Middle Class Assumptions

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, thousands of people were stranded in the city, which was soon destroyed by wind and flood and filled with diseases. Because the great majority of people stranded in the city were black, it is assumed that latent racism underlying American society has taken its toll again. Racism is an easy card to play—it seems to be a problem everywhere from the LA Police to grandpa’s living room. There is the prejudice inherent in racism as well as the system in which groups are held back from positions of power.

Personally, however, I don’t think that the problem in New Orleans was racial prejudice. Yes, the far majority of folks trapped in the city, lied to and even shot at were black—but certainly not all. Nor do I actually think that the problem stemmed from authorities "not caring" about those who were stranded. Yes, I am sure that there are some who didn’t care about them, but I don’t think that is what created the situation.

I think, rather, that the horrors in the city were created from the assumptions those in power had about society in general.

The powers that be knew that there were many people who had no intention of leaving the city, no matter how many evacuation warnings were given. These were people who had ways of getting out of the city, but they chose not to. So, as many authorities were leaving the city, and they saw people staying behind, it was no surprise. After all, many people were foolish and decided to ride out the storm.

The real problem lay in what they didn’t think about. They didn’t think about the fact that there is a vibrant street culture in New Orleans who wouldn’t have the capacity to leave the city. They didn’t think about the many who were injured or elderly who were incapable of leaving, and without family to assist them. They didn’t think about the poor who rely on public transportation for their daily needs, and do not have money to pay to leave the city. They assumed that everyone could get out of the city if they wanted to. It was never a spoken assumption. If it had been spoken, it could have been questioned. But the assumption was still there, still and quiet in the minds of those in power.

And who could really blame them? They were under a tremendous amount of stress. They had to figure out how to take care of their families and property. They had extra responsibilities. They just never thought of those who wanted to be evacuated, but couldn’t be.

We mustn’t judge these authorities. It is easy to point fingers after the fact, "You should have done this!" Rather we should think about what we would have done in similar circumstances. Would we have thought of those who had no transportation? Would we have thought of those who had no reserve of cash to deal with an emergency? Would we have thought of those in nursing homes and mental health facilities and prisons, if we had no one that we personally knew in such circumstances? Would we have thought beyond ourselves to those who lack the resources we do on a daily basis?
These questions are easy to answer. First we need to ask, do we think of these folks now? This is not asking—WHAT do we think of them? If pressed on the point, I suppose that most of us would honestly say, "I never think badly about the poor and lowly." But the reason it is true is because the poor and lowly are so far out of our context, out of our lives, that we never actually think about them at all- either good or ill. If we don’t think of them now, how could we expect anyone else like us to think of them when they are facing a personal crisis? How can we expect anyone to assist the lowly in an emergency when they never thought of them on normal days?
The stranded in New Orleans weren’t put in a life-threatening position because of racism or even because of blatant prejudice of any kind. They were stranded because of middle-class assumptions.

What is a middle class assumption? It is what most of us who are middle class assume that "everyone" has in society, because everyone we know has them. It is what we assume is the minimum standard to live and function in our society. It is what goes thoughtless when dealing with large groups of people—from leading a church meeting to organizing a free concert to governing an entire population.

Having assumptions is not wrong. It is a part of the cultural baggage we all have. We learn it bit by bit beginning as infants, and our culture grows and is reshaped and is transformed as we get older. The assumptions, however, is just what we get used to—what we never see missing. If we have never (or have rarely) experienced a person speaking anything but Russian, then "normal" people speak Russian, and everyone who is not "normal" just doesn’t come to mind when we make plans. Sure, we can understand intellectually that other people speak other languages, that they are people who are just as important as us and that they have their own need that doesn’t include speaking Russian—perhaps they speak Bengali or use sign language. But in the normal course of day-to-day events, non-Russian-speakers don’t count because we have never experienced them.

And this is the case of the middle class with the lower class. Yes, most middle class people know—intellectually— that lower class people count as much as they do and have their own needs and issues that differ from middle class needs and issues. However, since the majority of the middle class do not "rub elbows" with those of the lower class, then the needs and issues of the lower class are unknown, not to mention the specific needs of individuals who find themselves in the lower class because they suddenly are lost without one of the things that they assumed was necessary to survive—but never really thought about it.

What are these assumptions?
Well, it is beyond my ability to list all of them. But below are a list of those that I and those whom I know experienced.

Ability to remain clean—The idea that everyone in our society has the capacity to a shower or bath with a change of clean clothes and proper hygiene items, such as soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. However, this is a huge assumption to make. To remain clean in this way requires many resources that people, especially those who live on the street, do not have. Think casually how much you pay for your cleanness—between water, a place to have privacy, all the various items to clean clothes and hygiene items. Even a quick overview can help us realize how expensive hygiene is. Now we can know that cleanliness is next to godliness because only the gods can afford such a standard!

Ability to gain identification—Most people assume that identification is simple to obtain. But if you had all of your identification stolen from you or lost in a fire, then you might find that you were in a grave situation. For legal state I.D. you need two pieces of identification. And you cannot obtain any other identification without identification. And without identification, you cannot even check out a library book, let alone get a job or cash a check.

