Why I Went to Jail

Dr. Rodney Sadler

This Monday I went to Raleigh with Rev. Nantambu, Dr. Wherry, and Rev. Herring to bear witness at the N.C. General Assembly that the policies that are being discussed in our state legislature are harmful to the poor, minorities, immigrants, the elderly, our children, and even our environment.  The single party control of our state legislature and governor’s house mean that policies that would normally be thwarted by the presence of other voices in debate are able sail through with minimal opposition.  It is for this reason that I went to lend voice to the concerns of those who are often voiceless, those who stand the risk of losing not only their access to unemployment benefits, to Medicaid, and to welfare if they need it, but who also may well be impeded from voting by voter ID laws and other requirements that would hamper voter participation.  In essence, those most vulnerable in our state might both lose access to the support system that could sustain them and the opportunity to vote to regain those rights.  

I was compelled to go by more than just the notion of justice, however.  I was also compelled to go because the policies of our legislature, some of which are well on their way to enactment, are an offense to God.  They are an offense because they violate the principles of ancient Hebrew Scriptures that posited the king (read government) was responsible to ensure that the rights of the poor, husbandless women, fatherless children, landless immigrants, the infirmed, and other socially vulnerable groups would be protected from the abuses of the powerful.  When the king (read government) failed to address these concerns, worse, when the king (read government) actively abused these groups, God called forth the prophets to bear witness to the will of the Lord and to remind the king of his (its) responsibility.  It was for this reason that I felt led to go; to go and lend my voice to the voice of Amos and Micah and Isaiah and Jeremiah…and Jesus.

We are at a point in time where our leaders have forgotten that their duty to lead is circumscribed by more than the dictates of party allegiance and party politics.  Good will and an eye toward protecting the interests of the socially vulnerable has been thrust aside by a seemingly predatory attitude that has placed the needs of many North Carolinians at risk.  This is particularly troubling when the vast majority of our legislators claim to be people of faith, beholden to the same obligations to those on the margins as were the kings of old.  They are reading the same sacred Scriptures that we read, yet they seem to have forgotten the call of the Lord on their lives.  It is to these sisters and brothers that I went to bear witness to the word of God, hoping to remind them that as people of faith, it is wrong to enact policies that hurt the “least of these” who are also children of God created in God’s image.  I went in Love to remind them of God’s concern for all people, hoping that maybe, just maybe they would alter their policies and remember their responsibility to civility.  My hope that this change in their hearts can happen remains!

It is in this regard that I write to you today, calling on you to go to Raleigh and bear witness at the State House next Monday, May 13th.  Your witness can come in the form of bearing a sign, speaking to an elected official, praying with a group of similarly concerned citizens, taking a parcel of letters to your representatives, singing a song; mine on Monday came in the form of getting arrested for civil disobedience.

This was a difficult choice for me to make for many reasons.  In part, it was difficult because I had never been arrested before.  I am a nearly 46 year old African American man who had never been handcuffed, fingerprinted, frisked, booked, mug-shotted, or locked behind bars (except by choice as a visitor to a prison).  I have worn this as a badge of honor and intended to maintain this streak for the rest of my life.  This avoidance of the criminal justice system really meant a great deal to me given the statistics related to black men and incarceration.  Further, I have an extreme aversion to being penned in in any way, so the thought of being forcibly locked behind bars was particularly repellant to me.  But Monday, I chose to allow myself to be arrested, anyhow.

I chose to be arrested because the issues at stake are too great to ignore.  I chose to be arrested because the impact of this legislation if allowed to pass could mean that our state would return to a state of affairs in our racial politics akin to the status quo of the 1950’s.  I chose to be arrested because those people most affected by these policies need willing advocates to speak up for them, with them.  I chose to be arrested because the world that the legislature is threatening to create is not the one I want to leave to my daughter…

So I am calling on you to go to Raleigh next Monday, May 13th and to find a way to bear witness.  Your witness may take the form of any of those forms of protest I suggested or may take another form.  Your witness may even be to join with me and the 50 or so others who have thus far been arrested.  If you choose this form of witness, I would encourage you to do so fully cognizant of what it could mean.  I would not want you to be unaware that it might require you to return to Raleigh, to perform community service, to stay away from the GA for a period, to sit in a holding area for a time, to endure the suffocating feeling of incarceration for a moment, to surrender your control of your own life for a few hours in the interest of serving God and others.  But if you choose this form of witness, I think it can be a worthwhile means of adding your voice to the growing chorus of those who are also bearing witness for God.

I was arrested with a group of wonderful and committed individuals from a range of different backgrounds.  Three were nationally renowned historians from Duke and UNC concerned about how pending legislation might impact the future of our state, one was a prominent UNC medical doctor concerned with the impact of legislation on healthcare for the poor, another was a lawyer concerned with the implications to taking away citizens’ rights, three were grannies concerned with the direction of our state on future generations, two were local presidents of NAACP chapters concerned with the impact of these proposed policies on minority communities, one was a veteran interested in protecting our state from enemies foreign and domestic, several were clergy who proclaimed that the proposed legislation violates the will of the Lord, some were just concern citizens with no titles or roles who needed to say a word, and one was even a student a week away from graduating from college concerned about his own future.  We were white and black and Asian and well-to-do and not-so-well-off and married and single and parents and grandparents and children.  While in the holding area we talked about history and theology and strategy and unity and even spent time networking and forging alliances across issues.  The experience was not a lonely one; instead it was from the moment of arrest to the moment of release a time spent in the fellowship of friends.

