{"id":175,"date":"2007-08-31T14:37:18","date_gmt":"2007-08-31T18:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/godandculture.wordpress.com\/2007\/08\/31\/crumbs-from-your-table-bonos-flawed-vision-for-humanitarian-relief\/"},"modified":"2007-08-31T14:37:18","modified_gmt":"2007-08-31T18:37:18","slug":"crumbs-from-your-table-bonos-flawed-vision-for-humanitarian-relief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/crumbs-from-your-table-bonos-flawed-vision-for-humanitarian-relief","title":{"rendered":"Crumbs from your table: Bono’s flawed vision for humanitarian relief"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bono.jpg\"<\/a>What ought to be the response of the church of Jesus Christ to the social troubles that plague our world? What ought to be the response of the church of Jesus Christ to the AIDs crisis in Africa that takes the lives of 6,300 Africans every day and infects 9,500 more every day and has left 11 million children as orphans? What ought to be our response to unfair governmental trade policies that have as their result the oppression of the poor in countries throughout Africa? What ought to be our response to the overwhelming debt owed by countries in Africa to the World Bank and to the International Monetary Fund, so overwhelming it could never possibly be repaid?<\/p>\n

Many evangelicals cringe at the notion that social issues like these ought to be of any concern to us at all. These issues are for us a distraction from our primary focus: preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

But you should know that God made a priority out of these issues in the Old Testament, particularly in the book of Amos. Amos was a shepherd whose travels frequently took him from the southern part of Israel to the north where he witnessed the abuse of the poor and displaced. He made it a priority to cry out against the religious and political leaders of his day who ignored, and even took advantage of, the poor and oppressed. And even before Amos\u2019 time, God had written into the Law a Year of Jubilee, where every 50th year all debts owed would be forgiven and slaves would be set free. In the New Testament Jesus went through the cities and villages healing the sick and ministering to the poor. The Apostle Paul took up at least two offerings for the relief of the poor who lived in the region of Macedonia. The Bible makes a priority out of relieving social evil, and so should we.<\/p>\n

Concern for the poor and oppressed, and for those suffering from AIDS, specifically throughout Africa, is the driving passion of Bono\u2019s life; and he has spent the last ten years using his popularity to gain access to the political power brokers in an attempt to create a solution to the problem of debt owed by poor countries in Africa to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the rapidly spreading AIDS crisis in Africa, and the imbalance of trade between these same poor countries and their wealthy counterparts in the West. The specifics of Bono\u2019s activism on these issues can be found at www.data.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bono, whose given name is Paul Hewson, is the lead singer of the Irish Rock group U2. U2, at the moment, is the most popular rock group in the world. They have recently concluded the third leg of a four leg international tour, performing in sold out venues around the world throughout 2005.<\/p>\n

Bono, along with computer whiz Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, were named Time\u2019s Persons of the Year for 2005. Why?<\/p>\n

\u201cFor being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow, Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono are Time\u2019s Persons of the Year.\u201d [Time Magazine, 12\/26\/2005, p. 44]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Time has co-opted the language of the Bible to describe the philanthropy of these three billionaires. \u201c\u2026doing good\u2026justice\u2026mercy\u2026hope\u2026daring the rest of us to follow\u2026\u201d Those are Bible words. Those are words that have their source in the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. And yet when you examine the work that Bono and Bill & Melinda Gates are doing, it is void of the power of the gospel.<\/p>\n

There is no question that what Bono and the Gates\u2019 are doing are good and important works. And you should know that Bono doesn\u2019t trust the good works he performs to earn him a mansion in heaven. Over a period of several months in 2001, Bono was interviewed by music journalist Michka Assayas. One of those conversations turned to the subject of grace and Bono said,<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be by judge\u2026It doesn\u2019t excuse my mistakes, but I\u2019m holding out for Grace. I\u2019m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don\u2019t have to depend on my own religiosity\u2026I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb\u2026The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us [Karma], and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That\u2019s the point. It should keep us humbled\u2026It\u2019s not our own good works that get us through the gates of Heaven.\u201d\u00a0 [Bono in Conversation<\/em>, Riverhead Books, 2005, p. 204]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But, nonetheless, the good works of Bill & Melinda Gates and Bono don\u2019t go far enough. Their version of doing good, and justice, and mercy, and hope relieves the physical suffering of humanity without consideration for the eternal soul of humanity. After all, Scripture reminds us, \u201cFor what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?\u201d [Mark 8:36] What is an AIDS victim in Africa profited if we relieve his AIDS, but never offer him the gospel of Jesus Christ to secure his SOUL for eternity? This is not to suggest we should do nothing to alleviate the AIDS crisis. Rather, while working to relieve suffering we must also be acutely aware of the eternal destiny of those inflicted with AIDS. It is this eternal perspective that is wholly lacking in Bono\u2019s activism.<\/p>\n