Well spoken English with no or minor accent—This is an assumption that many immigrants face daily. It is assumed that because they learned English with a strong accent that they do not know English well at all. And this is a barrier to many avenues of our society, although bi-lingual services are being provided more and more frequently now.

Basic knowledge of national events—Most of the middle class assume that everyone has access to a newspaper or at least watch television news. However, for those who do not have televisions or who do not choose to pay attention to news, this limits conversation and the main source of knowledge of basic cultural information for the middle class.
Personal transportation—According to the middle class, "normal" people have access to an automobile, and thus can drive to places quickly as often as they like. However, the cost of an automobile is such that a large percentage of the lower class cannot afford to pay for the car, insurance, repairs and gas.

Ability to travel out of town—This is the assumption that stranded many people in New Orleans. It is assumed that if necessary, with some planning, anyone can leave to another county or state if they so desire. However, many people are limited to public transportation, which is limited to a metropolitan area. Or Greyhound, but if you can’t book two weeks in advance or have extra money, then you ain’t going anywhere.

Well dressed, (but not necessarily fancy)—This is the assumption that keeps many lower class folks from attending church services or weddings. It is assumed by most of the middle class that everyone has at least one set of "nice" clothes for special occasions. However, many people, especially those of the lower class, just do not have them.

Computer literate—It is an assumption being made more and more often that everyone has the ability to get on a computer and know what one is doing. Along with this assumption is the idea that we can send important information to people on the internet, or through email, and that is adequate for all who need it. However, not everyone can use a computer and a large percentage of people have difficulties accessing the internet.

Health insurance—Some assume that everyone has some kind of health insurance, although is it becoming widely recognized that most people’s insurance is extremely inadequate. Again, it is a large percentage of the lower class has no insurance whatsoever, and a growing group is being turned away from almost any medical care due to past unpaid bills.

No mental illness—This is the most widespread assumption and the one that is most wrong. Perhaps some 10 percent of people have a diagnosed mental illness. And perhaps another ten percent has a mental illness that has not been diagnosed. But every single one of us has a mental weakness that makes us inadequate in an area that most people are adequate in. Some of us are weak socially, some are weak in mathematics, some are weak in self-assessment. But more often than not, those of us who are strong in an area cannot understand or appreciate those who are inadequate in some area of mental ability. What we must remember however is that mental weakness is what is normal.

Disposable money—It is assumed and expected that everyone has some money, even if it is a small amount, that they can use for an occasional lunch out or for an emergency. However, those of low income, while they might have the occasional financial surplus, they cannot predict ahead of time when they will have disposable income. Thus, having a middle class friend ask if they want to do lunch together is just embarrassing.

Literacy—The education system of the United States has done a remarkable job of teaching most people to read. But there are many people—almost exclusively of the lower class, with some rare exceptions—who are not literate, except in some rudimentary ways. Yet our society is run on the presumption of being able to read warnings, street signs and newspapers. Hospitals and banks hand folks contracts and liabilities to sign that even us educated folks have a hard time reading. For the illiterate, or the functionally illiterate, they just sign what they need to sign, acting like they know what they are being handed and agreeing to things that they have no clue about.

Place to sleep—Most urban areas have some kind of anti-camping ordinance. This is to prevent people from just crashing in parks or benches, cluttering up our usually “beautiful” landscape. These ordinances and our assumption when we meet anyone is that they have had a decent night’s rest. If we knew that the person we were talking to didn’t sleep the night before, we might make allowances to their lethargy or their nodding head as we speak to them. But if we assume that they had sleep, and that they even had a place to sleep, then we don’t give them any allowance for hardship suffered. We all recognize that we need sleep. But we don’t all notice those who haven’t gotten any.

It is important for all of us to recognize these assumptions and to fight such ignorance, both in ourselves and in others. To know that many people do not have these culturally significant items for the middle class is important for all of us. It is especially important for those who organize events or lead large groups of people to recognize what assumptions are being made, for the more assumptions we make, the more people we are excluding. But most importantly, it is important for those in civil leadership to be aware of their assumptions, so that they could truly represent all of their people, and not just the middle class and above.

We also need to be aware of these issues when we establish ministries as churches. When we have a worship service, are we going to turn our noses up at those who don’t smell very good, or do we offer them an opportunity to clean up? When we have a benevolence ministry, do we demand that people give us their ID or Social Security number, or do we offer benevolence to everyone, without exception? When we see people nodding, do we assume they are strung out on heroin, or do we take into account that perhaps they haven’t slept that night? Are our worship services all based on people being able to read, or do we provide a way for the illiterate to participate?

In these and other subtle ways we make it clear that our churches are for “middle class only.” We may not have signs, but a white church in South Africa twenty years ago didn’t need a sign either—they expressed the policy through their actions. Even so, we can deny the welcome we offer to the lower class, homeless or mentally ill by insisting that they operate under the secret codes of the middle class.

Let us open our table to everyone, by making allowances for those who cannot be middle class.

