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HUNGER
When Erwin McManus was working among the urban poor
in the Dallas Metroplex, a homeless man approached him to ask him for something
to eat. His wife Kim handed the man Erwin's lunch, a brown paper bag filled
with chips and a sandwich. Instead of saying "thank you" for the food,
the man pointed to a thermos of soup and asked for it too.
McManus came to the conclusion that helping people
with their immediate needs isn't enough to help them get better. This man's
real problems wasn't that he was physically hungry, he had a problem with
a lack of gratitude. He had a hungering in his soul that needed feeding
that a sandwich and even a bowl of soup couldn't fill.
When we help people, we need to make sure it is really
"helping." Certainly, we can't ignore the immediate needs people have,
but neither can we ignore their eternal needs. If we don't feed them, someone
else will. But if we don't preach the gospel to them, who will?
—Leadership Journal, Spring 2000, p. 52 Illustration
by Jim L. Wilson
John 6:35
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who
comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
HUNGER/GIVING/ACTION
A new study has revealed that Americans typically
spend about 50 times as much money on fast food as they do providing food
for children living in poverty. The study found that respondents reported
spending about $240 a year on fast food, while they gave an average of
$5 a year to provide food for poor children. The results revealed that
half of the surveyed households had not given anything to causes or organizations
that assist the poor in the last year.
The president of Compassion International, Dr. Wesley
Stafford feels the results are disappointing. He says, “the part that is
so sad, is that nearly 60% aren’t sure that (addressing poverty) is really
their responsibility.” Stafford says at one time people in America built
each other’s barns. He remembers during the depression when people offered
to chop wood for others for a meal.
Stafford says American attitudes toward charity have
changed. He says, “After the end of World War II, we basically turned that
over to the government. We said, ‘Government, you take care of the poor
among us and take it out of my taxes.’” Stafford feels the study indicates
Americans need more understanding of the nature of poverty.
—http:headlines.agapepress.org, Study Shows Americans
Spend More on Fast Food, Not Fighting Hunger. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson
and Jim Sandell.
The welfare of the people around us is not the responsibility
of the government. It is our responsibility.
James 2:15-17 “Suppose a brother or sister is without
clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘ Go, I wish you well;
keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what
good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied
by action is dead.”
HUNGER
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “17
million people in the U.S. went hungry or did not eat regularly for a few
days of each month over seven or eight months last year.” (2008)
--USA Today, November 17, 2009, p. 3A Illustration
by Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell
While the government seeks to find programs to prevent
Americans from going hungry, Christians need to remember Jesus has called
us to feed the hungry as well.
There are many ways we can be involved in feeding
the hungry. We need to not get so focused on our needs that we forget to
minister to people’s physical needs.
Matthew 25:37-40 (NASB) "Then the righteous will answer
Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give
You something to drink? (38) ~'And when did we see You a stranger, and
invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? (39) ~'When did we see You sick,
or in prison, and come to You?' (40) "The King will answer and say to them,
'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers
of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
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