And when we went in, we were not alone; not only did we enter jail knowing that God went with us, we were also surrounded by a cloud of witnesses including lawyers, legal observers, news teams, film and audio documentarians, and a host of affiliated supporters who ensured that the legal proceedings took place without a hitch, that bail was available if necessary, that support was felt throughout our brief incarceration, and that a meal and car ride was ready for us when we were released.   All and all it was a well organized occasion that was choreographed to bring maximum attention to our efforts to bear witness while ensuring that we were safe and assured that we were not alone.

We were not alone.  I know this most of all because throughout that evening I could feel God’s hand upon me, calming me, encouraging me, comforting me, and empowering me to act with Love.  During that time I also heard God speaking to me as the words of Matthew 25:34-40 resounded in my ears:

³⁴ Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

 ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

 ³⁶ I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.'

 ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?

 ³⁸ And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?

 ³⁹ And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?'

 ⁴⁰ And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' (Mat 25:34-40 NRS)

These words reminded me that the way we treat “the least of these,” those who are hungry and thirsty (impoverished and unemployed), stranger (immigrant regardless of status), naked (most socially vulnerable), sick (in need of healthcare), and imprisoned (under the supervision of the criminal justice system) is the way that we would treat God if God were standing before us.  They also reminded me that our care for those members of our community in need is wholly consequential.  In the passage, the offer of eternal life was determined based upon whether one cared for the God in need incarnate in those people in need before us.  Whether or not we believe that such a weighty decision can rest on our actions, it is impossible not to look at such a passage and realize that what we do for or to the most socially vulnerable matters not only to them, not only to us; it matters to God! So I leave you with these words as I offer you the challenge to join us in Raleigh next Monday, May 13^th to bear witness however you feel is right; “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

Rodney Sadler is the Associate Professor of Bible at Union Presbyterian Seminary and a consultant to the Racial Reconciliation Ministry Team of CBFNC.

Not the Same Ol’ Song n’ Dance

Overflow Shelter at First Baptist Church of Winston-Salem
Photo by Jordan Green, Yes Weekly

by Justin Thomas


A few weeks ago I received an email notification stating I had an unread email. I logged into my email account and the first subject to catch my attention was “Emergency Help Wanted”. This email was sent by a fellow classmate. I quickly opened my email to find out what was wrong. The email stated that First Baptist Church was setting up an overflow shelter for homeless people to come in from the cold weather overnight and they desperately needed people to volunteer working it. At first, I was a little hesitant to agree to spend the night at the overnight shelter, but I could not ignore that push I was feeling to go.

One Friday I went to First Baptist Church along with three other classmates to volunteer for the overnight shift. During the time we were checking in guests for the night, there was one gentleman who asked one of my classmates and I to sing. Out of nervousness, we declined and instead asked him if he could sing. He replied “no, I sang”. We encouraged him to sing and he began to sing a worship song. This man had an amazing voice. It was as if the angels from heaven were singing in the church. Who would have known I was in the presence of such an amazing voice?

A few minutes later the singing gentleman asked me to sing “Falling in Love with Jesus”, and without thinking I opened my mouth and started singing. The entire gym got quiet and all eyes were on me, but I did not stop singing. I closed my eyes and continued singing. After I was finished the singing gentleman asked me to sing it again, and again, and again. After a while the singing gentleman, my classmates and I were harmonizing in song lifting up the name of Jesus. It was such a powerful moment that I will never forget.

After we finished singing, a few guests that were staying for the night shared with me that they are musicians. There was a gentleman that plays the piano, another the drums, and a few who could sing. I was in the presence of men who love the Lord and desire to once again serve God with their gift of music.

What would have happened if I had treated these men as nothing but strangers on the margins of society? The Bible warns us to be careful when we entertain strangers, for we may be entertaining angels unaware. Now I am not saying these men were angels, but in them was the ministry of worship through music that has been lying dormant a long time. All it took was sharing the love of Jesus through actions and song to discover I was surrounded by men hungry for God and willing to serve.

The next time you are in company of strangers who may not look like you, not in the same economic class as you, or not as educated as you, how will you respond? Will you embrace them with the love of Jesus through your actions? Will you share a song, time, food, or will you decide not to follow Christ's example and cast them away?

Justin Thomas is an intern for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina and a third-year student at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. 

Beggars for Mercy

by Rev. Dr. Guy Sayles


“We are beggars.  This is true.”  Martin Luther scratched- out those words on a scrap of paper just before his death on February 18, 1546.  “We are beggars.  This is true.”

Most of us aren’t like the beggars, the panhandlers, we will meet on the streets of downtown.  We aren’t, as far as anyone can tell, as far down or as far out, as they are; we not on the bottom and the margin.  In fact, when compared to them, we’re way up and way in.  It has been a long time, if ever, since most of us were hungry and couldn’t figure-out where the next meal was coming from.  We have, not just the clothes on our backs, but closets bulging with clothes we never wear.  We’re connected, not marginalized; we have family, friends, colleagues, coworkers, and classmates.  We’re either taking care of ourselves or someone else is responsibly and reliably taking care of us.  On the surface, most of us don’t seem like beggars.

Beneath the surface, though, in those places in our minds and hearts hidden from others and sometimes from ourselves, we’re beggars, too.  Maybe we are, as Carlyle Marney once called us, “beggars in velvet,” but beggars nonetheless.  We’re beggars especially for mercy.  The characteristic prayer of Lent is our constant prayer: “Jesus, have mercy on me.  Jesus, have mercy.”

