My apologies to Al Gore for the copyright snafoo, but I have a truth that barges on my convenient life more.
My life has been riddled with conviction to find a justice in poverty ever since Manila in '95. Which truthfully was the biggest outward motivator to quit believing in God back in high school. Trash dumps are a trip yo. I know, Cicero has one of Chicago's waste management facilities. Stanky dealings!
But Trash dumps with 30,000 people living on it choke up the eco-humanity side of digging through the trash. The people just blended into the "Smokey Mountain" as they called it in the Philippines. The sense memory of the smell when I attend mass on smokey mountain is still with me. There was a landslide/trashslide several years ago that closed the place, at least for overnighters.
This book I'm reading has commissioned me to think about injustice, oppression, abuse, rape, genocide, exploitation, corruption, poverty etc... I'm as open to this book as I was to Manila. This time instead of repelling me from God; its has brought me to the cross and His physical suffering and its significance. I'm not well read on any of these topics of injustice so this book struck me at point blank range. Thankfully all major points were coupled with Scripture. -Tons of it because God is very clear in His Word about His judgement, His wrath, His revenge regarding injustice.
The great commission version 2.0 (if you'll indulge me) would certainly include an bondage lifting amendment. How cake would it be for an unbeliever freed from oppression in the name of Christ to want to Follow Him. Coming to Christ is so obvious to the captives that are freed by Christ's body on earth n'est-ce pas? Similarly, my addiction removal was a huge motivator in my life to know that it is God's truth doing the work; lifting that out of my life and snapping the self-imposed abuse. God's interest in the abuse of power is not mild. Though we may have grown numb and oblivious to the brutal abuse of this world (everyday), God maintains a fresh, holy hatred of injustice.
From conviction, stories, Scripture and application; this book helps me think of forced child labor in India ahead of my vulnerabilities and stresses in my spiritual life. The book argues that its true what we see from missionaries or on TV its just not real to us. So lets bridge the gap. Lets stand ready to exploit every moral hesitation (civil rights), the exploitation of the powerless and defenseless (Rwanda) and the morally vulnerable (child labor and prostitution).
So lets visit and deliberate with corrupt government leaders in third world countries for Christ's cause, Or maybe run a shelter to prevent kids from being abducted into the underbelly of Hong Kong's drug world. Or maybe go on a long term mission trip to fight state-supported discrimination in Uganda. Or maybe write letters and monthly support a child through Compassion, World Vision etc.. Or maybe pray specifically for a missionary or an injustice theme or region of injustice. Or look up the many passages about God and the oppressed in the Bible. Or maybe just pray that God can help us weep about this more. And if you still don't have enough to grasp with the freeness of your hands: you can get Good News About Injustice by Gary Haugen and read it and be open to its message.
"If we really want to know God, to really understand Him, we must come to understand His passion for justice and His gut-level indignation at the abuse of power."
"In a world of pain, how could one worship a God who is immune to it." Our sufferings become manageable in light of Christ's suffering."
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