Friends in low places
poverty is so hard to see
when it’s only on your tv and twenty miles across town
where we’re all living so good
that we moved out of Jesus’ neighborhood
where he’s hungry and not feeling so good
from going through our trash
he says, more than just your cash and coin
i want your time, i want your voice
i want the things you just can’t give me
so what must we do
here in the west we want to follow you
we speak the language and we keep all the rules
even a few we made up
come on and follow me
but sell your house, sell your S.U.V.
sell your stocks, sell your security
and give it to the poor
what is this, hey what’s the deal
i don’t sleep around and i don’t steal
i want the things you just can’t give me
-Derek Webb, Rich Young Ruler
"Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation" -Romans 12:16
"And [Jesus] also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, 'When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.' -Luke 14:12-14
"My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, 'You sit here in a good place,' and you say to the poor man, 'You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,' have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law, according to the Scripture, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF,' you are doing well. -James 2:1-8
These verses have been on my mind a lot recently. I'm often tempted to read Jesus' parables or Paul's moral exhortations with an attitude of "Oh, that would be a good thing to do", and then move on and not really think about the practical implication they should have on my life. For example, Jesus tells us to invite the poor and the crippled to eat dinner with us. Paul tells us to associate with the lowly. But they're just saying that to make some intellectual, ethical point, right? They don't actually expect us to bring them into our homes or befriend them, do they? I mean, have you seen the poor and the lowly? Poor and lowly, like 'the weird guy on Trax' poor and lowly? Poor and lowly, like 'the homeless woman who's always in front of the city library' poor and lowly? Poor and lowly, like 'that foreign guy who lives down the street and who I think is a little crazy' poor and lowly? But they're all so dirty and strange, and conversations with them (if there ever are any) are always so awkward and repetitive. How do I know they won't steal something if I let them into my home? How can I befriend them when we have so little in common?
Like Derek Webb says, "poverty is so hard to see when it's only on your TV and twenty miles across town." It is frighteningly easy for us as middle class Americans to seclude ourselves from the rest of the world. Garth Brooks sings, "I've got friends in low places". There's a lot of gospel insight in that. When we shelter ourselves from the poverty and suffering in the world around us it's easy to ignore it. We know that it's there in some hazy sense, but we aren't really compelled to do much about it. But what if those who are poor and suffering are our friends. What if we live among them and see them all around us. When we're actually confronted by the poor and and those who are suffering on a personal level we can either embrace them with compassion or run away from them with hardened hearts, making excuses to ourselves for why we couldn't help them. There is no middle ground.
I'm convinced that Jesus has much more in mind than just filling the bellies of the poor when he tells us to invite them into our homes for dinner. Of course we're called to feed and shelter the poor, but what they are longing for (as are we all) more than a full stomache is someone to treat them as who they really are, namely, fellow image bearers of God. They are longing for someone to reach out and touch them and ask them their name and their story and their desires and their struggles. They are longing for human interaction that goes beyond being treated as a charity case. How hypocrytical is it of us to give our money to feed the poor to fulfill some sense of obligation or moral duty, if when we see them in the street we walk past them and try to avoid any sort of contact. Doesn't that kind of attitude show how little we actually care for the poor themselves, as people who bear the image of God. I know I struggle with this, and I think it flows from my propensity to read the Bible as a set of intellectual propositions. As long as I can send money (which I never see) to people (who I never see) in a place (that I never see), I can feel good about the fact that I'm "helping the poor". But as soon as it comes time to actually care for the poor in person, as soon as I have to take my only ten dollar bill out of my pocket or take time out of my busy schedule to talk with someone or take them to get something to eat, it becomes so much easier to clam up, avoid all eye contact, and think about the check I just sent to charity so that I can not feel so bad about not stopping and helping the person on the street.
What would it look like if we actually did what Jesus told us to do? What would it look like if we invited the Trax guy, the homeless lady, and the crazy foreigner into our homes. What would it look like if they became our friends? I recently had an opportunity to invite two people in need to a dinner, which, in large part, is the reason this has been on my mind so much. I'm not saying this to toot my own horn. I'm saying it as an encouragement and as a testimony to the fact that it truly is a blessing to "associate with the lowly". And it was hard. All of the concerns I mentioned above about things being stolen and awkward conversations were forefront in my mind. But being able to bring joy to them through food and fellowship put all those concerns to shame. Afterwards, in both cases, they both engaged me in great gospel conversations and I was able to open up the Bible with them.