We’re all amalgams of brokenness and wholeness, tragedy and triumph, despair and delight, grief and gladness.  You know what causes you to cry bitter, hurting tears when no one is around.  You know what inspires you to give thanks and to shout for joy.  You know what drives you relentlessly through your days and nights, and what allows you to slow down, be still and know that God is God and you are not.

Your life may be full and rich and good, but there is in you something that makes you anxious or afraid or guilty or ashamed. It’s part of being human.  Everyone struggles or suffers or worries over something, which means everyone needs mercy.

Jesus is God’s mercy in flesh and blood, muscle and bone, word and deed.  Jesus is mercy made clear and brought near.  As you know, the New Testament is written in Greek, but Aramaic was the language Jesus and his first followers spoke.  In Aramaic, the word for mercy or compassion, comes from the same family of words as does the word womb.  God’s mercy, Jesus says and shows, in womblike; it is mother-like.  Mercy makes room in herself for the vulnerable, and us and shelters and protects them until they are strong enough to survive.  Mercy bleeds and labors to give life and energy.  Mercy cries aloud in pain and joy for the wonder of the children we always are and for the people we are always becoming.  God’s mercy connect God to us as a mother is tied to her children: God feels along with us, weeps and laughs with us, crawls, walks, runs and dances along with us.

We live with two unconscious but always pressing questions: (1) Does anyone see me, hear me, and know me for who I am?  (2) if someone sees me, hears me, and knows me, can he or she still love me?

Does anybody know me?  Does the person who really knows me love me?

The mercy of God in Jesus answers those crucial questions with “yes.”  In Jesus, God says: “I know you, completely.  I love you without condition or reservation.”

It’s mercy we need, and mercy for which we beg.  And mercy, sweet saving mercy, is what Jesus gives.

Guy Sayles is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Asheville. This article originally appeared on his blog, From the Intersection.

What Can I Do?

Rev. Randy Outland

Over the past several years God has been dealing with me regarding world poverty.  I have learned that the average North American enjoys a standard of living that has been unimaginable for most of human history.  As North American Christians, we are the wealthiest Christians in the history of the Church.  Our society’s vast wealth presents us with an enormous responsibility, for throughout the Scriptures God’s people are commanded to show compassion to the poor.  In fact, doing do is simply part of our job description as followers of Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:31-46).

Thinking about such important issues as these have led me to read and study many books, attend seminars, talk to people, and lead our church in new areas.  The Hole in Our Gospel book was one such book that has influenced me greatly.  Now Karen and I, and others in our church, are sponsoring children in Uganda, east Africa, through World Vision.

God continues to work on my heart and mind.  What about generational poverty here in the US, specifically here in my town of Kinston?  What can I, what can we do about it, if anything?  What is our calling as followers of Jesus Christ in this matter?  I have no easy answers, just lots of questions.

Like world poverty, we can’t do everything; but we can do one thing.  What can we do to help alleviate generational poverty here in our country?  A number of us in the Spilman faith family and in our Kinston community have been reading the book Toxic Charity – How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It).  Our conversations about the book have been stimulating.

Pray with me and talk with me about what one thing we can do.  I have many thoughts.  What are your thoughts?  Let the conversation continue.  God is at work here in our community.  God wants to use you and me to further the Kingdom in North Carolina and around the world.

Randy Outland is the pastor of Spilman Baptist Church in Kinston, NC. This article originally appeared in their church newsletter, The Tie.

Chicken 'n' Waffles

by Justin Thomas


Growing up in the southern city of Atlanta, it is not uncommon for me to hear, “I am in the mood for some chicken n’ waffles”. There are many restaurants within the city of Atlanta and throughout the United States where one can go eat an amazing chicken n’ waffle meal. Well a little of over a week ago when I was in Granada, Nicaragua, a few of my classmates and I, along with our professor and colleagues from Wake Forest Law School, decided to go to a locally infamous waffle restaurant for lunch. This restaurant had all types of waffles. From chocolate waffles to pecan waffles, the menu provided a variety of options from which one could happily choose. I was so excited to see the choices, when suddenly the desire for chicken ‘n’ waffles slapped me right in the face.  I looked the menu up and down to see if they just happened to have it on their menu. To my disappointment this delicious staple item that I could easily find in the States was nowhere to found.

Then, like the Saturday morning cartoons, a light bulb went off. I looked on the menu and I saw they offered a chicken sandwich and they offered waffles. With the help from the law professor that accompanied us, I was able to tell the server to use the chicken breast for the sandwich and put it on top of the waffle.
It took the staff a minute to comprehend what I was trying to do, but they were able to comply.  About 15 minutes later the server comes out with chicken n’ waffles just for me.

Something as simple as being able to order chicken n’ waffles represents the little things I take for granted in my own culture. The crazy thing is, I was able to introduce a staple dish from my culture to another just because I had a taste for it at that time. But there are other simple things I take for granted--like
free public transportation for students to go to high school so they can further their education. It was sad to find out that Nicaraguans who live in remote villages had no way of getting to high school unless their families could afford the same transportation that comes through the village to pick up the men and take them to the sugar plantations early in the morning.  I had the privilege of meeting a couple of young women who desperately wanted to come to the States to attend a university.  How could that desire ever become a reality if they cannot even afford a bus ride to school?   A simple desire for chicken n’ waffles was granted in minutes, and as I reflect on the enjoyment of that one desire, I realized the simple desire for those young women to attend high school and a university here in the States is not one that can be met in like fashion. We take for granted so many little things because we are worried about “bigger” things, while at the same time there are people who simply wish they could get a seat on a school bus.

