When Christians get into the Bible they are surprised how often the Hebrew people are challenged about their selfishness and neglect of the poor. This was not a society like ours with built-in social safety nets. If you did not live and function in a family that was very supportive, you could quickly become homeless and jobless. Survival was a daily issue for the majority of people in the ancient world.
Look at the scorn the prophets hurl at the rich who feast on their beds of comfort and do not pay the labourers their proper wages. The language of the prophets is harsh and very damming to those who neglect the poor (i.e., the widows and the sick).
Now, move into the four gospels. Jesus breaks all the social boundaries. He upsets those with the power and the money. He eats (there were definite rules around whom you could and could not eat with) with the poor. He accepts invitation from tax collectors. These were the people who worked for the enemy (i.e. collected taxes for the Roman occupiers) and were regarded as turn-coats towards their own people.
Now Jesus sets the standard to who God actually is. Jesus lives out in human flesh how God lives and acts in heaven and on the earth. Also, remember that the lifestyle and values of Jesus were followed before he was worshiped. Just his human way of living inspired people – and still inspires the great majority of his disciples.
From the beginning of Christianity we worked it out very clearly. Our religion does not have any sacred places we must visit; we do not have any style of dress, nor do we have any dietary restrictions. The only thing to identify a Christiaan will be by their good deeds. It will be in our actions that we make clear what we believe.
Now, we know from long experience that the closer a person draws toward God, the closer they will draw to their fellow human being. Simply put: the closer we are to the heart of God, the closer will move toward the pain and suffering of others. Christian belief moves us out of our selfish centers and into a life-style of compassion and charity.
It was Christians who supported and nourished abandoned children. Often in ancient times children were abandoned because single mothers could not care for them. It was out of church communities that food was provided and shared with those who had so much less.
If I am asked, why am I a Christian I would point out that it is the good example of my fellow Christians who move out of their comfort zones to help the homeless, the aged and the marginalized. It is the good example of my fellow believers that binds me to the Church.
When we look at the secure life-style that so many Canadians actually experience, I cannot help conclude, “What an opportunity to do good and care for those who have so much less!”
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