Poverty and Development

Imagine that as a Christian you are asked to help a very poor country to develop. Well what an opportunity but what would you do? Well that’s what David and therefore we as a church to an extent, Anglican International Development (A.I.D.) and others have been asked to do with regard to South Sudan, where many of our brothers and sisters in Christ face great poverty and oppression from the Muslim North. So how can such abject poverty be alleviated and such a place be developed? By staging a World Cup?! Purely with monetary aid?

Well this month is the 25th anniversary of Live Aid, the pop concert in aid of the 1985 Ethiopian famine. The news that the BBC is to make a movie about Live Aid caused one journalist to write this:

It hurts to say this, but Live Aid should not be celebrated. It was a failure. Its approach exemplified the worst about Western ideas of helping Africa: top down hand outs which ignore or worsen the continent’s problems. The real cause of the Ethiopian famine was bad government and civil war [human sin]. Two former civil war leaders reportedly claimed that most of the funds raised by Live Aid were diverted to buy cuddly, child saving rocket propelled grenades & light machine guns. The amount is disputed but the more money we give to bad leaders, the less incentive they have to change, and the less notice they must take of their own people. That is why many African activists campaign fiercely against such aid.

Many in Africa are poorer today than they were 50 years ago. So why is it that a continent that has had $1 trillion in aid is much worse off than at independence? Then, countries such as Sierra Leone and Ghana had GDPs the same size or even larger than South Korea.

I’ve already referred to the sin of bad governance and the corruption and abuse of power that goes along with that. The International Governance Institute (www.igi-integrity.com), an organisation with a Christian ethos has been set up to fight such problems and progress is being made. Education with a Christian ethos is also important and evidence suggests that cancelled debt has led to more schools being opened.

But for many in Africa the recent push has been for enterprise, for trade not aid. The Make Poverty History campaign centred not only on debt cancellation but also trade concessions so African nations and businesses could support themselves. Now some aid, especially given through a local church, can be helpful. But many now argue that much greater emphasis needs to be given to the part that business and enterprise can play in reducing poverty through micro-finance and social venture capital projects. China and India are examples of nations which have reformed their economies, opened them up to trade and investment, embraced an enterprise culture and lifted millions of their citizens out of poverty. (See “Fighting Poverty Through Enterprise: The Case for Social Venture Capital” – Lord Brian Griffiths and Dr Kim Tan available through The Transformational Business Network www.tbnetwork.org)

So what does God’s Word say about poverty and development and what does it say to you and me and to the church on these issues?

210 verses in the Bible use the words ‘poor’ or ‘oppressed.’ In Luke 4:18-21 Jesus uses both words as he reads from Isaiah 61 and v6 of Isaiah 58:

18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.

The words from Isaiah’s prophesy of the Messiah’s ministry to people in distress – the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed. And Jesus applied these words to himself (v21,"Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.") – he is the Messiah who came with good news for the world’s troubled people. So who are the world’s troubled people? Well the poor include those who are spiritually poor and materially poor. Spiritual poverty is the number one problem in the world today. It affects both rich and poor and only the gospel of Christ provides true riches. “Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, so that we through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). This is the ultimate in development work. And Christ commands us to go and play our part in this ultimate development ministry and take this good news to all nations. And so in terms of nations it should be stated that development mustn’t be understood solely in economic terms but in a way that’s fully human. You see the apex of development is the exercise of the right and duty to seek God, to know him and to live in accordance with that knowledge. Therefore neither is development purely about utilitarian values but also about the freedom to preach the gospel and the right to discover and freely to accept Jesus who is man’s true good. After all it’s what Paul asks us to pray for first as a church, 1 Timothy 2:1-4, for the authorities, for peace and for freedom to spread and live the gospel.

1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

You see central to the Church’s approach regarding poverty and development – or what should be central - is that new hope for the future and new personal development - fundamental to any change in persons and communities - comes through the transforming gospel of Jesus Christ. Development carried out even by Christian agencies that is not primarily working with the Church, can cease to bear any significant witness to Christ. The Church can then become marginal to development activities. The gospel is then not at the centre of development activity. Also, in South Sudan, churches are the most widely trusted of social groups by the poor.

And Jesus does want us to be concerned about material as well as spiritual poverty. Did you know that one billion people live on a dollar a day? Do you believe that tackling world poverty must be a priority? The poverty, hunger, disease, lack of schooling, water and housing is a reproach to our generation. Whether we are willing to do anything about injustice and people’s physical needs is a test of the genuineness of our worship. Isaiah 58:6-7:

6"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

As it is of the genuineness of our faith in Christ - James 2:14-17:

14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Yes we are rescued by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We can contribute nothing to our salvation. But as John Calvin put it:

We are saved by faith alone, but saving faith is never alone.

A true saving faith will always be expressed in action, in the good deeds God has prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). Jesus says so in Matthew 25:34-46. How is our faith in Christ being expressed in action?

You see God is Concerned for the Poor

Why? Because he’s a God of justice and compassion. And he warns those who acquire wealth by exploiting the poor. Isaiah 10:1-4:

You who make iniquitous decrees that widows may be your spoil, and that you may make the orphans your prey! What will you do on the day of punishment?