We may have problems in our lives but if we started focusing on the little things we have, no matter what we are going through, we will recognize we are truly blessed.  So the next time you put your child on a school bus, or make a special request from a restaurant’s menu (whether it is fast food or five star) take a moment to give thanks for the little things, and pray for those people across this world who would give anything to have some of your same, simple opportunities.

Justin Thomas is an intern for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina and a third-year student at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. He wrote this blog after completing a Nicaragua Immersion course in January 2013. This post originally appeared on the blog for the course, http://wakedivnicaragua.wordpress.com/.

Why We Do What We Do

Rev. Paul Batson


Nobles Chapel Baptist Church, where I gratefully serve as Pastor, is part of a tremendous collaboration of churches and community organizations called CHEW (Children's Hunger Elimination of Wilson). CHEW was developed last year to meet the needs of school-aged children who likely do not have food in their homes for weekend meals. This organization partners together for buying power to purchase food for these children for their weekend meals at a price that is less than what any church could buy on their own. Buying in bulk, you know? And I'm happy to say that EVERY child that has been identified in Wilson County as food insecure is receiving a weekend meal bag this school year.

Recently, CHEW was faced with a decision about putting encouraging messages in the bags for the kids each week. Do we put general messages in there? Can we include Scripture or references to God? We sought the council of school principals and other administrators and ultimately (probably to no surprise) the decision was made to include messages without reference to God.

Fast-forward to today when I was at a meeting of Wilson area ministers and the issue of "the encouraging messages" came up. This is what I heard one pastor say:

"If we can't put messages in the bag that tell the kids where it comes from or about a relationship with Jesus, what's the point? Maybe we'll just give our money somewhere else."

I've heard these kinds of comments before. In fact, I've heard it from people at every church I've served:

"I don't understand why we keep giving and doing the weekend meal bags when we haven't seen any of those kids and their families come to our church as a result."

Or...

"I see people drive up to fill-in-the-blank-organization in nicer cars than I drive to get food, clothes, etc., so I've stopped bringing things when we have drives for that ministry."

Or...

"I'd give him some money, but he'll probably just buy alcohol or drugs."

In a culture where people are increasingly skeptical of the Church and Christians and their efforts at evangelism and mission, we have to ask ourselves about the motivation for what we're doing. Sure, we should be about communicating our faith and telling others about the life-changing difference Christ has made in our lives and how we'd love for everyone to know what it means to have a relationship with God. I'm not trying to minimize that responsibility.

But, "what if there was no chance that I'd come to your church or come to your faith. Would you still give me and my family food on the weekend? Would you still donate clothes or money to help me? Would you still be my friend if 'relationship evangelism' will never lead me to faith?"

May I submit to you that if your answer is "no" to any of the above questions, then your motivation for mission is misinformed. I believe that the spirit in which Jesus calls us to give and meet the needs of those around us is because that's just what we do. It isn't to see bigger attendance numbers or even just to see the recipient "get saved". It's because the people of God see a need in this world and they meet that need, regardless of the outcome.

I have to believe that Jesus knew that out of the ten lepers he healed, only one would return to give thanks (Luke 17), but He did it anyway. And I certainly have to believe that God knew that not everyone would accept His son and His sacrifice on the cross, but Jesus died for us anyway. Why give regardless of the outcome? Because that's just what God does.

So give. Give whether you can tell the kids the food is from Jesus or his church or not. Give whether he'll use it on drugs or not. Give whether they need it or not. Give.

Give, because as people of God, that's just what we do.

Paul Botson is the pastor of Nobels Chapel Baptist Church in Sims, NC. This article originally appeared on Paul’s blog, http://paulbatson.blogspot.com/.

The Future of America

By Dr. Roger Gilbert

In the past few articles and sermons, I have pointed out that the biblical teaching is that we are to respect our government and be good citizens of our country, while putting service, devotion and worship of God in first place. We are to be careful not to confuse patriotism with Christianity. This relationship has often been described as the separation of church and state. The government is not to have authority over the church and the church (or any religious organization, institution or group) is not to have authority over the government.

We need to be clear, however, that this does not mean that one’s individual faith is not to influence one’s personal political opinions, votes, and participation. It also does not keep the church from addressing moral and ethical issues that affect our nation, state, or community. Neither the church (nor any preacher) should tell individuals how to vote or which party to support. But the church, and any pastor, is free to address the issues of the day.

Having said the above, I want to address a matter that should be of grave concern to every American, whatever your political persuasion. Associated Press reported that in the month of June the Obama and Romney campaigns combined raised $177 million in political contributions. Add to that fact that the total amount invested in these campaigns is unbelievably, astronomically higher than the one month total of $177 million. We are talking about billions! The changes in the law that removes the limits on contributions and makes disclosure optional has opened the door for individuals and groups, possibly even foreign entities, to anonymously have enormous power and control. It is obscene. It is frightening. The “buying” of political office is becoming more and more a reality. In the long run, the only “winners” in this maddening trend are the media businesses who are doing right well airing the campaign ads. I understand that each party says they have to do it because the other party is doing it. Yet, there must be some way to bring about reform.

