Those who read the Barack post may have suspected that there has been some anger simmering this semester underneath the surface. Sometimes it's been outright indignation, sometimes just irritation, and sometimes I've felt intense despair. I must say that much of the anger first relates to me and the way that I have lived over the past 28 yrs. Second, I find myself upset at the American church. Finally, I find myself upset at the U.S. in general. Here's how it goes. We went to Mozambique last summer and saw lots of poverty and had few answers. They don't just have financial needs that people can write a check and make them go away. They need people to connect them with opportunities and people who will go and lay down their lives to effect a change. So, that started this unsettling season. How do I enjoy relative luxuries (ice cream or a vacation at the beach or whatever) when there is such pain? To me, this is a different question than the necessity of Sabbath and relaxation and recharging, which are non-negotiables. How do I live in the richest country in history, be wealthy, and seek to live righteously? You might think that this is a silly question, but here's my dilemma: In the parable of the good Samaritan, Christ basically says that all people should be viewed with love as one's neighbor. Moreover, we have Christian brothers and sisters around the world that are starving to death, right now, as I write. Passages from James and I John say that we must love in deed and not just in word. Further, Isaiah 1:10, Hosea 1:8-9, and Deut. 15 imply that if we are not loving our brothers and sisters with our economics, God will not even call us His children. With that in mind, how do I determine what is excess? I think that determining excess in light of American culture is unhelpful, as everything in our marketing and culture tells us that we need more, we deserve more, we must have more. I always used to think that greed was characterized either by covetousness or immoral behavior to achieve greater gain. But, in studying the Old Testament, I think that greed is better defined as maintaining a surplus when others are in need. Do I advocate liquidating all retirement accounts to give to World Relief? No, as I think that charity is only part of the solution and would prefer targeted micro-lending and institutions that work for sustainable enterprises to be developed for the poor. But I wonder what it would look like if instead of setting aside money for retirement accounts that invest in the stock market, we put significant cash into groups like kiva.org and made the funds available to the poor for loans. For instance, if you set aside $5K/year from the time that you are 30 until you retire at 60. Say you get 8% a year return, you end up with around $500K (I realize that inflation would eat into this value, but play along with me for a minute). Now, I recognize that you're not going to get 8-10% annual return on your investment, but think of the number of individuals that you would help. If you invest in typical mutual funds, you are certainly helping yourself and your family in some way. You keep your kids from having to bear as much load of the financial burden. But I wonder if this creates further separation in families and allows independence that isn't necessarily positive. Dad and Mom and Doug and Mars, you can live with us whenever you want to :) Let's say you invest in kiva or microdevelopment or even a social business that only reinvests profits in the company (giving you back the initial investment only). Let's assume that the repayment rate is 99% (about what kiva is at right now), that loans are extended for a year (a reasonable estimate) and that each loan is $1000 per family of 5 (most loans are actually much less $, but this makes the numbers simple). In this scenario, you end up with only $130K - there is no denying that this is much less, but you would have extended 2,000+ loans and impacted 10,000+ people and those would have gone and impacted others. Now, retiring on $130K probably isn't wise, but I struggle to think that we are righteous when we spend our money on lavish vacations in tropical or global locations or save to do so in retirement. Again, I'm not pointing fingers - I'm struggling with this internally first. Some would say, well why don't you just accumulate all the money and then give it away at death or in retirement (i.e. if you did the 500K in microloans starting in year 30, perhaps that would enable more overall loans). While there are certain advantages, the investment in people throughout those 30 years would pay greater overall dividends in my mind. Now, I recognize that micro-finance is not going to solve everything, but I struggle to think that investing in Coke, Wal-Mart, or Cisco is going to improve the half of the world's population that live on less than $2/day at all. Some argue that microfinance does little, but it actually does many helpful things, the first of which is giving people small chances to make decisions, take responsibility, and contribute to society. So, this is one area that has been troubling me deeply: global economics and how to live righteously amid such wealth. I don't have great answers, but I'm beginning to wonder if bear guilt for living in the U.S. and not moving more significantly against the tide. I'm starting to wonder if the ease of my life puts me in significant danger of the Is. 1:10/Hos. 1:8-9/Amos 4:1-3/"depart from me because I never knew you" fate (i.e. claiming to be a child but not being one in fact). Am I saying that I have to earn my way to heaven? No, absolutely not. But I am saying that every time I read Jam. 2, I begin to wonder about what my faith means. We are a country filled with people that espouse good feelings about the faith that we have. Christ said that there would be many who would be left out of the kingdom with similar sentiments - I wonder about my own faith and the faith that many Americans espouse.