God's anger is also aroused by people who have plenty, yet neglect the needy. In Ezekiel 16:46, God remarks on the destruction of the city of Sodom:

This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

So in God's eyes, ignoring the needs of the poorest is as grievous as idolatry and sexual abominations. God, in part, judges societies by how they treat the people who are most vulnerable.

And we are to Share God's Concern for "The Least of These"

After the Exodus, the Lord commands Israel not to treat widows, orphans and aliens the way they had been treated by the Egyptians. Instead, God's people are to love those on the margins, just as God has rescued them (Deuteronomy 15:15). And God identifies with the poor so strongly that caring for them is akin to serving God. "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord" (Proverbs 19:17). But "Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker" (Proverbs 14:31).

And because compassion is a fundamental aspect of God's character, there is a connection between knowing and loving God, and showing mercy to those in need. In Jeremiah 22:16, God commends the upright king Josiah:

He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?' declares the Lord.

One writer summarises this connection: "Loving God and loving our neighbour are two sides of the same gospel coin. They are inseparable, seamlessly related. ... At the end of the day, how we treat the poor is a measure of whom we truly worship."

So what can we do as individuals and as a Church?

The Bible says there are 7 ways we can act re poverty & development.

1. Practise hospitality (Romans 12:13). The starting point is to make all people feel welcome in our congregation, regardless of economic status (James 2:2-4).

2. Share resources. In view of God's mercy, God's people are commanded to make their resources generously available to the poor (Deuteronomy 15:11). Today sponsoring a child through a Christian organisation is a good way of helping individuals. Other passages point to more institutionalized mechanisms for caring for those unable to provide for themselves. For example, every third year, the people's tithe was to go to support poor widows, orphans, and foreigners as well as the Levites (Deuteronomy 14:28-29). In Acts the church shared with all who had need and took a collection for famine relief which Paul delivered personally. Sharing resources also involves sharing skills. One doctor from JPC has been twice to serve short term with Mercy Ships. South Sudan needs all sorts of skills shared and taught to help them long term – theological, medical, agricultural, financial, educational in order to:

3. Empower self-sufficiency (under God). One key way in which the law of Moses directed resource owners – which in Israel meant landowners – to aid those in need was through the practice of gleaning. Deuteronomy 24:19-20:

When you reap your harvest and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all your undertakings

A core principle of gleaning was that it gave the able-bodied poor an opportunity to meet their own needs through their own application of labour. So what’s the biblical principle for today? Well whenever possible, Christian input should affirm the dignity of those who are poor by creating opportunities for them to provide for themselves and their families, rather than perpetuating crippling dependency. Micro finance is proving to be helpful with this and removes people from abject poverty to ‘normal’ poverty. The next step is to encourage individuals, churches and companies to invest in social venture capital projects rather than by simply making charitable donations. Could we do that as JPC? So:

4. Invest in development. Internal or external barriers may hinder people from meeting this biblical goal of self-sufficiency. Development means generating change within people or their environment that brings life in the community closer to God's ideal. The first goal is personal transformation through the gospel of Christ. The second is community development note through the church that renews the institutions, infrastructure and economy of a healthy community. Isaiah 58:9 & 12:

If you (do what I referred to earlier in v6&7) You shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in."

Community development looks beyond individual well-being to lay a foundation of wholeness that can endure for "many generations”, as Isaiah 61:4 says.

5. Promote justice. Why? Because "the Lord loves justice" Ps 37:28 and we are called to "do justice" (Micah 6:8), particularly on behalf of the powerless. Proverbs 31:8-9:

Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. . . Defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Many biblical texts call on political rulers to use their power to deliver the needy and oppressed. Psalm 72:2, 12:

2May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice. ... 12For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper".

If government and other sectors of society fail to uphold justice, God's people are to hold them accountable. The prophets also confronted business leaders engaged in immoral practices that hurt poor families. Jeremiah 22:13:

Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labour.

Jesus spoke out against respected religious leaders who kept the letter of the law but neglected justice and mercy, and who out of greed would "devour widows' houses" (Luke 20:46-47).

6. Break the cycle of poverty. Every seven years, all debts were to be cancelled (Deuteronomy 15:1-2). The 50th year was a special Jubilee, in which all land was to be returned to its original owners (Leviticus 25:10). The Year of Jubilee represented liberation from this downward spiral, bringing fresh opportunities and hope to each generation. Debt cancellation and targeted investment through the church could bring fresh opportunity in the Sudan.

7. Share good news with the poor. Jesus announced that "the year of the Lord's favour," or era of salvation, had arrived. Like the year of Jubilee, the coming of Christ means good news to the poor and liberty to those in bondage. It’s good news for South Sudan & we’re to help them share this good news with those in the land.

Conclusion

But we must not misunderstand. We dare not reduce knowing God to a concern for social justice. Nor can we earn our way into heaven by caring for the poor. While God shows special concern for the vulnerable, God does not care more about the salvation of the poor than the rich. Jesus confronted the poor along with the wealthy for their sins. In fact, Scripture specifically forbids us to be partial to the poor. Leviticus 19:5:

Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favouritism to the great, but judge your neighbour fairly.

However if we do not share God's passion to uplift the poor, can we claim to know God in a biblical way? 1 John 3:17:

How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?