I know that individual citizens and even groups of citizens feel so powerless to have any influence on this run away political nightmare. I feel the frustration. I also know that in this election year the greatest concern of each party is “we’ve got to win.” And yet, if we believe in democracy at all, we know that when enough of the citizens let their voices be heard, changes slowly but surely take place. I am sure that many of you are a lot wiser in these matters than I am, but it seems to me that one move surely is for us as individuals to let our elected officials know that we the citizens are serious about positive changes. It is not a matter of the Republican or the Democratic parties. Nor is it just a matter of this election. It is a matter of the future of America. The land of the free and the home of the brave is in danger of becoming something very different.

Roger Gilbert is the pastor of First Baptist Church, Mount Airy, NC. This article originally appeared in their church newsletter, "The Announcer."

Boaz and the 1%

by Rev. Jason Blanton

There is a depth of truth in Ruth, which is made so much richer by the fact that the author never comes out and gives "the moral of the story," he leaves it up to us find God at work in His many different and surprising ways.

The book is called "Ruth," and the story is mostly about Ruth, but as I prepared for yesterday's sermon, I was struck by Boaz, and particularly how he compares with our current caricatures of the wealthy elite in our world. Now, while I readily admit that I'm importing modern terminology into this bit of theology, the questions of God, wealth, power, and how to properly align the three are as old as our walk with God.

Boaz bursts on to the scene in chapter 2, and his first words, spoken to the men and women working in his field, are "the Lord be with you." They respond with a hearty "the Lord bless you!" There is a picture of harmony, painted with so few words, of God, man, and circumstances. You see happy workers, a respectful "boss," and most importantly, an honored God. Sadly, we can't seem to find this kind of harmony in our modern conversation about economics and politics.

Our national conversation about the wealthy goes something like this: "they are all rich fat cats who swindled their way to the top and are beating us 99% folks down!" On the other side of the argument, we hear those who say, "He worked hard to get where he is, and you are just jealous!" "God has made Him wealthy because of his goodness and obedience."

Certainly there is a great deal of truth to the sentiment that there is a wealthy elite in our nation, and in the Western world. They are unquestionably using their money to buy influence which allows them to "game" the system in their favor. I don't question the protest motives of the "Occupy" folks at all. What I do reject is the artificial division of 1% and 99%.

First of all, all wealthy people aren't evil. All of them aren't gaming the system. The unspoken idea that God hates the 1% is just as bad a misrepresentation of God as any other statement that tries to identify a particular group that God supposedly "hates." With due respect to those who are trying to affect change through protest, we need to stop demonizing with broad brushes if our goal is to truly lift up rather than tear down.

Second, the idea that the rest of us can be lumped together into one group, the 99%, is a total absurdity. Ruth's situation as a poor widow was very much different than the plight of the man working the fields in front of here in the same way the plight of a man making 60 thousand dollars a year is very much different from that of a man making 60 dollars a year. I think we have allowed this rather silly narrative to continue because it allows most people to blame "the rich" for abusing "the poor" while ignoring any notion that WE have a responsibility to the poor as well!

And just in case you aren't going to rush off and read the story of Ruth, I have to also point out how determined, industrious, and faithful she is! She isn't waiting around to be helped, she is out doing anything she can. I know that it isn't always a popular thing to say, but some of the 99% could, frankly, use a kick in the hind parts!

Back to Boaz. We see a man who recognizes that he has been blessed by God, and who uses those gifts to be a blessing. We are never told how Boaz came to be wealthy and powerful - the author doesn't seem to think that detail is important. What we are shown is a man who goes beyond his culture's minimum standard of generosity to try and care for poor Rachel and her mother-in-law Naomi.

Now, I know some of you are thinking, "well yeah, we know how this story ends, so of course Boaz was generous to Ruth, he thought she was a certified hottie." While that certainly turns out to be true, the fact is Boaz doesn't have to be kind to Ruth to marry her. Heck, he doesn't even have to marry her! He doesn't have to give her or Naomi anything. Ruth is a widow - not just a widow, but a Moabitess and a widow. If Boaz wanted her, he could have simply taken her. She was powerless and he is the very definition of powerful. Boaz, in the very image of God (painted beautifully in Kierkegaard's "King and the Maiden") realizes that love can't be coerced. It can't be forced. Love can't be imparted from a position of authority. Love, in order to be real, must be allowed to flourish of its own volition. What do love and economics have in common? I would hope everything!

Boaz exists in a culture that, at the very least, honors the poor, the stranger, and the outcast enough to create a system of gleaning. It’s that culture that is part of the very nature of a man like Boaz, who then exceeds those minimum standards of generosity in order to show kindness to Ruth. I think our culture was, once upon a time, imbued with the idea that we all owed a responsibility to one another. Unfortunately, it seems excess and greed have replaced responsibility and generosity in our national DNA. If we want real structural change, we have to find our way back to a national conversation that recognizes none of us makes it on our own. Nobody gets rich on their own. Nobody chooses to be poor. Nobody.

What I hope we can learn from the story of Ruth and Boaz is that the real debate about God, money, and power exists on a realm that is higher than our current discourse. If we want to get serious about creating a more just society, we all need to back away from our placards and political hackery and pick up our copies of Ruth. There we will find that God loves the gifted and the giver, the poor industrious widow and the wealthy landowner.

Maybe, if we look hard enough, we can even find ourselves.

Jason Blanton is the pastor of Grace Crossing in Charlotte. This article originally appeared on his blog, http://jasonblanton.blogspot.com/.

The Power of Half and Teenagers

by Rev. Felicia Fox

One of the reasons I love my job is I get to see youth and children make a real difference in the world. They really do have a way of seeing past all of the surface level issues that seem to distract us adults. Here’s an example I found this week of a teenager who saw a need and came up with a pretty simple answer that transformed her family’s life.