Second, we've been taking a class on Christianity and the Problem of Racism. It's been really emotively tough. To see the way African-Americans, beautiful human beings made in the image of God, were systematically exploited and ruthlessly used has been difficult to stomach. From the slave ships, to the rape of the women by slave masters, to the beatings, to the Jim Crow laws that created similar situations even after the Civil War, it's been gut-wrenching. The hardest part, however, has been seeing the church's part in all of it. The great evangelist George Whitefield successfully lobbied to introduce slavery in Georgia to make his orphanage economically sustainable. The church was late responding to slavery, and few white evangelicals stood with King and other Civil Rights leaders during the 1960s. The church had little impact during the Jim Crow era and served to stabilize the existing powers. It's been really, really hard to become acquainted with these facts. We've been in a class with many African-Americans and Latinos, and it's difficult to hear about the reality of racism in their lives that they face. They get pulled over by a cop for no reason in particular with regularity, or a shopkeeper follows them around everywhere in a store because they think that they might steal something, or they need a high level contact at Accenture or another employer to make a connection to get a good interview, but because they are not connected in the white network, it's difficult for them. It's further hard to see the way that we white Christians have largely left the urban, "dangerous" areas and gone to the suburbs. Many well-intentioned families have never considered living in an urban area because of perceived risks to children. The idea of protecting children is great, but I think that living in relative affluence is more dangerous (especially to the soul) than living among those who are impoverished. While I'm not advocating living in the worst part of town, I think that as Christians, we are called daily to take up our cross and follow Christ. I find it difficult to think we are doing that when we live in nice suburbs. The places that we chose to live and chose to attend church create basic parameters for our friendships. We don't exercise active prejudice against the poor, but when a poor guy with the same qualifications as a rich man interviews for the same job, his dearth of connections and recommendations often undermines his chances. Again, I'm not arguing for government-mandated integrated housing. I'm arguing that this should be the natural movement of Christians. Innercity schools are also problematic because they teach children so little and do not equip them for finding real jobs. I'm not saying that the government should do some kind of quick fix (or that a solution is waiting out there that is easy). But, again, when it is our child that has to endure some poor teaching, we make noise and hold teachers to higher levels of accountability and provide funding for good programs and are the salt and light in the world. If we as Christians move to the hurting areas, seek the hurting and the broken as Christ did, we follow Him. It's hard to do this. I have breakfast every other week with a friend who is homeless. The guy is brilliant, a believer and a Hebrew scholar who is working through some personal issues and getting his feet back under him. How do I love him well? Do I offer a loan to help open doors to lift him out of poverty? Do I just show up each week and listen to him and encourage him and pray for him? There isn't a quick fix. I feel a bit of his pain every week and wonder and pray what I can be doing. My buddy is making progress and gaining ground, and the authenticity of our friendship seems to be a boost to him, but it is tough to move toward pain.
