I'm not sure what I thought this book would be when I started reading it but I certainly never thought that it would be a book that is still "haunting" me a few weeks after I finished it. I am confident that God brought this book to me with His usual perfect timing. Our small group had just finished studying the challenging theology of faith vs. works as presented in the second chapter of James and I was left deeply convicted. "Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?...The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse" (James 2:22, 26 MSG).
"The idea behind [the book] is quite simple. It's basically the belief that being a Christian, or follower of Jesus Christ, requires much more than just having a personal and transforming relationship with God. It also entails a public and transforming relationship with the world" (p. 2). As soon as I read the following, I knew I was in for a journey: "This is not easy stuff. Anyone who has tried to follow Jesus knows that the journey is fraught with setbacks, challenges, and failures - two steps forward and one step back. Those who choose to follow Christ have struggled since the very beginning to live differently in a world that often rejects their values and mocks their beliefs. The temptation to retreat from it and to keep our faith private has befallen every generation of Christians...Living out our faith privately was never meant to be an option" (p. 3, italics mine). The premise of Mr. Stearns' book is to expose the problem of poverty in our world and show how those of us who are the minority 'haves' have the resources to change the lives of the majority 'have-nots'. But it's so much bigger than that....
Mr. Stearns starts out the book by telling of his remarkable journey from CEO of Lenox to President of World Vision. His frankness and honesty are incredibly encouraging as he shares his apprehension about making this change in his career and how it affected both him and his family. But his bottom line is summed up in saying "When we become involved in people's lives, work to build relationships, walk with them through their sorrows and their joys, live with generosity toward others, love and care for them unconditionally, stand up for the defenseless, and pay particular attention to the poorest and most vulnerable, we are showing Christ's love to those around us, not just talking about it" (p. 19-20).
Using Isaiah 58 and Matthew 25, Mr. Stearns demonstrates to his readers the importance of our faith having an outward working in our willingness to take care of 'the least of these'. Then he discusses the three greatest commandments - 1) to love God and 2) love our neighbour as ourself (Matthew 22:34-40) and 3) go and make disciples of others who will do the same (Matthew 28:16-20). "That love, when demonstrated to the world through acts of kindness, compassion, and justice, is revolutionary; and when we become agents of it, we make credible the message of a Savior who transforms men and women for eternity" (p. 69).
"Faith without works is no faith at all. But authentic faith, rooted in the heart of God, is expressed in deeds done to ease the pain of others; it is imbued with personal sacrifice, and it comes with a cost" (p. 85). This is the start of a section of the book in which the author shows through Scripture such as Luke 6:43-44, 46, Matthew 7:19-23, James 1:22, 2:14-19, 1 John 2:3-6 and 1 John 3:16-20 that "the conclusion is inescapable. Jesus asks much more of us than just believing the right things" (p. 87). He discusses how when he met President Jimmy Carter in 1999 the former president believed that the "greatest problem of our time was the growing gap between the richest and the poorest people on earth" (p. 98). These poor people are our 'neighbours' no matter where they live in the world and loving them as we are commanded involves helping them break the cycle of poverty through awareness, access and ability.
One of the 'points' made in the book that really has stuck with me was that if we woke up this morning and saw the headline 'One Hundred Jetliners Crash, Killing 26,500' the media coverage, government involvement and outpouring of compassion would be unprecedented. Yet 26,500 children die every day because of preventable causes related to their poverty and very little is being done, comparably, about it. "For some reason we are wired in such a way that we can become almost indifferent to tragedies that are far away from us emotionally, socially, or geographically, but when the same tragedy happens to us or someone close to us, everything changes" (p. 108). So, the challenge to us must be to make it personal by being involved in the life of even one of these children that is at risk or a person who is trapped in the cycle of poverty. "President Clinton's observation [about the situation faced by the more than one billion people who live on less than a dollar a day] is profound. For most of the poorest people in the world, their hard work doesn't matter. They are trapped within social, cultural, political, and economic systems that do do reward their labor. The result of this entrenched futility is devastating to the human spirit. A person, no matter how gifted or determined, cannot escape the trap in which he finds himself. He has lost the one thing that every person needs to thrive; hope - hope that he will somehow overcome his circumstances, that tomorrow can be better than today, and that his children might someday have a better life than his. Such people discover that they are in an economic and social prison from which there is no escape - unless something happens to change their circumstances and to restore the link between their effort and their reward" (p. 119). Mr. Stearns gives the reader some very interesting statistics about how the world's wealth is distributed and shows how throughout the Old and New Testament (Lev. 23:22, 2 Cor. 8:13-15) God's people have been given a responsibility to ensure that everyone in their society has their basic needs met. But he has a key point: "it is not our fault that people are poor, but it is our responsibility to do something about it. God says that we are guilty if we allow people to remain deprived when we have the means to help them. It is our moral duty to help our neighbors in need. We cannot look at their situation and simply say, "Not my problem." Neither can we sit smugly in our comfortable bubbles and claim no responsibility for the disadvantaged in our world. God did not leave us that option" (p. 123).