Top Ten Acts of Oppression-- As Stated By the Ancient Hebrew Prophets

Refusing to defend the needy-- Isa 1:17, 23; Jeremiah 5:28
Stealing from the poor-- Isaiah 3:14-15
Unjust judgments against the poor-- Isa 10:1-2
Not assisting the needy-- Eze 16:49
Taking interest for loans-- Ezekiel 18:15-17
Enslaving a people-- Amos 1:6
Excessive violence in war, especially against innocents-- Amos 1:13
Excessive rent against the poor-- Amos 5:11
Accepting bribes-- Amos 5:12
Turning away those who need shelter for a night-- Amos 5:12

Bad News For The Rich: A Scripture Reading

The Bible without doubt condemns the stingy. Those who look at the poor and say, "I’ve got my own needs." The one who refuses to give because they "just need a job." The one who looks at the poor in general and is disgusted with both their choice of lifestyle and the fact that they are receiving "so much" from others. In the same breath, the Bible condemns the rich. Those who live lifestyles filled with possessions. Those who are constantly concerned with increasing the already large wealth they have. Those who live lifestyles that are conspicuously higher than those around them. Why is this? Why should the Bible condemn the backbone of our society—frankly, the majority of our society? Because the Bible sees conspicuous wealth and excess of possessions to be a indication of rejection of the cries of the needy. Rather than helping those who are clearly in need, the wealthy spends on themselves. Even if they do nothing else wrong, the conspicuously rich are stingy. And this is a grave sin. It will condemn them to hell.

Proverbs 17:5-- The poor man pleads for mercy, but the rich answer harshly.
Proverbs 22:16-- Woe to those who oppress the poor, or who only gives to the wealthy-- they shall both end in poverty.
Proverbs 28:8-- The one who increases wealth by requiring interest on debts will have his wealth given to the one who is generous to the lowly.
Jeremiah 5:26-29
For wicked men are found among My people, They watch like fowlers lying in wait; They set a trap, They catch men. Like a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit; Therefore they have become great and rich. They are fat, they are sleek, They also excel in deeds of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; And they do not defend the rights of the poor. Shall I not punish these people?' declares the LORD, 'On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?'
Habakkuk 2:6 Woe to him who increases what is not his and makes himself rich with loans.
Mark 10:17-27
As Jesus was going down the road, a man knelt before him and asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to gain God's blessing for eternity?"
Jesus suspected him and said, "Why do you call me good? Only God is good. And you already know what you should do-- Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie in court, don't cheat others, respect your father and mother. Why come to me to ask the obvious?"
The man replied, "Teacher, I have already obeyed these commands for as long as I remember. Isn't there something more?"
Jesus then had compassion for him and said, "Just one thing-- you need to sell every one of your possessions, give the proceeds to the poor and then you will have security for eternity. Once you have done that, come and follow me."
The man saddened at that, and left unhappy, for he owned many possessions.
Jesus turned from him and looked at his disciples, saying, "It is very difficult for the wealthy to enter God's kingdom, because it is difficult to give up one’s possessions." The disciples were shocked at this, so Jesus repeated, "Children, it is difficult for anyone to enter into God's kingdom, but especially the rich. Frankly, it is easier to have an elephant leap through a straw than for a rich person to enter God's kingdom." The disciples responded, "Who will enter God's kingdom, then?" Jesus replied, "Frankly, it is impossible. But God is in the business of doing the impossible.

Good News for the Generous
Proverbs 22:9-- Blessed are the generous, for they give food to the lowly.
Proverbs 14:21-- The one who holds the needy in contempt is a sinner, but the one who offers fortune to the anawim will receive fortune from on High.
Proverbs 28:8—The generous to the poor will receive the wealth of the greedy.
Proverbs 28:27-- The one who gives to the poor will have everything they need, but the one who ignores the poor will drown in curses.
Proverbs 31:20-- The virtuous woman assists the anawim and greatly helps the needy.

Oppression
Proverbs 14:31-- The oppressor of the lowly insults the Creator, but God is praised by him who has mercy on the needy.
Proverbs 21:13-- He who shuts his ear to the cry of the lowly will also cry out and not be heard.
Proverbs 22:16-- Woe to those who oppress the poor, or who only gives to the wealthy-- they shall both end in poverty.
Proverbs 22:22-23-- Do not take from the lowly due to their lowliness or use your power to crush the anawim; Yahweh himself will prosecute for them and take the life of those who oppose them.
Proverbs 28:3-- A poor man who oppresses the lowly is like a hurricane that destroys all food.
Proverbs 28:27-- The one who gives to the poor will have everything they need, but the one who ignores the poor will drown in curses.
Proverbs 29:7-- The righteous are concerned for justice for the poor; the wicked give this no regard.

Someone Took Away My Jesus and Replaced Him With a Revolutionary!

