As the Race comes to an end the Lord has really put something on my heart:
THE GAP
No, I do not mean the clothing the store. What I mean is this huge gap that has grown and continues to grow between the poor and the wealthy.
Please let me explain, and the best way I can explain is by explaining the most recent years of my life.
While I say I grew up in Memphis, I actually grew up in Germantown, which is about a 10 or 15 minute drive outside of Memphis. However, they are worlds apart. You see, Germantown is dominantly white and extremely wealthy. As one drives between these two cities you past several urban cities that are plagued with drugs, depression, injustice, addictions, brokenness, pain, poverty, division, racism, and impoverished housing.
I have fallen in love with one of these urban cities, and that city is Binghampton. I know I just listed a lot of negative things about these urban cities, but things are changing SO FAST! So many people are moving into Binghampton in order to form intentional communities to help repair run down homes, to invite the homeless into their homes, to provide health care, food, etc. There are non-profits like SOS that express the love of Christ through home repairs. Educational programs that are drastically improving the poor educations system that was once in Memphis. So much empowerment!
SO MUCH LOVE!
However, while much is going on in Binghampton and the other urban cities, the gap between Germantown and the other surrounding rich cities exists and thrives. So many people in Germantown have actually never heard of Binghampton and it’s only a few minutes away!
So many Christians are going into Binghampton, which is great because it is connecting the poor with the rich.
And that’s when things get messy. When people begin moving beyond charity and toward justice and solidarity with the poor and oppressed, as Jesus did, they get in trouble. Once we are actually friends with folks in struggle, we start to ask why people are poor, which is never as popular as giving to charity. Catholic bishop Dom Helder Camara once said. “When I fed the hungry, they called me a saint. When I asked why people are hungry, they called me a communist.”
Charity wins awards and applause, but joining the poor gets you killed. People do not get crucified for charity. People are crucified for living out a love that disrupts the social order that calls forth a new world. People are not crucified for helping poor people. People are crucified for joining them.
However, the gap between the poor and the rich is still far too wide. While many rich Christians are moving to where the poor are found, many still have no idea that they even exist. Sure they know the statistic, but they don’t know them.
It’s not that the poor are voiceless. No, there is just so much noise out there drowning out the quiet voices, and many of us have stopped listening to the cries of our neighbors. Lots of people have put their hands over their ears to drown out the sufferings.
I know my church in Germantown and they have HUGE hearts. Thus, I believe that the great tragedy in the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor but that the rich Christians do not know the poor.
Christ did not go to the leper and the tax collector separately, but instead bridged the gap with love.
Through out this year I’ve seen the beauty when folks in poverty are no longer just a missions project but instead become genuine friends and family with whom we laugh, cry, dream, and struggle. I heard someone once say Christ is coming back for a bride, not a harem.
