lyricalisse

(This post is dedicated to MC, who is pursuing an MPA at the University of Washington.)

Arthur Simon puts it well, in How Much is Enough?

We are prone to think of our response to God purely in terms of personal behavior and private assistance. Essential as these are, they still fall short without public justice. What use is it to live a simplified life, volunteer at a food bank, and contribute money, while doing nothing about public policies that lock people deeply into hunger? Is it sinful to waste money but okay to waste influence that could bring a far greater benefit to the poor?

Government was instituted by God with responsibility to pursue public justice. Citizens, in turn, have a responsibility to guide public officials toward that purpose. For example, private food assistance helps millions of people in the U.S., but the government’s food stamp program is many times larger, and its coverage, though inadequate, is far more complete… Only the government can determine policies in… areas that directly affect poor people. So unless people of compassion reach lawmakers with their concerns for justice, the poor are certain to be oppressed and those who are prosperous are sure to obtain favorable treatment at their expense.

For many, God is a God of our personal life, but not of economics and government, which supposedly isn’t God’s turf. That puts much of life off-limits to God and denies the truth that Jesus Christ is the Lord of a believer’s whole life, not just selected parts of it. Christians often behave like believers when it comes to private morality, but not when it comes to public justice.

This reminds me of a point in another book I read (Simpler Living, Compassionate Life)– about how no matter how many changes we make to our personal lifestyle (i.e. only buying fair trade coffee, bringing reusable bags to the grocery store, giving our money to the poor, writing letters to the imprisoned)– our changes are not going to make systemic impact unless paired with political action. This is why writing letters to political officials, signing petitions, participating in protests, etc. is so important– our personal contributions need to be part of a larger movement in order to bring about change.

I am voting for Obama in the 2008 election, because of the hope that he will enact public policies for the good of all– not just the rich. The thing about voting for a president is that you have to decide which issues are going to take priority in your vote. I don’t agree with Obama on everything, but I believe that battling poverty is more important than abortion or gay marriage (the two fiery Evangelical issues). Think on the number of times Jesus explicitly spoke on the topics of money and poor vs. rich– compare that to the number of times he speaks on any other topic. To me, it’s very clear.

I’m not saying that personal holiness isn’t important– it most definitely is, and Christians are called to live God-fearing lives of obedience, holiness, and purity. But my opinion is that issues of personal piety don’t need to be politicized–whereas issues like poverty and environmental stewardship do. And if we want to battle poverty, we need to have compassion in public policy.