Let’s look at the beatitudes again.
"Ahhh," everyone sighs. "The beatitudes. How lovely. How comforting."
How easy to ignore. How misunderstood.
We are all familiar with the words in Matthew. "Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the merciful." And on and on. And we love them because they seem so poetic and so loving and so helpful to us who live quiet lives of desperation in the pursuit of just living normal lives without poverty, without hunger, with some levels of justice and peace. We will buy plaques of the phrases and place them upon our walls to remind us of how loving and gentle Jesus’ teaching is.
But those weren’t the beatitudes I was talking about.
There’s another set, equally spoken by Jesus, found in Luke. They are certainly the same set of sayings, but they seem… different. They seem harsher, more difficult to accept, not the kind of Jesus who would comfort us.
How fortunate are you, the poor, for you possess God’s kingdom.
How fortunate are you, the hungry, for God will give you satisfaction.
How fortunate are you, the weeping, for you will be laugh.
How fortunate are you when people despise you, and ignore you, and insult you and slander you for the sake of Jesus—
Be glad when it happens to you, and give a praise offering, for this is how people treated the prophets of God.
How unfortunate are you, the rich, for you have received all the comfort you’re going to get.
How unfortunate are you, the well-fed, for you will hunger and not receive from God.
How unfortunate are you, the laughing, for God will make you mourn and weep aloud.
How unfortunate are you when everyone honors you and speaks well of you, for this is how people treated the prophets who weren’t speaking for God.
Who is this guy? This isn’t my usual preacher! No… preachers nowadays don’t talk like this. They use words like "beseech" and "Almighty" and when they say "comfort" it sounds like they really mean it. This guy, though, he sounds tough, almost mean. I mean, who would go to a church that sounded like this? People who were desperate might—or people that had issues with wealth—but not people who could afford to build a nice church building and give a guy a good salary and a parsonage. No wonder Jesus had no place to lay his head! Who would listen to this drivel more than once? The adage makes sense—A prophet is someone who isn’t invited to dinner twice.
While we can critique the style or question Jesus’ propriety, we do need to remember the positive points. First of all, it is direct. And simple—no one can misunderstand it. And if it is true, then the message is significant. Oh, and one other point—Jesus is our Lord. And these are the words of Jesus.
These words aren’t just there as a jumping point for our understanding of spiritual matters. They aren’t supposed to be a cover page for our traditional values—whether conservative ("Life is tough and you’ve got to be tough back") or liberal ("We should really be nicer to the poor"). They aren’t there to be politely ignored in preference to other passages that we prefer. Nor does it help for us to retranslate them into something more palatable ("Maybe it could say, ‘Gosh, what a difficult position you rich people are in.’ ").
How significantly we treat these words is how significantly we treat Jesus. This teaching is at the core of what Jesus had to say, and all that he said and did flows from this core. If we are to accept Jesus, we need to accept this basic creed.
What is Jesus speaking of? What really is the point? If there is a creed, what would it look like, were it based on this text? Let’s break it down into pieces:
"We believe in an Almighty God who will judge everyone on the earth"
Judgment isn’t really popular to talk about. To speak of hell or eternal dishonor or lake of fire isn’t really a popular topic, so many Christians just avoid it. Honestly, many people have abused hellfire for their own agenda. So speaking about God’s judgement is kind of like an uncle who was convicted of child molestation, and though he hasn’t done anything like it since, no one talks about him and at Christmas he just finds a corner to sit in and watches the proceedings from a distance.
But Jesus firmly believed in a judgment of God that would paste "good" and "bad" on every single person on earth. Well, let me rephrase that a bit. The problem with saying "good" or it’s antonym is that we have such distinct notions in our head about what constitutes this "not-evil." The early twentieth century bases of judgment seem so trite now: no smoking, no drinking, no dancing, no playing cards, no skirts above the lower calf, no fraternizing with actors. It seems trite because the values have changed so much.
When Jesus speaks of "good", he really means "honorable." At the onset, it seems so subjective. To have honor among Nazis is to be dissed by the masses. But Jesus gives this qualifier—the only person who counts, in giving honor, is God. I mean, if Simon Cowell determines that you suck, who really cares? But if God makes the determination that you are cool, or that you just don’t make the cut, then it is a more serious judgment.
Thus, judgment is boiled down to this: God saying to one group, "You’re my kind of people" and saying to another group, "You don’t really make the cut for me." The first group, after the determination of the Judge, gains possession of a new nation, which is ruled directly by God, and becomes the central nation over it’s empire of the earth. The second group, certainly the larger, is exiled from that nation and they make up the outer fringes. Considering that almost all of the merciful are within the bounds of the Nation of God, the outer fringes just don’t sound like fun.
This kind of judgment isn’t comfortable to a group of Christians who believe that the term "mercy" and "judgement" cannot even date, let alone be married together. They claim that Jesus hung out with lowlifes (true) and so he, as God’s representative, refuse to judge them (almost true), and so Jesus’ mercy has nothing to do with judging people (wow, you need to read Matthew 23 again). The fact is that every sub group of Judaism of the first century (and after) determined that there must be a line drawn separating those on the "in" with God and those on the "outs". Jesus was no different.* (See "Jesus’ view on judging") What made Jesus so radical is not that he erased the line, but where he placed the line. Which is the rest of our creed.
