I’ve been in an intensive at school last week and this week. It’s called “Relief, Refugees, and Conflict” and it hasn’t been a relief at all…in fact, its caused more internal conflict than anything else. But the confusion about refugees and how relief could be handled has been something I have thought about for a long time. It seems as though God brings about a lot of confusion surrounding an issue at the same time. I feel like God is teaching me about poverty. What does it mean to be poor? What is the difference between being poor and being broke? How does that change your mindset?
There are different types of poverty, but typically we address one, in a relief situation. First – we address physical needs like shelter, food, water, etc. We address these basic needs first because they are more prominent. But what about our Social, mental, and spiritual needs? Who addresses those?
Our social needs are things like a lack of schools, a broken family, powerlessness and humiliation, and others. So in a refugee context – we have to address these issues. Things like it is insulting for certain people groups and cultures to accept handouts. But if they are starving, they have to take it? How can we make that process of providing handouts of food and clothing more responsible and more grace-filled? In a Western context – how do we address these issues? How do we provide the homeless in a positive way, instead of handing them money and alleviating our conscious? How can we provide relief for teachers in the inner city school systems?
We could go on and on, but ultimately, I am learning that the cause of poverty is spiritual. At its deepest level, poverty is a poverty of being, purpose, and relationships. The poor are people who’s identity has been marred, people who have forgotten their true vocations, and relationships that work against their well being. Poverty is separation from God…but that doesn’t mean they have to stay that way.
To me, the term poor implies that it is a state of being, but how often do people throw that around? “You want to go out to eat tonight?” “No, I am too poor”. Are you poor? Or are you broke? Because those are two very different things. If you are broke and simply can’t afford it, that’s one thing. But if you are poor as a state of being, is no one addressing your social, emotional, mental, and spiritual poverty? Are your basic needs met? Do you have food and shelter? I am very guilty of this. So many times, I have claimed poverty as a reason for not being able to do things. But looking through the lens of this class, God has challenged me. I am not poor. I might be broke at time, but I do not have a real poverty in my life. I have been blessed and will continue to be blessed.
Just a thought…