The next few chapters of the book dig deeper into the impact that poverty has on human beings. For me, it showed clearly how we can look at poverty as a big "whole" and it seems so overwhelming but if we choose to break it down into smaller chunks, there shines through some light that gives us hope that it can be defeated. "We need to look at the clues where poverty is concerned, because how we perceive it and what we believe are its causes will ultimately determine what actions we take to address it" (p. 125). "When talking about poverty's root causes, it's important to realize that injustice is often "the cause behind the cause". In other words, if people lack food, health care, or education; are vulnerable to disease; and have no access to land or financial capital, it is frequently because they have been exploited or manipulated by unjust people and structures - man's inhumanity to man" (p. 126-7). Hunger is often the image that comes into so many people's minds when they think of poverty. Shockingly, "the world can and does produce enough food to feed all of it's 6.7 billion inhabitants. The problem is that both the food and the capacity to produce it are unequally distributed" (p. 135). People in Haiti are eating patties made of mud, oil and sugar just to 'make their stomach quiet down'!!!!!! In some countries, the search for a retrieval of clean, useable water is something that consumes people from sun up to sun down. And that's only for about 2% of the water that most of us use in a day. A lot of this water is still disease-ridden and the fetching of it makes their life so that they cannot do anything else like work or go to school. Malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS are the diseases that claim the most lives every year for the poor. No money, even for clothes, illiteracy and being refugees contributes greatly to the cycle of poverty. One point that spoke deeply to my female heart was that on gender and how being a woman is enough of a factor to sentence someone to a life of "poverty, abuse, exploitation, and deprivation" (p 156). The cycle of poverty is so devastating on women. "According to former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, "No tool for development is more effective than the empowerment of women". This one thing can do more to address extreme poverty than food, shelter, health care, economic development, or increased foreign assistance. There is a saying in many parts of Africa: "If you educate a man, you simply educate in individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation." When a girl is educated, her income potential increases, maternal and infant mortality are reduced, children are more likely to be immunized, the birth rate decreases, and the percentage of HIV infections (especially in Africa) is lowered. An educated girl is more likely to acquire skills to improve the economic stability of her family, and she is also more apt to ensure that her daughters receive an education too. Educating girls pays dividend after dividend to the whole community" (p. 157). Enough said - girl power!!! This section of the book actually gave me chills just thinking of the possibilities.
The good news is that we are making small progresses and small differences over time. Life expectancy is increasing in developing nations, child mortality has been cut in half since 1970 and access to clean water is increasing. But the church in North America has some serious internal issues to deal with and then we will be able to make a difference that will change the world. "We are so preoccupied with our own lives and the daily issues in our own churches that we overlook the challenges faced by churches in other lands. Our sin is not one of commission but rather of omission. Sins of omission are sometimes the most difficult ones to address. To do so requires intentional and relentless self-examination, a commitment to serve those in greatest need, and a keen awareness of the broader world in which God has placed us...our greatest power to change the world is released when we come together in a collective action to organize and focus the resources of the whole body of Christ...If Church leaders do not have an outward vision to become salt and light in our world, to promote social and spiritual transformation, pursue justice, and proclaim the whole gospel, then the Church will fail to realize its potential as an agent of change" (p. 178-9). We must be ever mindful that we are not becoming the rich man of Luke 16.