A TALE OF TWO TABLES<\/p>\n

Bono is an evangelist for the social gospel and his songs are his sermons. In one particular sermon\/song, titled Crumbs from Your Table<\/em>, Bono indicts America generally and the evangelical churches specifically for not doing enough to relieve the suffering of humanity around the world, especially in places like Africa.<\/p>\n

From the brightest star
\nComes the blackest hole
\nYou had so much to offer
\nWhy did you offer your soul?
\nI was there for you baby
\nWhen you needed my help
\nWould you deny for others
\nWhat you demand for yourself?<\/p>\n

You speak of signs and wonders
\nI need something other
\nI would believe if I was able
\nBut I\u2019m waiting on the crumbs from your table<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bono based these lyrics on the story of the Canaanite Woman in Matthew 15. The table in Bono\u2019s imagery is a place of wealth and abundance. The table is the resources of the nations of the industrialized West, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. Bono is preaching that America and the evangelical church in the West have not only ignored the plight of the poor and oppressed, but have not even offered the smallest percentage of their resources in an effort to relieve their suffering. And there is a sense in which it IS true that we evangelical Christians are NOT doing enough.<\/p>\n

Ronald Sider in his recent book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience<\/em>, makes the following observation based on statistical analysis of the giving patterns of American Christians by a couple named John and Sylvia Ronsvalle:<\/p>\n

American Christians live in the richest nation on earth and enjoy an average household income of $42,409. The World Bank reports that 1.2 billion of the world\u2019s poorest people try to survive on just one dollar a day. At least one billion people have never heard the gospel. The Ronsvalles point out that if American Christians just tithed, they would have another $143 billion available to empower the poor and spread the gospel. Studies by the United Nations suggest that just an additional $70 – $80 billion a year would be enough to provide access to essential services like basic health care and education for all the poor of the earth. If they did no more than tithe, American Christians would have the private dollars to foot this entire bill and still have $60 – $70 billion more to do evangelism around the world.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But the reality is that American Christians do not even tithe their income to their local church. According to recent surveys by George Barna, the average evangelical Christian in America gives less than 3% of their income on an annual basis to their church. And less than 9% of all evangelical Christians actually give 10% or more on an annual basis to their church. With statistics like that it is obvious why the average church in America cannot meet the basic needs of its own operating budget, let alone the needs of missions causes outside the local church.<\/p>\n

THE OTHER TABLE<\/p>\n

But while I agree with Bono that Christians, for the most part, have been indifferent to the issues he is passionate about, I want to argue that Bono is looking to the wrong table for help. Bono is looking to the table on which sits the wealth of nations. But there is another Table \u2013 the only Table \u2013 that can truly meet the needs of lost and suffering humanity.<\/p>\n

The Table in New Testament imagery, as Jesus left it to us, is a place of spiritual life, and nourishment for that spiritual life. Not only ought the church to be offering the crumbs from this Table, but the full abundance of this Table.<\/p>\n

The Table is the Lord\u2019s Table. And it represents for us an abundance of God\u2019s grace, provided in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ calls us to eat at this Table, to feast on Him, and to find in Him the satisfaction of our deepest longings. And it is the resources of this Table that the church is obligated to offer to a lost humanity as the only hope for their eternal souls.<\/p>\n

The source of man\u2019s trouble is his sin. And the remedy for sin is found at this Table. If you truly want to relieve the suffering of humanity, the root of the problem must be cut out. God cut out the root when he put His son to shame on the cross, when he laid on Him the iniquity of us all, when Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the tree, when He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.<\/p>\n

The Bible makes a clear connection between sin and the human condition. In John 9 Jesus and the disciples pass a blind beggar on the road and the disciples ask Jesus, \u201cWho sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?\u201d In Matthew 9 some people brought a paralytic man to Jesus and he healed him by saying, \u201cTake heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.\u201d Jesus equates physical healing with the forgiveness of sins.<\/p>\n

