For the past couple days I have been absolutely unable to get U2 lyrics out of my head - it's like a greatest hits album coagulating in my brain.. One song that has been disturbing me greatly is one off the new album, entitled, "Crumbs from your Table." Bono has mentioned somewhere that the song was written after his "American Heartland" tour, during which he basically pleaded the case for African AIDS relief to "fundamentalist" churches. He's commented that getting people to contribute money to that cause was "like trying to squeeze blood from a stone."
Hence the phrase in the song: "I would believe / if I was able / but I'm waiting on the crumbs from your table." The idea is that as western Christians we spend a lot of effort on getting people to believe the right thing, we send tons of missionaries to meet "eternal" needs, while sometimes overlooking the present desparate condition of the people we're trying to reach. Now, I don't think this is entirely the case, but it has me thinking...
The other day at church the youth group shared pictures from their Mexico spring break trip, during which they spent time building a church, holding VBS, and digging a pit for an outdoor toilet. There were lots of pictures of kids in mime makeup, hanging out with cute Mexican kids and generally having a fun, third-world time.
This is probably sacreligious to even question, but I just find myself questioning how we as Christians can continue to be content with the economic status quo, which perpetuates the necessity of taking such trips. What I guess I mean is, we rarely stop to question whether there might be something else we might do to really help the poverty stricken state of people in these countries - whether it's Mexico or Africa. We're content to give the "crumbs off our tables," in the form of short term missions or temporary patch jobs, but we don't question the policies and powers that make them necessary.
I don't know what would be a better way. I have no idea. I've just been struck by the words, "I would believe / if I were able." Does our lack of action on behalf of justice for such countries decrease reception to the gospel? What exactly is "good news" if it is not "good news to the poor?"
(I am as guilty as anyone).
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7 years ago
2 comments:
Jen,
Have you been reading Rich Christians in a Age of Hunger lately? It's been awhile since I've read it, but it sounds like you kind of hitting upon the same ideas in your recent post.
T-Hill
T-hill,
Nope, no Ron Sider right now, although that book sort of lurks around in the back of my head most of the time! I had an interesting conversation with my roommate about this post... she came home and asked, "do you think my Macedonia trip is crumbs off our table?" (She's going to Macedonia on a missions trip this summer). I said, no I don't think so.
It's so tough, because I am not anti-mission trip. It's just that, the more youth group slide shows I sit through, the more I just wonder how much REAL change is happening. As Christians, we tend to focus on changing hearts, but we ignore the idea of changing systems. Of course, this is how Jesus changed things to, so it's not wrong to focus on the small things. I just wonder why we can't do both. :)
(Enough of my soapbox... ).
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