What are the millennium development goals?

According to Kofi Annan “The Millennium Development Goals were adopted five years ago by all the world’s governments as a blueprint for building a better world in the 21st century.”

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Sex Trafficking Fact Sheet

Here is a fact sheet on Sex trafficking provided by the International Justice Mission. Learn more about injustice around the world and what IJM is doing to help. Once you know, your life will be changed.

 

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Bonded Slavery Fact Sheet

Here is a fact sheet on bonded slavery provided by the International Justice Mission. Learn more about injustice around the world and what IJM is doing to help. Once you know, your life will be changed.

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Gates, Warren, and super philanthropy.

I’ve been asked a lot lately about what I think about the level of philanthropy being shown by the super wealthy like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Our good friend Ron has provided some excellent thoughts worthy of discussion:

“…I saw a story that was listing the things that he (Buffet) and Bill Gates can address with the amount of money they are giving away. For instance, for “only” 6 billion dollars, they can rid the world of malaria. It made me think, if he and Bill Gates had the philosophy to give away any “excess” wealth as soon as they acquired it, then they’d never be able to do what they’re doing now. Which has the greater impact? I know you’ve mentioned that maybe some people can contribute the most by acquiring wealth and giving it away. Maybe that’s not the way to have the greatest impact. As we’ve heard, Warren Buffet still lived a somewhat modest life in spite of his wealth. Maybe taking the “buying your own freedom” idea a step further is to invest any additional wealth with the idea of making a greater impact at some point in the future. Not sure…”

“…Along the same topic, it occurs to me to ask if the people we’re hearing about giving away tons of money and getting involved in social causes (Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Oprah, Bono, George Clooney, etc.) are doing so in the name of Christ or in the name of “good will” and “doing what’s right?” Again this gets back to the question … then does it “count?” Or does God say, keep your billions? If it’s not done in God’s name, is it meaningless?…”

Excellent questions. I think this reintroduces the “even the heathens can do that” bar we run into often. If even secular culture can produce such massive gestures of good will, then how much higher of a bar should we as the Church set for ourselves or is expected of us? What does that say about our current level of generosity? I also wonder if the maintenance of wealth could ever justify opulent lifestyles (I say this believing most everyone in the west enjoys a life of excess).

I look forward to everyone else’s thoughts as well. I hope to post more of my own soon.

Injustice is a particular kind of sin

Proverbs 14:31
31 He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,
but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

Our friends at the International Justice Mission (an amazing legal organization that deserves our attention and support) provided a lot of unique perspective for us.

They define Justice as “the exercise of power with moral excellence” and Injustice as “the abuse of power to take from others their life, liberty, dignity, and the fruits of their love and their labor.”

The biblical context for injustice is the abuse of power with a specific oppressor and a specific victim or involves the specific actions of a particular people. Scripture is not abstract, scripture names names. Therefore we need not be abstract — we can identify specific oppressors, specific people, and specific actions.

It may be overwhelming to even begin to list all the specific oppressors and victims in this world, but nevertheless every single life matters to God. It may be easy to get overwhelmed by the numbers, but it is a luxury even to be overwhelmed by the numbers. Scripture calls us out of that luxury and into God’s love for each and every individual.

What is God’s plan for justice? WE ARE GOD’S PLAN FOR JUSTICE. God rescued you so that you could rescue others.

Love those who suffer, because they have not heard the gospel (evangelism)
Love those who suffer, because they do not have basic essentials (compassion)
Love those who suffer, because they have an oppressor (justice)

Isaiah 1:17
17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

A genuinely Christian reflection on social issues must be rooted in the self-giving love of the Divine Trinity as manifested on the cross of Christ; all the central themes of such relfection will have to be thought through from the perspective of the self-giving love of God. ~ Miroslov Volf, Exclusion and Embrace

Redefining “political”

Proverbs 31:9
9 Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy.

The term “political” carries with it all manner of connotative meanings, mostly negative, that may be deserved but are far from the concept’s true intent. I believe it is important for us to redefine what it means for Christians to be political.

At this point you may want to re-read a previous post titled: Some thoughts on the Church and government. Christians need to ask themselves and be honest about what they are trying to achieve with American politics. Are we trying to legally impose Christian standards, or are we merely trying to use politics for the common good?

Jim Wallis posed an important question to us as a church and as individuals in asking: Are you more afraid to be partisan or political?

Are we afraid of being truly political because we are too concerned about partisan loyalties or unable to differentiate between “partisan” and “political” — or are we too afraid of being seen as partisan (i.e. losing tax status) because to be political in the U.S. requires subscribing to the imperfect and imbalanced republican vs. democrat? Is it possible to be political without being partisan, engaged without being used, principled without being ideological?

I think we should set to the task of answering these questions.

Psalm 140:12
12 I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor
and upholds the cause of the needy.

“He who converts his neighbor has preformed the most practical Christian-political act of all.” ~ C.S. Lewis