The Christian and the World’s Poor

I understand that about 60% of Americans are overweight. This means they would be better off if they would eat less. It could also save them money for food, diet pills, and extra medical expenses due to their weight liability. It is also true that over a billion people are perpetually hungry and over three thousand children die each day for lack of medicine and food. 200,000,000 big Americans! What if the over-sized ones would go on a simple, down-sized diet, eating 20% less, spending 20% less for food, freeing money for some of those dying of deprivation of med and food? How far would the savings of 20% of overweight dieters go toward to feed the hungry? (20% of 200 million dieters is 40 million people, to begin with.) Many big ones would also be improving their health and save their lives as well- as well as saving the lives of 40 million people- for the betterment of all. Of course the luxurious way many of the those 60% eat in America would be on a standard of living that, finding food and med toward the billion for the kind of food they eat, would go much beyond the 40 million saved outright, perhaps saving nearly all of the billion hungry, who knows? No doubt many of the fat ones claim to be Christians. So we have fat Christians- to save their fat, are letting a billion go hungry. How weird!! With the world’s poor paraded on TV daily, who can claim ignorance of the situation? In Belize the hungry knock on our doers- or walk right in; In America they stare at you in your family room, or wherever you have your tube. Equally close, they are in the consciousness of most so-called Christians. And most nearly close their eyes, their minds and wallets to the global situation and prematurely open their coffins. While the starving poor also enter an early grave.

If I need any basis to speak out, it may just be in this, that for some years we have done something of what I am suggesting above. We have shared a good portion of our income to meet the needs of orphans, fatherless children, and others under-supplied with what they need for food, medicine, and an education. Possibly our efforts have saved a few lives and certainly raised the quality and hope for a better life for some dozens of kids and their mothers. I affirm the statement of one who said that God has given Christians the wealth needed to meet the needs of the impoverished of the world. It certainly is not God’s fault that millions are unsaved, hungry, and under-supplied for a decent life.

The above, of course, doesn’t deal with all issues that need to be addressed: the logistics of helping people in oppressive situations where help is difficult to reach, or the underlying causes of poverty, or the fact that to help people take care of themselves through job development and economic opportunity should be the ultimate goal. [Of course some over weight is genetic.] But the present crisis needs to be taken care of while long range answers are being pursued. Like Somalia has a half million displaced persons struggling to survive and many relief agencies are pulling out because of instability of the landscape. Or take Darfur. It may be stretching my pacifism a bit to suggest it, but what better use of military power than to guard convoys of needed supplies to the starving in many camps around the world! Yet if Christians cared enough, ways are open to begin to go a long way toward alleviating the desperation of the impoverished around the world. Just because there are many issues involved to be resolve, Christians could still begin to do as much as they can, which is far more than many are doing. If they really cared.