I am not satisfied. I will not be satisfied. Not here, not with this.
Today in church, the youth spoke about their experience at their triennial conference called LIFE. It brought back memories for me of my experiences at my own triennial missions conference called Urbana. It does my heart well to see these young people learning and gradually moving to take a stand in Jesus' name against the injustices of the world. During the presentation, we learned a bit about the circumstances of the poor in the world, particularly those in Africa and specifically Burkina Faso. We saw the size of an average house which I would estimate to be about 3ft by 6ft. We saw what 5 gallons of water looked like as this 42 pound load is what people, often children, will walk 3-5 miles to acquire on a daily basis. We passed around a bottle of dark, muddy-looking water and learned that it was similar to what nearby water sources would provide. We learned (get this) that a baby born there has a better chance at survival when breastfed by an HIV positive mother than if they drink the water in the area. We also learned that every 5 seconds a child in Africa dies from starvation. And my heart broke. All around I listened to the snapping, each fifth time counting that another child had died, and my heart broke. It broke to learn that 1/3 of the children in Africa don't make it to age 10. Then I learned about us, and my heartbreak turned to disgust.
The average American uses about 100 gallons of water each day while much of the world's poor uses about 2. The amount of money it would cost to ensure clean drinking water for the world is about half of what Americans spend on ice cream alone. Something is wrong.
Listening to all these facts and statistics brings something to a boil inside of me that I can't quite explain. I just want to go. I don't want to live this extravagant American lifestyle. It's comfortable. Too comfortable. I don't want to be like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Many believe it was destroyed because of sexual immorality. While that was part of it, the Bible explains more: "Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit." (NKJV) or as the Message puts it"The sin of your sister Sodom was this: She lived with her daughters in the lap of luxury—proud, gluttonous, and lazy. They ignored the oppressed and the poor. They put on airs and lived obscene lives. And you know what happened: I did away with them." Ezekiel 16:49-50. Sound familiar? I think it's safe to say that God is not pleased with this country. We have ignored the poor, even walked in luxury on their backs. (Don't believe me? Who do you think made your ipod?)
I've said it before, I've felt it before, but today I was reminded again. I don't want to be associated with this culture- this extravagant, self-absorbed, unconcerned, ungrateful culture. It used to be that I wanted to travel the world to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is still true. But I'm finding more now that I want to leave to avoid getting absorbed into this way of life. I don't want to get to the point where I think this is normal or that I somehow deserve this lifestyle. I don't want to be shaken or feel afraid when certain luxuries begin to fall and then pray for them to be restored. I don't want to get comfortable. I've been there before and don't want to go back.
I want to travel! There are those who would say that there are plenty of poor here in the US, that there are plenty of people to minister to here. I agree, there are plenty. But I can't deny that passion that awakens in me when I see glimpses of the globe or that inexplicable part of my heart that breaks when I learn of its injustices. I think maybe God wired me this way, to love the world. Not in the way we are warned against in the Bible, but in a way that makes me filled with compassion. I cannot deny the passion that lies within. I need to remember though, I don't have to go overseas in order to make a difference. That is a desire I hold in my heart. There are many prayers to pray, dollars to raise, people to educate, packages to send, and letters to write while I'm waiting. I'm waiting for opportunity and trying to move toward preparedness. I want to organize my life in a way that prevents my going from becoming an irresponsible decision. I want to be in it for the "long haul" whatever that may mean for my life.
I've been to China and would love to go back. I really do feel like I left a small part of my heart there. Right now, where I feel the biggest draw is Africa for so many reasons. There is the obvious- poverty takes on a different meaning in the conditions of some countries there. But there is also that which I desire to learn. I hear of many great spiritual testimonies coming from that continent. I would like to experience my relationship with God in a setting without all of these distractions, many of which are intended to increase our experience of God, as if he needs our help. I want to worship with people who are truly grateful for things that matter like food, clean water, shelter, and life itself. I think the church in developed nations like ours has much to learn from our brothers and sisters in nations that are still developing. This is part of why I want to go. I want to save myself from this culture and learn what it's like to live like most of the world.
We are exhorted time and again throughout the Bible to care for the poor, widows, and orphans. God cares so we should too. Our faith is not one of strictly invisible truths but rather one to be marked by compassion demonstrated by action on behalf of those who cannot act for themselves. This is not to say that we all need to go out and start volunteering and pretending to care. True concern for the things of God is developed through our relationship with Him. If we find that we are callous to that which breaks His heart, we need to pray for Him to transform us and to give us eyes that we might see the brokenness of the world. It all starts on the spiritual level. Everything does. So my prayer for myself and for my brothers and sisters in Christ, especially those here in the US and especially those whom I know is this: that we would be filled with the love and compassion of Christ who gave His very life that we could live, who had everything and denied it all for our sakes, and who now calls us to love in the way we have been loved not so we can save the world (as that is outside both our ability and responsibility) but rather that the world, through us, might know His love.
No comments:
Post a Comment