One day a father was driving his fourteen year old daughter, Hannah through the streets of downtown Atlanta. Hannah noticed a homeless man with a sign asking for food. On the other side was a mercedes benz. The girl had a great idea. If the man in the mercedes had a less expensive car the homeless man could use some of that money to have a meal. It was a brilliant and simple idea. Over the next few weeks Hannah kept bringing the idea up with her family. One night her aggravated mother asked if she was suggesting they should sell their house and give away all their nice things. That’s exactly what Hannah wanted. That’s exactly what the family did. They sold their 1.5 million dollar home and brought one half the size. They donated all the things they no longer needed to charity. The money from their home when to fund projects in African villages. There are now villages in Africa that have medical clinics and schools thanks to Hannah and her family. This story was the inspiration for her book, The Power of Half.

Isn’t it just like a teenager to see a need and see a solution that no adult would ever think of? It seems pretty simple. If you have an extra car you don’t need, give it to somebody who needs it. If you have extra food, feed a hunger person. It is so simple but so hard for us adults to do. We have a way of finding reasons to keep all of our stuff. We often hide the motivation behind our real reasons by saying we are just being responsible. We might need those things one day. However, most of those reasons come back to our own selfishness and our lack of faith.

Jesus summed up the idea this way, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19 – 21)

This Sunday I’ll be sharing Hannah’s story with our youth during FLASH. We’ll be taking a hard look at our own lives and thinking about where our treasure really lies. I invite you to do the same. After all, none of us really own anything. It is all suppose to belong to God.

Felicia Fox is the Minister of Youth and Children at First Baptist Church of Mount Olive, NC. This article originally appeared on her blog.

Discipleship, Stewardship and Missions: A Perspective from Haiti

by Rev. Dr. Larry Hovis

At the CBFNC General Assembly in March at FBC Asheville, the mission offering we collected was designated for the newly formed Haiti Housing Network (HHN). CBF is one of the principal partners in this network, which has the ambitious goal of building one thousand homes in the Grand Goave community over the next three years. At the assembly, we asked Dr. Steve Bissette, a family physician and member of Ardmore Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, to issue the challenge and prayer for the offering. Dr. Bissette, husband of CBFNC moderator Donna Bissette, had taken a group of college students to Haiti to perform medical and construction work the previous summer. During his appeal, Dr. Bissette told the large group of worshippers that if they contributed enough money to build a house (then estimated to be $3,000, it has since been revised to $4,000), he would “personally guarantee that Larry Hovis would go on the trip and help build the house!” At the end of that service, in the euphoria of the moment, I upped the ante and challenged the assembly to contribute enough funds to build two houses, and publicly promised that I would, indeed, make the trip.

The trip was scheduled for the following August, right before the students were return to school. It was the hottest time of the year to visit one of the hottest places I’ve ever been. Prior to undertaking this journey, my daughter, Lauren, a college student for whom this was her third mission trip of 2011, encouraged me to read, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself. I found the book to be extremely thought-provoking and it caused me to question, filter and analyze our mission trip (and all mission work) from a whole new perspective.

Our experience included meeting and worshipping with Haitian Baptists, meeting and learning from CBF global missions field personnel and partners, administering basic medical treatment (Dr. Bissette and a portion of our group for half the week), and working alongside Haitians in building a rubble house. Space limitations don’t permit me to describe the fascinating process of rubble house construction, so I encourage you to visit the following website for more information: http://www.haitihousingnetwork.com/. I emerged from this week hot, tired, and sore, but also spiritually renewed. After processing this experience, I’ve drawn three conclusions and want to issue a challenge.

CBF is Doing Missions Right

While the situation in Haiti is very discouraging in many ways, including the dysfunctional government and the ineffectiveness of much of the relief effort there, CBF and our primary partner, Conscience International, are functioning with good missiology and a wholistic, sustainable, Christ-centered approach. The field personnel whom we encountered (Mike and Brenda Harwood and Jenny Jenkins) are dedicated, smart individuals who would pass the muster of When Helping Hurts. Our CBF efforts are done with the Haitians, not for them, empowering them ultimately to provide for themselves, rather than perpetuating a culture of dependency.

Benefits of Short-term Mission Engagement

While our team, no doubt, rendered some genuine service to the Haitians we encountered, we were the primary beneficiaries of our trip. As we traveled together, experienced a new culture, prayed together, met and worshipped with Christian brothers and sisters who are materially poor but spiritually rich, and interacted with our CBF missions field personnel who have sacrificed greatly to live and serve in a hard place, our faith was challenged, strengthened and renewed. If we are honest, then we have to admit that in terms of impact, it was more of a discipleship development experience for our group of American Christians than direct ministry to needy Haitians.

Field Personnel More Important, Not Less

It’s been customary, after thirty years of the short-term volunteer missions movement, to pat ourselves on the back for taking a week or two of our lives every year for a mission trip, and call ourselves missionaries. Some Christians and churches have questioned the need for vocational, field-based, full-time missionaries, and their support of such personnel has declined as they devote more and more resources to supporting their members in short-term projects and trips. But I came back from Haiti more convinced than ever of the necessity of “professional” missionaries. Mike, Brenda, Jenny and others built the relationships and prepared the way for us to have a meaningful experience. They remain in place long after we are gone. They get to know the people and the culture and ensure that our brief work is done in a way that helps rather than hurts those we purport to serve. Ironically, the more volunteers we send on short-term mission trips, the more vital our field personnel become.