So I encourage you. Go make friends with those that nobody wants to be friends with. Go love those who are hard to love. Jesus died to break these kinds of social and economic barriers. Ask them their name, ask them their story, treat them like you would treat all your other friends. In the world's eyes this is foolishness, but in reality it is the wisdom of God.
when it’s only on your tv and twenty miles across town
where we’re all living so good
that we moved out of Jesus’ neighborhood
where he’s hungry and not feeling so good
from going through our trash
he says, more than just your cash and coin
i want your time, i want your voice
i want the things you just can’t give me
so what must we do
here in the west we want to follow you
we speak the language and we keep all the rules
even a few we made up
come on and follow me
but sell your house, sell your S.U.V.
sell your stocks, sell your security
and give it to the poor
what is this, hey what’s the deal
i don’t sleep around and i don’t steal
i want the things you just can’t give me
-Derek Webb, Rich Young Ruler
"Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation" -Romans 12:16
"And [Jesus] also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, 'When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.' -Luke 14:12-14
"My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, 'You sit here in a good place,' and you say to the poor man, 'You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,' have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law, according to the Scripture, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF,' you are doing well. -James 2:1-8
These verses have been on my mind a lot recently. I'm often tempted to read Jesus' parables or Paul's moral exhortations with an attitude of "Oh, that would be a good thing to do", and then move on and not really think about the practical implication they should have on my life. For example, Jesus tells us to invite the poor and the crippled to eat dinner with us. Paul tells us to associate with the lowly. But they're just saying that to make some intellectual, ethical point, right? They don't actually expect us to bring them into our homes or befriend them, do they? I mean, have you seen the poor and the lowly? Poor and lowly, like 'the weird guy on Trax' poor and lowly? Poor and lowly, like 'the homeless woman who's always in front of the city library' poor and lowly? Poor and lowly, like 'that foreign guy who lives down the street and who I think is a little crazy' poor and lowly? But they're all so dirty and strange, and conversations with them (if there ever are any) are always so awkward and repetitive. How do I know they won't steal something if I let them into my home? How can I befriend them when we have so little in common?
Like Derek Webb says, "poverty is so hard to see when it's only on your TV and twenty miles across town." It is frighteningly easy for us as middle class Americans to seclude ourselves from the rest of the world. Garth Brooks sings, "I've got friends in low places". There's a lot of gospel insight in that. When we shelter ourselves from the poverty and suffering in the world around us it's easy to ignore it. We know that it's there in some hazy sense, but we aren't really compelled to do much about it. But what if those who are poor and suffering are our friends. What if we live among them and see them all around us. When we're actually confronted by the poor and and those who are suffering on a personal level we can either embrace them with compassion or run away from them with hardened hearts, making excuses to ourselves for why we couldn't help them. There is no middle ground.
I'm convinced that Jesus has much more in mind than just filling the bellies of the poor when he tells us to invite them into our homes for dinner. Of course we're called to feed and shelter the poor, but what they are longing for (as are we all) more than a full stomache is someone to treat them as who they really are, namely, fellow image bearers of God. They are longing for someone to reach out and touch them and ask them their name and their story and their desires and their struggles. They are longing for human interaction that goes beyond being treated as a charity case. How hypocrytical is it of us to give our money to feed the poor to fulfill some sense of obligation or moral duty, if when we see them in the street we walk past them and try to avoid any sort of contact. Doesn't that kind of attitude show how little we actually care for the poor themselves, as people who bear the image of God. I know I struggle with this, and I think it flows from my propensity to read the Bible as a set of intellectual propositions. As long as I can send money (which I never see) to people (who I never see) in a place (that I never see), I can feel good about the fact that I'm "helping the poor". But as soon as it comes time to actually care for the poor in person, as soon as I have to take my only ten dollar bill out of my pocket or take time out of my busy schedule to talk with someone or take them to get something to eat, it becomes so much easier to clam up, avoid all eye contact, and think about the check I just sent to charity so that I can not feel so bad about not stopping and helping the person on the street.
What would it look like if we actually did what Jesus told us to do? What would it look like if we invited the Trax guy, the homeless lady, and the crazy foreigner into our homes. What would it look like if they became our friends? I recently had an opportunity to invite two people in need to a dinner, which, in large part, is the reason this has been on my mind so much. I'm not saying this to toot my own horn. I'm saying it as an encouragement and as a testimony to the fact that it truly is a blessing to "associate with the lowly". And it was hard. All of the concerns I mentioned above about things being stolen and awkward conversations were forefront in my mind. But being able to bring joy to them through food and fellowship put all those concerns to shame. Afterwards, in both cases, they both engaged me in great gospel conversations and I was able to open up the Bible with them.
So I encourage you. Go make friends with those that nobody wants to be friends with. Go love those who are hard to love. Jesus died to break these kinds of social and economic barriers. Ask them their name, ask them their story, treat them like you would treat all your other friends. In the world's eyes this is foolishness, but in reality it is the wisdom of God.
posted by Chris at 3:45 PM
6 Comments:
I didn't even read this blog because there weren't any pictures... lame!
by the way, did you see that someone commented?! yeah, that was me. I think people are waiting until you go to France.
Great post Chris. This is something that is on my mind a lot. I think one of the things that I've learned is that it is often hard to be around people experiencing poverty (financial, emotional, or otherwise) because it brings up our own poverty. It brings up our own need for someone beyond ourselves to bring us up out of our poverty. I also think we are often tempted to believe that people in poverty just need our help and assistance rather then thinking they might have something to offer us. I'm excited that you reached out to people in need it is a lesson to all of us. Thanks for sharing.
git-r-done!!!!!!!!!!!!!
halla at ya boi!!!!!
holla cuz im a balla
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