There is this really thought provoking article that Relevant Magazine just tweeted called It’s Time to Rethink How We Fight Poverty. In it Sophie Hathaway makes a great case for the next generation to engage systemic injustice and to start by thinking long term development instead of short term relief.
I get it. Helping people see beyond quick-fix solutions to issues like homelessness and poverty is the only way we are going to substantially affect the systems of injustice that keep people trapped in generational poverty.
So talk about.
Write about it.
Seriously. I’m not being facetious. The world needs people who follow Jesus to step up and dream about what “could be.” If the millions of Christians, in America alone, decided to build staircases out of poverty in underresourced communities instead of only throwing ropes to individuals struggling to stay afloat, there would be massive, long term change.
Heres my problem: while you’re calling the Church to draw up plans, invest in lumber, and start construction, you don’t need to dismiss, downplay, and devalue those of us throwing ropes.
Please, preach about prevention. Care about community development. But there is no reason to insult the folks that I work with who bleed and cry alongside of those who are in need of some measure of hope right now! You don’t need to minimize the value of triage in order to emphasize the value of prevention.
Want to know why it’s important not to denigrate the ones doing triage? It’s because they often become the best advocates for the staircases that need to be constructed.
There is no “us” and “them” in this fight. It is completely unnecessary and counterproductive to pit the value of emergency shelter against the necessity of affordable housing.
I hope and pray that this Relevant article will challenge and inspire folks who are currently on the sidelines to get in the game. I’d just love it if we could all stop behaving as though the position “we” play is the only one that makes a difference.
