, you can miraculously shift from being mad at your enemy to being mad for them.

This only happens through the Grace of God, and it doesn’t just “happen.” Jesus is the Grace of God in human form. He loved His enemies to the end, not being mad at them, but being mad for them. (“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”)
Continue reading →

 

It’s World Water Day (and you can help).

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Imagine waking up this morning without water.

None. No water from the taps. None in the toilet. None in the shower. None in the washing machine or dishwasher. None in the sink.  None in the fridge. No ice in the freezer. No water.

What would I drink? How would I wash dishes, clothes, myself? How would I brush my teeth, flush the toilet, get clean? How would I cook? You’d quickly begin to panic, yes? Even writing that paragraph made me feel thirsty. You’d quickly become consumed with finding water. Your thoughts would be filled, and you’d immediately rearrange your entire day around the sole purpose of finding water.

But what if you had no car? And no store in which to buy water? For me, that would mean walking three miles down to the Willamette River. Most people I know won’t even swim in the Willamette much less drink its water–it’s filthy. But supposing I did successfully get myself down to the river, carrying just five measly gallons of water back home the three miles straight up Hidden Springs hill would be virtually impossible. Just 5 gallons of water weighs almost 42 lbs. Now, that 5 gallons is the average usage for Africans each day. (The average American family of four uses 400 gallons of drinking water a day.) That little trip right there that I just described would take all day, leave me exhausted, and would need to happen every single day.  Not to mention my children. There’s no way they could hike those 6 miles. I’d have to leave them at home without supervision, every single day.

That’s all just for 5 gallons of virtually undrinkable water.

My point? We wouldn’t survive without clean water.

This is the reality for 1.2 billion people in our world today. As many as 5 million people die every year of water-related illnesses. A child dies every fifteen seconds of a waterborne disease. It’s a no-win situation. Children either die for lack of water or die because the water they have isn’t clean. The problem feeds every other problem. Women and children cannot work because they have to spend all day fetching water. In developing countries women and children invest two hundred million hours a day to fetching water. That’s equal to a full-time workforce of twenty-five million people fetching water eight hours a day, seven days a week. Children can’t go to school. Without water humans cannot work, cannot learn, cannot function. Without water we can’t even think.

And yet it’s one of the easiest ways we can help.

For three simple ways to help, read the rest at Sacred Mundane …

 

Just having a conversation about Justice.

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Today and tomorrow I am at The Justice Conference, hosted here in Portland. So grateful to join in the conversation.

The Justice Conference 2012 is the second annual international gathering of advocates, activists, artists, professors, professionals, prophets, pastors, students and stay-at-home moms working to restore the fabric of justice. For some it means speaking. For others it means singing. For some it means going. For others it means giving. For all, it means living with mercy and love.

Justice Conference founder (and lead pastor of Antioch Church in my beloved hometown of Bend) Ken Wytsma writes on why justice matters to followers of Jesus and all who trust Scripture:

People matter to God and therefore they should matter to us – every bit of them from the salvation of their souls to the meeting of material needs (see 1 John 4:20-21).
Justice is rooted in the character of God, commanded in his Holy Scriptures and exemplified in the life of Christ and the history of the church.
Justice is the right ordering of our relationships with God and neighbor.
Justice, in all spheres and slices of life and especially in the social sectors, is biblical, God-honoring and right. Politics, theories or political platforms, however, are open to dispute and disagreement.

Because Justice is much bigger than “social justice,” he gives a helpful pie-chart to see how various kinds of justice are interrelated:

 

Why today matters » National Global Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

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Today, January 11th, is National Global Human Trafficking Awareness Day (NGHTAD), as set forth by a resolution passed by the US Senate on June 22, 2007, to mark January 11th as a day of awareness and vigilance for the countless victims of Human Trafficking across the globe.

As I write this, and as you read it, we are mostly free. Mostly free to do whatever we want. I say “mostly,” because we are limited in part by our circumstances, and our natures. Many others are not free at all, being oppressed by those stronger than them.

While we might think real freedom is being able to do whatever we want, true freedom is wanting to do what God wants. God wants to set the world right again, and in Jesus this is coming true. He somehow has chosen His people to be part of it. So we join with the Creator in breaking down the walls of injustice and embodying the life of Jesus as He sets the captives free. Though all will be made right on the last day, we do not have to wait for heaven to see justice breaking in. Continue reading →

 

Love is a thread.

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In the garment of justice, your love is an irreplaceable thread.

The Justice Conference
February 24+25 in Portland, Oregon
thejusticeconference.com

A mark of a maturing believer and follower of Jesus is a growing awareness of the true needs in the world, and a love for those people with a passion to help meet those needs and build bridges for the Gospel message. We see the inequity in the world and are not content to wait on governments to move solely for the sake of the marginalized, needy, poor, and destitute. We give up personal comforts so others can have the basic necessities for health and life.

Justice is about reconciliation, which is rooted in love. We who have been reconciled with God, get to see His reconciling work spread to every area of our lives and all of creation. What began as a personal relationship with God adds a public dimension that becomes a transformational relationship with the world. One day the universe will be set right (final justice), though we don’t have to wait until then to meet the needs that are within our control today. The love of Christ compels us.

 

Tomorrow: go without shoes.

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Because millions of kids go everyday without shoes, as I mentioned last week.

Why all the fuss? Who needs shoes?

TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie says that not having shoes puts kids at a heightened risk of injury, disease and infection. Among the soil-transmitted risks that most can’t afford to prevent and treat are:

  • Hookworm: Causes anemia, stunted physical and mental development and, on occasion, congestive heart failure. Affects up to one-fifth of the world’s population.
  • Podoconiosis or “mossy foot disease”: Causes swelling of the feet and legs due to prolonged exposure to certain types of irritant soil.
  • Chiggers: Bites on the feet and ankles from these mites can cause severe itching and hives.
  • Tetanus: Potentially fatal infectious disease caused by bacteria entering the body through cuts or other open wounds. Causes painful muscle spasms and locked jaw.

Want to give?

Our family supports the intentional Gospel-driven work of great organizations such as World Vision, Compassion, Africa New Life (Rwanda), and Open Arms (Kenya). We intentionally focus on the needs in Africa, but there are opportunities all over the globe for us to curb our consumerism and give joyfully to a cause greater than ourselves.

Maybe your Tuesday without shoes will go something like this: