Poverty Is Expensive

This TalkingDonkeys: Poverty Is Expensive is important.

The original post by Senator John Edwards is worth reading in full.

My own experience as a student living in Mosside Manchester during the mid 1980's and while working at the Whitechapel Mission lead me to believe that there is some truth in this for the UK as well.

I am deeply unhappy with viewpoints that blame people in poverty for lack of commitment or will power or hard work. Equally "solutions" that ignore all that people are striving for and are simple hand outs seem to have lost key concepts such as dignity and value.

Unfortunately we as a society are generally unwilling to tackle poverty in a holistic way, it takes time, it has to be done at many levels from the individual to the global, it requires us to be open to learning from and being touched by an infinite variety of people and it does not lend itself to sound bites.

In my opinion the best placed people/organisation to work in this way, on the side of the poor, changing lives both one at a time and at the societal level is the Church. For me this is a key part of my understanding of Misio Dei, it is how God uses us to build his kingdom here and now.

However, sadly the Church sometimes gets lost. Sometimes we see a gospel preached that focuses on self, on an individual faith, on a church life that is good for the members, on feelings, one that disconnects worship from daily life.

One of the reasons I have stayed within the Methodist Church is that in my  experience it has remained a church that is committed to building the kingdom, that in all things it endeavours be faithful to its call and to its master. Of course it fails, but it has never given up. As a student minister I have seen this everywhere I have been, in placements as diverse as County Durham. Westminster Central Hall, Purley and Whitechapel, in our church history and traditions, in our public statements and policies, in the students and staff I have met.

To me it is an exciting time to be a Methodist and I look forward to how we will be used in the name of our Lord to build his kingdom.

Comments

[John]

And sadly, many of us have given up on helping the poor entirely. This needs to be a budgetary priority on a scale greater than it receives. It needs to a spiritual priority preached from the pulpit, prayed over, and taught in small groups.