"We believe that the disciples of Jesus who are poor and persecuted will, at God’s judgement, obtain the greatest blessings of God.
This is the central point of both sets of beatitudes—in Matthew and Luke. This is not to deny that those who act in a "pure and righteous" manner will not gain God’s blessings. This is indicated in Matthew’s list, by giving a special line to the "pure in heart". But for Matthew—as well as for Luke in the broader context—it isn’t enough to be "pure". Sure, keeping your legs closed until God approves and not bowing down before a moldy statue is good and all, but it doesn’t equate the life that God is looking for.
God is actually looking for the folks who are so pure, so loving, so bold about Jesus, that they get in trouble for it. This "trouble" looks differently in different cases. Perhaps the trouble is rejection by people—Jesus certainly said that his community should expect that. * (see Jesus’ words on persecution). But other kinds of trouble also pop up. There will be weeping in the Christian camp, and poverty. Some of this may be as a result of persecution, some of this will be due to the system set up to exclude Jesus people from the blessings of this world. The fact that Jesus’ people don’t collect possessions, but give them to the needy; that they aren’t cut-throat, but humble in their leadership; that they depend on God for their needs, even if those needs are just barely met; that they do good to those who hurt them, which may give their enemies cause to think that they can get away with anything—that might have something to do with it. Let’s face it, Jesus’ way isn’t easy, and he doesn’t put up well with compromise. God might as well put up a sign, "Kingdom of God: Fanatics need only apply."
3. "We believe that the anawim should be envied, and that if we are persecuted or obtain poverty for God’s sake, we should celebrate and feel honored."
Saints are cool—from a distance. Some of the stories are great. Sebastian who was pierced by a hundred arrows for speaking about Jesus. Michael Sattler who was tortured, had his tongue cut out and then was drowned for teaching the Bible. Peter and John who were brought to court and beaten for healing a man in Jesus’ name. Anthony who lived in graveyards and the desert to live a life of purity. The stories are inspiring, but, ultimately, not for us.
We are the people who pray, "Lord, teach us patience, but not if it hurts too much." We are the ones who want to live for God, as long as it fits into our overall plan of achieving the American Dream. We are the ones who cry out "All for Jesus I surrender", but in practice, we limit our surrender to that which accomidates our society’s limits and morality.
If someone falls into poverty or persecution because of their stand for Jesus, how do we respond? Most people in the church would recommend a compromise, a standing down. "You don’t have to suffer like that—God doesn’t want that for you." The church’s positions is: Stand for Jesus, but sit down if your feet get sore. Or, if there seems to be true injustice, there are the Jay Seculas and Ruthaford Institutes who will take the persecutors to court and make them feel economic pain for the injustice of persecuting others.
Of course, Jesus’ command is a little different. How do we respond to persecution and pain and anguish for the sake of our religion? Have a party. Crank up the dancing music. Set out the little food that you need little forks to eat it with. Jesus’ bumper sticker is: Celebrate Poverty.
To be obedient to Jesus, it isn’t enough to just grit our teeth in difficulties, we need to rejoice, be happy, throw a party, invite our friends over to get ecstatic with us, watch the Wizard of Oz with the dip in bowls the shape of ruby slippers. "It’s the happy day!" Jesus says. "The day you get beat up and killed for God, that’s the day we’ve all been waiting for. The day you get sick and die because you were handing out tracts in a blizzard—that’s the party day! The day your airplane crashes because you were going to share the gospel with people in the jungle—that’s the dancing day! The day you get kicked out of your apartment because you’ve been inviting the mentally ill to worship God with you there—Live it up! Get some horn blowers and fireworks and make it seem like New Year’s day, because it’s better than that! It’s the day you’re assured of being right before God!"
4. "We believe that the disciples of Jesus who are conspicuously wealthy and honored will, at God’s judgment, obtain sorrow and rejection."
The real question is not, however, what happens to those who suffer for God. That’s a no-brainer. We’re all pretty sure of that, God will take care of them. They’ve got a place with God. Okay, that’s fine. But what about all those who hang with God and do all the religious things, but they don’t suffer. Perhaps they are doing the… um… opposite of suffering. There are people in God who are doing really well.
And, let’s face it, these non-suffering folks, the ones who have an excellent bank account (for many years, frankly, and the accumulated interest is really very healthy and can’t be given away willy-nilly), and a really nice home (meant really for family and friends, it just wouldn’t be comfortable to have strangers stay there), and a car that almost never breaks down (but I couldn’t pick up hitchhikers, because, well, who knows what they would do) and a line of credit that doesn’t end (and we have to take care as to what we invest in, because otherwise we couldn’t be trusted financially)—these non-suffering folk are really the ones who pays the bills in the church. They do their part, right? They show up on Sunday, sing as loud as anyone else, head committees, pay for the new building, makes sure the pastor has a decent salary. So, God has his place for them, right?