Finally, we're grappling with the whole issue of the redemption of creation: how do I live in such a way to help the environment grow. First, in regard to CO2. We watched An Inconvenient Truth, I spent some time pouring through positions from liberals and conservatives, and started talking within our group at Park Street Church. Although I'm no scientist, I struggle to think that the globe isn't heating up and that we as humans are significantly contributing to it. How much? I don't know. But I think that Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives have consistently evaded the issue, and the virtual consensus among top scientist is that we are headed in a direction with serious ramifications. I understand that Al Gore overstates his case and in some instances is downright misleading. I understand that there is disagreement as to the degree of change. On the whole, however, I feel compelled to respond. We are not 100% certain that disaster looms ahead, but I think that Christians need to respond. Second, in regard to stuff. I think in the city and especially in a northern city, one becomes more aware of how much trash people create. I'm not saying that northerners create more than southerners but that there is a tremendous amount created every day. I just wonder what we are doing with it? Up here in the north, our landfills are starting to fill up more and cities are having to send their garbage farther and farther out. Another area of environmental concern is that long-distance transportation of food to reduce prices also hurts the environment through fuel and other natural resource consumption. So, we are buying food at the co-op and trying to buy organic and fair trade products. Even though this is less environmental and more of a human concern, fair trade is also coming more and more to the forefront of our attention. I know that unfair and ridiculous trade laws set up such relationships just as much as anything else (and that the U.S. is often not to blame for this), but if I buy 49 cent/lb. bananas and the guy that harvests them doesn't even have enough to feed his kids, is this righteousness? If I buy cheap coffee from Kroger that is $4/lb. and the harvester can't send his daughter to school even though he works 12 hours days, am I doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God? I'm not saying that we'll ever be able to understand all of our purchases and the economic role that all play, but we have information enough now to make more informed choices. If we buy fair trade bananas at 99 cents/lb, and we know the company's director and business practices, I feel a whole heckuva lot better - same with fair trade sugar, coffee, etc. With Emily's pregnancy we're also trying to get organic meat so that the baby doesn't ingest as many toxins. Eating like this is an experiment, and many times, I don't like it, but we're reducing the amount of meat that we're eating and some of the higher cost items and trying to eat beans and rice and other simple foods to make up for the cost of buying overall organic. We're not vegetarians! I still love meat as much as the next guy, but how do we live justly, in a way that honors God? We too easily justify our ability to get cheap food as a systemic issue and don't even think about it, but should we buy food from exploited farmers?
So you say, "why do you feel anger?" I often feel anger because I feel like Christians should be leading the way in thinking about redeeming the environment, not fighting against it (as conservatives did for so many years, me included). I feel as though we should be the ones populating the innercities, counting the cost everyday and following Christ, live or die. Instead, we have too often lived in suburbia and occasionally written checks. On average, we evangelicals give 2-3% of our income to the church and less to other charities. I can't remember the exact stat, but if my mind serves me correctly, I believe that we gave more as a percentage during the depression. We are just as likely to divorce and are seemingly just as materialistic as the larger society. In essence, we as a culture of evangelicals speak one thing but do what the culture does. This deeply upsets me. It feels like a violation of integrity at the most fundamental level. It feels like we have the idol of economics at the most basic level. We kept slavery after most other Western nations abolished it because it was economically helpful for us. We kept Jim Crow laws for the same reason - it benefited whites economically. We buy, buy, buy. Clinton's overarching economic strategy was often all that mattered to him. He's famous for saying, "It's the economy, stupid." We slavishly follow economic indicators to keep up consumer confidence. I'm not saying that I'm perfect or that I have it figured out. The thing that hurts as much as anything is that I have lived in this materialistic environment and done little to oppose it. I don't live with the sense of open-heartedness and community orientation that the early church did in regard to finances. Further, expressing wild anger about the situation isn't the answer either.
Perhaps you can get a taste of what too often has been swirling in my mind. At many points, I've had nightmares, not slept well, or not slept at all. We're starting to gain some traction and feel as though the Lord is opening our eyes to ways that we need to repent, need to change, and need to grapple with the pain that we have contributed to and the evil that is in this world. Prior to moving to Boston, I never deeply considered the liberal position. I had never heard a cogent biblical argument for voting for the democratic platform. Now, I've heard many arguments based on treatment of the poor, sick, and homeless. I'm still an ideological conservative, but I'm very unsatisfied with Republicans at this point (not that I am hopeful to find a savior among the democrats either). I hope that Senator McCain will give leadership that brings people together and sheds light on ways to bless the poorest members of our society and world.
To be sure, there has still been much joy in this semester. It's not as though we haven't laughed. We've had great time with friends and enjoyed Boston. But, our worldview has taken one stomach punch after another, and it's been tough to handle at times. We appreciate your prayers.
S
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