A Modest (or is it Radical?) Proposal

Because God’s mission to the most neglected and least evangelized people in the world along with the discipleship development of short-term missions volunteers is dependent on the presence, effectiveness and faithfulness of vocational missions field personnel, I propose that CBF Christians and churches make the following pledge: for every dollar we spend to send a team on a short-term mission trip we raise another dollar for the support of the field personnel with whom they work and their colleagues around the globe. For example, I estimate that the Ardmore group spent around $15,000 to send eleven persons to Haiti, not including the $6,000 CBFNC gave to the Haiti Housing Network. This money came from a combination of church funds and the personal funds of team members. Under this proposal, we would raise an additional $15,000 to support our CBF field personnel. If every CBF short-term mission team followed this practice, we would be able to increase the number of our career missionaries and significantly strengthen our mission efforts around the globe.

There was a time in which we outsourced mission engagement to professionals and assumed ordinary Christians had no responsibility for global missions, other than supporting vocational missionaries. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case. But has the pendulum swung too far in the other direction? In our time, have we assumed (by our stewardship, if not our words), that because we can travel all over the world we no longer need vocational missionaries? It’s not either/or, but both/and. Our recent trip to Haiti made that very clear – at least to me.

Larry Hovis is the Executive Coordinator of CBF of North Carolina.

American Wealth & Global Poverty

by Dr. Randall Lolley

Did you see the headline, “Bottom Half Have Just 1% Of All Wealth”? The story is almost as much bad news as Christmas was good news this year. A recent report from the World Institute for Development of Economies Research of the United Nations provides some staggering statistics.

The richest 1% of the world’s population owns 40% of the world’s wealth. The richest 2% own 51%. The richest 10% own 85%. Now here is the horrible, scary part. The bottom half of the world’s people - 50% of the world’s population - own just 1% of the world’s wealth. That is 3 billion human beings virtually out of the wealth loop.

Whatever happened to human worth?

Whatever happened to basic equity?

Is it any wonder there is so little peace on earth? Hungry and sick folks have other priorities than well-fed, well-kept folks.

Consider this: $515,000 net worth (houses, land, salary, savings, retirement plans) catapult a family into the top 1% of the world’s entire population. How many people do you know who own that much or more?

The average net worth of us who are citizens of the USA is $144,000 per person. The average net worth per person worldwide is $2,200. We Americans comprise just 4.7% of the world’s population but own almost one-third (32.4%) of the world’s wealth.

How blessed are we to live in this good land! The Christmas season just past marked a period according to a variety of surveys, when the average American Christmas-season shopper spent between $775 and $875 on presents.

That is 1/3 as much as the average person on earth accumulates over a lifetime!

I am not speaking negatively about the wealth we have been able to enjoy in our country. People on the whole have worked long and hard for it. But, I do have to mention a Scriptural principle straight from the lips of our Lord’s Apostle, Paul of Tarsus: “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful to that trust.” (1 Corinthians 4:2).

What a trust ALL of us have been given; and it has come by way of amazing grace showered upon us by our Lord Jesus Christ who lived his entire earthly life among this world’s 99% at the bottom of the world’s wealth/food chain.

Randall Lolley is the current Interim Pastor of Greystone Baptist Church in Raleigh. He has pastored First Baptist Churches in Winston-Salem, Raleigh, and Greensboro, and was the former president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. This article originally appeared in Greystone's church newsletter, Greystone Today.

When Helping Hurts - A Review

by Rev. Laura Barclay
When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert is a fantastic resource for ministers and lay leaders who are both beginners and experienced veterans of community and mission work. The theologically conservative writers begin with a strong case for evangelicals to engage in community work. For moderates, this can be a helpful resource for communicating with conservatives on justice issues. The authors distinguish between old models of charity-based work versus new methods of promoting leadership and empowerment in poor communities through asset-based community development (ABCD). This holistic method of approach allows for a thoroughly coherent and helpful guidebook that people of all theological backgrounds should be inspired to use.
The authors start with a biblical basis for justice. In short, Jesus declared that the kingdom is both now on earth and in heaven. If Jesus is Lord, we should take his commands and lessons on the treatment of the poor seriously. Because the Church is supposed to follow the mission of Christ on earth, engaging our communities should be central to our narrative. Many times, the Church is sidetracked with personal piety issues (much like the Pharisees) and are distracted from its real mission. Fikkert, the main writer, quotes Scripture after Scripture on the poor and oppressed, and uses wealth and poverty statistics to bolster his point:

“Economic historians have found that for most of human history there was little economic growth and relatively low economic inequality…by the year 1820…the average income per person in the richest countries was only about four times higher than the average income per person in the poorest countries. Then the Industrial Revolution hit, causing unprecedented economic growth in a handful of countries but leaving the rest of the world behind…while the average American lives on more than ninety dollars per day, approximately one billion people live on less than one dollar per day and 2.6 billion—40% of the world’s population—live on less than two dollars per day. If God’s people in both the Old and New Testaments were to have a concern for the poor during eras of relative economic equality, what are we to conclude about God’s desire for the North American church today? (page 42)"