Absolutely. God has a place for them. It’s called "the outer darkness."
Paul and Barnabas at one point set out to do some revival meetings. The churches they had planted were struggling spiritually, so the apostles had a powerful message to give to them. The summary we have received is one sentence, "We shall only enter God’s kingdom through much tribulation." In other words, the ONLY door to God’s ultimate blessing is difficulty, sacrifice, persecution and hardship. There isn’t any other way.
This doesn’t mean that God doesn’t bless people on earth. Oh, my, I have seen many people blessed. Many rich people today are blessed in their lifetimes beyond the dreams of those who had lived on earth for more than ten thousand years of history. I mean, indoor plumbing, a health care system that can actually cure more illness than it causes, the ability to fill rooms with such variety of entertainment as has never been seen, never without food, never thirsty, never homeless. Such a plenty has never been seen in the history of the world for so many people. This is God’s blessing. And for those who are content to accept this blessing, that is all they will get.
For those who have all their needs met, and never meet hunger—God has for them a place of hunger.
For those who surround themselves with pleasantries and joy—God has for them a place of tragedy.
For those who reward themselves for the simple act of living—God will strip away all trophies.
For those who secure themselves by assuring their own wealth and separation from the poor—God will make them poor and expose them to eternal insecurity.
No, this isn’t funny. This isn’t entertaining. It’s scary. This is worse than Alien, worse than the Exorcist. This is real life. And for those who have all the world has to give—they should be grabbing someone’s arm, because the music is getting ominous.
5. "We believe that Jesus’ disciples who are honored and wealthy should set these benefits aside for the sake of our needy counterparts, so they can receive true honor and wealth."
But Jesus’ beatitudes aren’t one of those horror movies that finishes with "The End?" They are more like an epic move—Laurence of Arabia, Gone With The Wind, Top Gun—the center of which you find yourself almost weeping and breathing hard in your empathy with the hero(ine). But in the end, through some terrible tragedies and sacrifices, the hero(ine) survives and achieves glorious honor. This is the story Jesus is telling as well.
And the story is the same for the poor and the wealthy: the way to God’s honor and blessing and kingdom is through becoming the anawim. That route is simpler for the poor and persecuted—they get handed their tribulation on a silver platter. They don’t have to exercise their will to suffer or sacrifice. For the rich, the famous, the good-looking, those who are granted all the best of the world, the route to God’s blessing is difficult—they have to give up all the blessing they have been granted.
Have you ever worked for the needy? Those who are really needy, those whom our society calls "the bottom of the barrel", for whom no real help exists? To be friends with the friendless, to offer yourself to the needy, it is a daily sacrifice. You constantly struggle with how much to give, are you being taken advantage of, what is the real need, who of all the worthies should you give to with the limited resources you have? Inevitably, you give more than you realistically can, and personal and social conflicts arise. Your health fails. Your family and friends whom you trusted no longer find you to be trustworthy. You become an alien to all those whom you have loved. You become the avoided, the dispossessed. The one who surrenders themselves to the needy becomes one with the needy. The one who sacrifices for the anawim becomes the anawim themselves.
This is the challenge to the wealthy, the well-loved, the sheltered. Expose yourself to those whom you most fear—those whose needs far outweigh your ability to help them. Perhaps you will gain great satisfaction doing the work. Perhaps you will obtain prizes and be Time’s Man of the Year.
But let me be brutally honest. Of the few of you who make the choice to sacrifice all you have for the needy, to obtain God’s glory instead of security and inner peace—you will be put under the bulldozer. You will go to doctors and they won’t be able to tell you what’s wrong. You will be disinherited by proper society. You will have friends who tell you "you’ve just got to stop, for your own sake" but God won’t let you. You will wonder why you are exhausted all the time. You will go to bed each night as if you had been beaten. You will walk the streets and cry out to God, "Just give me rest!" but the rest never seems to come. The needy themselves will blame you for not giving enough. You will rack your brain to find ways to really help them, to really meet their true needs, and find no solution. You will cry and weep and mourn and wonder why God put you in this place. To do this work. To have what seems to be a pointless life.
Now I’ll tell you a secret. If you sacrifice yourself and feel all this—you’ve made it. You’re in. It’s time to celebrate. It’s time to party. Yeah, it seems pointless. To Jeremiah speaking about the destruction of Jerusalem seems pointless because no one he could see would listen. To David it all seemed pointless because his theocratic monarchy came crashing around his ears. To the disciples of Jesus it all seemed pointless because their Lord, their Savior was dying on a cross. Yeah, it all seems worthless—without resurrection. Without God.
"Vanity, vanity, all it vanity—everything done under the sun is vanity." That’s Scripture. That’s God’s word. But, you see, if we embrace the vanity of God, the foolishness of God, the sacrifice of ourselves for the poor and needy, the life of the anawim—then we get all that exists above the sun. Under the sun? Screw under the sun. I’m looking for the best retirement plan that exists. Sure, the salary’s lousy. But the benefits—nothing can compare to them. And the only way to obtain them is to sacrifice one’s wealth and to stand with the anawim.