I was shocked and so very saddened by his uncovering of the North American church's attitude toward AIDS. So many men and women of our church are mired in ignorance about this disease and still see it as 'a gay disease' and a judgment from God because of a lifestyle choice. When World Vision conducted a research study to find out people's feelings on supporting AIDS ministry "only 3 percent answered that they would definitely help [and] 52 percent said that they probably or definitely would not help" (p. 196). I actually wrote 'Shocking!!' in the margin in my copy of the book when I read this. How are we still here as a body that is supposed to exude love?!?! "History demonstrates that the institutional Church often fails to rise above and challenge the popular culture and values" (p. 196). Yikes. Mr. Stearns suggests that we must start by putting to death 'the American Dream' because it creates a culture of individualism and a sense of entitlement. What we must come to realize is that "God is a generous giver. He does not begrudge us the things He gives us. In fact, He is pleased when we enjoy them. The point is that He wants us to embrace a kingdom view of our money, possessions, and abilities, recognizing that all we have comes from Him. He wants us to hold them lightly and be willing to use them on His behalf" (p. 207). "We don't have to be in full-time ministry to be in God's game, but we do have to serve God full-time - as stewards of all that He has given us. If we're in God's game, we need to put the American Dream to death, because God's game is a different game altogether" (p. 209).
The chapter called 'Two Percent of Two Percent' should be read from the pulpit of every church in every developed nation. I believe that it would cause great conviction in the heart of many believers ("the average giving of American church members in 2005 was just 2.58 percent of their income, about 75 percent less than the biblical standard of 10 percent" p. 217) and illuminate the fact that we do, indeed, have the power to change the world!! If every American churchgoer tithed there would be $168 billion available to give. We only need $65 billion to "eliminate the most extreme poverty on the planet for more than a billion people" (p. 218). Imagine what we could do with the rest!!! The church in North America needs a desperate facelift and I'm sure that this would do it. "Think about the statement it would make if American Christian citizens stepped up and gave more than all of the governments of the world combined because they took Jesus seriously when he said to love our neighbors as ourselves" (p. 219).
In the final section of the book entitled 'Repairing the Hole', the author discusses what we can do with what we as the reader now know. For me, I felt overwhelmed with the statistics of the poverty around the world and wondered where to even start if I wanted to make a difference. "Jesus seeks a new world order in which the whole gospel, hallmarked by compassion, justice and proclamation of the good news, becomes a reality, first in our hearts and minds, and then in the wider world through our influence" (p. 243). But "becoming this kind of disciple, one who is determined to be the gospel to the world around him, involves an intentional decision...We will have to make some 'on purpose' life choices and then change our priorities and behavior' (p. 245). Using the story of Jesus feeding the masses with the few loaves, Mr. Stearns says "Can you see the real miracle at work here? Confronted with an overwhelming problem, Jesus did not ask the disciples to do the impossible; He asked only for them to bring Him what they had...The principle here is so very important for those of us who are overwhelmed with the immensity of human suffering and need in our world: God never asks us to give what we do not have...But he cannot use what we will not give" (p. 253). He encourages us to give of our time, talent and treasure.
"This was God's plan to change the world - He chose His followers to be the change - He chose you, and He chose me. We are the ones who will bring the good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, and stand up for justice in a fallen world. We are the revolution. We are God's Plan A...and He doesn't have a Plan B" (p. 277). AMEN!!!!
There is so much in this book that had me reduced to tears that all I can really do is share some of things that were written that impacted me greatly and plead with you to read this book and tell every person you know (Christian or not) to read this book!! The personal stories of the people that Mr. Stearns has met around the world are both heart-breaking, heart-warming and God-glorifying. You will never look at your lifestyle in the same way ever again!!!
Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which he is to bless us now. - Saint Teresa of Avila
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
I believe in Christianity, as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else - C.S. Lewis
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Rescue the weak and needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked - Psalm 82:3-4
Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it - Helen Keller
"Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it."
"Well why don't you ask Him?"
"Because I'm afraid He would ask me the same question." - Anonymous
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world - John 16:33
If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered - Proverbs 21:13
