The Church v. Individual Christians

Some people that I have spoken with say that a call for reform among churches is unneeded as most denominations affirm a commitment to ending poverty. The people often point to programs like the Southern Baptist's Annie Armstrong Easter Offerings and Lottie Moon Christmas offerings, that are geared towards foreign missions, as examples of the commitment of individual churches to the poor. I do not doubt that collectively Christianity does have a strong commitment to aiding the poor. In fact, the more research I have done on this topic, the more I have discovered just how much churches, Christian denominations and other religious organizations act against poverty. However, my main concern is that while religious institutions are concerned with helping fight against poverty, individual Christians are not.

Others may object to the claim that individual Christians generally are not concerned with the poor. The donations of time and money given to the Salvation Army, local churches, soup kitchens and similar organizations provides evidence that some individuals are acting on their Christian duty to aid those in need. However, donations at Christmas, Easter and in the wake of a natural disaster still leave something out of the picture. Christians are not called to make special love gifts every few months to help the poor. They are called to have a lifestyle of service. SUV's, six foot wide flat screen televisions, designer clothing, $150 tennis shoes, and million dollar houses do not seem to lend themselve to a lifestyle of service. (Please understand - I am not saying these things are bad or that people who own these types of things cannot serve others. My criticism is of the mindset that these things are necessary to be comfortable and of the mindset that comfort ought to be one of our goals.)

The question we must ask ourselves is: "Does my faith in God affect what I buy? Does it affect how I spend money? Does it affect my priorities in life? Does it affect my economic behavior more than advertisements and American culture?" Most of us, if we answered honestly, would have to say that usually our consumer choices are driven by materialistic desire and not by a commitment to God. We may give lip service to the fact that we have prayed about buying a big ticket item, however often times we don't even realize that many items we view as essential are in fact luxuries. Our American society has taught us that new furniture, beautiful cars and tailored clothing are needed in order to conside our lives successful and happy. How odd that Scripture makes no such suggestions for achieving personal happiness.

Although we all may agree that God cares for the poor and Christians should demonstrate God's love to the poor, we are sadly in need of some consideration of how that should affect us everyday. This is not a call for us to dispose of all of our material goods. But it is a call for us to reexamine the importance we attach to our material goods and to see the subtle ways that our society has convinced us that we need so much to be content.






(Admission - I am clearly as guilty of having a mindset of materialism as anyone else. Please do not let my hypocrisy stand in the way of recognizing truth. My hope is that my awakening recognition of my own double-standard in life will help me to move away from that hypocrisy.)