Poverty Pimps

The toughest thing about conquering injustice is seeing it. Once it is seen, we may have to sacrifice much—even our own lives—to be rid of that injustice. However, the sacrifices pale in comparison with understanding that the system we live with daily, that we take advantage of, that we have learned to succeed in, that we even love and support is fundamentally warped. If we can accomplish this paradigm shift in our minds, then injustice won’t have a chance. Of course, there is getting to that place, achieving that paradigm shift.

In our society today there are many who are poor, as we well know. Children are hungry, families are homeless, men are unemployed, women work in a low-paying service industry. Poverty is there, but it is something we have grown used to. After all, Jesus said, the poor would always be among us, and that which we see daily, we learn to live with the existence of, no matter how wrong it is.

But there are some who not only see poverty, but they also see how that poverty can turn to their profit. There are some that feed off of other people’s need. They are vampires that not only suck out the poor’s life stream, but the very energy of the people who most desperately need assistance. These are what I call poverty pimps.
A poverty pimp is one who gains benefit from perpetuating other’s poverty. Listed below are some who keep the poor in poverty, while making a profit off of it. These listed are not necessarily those who cause poverty—the causes of poverty are complex and difficult to ascertain at times. But they take advantage of the poor, seducing them and then raping them economically, forcing them to remain in the shame and rejection of being economically needy.

Small loan companies
For those on social security or who survive on low wages, if any emergency happens between checks, then there is no economic assistance for them. Should such an emergency happen, they can go to a local loan company, that will give them a hundred dollars or so to help them make it to their next check. While this sounds like a reasonable service to those in economic need, in reality, these loan companies charge from 100 to 200% interest on every loan. In doing this, they perpetuate the economic emergency to last not weeks but months. Those in need then find that they are dependant on the loans, some taking out loans in order to pay off others. While this sounds somewhat similar to credit card companies, these small loan businesses particularly targets the poor. This is now a billion dollar industry, built on the backs of the poor.

Large businesses that pay low wages
There are many employers that treat their employees well. They pay them a livable wage, if not always high, and they do what they can to assist them if they are in need. However, with so many large corporations focusing on profit, they often give their employees the short end of the stick. Many businesses have made it an art to avoid giving their employees benefits such as health care or even paying workman’s comp. Many businesses force their employees to work until exhausted, and then they don’t provide them a wage to care for themselves or their families. Other businesses hire large numbers of employees for part of the year, and then lay them off for months out of the year. Other businesses pay low wages and then constantly change their employees hours, from one shift to another, guaranteeing that they would never have the energy to get a better job, better education or to give their children a better life. Other businesses hire many employees, but only part time, so to have a full wage they have to work more than one job. Other businesses hire employees and then fire them before they need to pay any benefits. Of course, some small businesses must do some of this, if only to survive from year to year. But the large million- or billion-dollar corporations that pay low wages in order to maintain their status as a huge profit-making corporation are making that profit due to their employee’s poverty.

Government lotteries
Gambling has become a national phenomenon, when it used to be illegal except for small pockets of "sin dens". This is due to the need of government to look like they are providing "tax cuts", while still increasing their budgets. One of the many solutions governments are looking to is state lotteries or games which offer money if you are the "lucky winner." Although some states have placed warnings on their ads, "This is for entertainment only, not for investment purposes," the warnings are as effective as cigarette carton labels. The reason is that the ones being taxed are those who have a genetic weakness toward gambling and get rich quick schemes. It has been proven that some have a genetic weakness toward addiction and gambling is one of these weaknesses. And the governments are taxing these individuals who, for the most part, are already struggling with poverty and addiction. The ads stir up their weakness and the fact that the machines are in every store and mall encourages their use. And more machines are being created that make them attractive to addicts—poker machines and some that look like slots. Yes, the governmentally-approved gambling is successful, as governments have more money to spend. But it has economically destroyed addicts and their families.

Banks
It is almost impossible to cash a paycheck or a government check without a bank account. And many banks offer accounts that are "free" or with a minimal monthly charge that are attractive to the poor with the idea in mind that they can cash their checks with no fee. However, for the poor, the ad of "free checking" is a seductive misnomer. Most of the poor have difficulty keeping track of money and numbers. How much one spends is difficult to gauge, and no matter how careful one is, eventually a slip will be made and one’s account will go into negative numbers. This is especially easy, as banks are making withdrawals easier to do with multiple ways of doing it—through checks, tellers and debit cards. Thus, one can overspend and not know it easily. And then the account-holder discovers that the account is far from free. Going into a negative balance will have a twenty to forty dollar fee. Any outstanding checks that attempt to be cashed against the account will be another twenty to forty dollar fee. And many banks have a policy of charging five dollars every day the account is overdrawn. Thus, before one even knows that the account is overdrawn, it is easy to owe the bank a hundred to a hundred fifty dollars. On top of this, the poor person will usually have to wait a week or two before their next check, by which the fees will have raised to two hundred or more dollars. Some would say, "Then they just need to take better care of their balance." However, most of the poor are not accountants, and, of course, we are all human and make mistakes sometimes. The banks, however, depend on these mistakes and take ultimate advantage of these mistakes as they are able.

