The title explains the premise of he book.
Bad Christians who make a comfortable living should feel guilty for more than just surviving.
It is like when your parents told you to finish your dinner because there are starving people in China. Well the people in China are not starving because you didn't finish your peas. And you know what? If you took your peas and through them out every day for 20 years - God wouldn't care! (Your parents might).
Having wealth is not evil. If you buy a new pair of shoes every month it is not going to take away some African kids lunch because of it.
3 comments:
Hey, I know Shane Claiborne! Well, I've met him at least. Kameron knows him. He's weird, but has a big heart for hurting people. And he's always so humble.
A quote from the book's description:
"Every day 30,000 children still die of starvation and preventable diseases, and 1.2 billion people live in relentless, unrelieved poverty worldwide.
Why is there still so much poverty? Conservatives blame sinful individual choices and laziness. Liberals condemn economic and social structures. Who is right? Who is wrong? Both, according to Sider, who explains poverty's complex causes in this new edition and offers concrete, practical proposals for change."
Sure. I know there is a lot of poverty in the world and I am all for doing wise things to make a difference.
My point is that Shane Claiborne and other well meaning Christians seem to think that if one person is rich and makes a lot of money then another person is poor because of it. Kind of like there is one big bucket of wealth in the world and if one person gets a big chunk of it the remaining people gets shafted.
There is no bucket. Wealth is created from nothing and no one should feel bad for simply being wealthy. In fact being wealthy has the opposite effect. It makes everyone around you more wealthy as well.
I think I agree with you. I don't think anyone should ever be manipulated, or guilted into giving to the poor (or eating their peas). Giving should be done without thought to oneself (or how bad you'd feel for not giving), and motivated out of love for others. I think too often Christians with a social justice bent, confuse money as something "real" or even essentially "good".
But what I love about the contrast this book posits, is that it shows a distinction we so rarely hear in America. American Christians who take their faith seriously generally forget that there is poverty, much less hunger. Even in their own city. (You've been fortunate to see the world, so this is nothing new to you, of course.) And I've only met a few Americans who have ever experienced real hunger that comes from poverty.
God calls us to love others, and feed the hungry - even our enemies. Sometimes I think we just need reminding, not because being rich is bad, but because loving our brothers and sisters in the world sometimes requires someone to shock us with an unexpected title.
It's great to see all your thoughts here on your blog. I found it through your sister's - and I've read about half your posts so far!
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