Reading the news online tonight I had to shake my head in bewilderment at the Circle of Protection that religious are forming in their fight about budget cuts that affect the poor. According to the article at the Huffington Post;
According to the Rev. Jim Wallis, the coalition has come together to send a message to political leaders: “If you’re going to come after the poor, you have to go through us first.”
Pardon me, but last I checked the bible clearly says that it has always been the faith community that is to care for the poor. It boggles my mind why the religious would be putting up a fight about it now after all these years of allowing the welfare programs to do it.
Maybe the churches are too busy trying to warm the pews by bribing people with giving away flat screen Televisions instead. But Rachel Held Evans is promoting a unity endeavor to raise funds for fresh drinking water and Rob Bell’s church also sends fresh drinking water to those who have lack. Now that resonates with my spirit since Jesus made sure to feed the five thousand before he preached to them.
For far too long we have seen many churches reject helping the poor financially and instead they send them to the Welfare line. Some churches give away food boxes, but only after they have sat through a church service.
In all fairness, I am glad to see some in the faith community taking a stand about providing for the poor, but perhaps the church as a whole has sat idly by for far too long while the world gets hungrier and thirstier.
Before they’ll listen to use tell them of He who will fill them so they never thirst again, maybe we could do a little more of providing for their basic needs before making them listen to our theology.
Can we come together in unity to help raise money for some drinking water? That means putting down our differences in interpretations and bible versions so we can come together in love for a greater good.
Loving one another as Christ so loved us.
Colossians 3:14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.(NIV)
{photo credit by Vicki}