Supermarkets
Our society depends on grocery stores and supermarkets. This is where we buy our staples and necessities. And, much to their credit, they often give fair prices to the staples we most need—flour, milk, cheese, chicken and more. But these staples is never what the stores emphasize. They have had studies done which tell them where to place the non-essentials, and how to lower the prices to make them look attractive so that more people would buy them. The poor walk into these stores with enough money to buy the essentials and little else. But when they see the prices of Little Debbie pastries—placed at the end of the aisles where no one can miss them—they decide to take some of their minimal cash and spend it on them. They seem so cheap, they are very tasty and they fill children’s stomachs and keep them from complaining about their hunger. Others will see the prices of ice cream, the sales on sugar cereals or other non-essentials. The grocery stores provide food that is healthy, at very high prices, and they provide the staples—but they push the items that destroy families’ health and increase health care for everyone.

Prosperity churches/ministries
Most churches try to do what is right for the poor, in as much as they know how. This makes sense, since their God tells them in many times and ways that they are to assist the poor. Some churches and ministries have the philosophy that poverty is a spirit that must be defeated, and, they say, it can be. They take passages out of context, and assume that if one wants to obtain money and wealth, that they need to give money to the church. In fact, they claim, that whatever money the poor gives to the church, they will gain ten times as much. What church should they give to? Of course, the church that is making the statement. Thus, the church claims, if you give to us ten dollars, God will give you a hundred. If you give us a hundred, you will get a thousand from God. And so on. Since they claim that they have a route out of poverty, many poor people clamor to the churches. The principle is easy to understand, and simple to implement. However, such a spiritual pyramid scheme is not found in the Bible, nor taught by any theologian of any denomination. Again, it is a simple way for certain churches and ministries to amass their own fortunes by taking advantage of the poor. Does this mean that God does not bless one who tithes? No, but God provides for everyone who surrenders all to Him. And the giving? Again, the giving is not to churches who take from the poor. Rather, according to Jesus, the giving is TO the poor. Such ministries will be judged by God.

Local governments
Governments usually do what people expect them to do—protect, license, legalize—and not much more than that. Of course, to do all of this, it requires money to pay for the workers and to pay for the bureaucracy. The minimum of what most governments do is require those who request a license to pay for it. However, when society requires a sixty plus dollar fee for a license to do what is considered minimal in our society—obtain a license for marriage or for driving a car, for example—it is difficult if not impossible for the poorest in our society to pay for such minimal requirements. If someone was going to try to better their life economically by selling something on the street, they must have a business license, which, if they could afford one they might take a different avenue of commerce. Even having an identification—which is required by law, required to have a job or to do almost anything in our society and which is becoming more and more difficult for the poorest of the poor to obtain—requires more than twenty dollars. But worse than all of that, often certain governments charge people to be helplessly in need. If a person is exhausted because they were unable to sleep the night before, they might be charged with sleeping on a bench waiting for a bus. If a person is unable to pay extra to clean debris from his yard, he is fined. If someone is camping—due to the fact that they have no place to live— out of sight of anyone, if found they are charged with camping illegally and in some places given a large fine. Since the poor and homeless do not have the energy or opportunity to participate in government, they end up being charged to live in the best way they can.

Justice System
Many people who are poor have had to deal with the law. Let’s say for instance that a homeless person was charged with trespassing because he did not know where he was in the dark. If he was close to a person’s house, he would be arrested and jailed until the court was able to make their case—perhaps two weeks. Of course, he would be declared guilty, because it would be his word against the middle class plaintiffs, and even if one of his buddies was with him, a court-appointed defense lawyer wouldn’t have the money to find him, nor would he be listened to by the court. At this point, the judge might want to show "leniency" on the defendant, so he would fine him, say, two hundred dollars, and require him to contact a probation officer once a week. This sentence, however, is no justice at all, for the guilty party would not be able to pay the fine, nor does he have access to a phone to call his p.o. After a few weeks of not hearing from him, the officer sets out a warrant for his arrest. It may take months, but eventually the homeless man will be requested by a police officer to show his identification. At this point, he is arrested again, taken to jail again, brought before the judge who gives him the same sentence as before. This cycle can go on for many years. Those who have places to live might be able to contact their p.o., but unable to pay their fines. These fines can accumulate until they are in the thousands, and as soon as that person gets a job that pays him above the table, the court then takes out more than half of his meager paycheck. So many who are in this situation just never plan on having a job unless they can be paid under the table. This system is even worse among those whom the government has taken away their children. Although they may have done nothing to their children—especially as some victims of child protection agencies have their children taken from them at birth—they still have a running tally of a government bill that they must pay. For most of the poor, they would rather spend a few months—or even years—in jail, rather than having this impossible economic requirement placed on them. And many of them are of the opinion that the jails and prisons purpose to keep them as long as possible in order to gain more money for their services.

This is injustice. It is in the very heart of our system. It is at the heart of our government, our corporations, our churches. Why do we put up with it? The toughest part of conquering injustice is knowing it is there—the second toughest is deciding that we ourselves are going to do something about it. "If you weaken in the day of injustice, you have no real strength. Rescue those who are seduced by the embrace of death—Grab back those who walk blindly into slaughter. If you say, "How were we to know?"—your Judge knows your motives, your every thought. He sees your mind, and He will give to everyone according to what they have done." Proverbs 24:10-12 (paraphrased by Steve Kimes). It is time to us to act upon what we know.