Poverty

Leviticus 25:1-55 , 1 Kings 21 , Psalm 10:4-7; 140:4, 8; 35:10; 109:11; 35:11, 109:31; 72:2, 4, 12-14 , Job 1:3; 19:12; 29:15-16; Amos 2:6; 4:1; 5:7; 8:5-6  Micah 6:10; 3:9-11; 2:1-3; 6:10-11

Poverty manifests itself in many ways.  some of the most common are “prostitution, exposure to risks, corruption, robbery, street life, increased unemployment, living in squalor, shanties, shackles, high infant mortality, acute malnutrition, short life expectancy, human degradation, living in overcrowded and often poorly ventilated homes.”

Most other African countries can sing the same song.  From the tip of the horn of Africa to Namibia, poverty is pervasive.  Television viewers are bombarded with pictures of weak, hungry and emaciated human beings all over the continent.  Beggars roam the streets of most of our cities, laying siege to car owners and begging for coins in order to feed their families and their stomachs.

What should the Christian do in light of these grim statistics?  Is there good news for the poor of the African continent? What hope does the gospel offer the poor in Africa? To find an answer to this question, we need to practise what John Stott calls double listening: 

We listen to the Word with humble reverence, anxious to understand it, and resolved to believe and obey what we come to understand.  We listen to the world with critical alertness, anxious to understand it too, and resolve not necessarily to believe and obey it, but to sympathize with it and to seek grace to discover how the gospel relates to it.”

First, it is necessary to look at the world and consider some of the harsh realities facing the African continent.  As was said at the Uppsala Assembly of the World Council of Churches, we must hear “ the cry of those who long for peace; of the hungry and exploited who demand bread and justice; of the victims of discrimination who claim dignity, and of the increasing millions who seek for the meaning of life.”  Second, we must examine the biblical material, for it is the starting point for meaningful Christian discussion of these issues.  Third, we should critically examine some approaches to the problem of poverty in Africa before making recommendations for addressing it.

• How do the O.T. writers specify the poor people and how does this apply to our theme this week (poverty)?
• What difference will it make in your study of poverty if you are able to have confidence that what you are reading is in fact not just the ideas of men but the very Word of God?
• Now if you believe that the words from Exodus 22:21-24; 23:6-11  (like orphans, strangers, aliens and widows) and Amos 2:6; 4:1 (oppressed, the poor) apply to poverty then are these the words of men or God? Explain your answer.