The sheep and the goats.
this song illustrates this passage perfectly. (such a great song...have a listen.)
Love or Gain by Lakes
I learned to pray with my eyes closed.
But I never thought that meant
Turning blindly to grace.
And I'd rather see when the sun sets,
And open my eyes to a world full of pain
America
Dream your dreams.
Ignore and neglect the strangers needs.
America
To love or gain.
Dream your dreams.
Raise up your hands for the blessing.
Bow your heads and bury your gold.
Close your eyes to compassion.
Say your prayers and wait for your circle to grow.
America
Dream your dreams.
Of wealth and success in Jesus name.
America
Dream your dreams.
Ignore and neglect the strangers needs
America
To love or gain
Dream your dreams.
Have we no ounce of love in our veins?
America
Dream your dreams
Of wealth and success in Jesus name.
America
Dream your dreams.
Ignore and neglect the strangers needs.
America
To love or gain.
Dream your dreams.
Thought from
Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas :
"Sixty-five hundred Africans are dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease. And its is not a priority for the West: two 9/11s a day, eighteen jumbo jets of fathers, mothers, families falling out of the sky. No tears, no letters of condolence, no fifty-one-gun salutes. Why? Because we don't put the same value on African life as we put on a European or an American life. God will not let us get away with this, history certainly won't let us get away with our excuses. We say we can't get these antiretroviral drugs to the farthest reaches of Africa, but we can get them our cold fizzy drinks. The tiniest village, you can find a bottle of Coke. Look, if we really thought that an African life was equal in value to an English, a French, or an Irish life, we wouldn't let two and a half million Africans die every year for the stupidest of reasons: money. We just wouldn't. And a very prominent head of state said to me: 'It's true. If these people weren't Africans, we just couldn't let it happen.' We don't really deep down believe in their equality." -Bono.
I concur. There's one thing I've learned between the difference between charity and justice. Charity is nice for everyone. Both sides benefit: I feel good because I gave money [a few bucks or 10%] or a sweater or a few cans of beans I don't particularly like from my own pantry, and the guy receiving must have to feel better now that he has something I've given him. Great.
No. The problem still remains.
He still
wants and I
still have.
He's still hungry for more...anything... and
I want to feel good about myself for giving.
Justice, on the other hand, is moral rightness or equity and taking action based on that knowledge. It means to change the problem at hand, you need to change how people view poverty. Anyone can give to charity, but you have to work for justice. To do this, you must know people...and be willing to get dirty. Get down in the ground and get to know those who you're advocating, fighting and pulling for.
[Side note: Aren't we supposed to do this in our walks with Christ? In order to truly understand and experience the beauty of Christ's love and redemption, we have to get to know Him in the deepest recesses of life and relationships. Huh. Go figure.]
Secondly, it's good to "know" people. People whose job it to can advocate and make changes and make laws. For Bono, this is easy. For me, not so much. But you get the picture.
I personally have always seen all of this as too big a problem. But the only reason I see it this way is because of Bono's point... I see it as a money problem. The problem is so much deeper than money. When will we wake up and see how much we have and actually
do something,
anything to do our part. If not, wouldn't we be lukewarm? I know I am. I get so paralyzed just thinking about this stuff. But I'm asking God every day to show me what I can do. I'm not talking just about Africa. About poverty in my own city. I get so irked by how unfair the social class system is just around my school. I hate driving to school.
But poverty here is posh compared to Africa. Heavens, here you could find a whole hamburger in the trash somewhere.
[I really have no right to talk about Africa. I know next to nothing. But I do know some. And I want more than anything to go there someday.]
I've also started asking Him to show me radical love. Not what everyone else thinks love is... but Love. Oh, Abba, teach me.
My prayers aren't so much in the church anymore as they are
outside the church.
Though both are of utmost importance.
Shoot. I need to stop talking.