The plight of the human condition cannot be remedied outside of God\u2019s grace in the forgiveness of sins. And it is precisely this grace that is missing from the works of mercy being honored by Time<\/em> magazine in their Persons of the Year.<\/p>\n

WORKS OF MERCY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE GOSPEL<\/p>\n

There is no question that the church of Jesus Christ has in many ways abdicated its responsibility for the blind, the halt and the lame (and AIDS victims and the poor) to social service organizations whose primary mission is devoid of the gospel. And while the primary mission of the church is the proclamation of the gospel, a suffering world needs more from us than a pious, \u201cGod bless you.\u201d The church alone is in the unique position of being called and equipped by God to both relieve the immediate and present suffering of humanity while at the same time offering lost humanity eternal life through the grace of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

The Church of Jesus Christ is called to do works of mercy in the context of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How do works of mercy done in the context of the gospel differ from those being done by Bono and Bill & Melinda Gates?<\/p>\n

The primary difference is one of focus: Bono has a short-term focus on the present by relieving the suffering of humanity in this life only. The focus of the gospel of Jesus Christ is on enduring suffering in this life [2 Corinthians 4:16 \u2013 18] in view of the pleasures received in the future, and for eternity, at God\u2019s right hand [2 Corinthians 5:1 \/ Psalm 16:11].<\/p>\n

But there are at least two other differences that flow from this eternal perspective, seen in the story of the Canaanite woman and her appeal to Jesus on behalf of her demon possessed daughter in Matthew 15:21 \u2013 28:<\/p>\n

Works of mercy that have an eternal impact have their root in God and His grace, not in man and his resources.<\/em> This woman understood that there was only one source of hope for her and her daughter: Jesus. There was no one else to whom she could go. No political connections. No financial connections. It was her FAITH alone in Jesus Christ ALONE that was her only hope. She knew she was undeserving, and so she depended on the grace of Jesus to meet her need. It was what Jesus could do, and not what she could do, on which she depended. And by FAITH she believed that His grace would move Him to respond to her need. She came to Jesus with nothing but faith; and it was her faith that Jesus rewarded.<\/p>\n

Works of mercy done in the name of love are impotent without the name of Jesus.<\/em> The Gospel of Mark\u2019s account of this story says that when the woman \u201cheard of Jesus\u201d she came and fell down at his feet (Mark 7:24 \u2013 30). She recognized the power of the name of Jesus.<\/p>\n

In Acts 3 Peter and John were headed to worship and were interrupted by a cripple begging for money. Peter\u2019s reply: \u201cSilver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I unto you. In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what is love? Giving to meet the needs of others in and of itself is not love! In 1 Corinthians 13 Scripture tells us that it is possible to give away all that you possess, and even to sacrifice your very life, and still not have loved.<\/p>\n

Love is what God did in Christ when He offered Him as the once for all, eternal sacrifice for sins. And love is what we do, after having experienced the grace of God in that sacrifice, when God\u2019s grace overflows in us through giving all that we are, all that we possess, to share the good news of that sacrifice with suffering humanity. Love is the overflow of God\u2019s grace in us that meets the needs of others. Giving that is motivated by anything other than the grace of God is not love. And giving that is not done in the name of Jesus lacks the power to make an eternal difference in the lives of those who receive the gift.<\/p>\n

We must not be satisfied with the crumbs from this Table. We must come to this Table and receive from it all of the resources that it offers. It offers grace. It offers genuine love. It offers the faith to believe.<\/p>\n

And then we must take the resources of grace, love and faith that we receive from this Table and offer it to suffering humanity through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is Christ Jesus who has taken the physical suffering of humanity upon Himself on the Cross. It is \u201cby His stripes we are healed.\u201d And that healing can only be realized when lost humanity recognizes Jesus Christ as the only hope for their eternal souls.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not offer suffering humanity mere crumbs from this Table. Let\u2019s offer them all of the abundance of this Table which we have already so freely received. And if you have not received for yourself the grace, the love and the faith offered by this Table, we invite you to come, to take, and to eat and find in Jesus Christ the satisfaction of your soul\u2019s deepest longing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What ought to be the response of the church of Jesus Christ to the social troubles that plague our world? What ought to be the response of the church of Jesus Christ to the AIDs crisis in Africa that takes … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}