He cites the divide in the church between liberals and conservatives in the early 20th century for why evangelicals focused more on salvation than justice, and criticizes some government methods that have actually kept people in poverty. He condemns the old system of welfare for punishing those trying to work and affirms welfare reform.
Most practically, Fikkert tell stories about his own personal failings and long path toward realizing the best methods of community engagement. Fikkert talks about the difference between asset-based and needs-based approaches. The needs-based approach can enforce negative cultural assumptions that people who are both white and economically advantaged should be in charge. White, affluent outsiders tend to approach a situation by stating what a community, family, or person doesn’t have and what they need to obtain. This approach fails to encourage empowerment and leadership development. The asset-based approach starts by finding out what assets and skills a community has and builds on this information. He states that you should "not do things for people that they can do for themselves (pg 115).” Many times, a neighborhood can organize to find solutions that outsiders try to find for them.
He encourages churches to work with microfinance professionals who lend money, time, and business training to poor individuals to help them start businesses. He also encourages the “Business as Mission” model where small business can be used for ministry (see CBF’s work with Ben Newell and Delta Jewels, a mission where women earn their own college tuition while learning business skills). He gives less ambitious suggestions as well, including helping with job training and financial education.
Fikkert affirms the need to give immediately in crisis situations. For instance, when Hurricane Katrina hit, people needed rescue, medical care, debris clean-up, and more. Years later, he shares the example of a mission team that visits and paints houses while the owners sit back and watch. This approach reinforces the idea that outsiders are the only ones who can help, when the reality is that organizers could use empowerment to encourage leadership from within that community. Outsiders in these situations should plug-in only as secondary helpers to internal community leaders.
Fikkert’s approach is innovative and one that more churches and mission leaders should be willing to engage and discuss. Fikkert questions whether some missions work is really effective in the long run or only makes us feel good for getting something done quickly. His ideas of people-development over task-oriented missions have the potential for long-range, effective, and sustainable ministry. I urge you to read this book and have a discussion with your friends and church members!
Find out more about “When Helping Hurts” and related materials at this website: http://www.whenhelpinghurts.org/

"Will Jesus Buy Me a Double Wide?" - A Review

by Rev. Laura Barclay

Recently, my pastor recommended the book Will Jesus Buy Me a Double Wide?: ('Cause I Need More Room for My Plasma TV) by Karen Spears Zacharias. I was initially confused by the eye-catching title, but my pastor insisted it was a great book for Sunday Schools and book clubs, as well as ministers and laity. So he let me borrow his copy and I proceeded to delve into the book, divided into small vignettes of people the author interviewed or had a relationship, many of whom are kept anonymous with titular pseudonyms like “The Evangelist” or “The Redhead.” In some way, every one of these stories had something to say about wealth and poverty and politely poked hundreds of holes in the prosperity gospel, which she likens to a “golden calf theology” (29).

Zacharias interviews Sister Schubert (yes, the maker of those delicious roles), who values the money her business has brought her, but she believes that as a Christian she has a responsibility to “do the right thing with whatever [God has] given us” (43). So, she established a foundation and built an orphanage in the Ukraine, because the government-run facilities are low on resources for children. She then adopted a son with a disability whose parents had been murdered. Sister Schubert lives on a small amount of what she has and uses much of the rest for causes in which she’s actively involved.

She interviews The Marine, a once-rich business man who had a conversion experience that led him to take a vow of poverty and live among the poor. The most touching part of his story comes when talking to friend of his named Lena, who was about to have her power cut off by the electric company. He says, “Tell you what I’ll do Lena. I can’t keep the power company from turning your lights off, but I will come sit with you in the dark after they turn them off.” He tells Zacharias, “I think that’s what Jesus does—he sits with us in the dark (133).”

Zacharias tells stories of The Mogul who lost everything because his greed destroyed everything he owned, The Beautician who longs for wealth, and The Redhead who died too young of cancer and left behind a husband and children, but no regrets. The reader finds in the genuineness of her stories an appropriate view of abundance before God and our brothers and sisters in Christ. In exploring the nature of oneself in relationship to money, we find spiritual truths older than Scripture. Jesus’ parable of the rich man comes to life in The Evangelist, who believes she’s entitled to her millions and that God wants us all to be rich. She wants to follow God as long as it’s a personally beneficial experience.

The image of God hinted at in the vignettes is not a God who controls our wealth or poverty, but one who promises to be present with us in the darkest and lightest hours of our life. If we follow this God, what does that mean in relationship to our portfolio? It’s not, as Bernie Madoff cohort Michael Bienes suggests, that his stealing money was so easy because “God wanted us to have this…God gave us this” (200). We must follow God and not money, but be responsible with what we’re given. As Zacharias points out in her introduction, God doesn’t reward us with money or take it from us when we’ve done something wrong. God, as The Marine points out, just wants to “sit with us in the dark.”

"Nickel and Dimed" Book Review

by Rev. Laura Barclay

Published around a decade ago, Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich recounts the first-hand story of a journalist who sets aside a year to pursue working class jobs and discover how waiters, maids, and Wal-Mart employees survive on such low wages. This book was assigned by CBFNC’s Wealth and Poverty Task Force as an introduction to the experience of poverty in America through a middle-class lens. The experiences still ring true ten years later with America in the middle of a recession, and the gap between the rich and the poor widening.

The book is divided into three parts for the three different cities and jobs she tackles. For her first job, she waits tables at two different restaurants in Key West. Her co-workers live in hotel rooms with other employees and in their cars parked in the lot behind the restaurant. Waiters are not allowed to enter through the front door because it detracts from the middle class ambiance of the customers, so they have to use the back entrance.

Barbara’s second job finds her at cleaning service in Maine. Backbreaking and demeaning, her job requires her to clean houses, sometimes scrubbing the floors in front of the customers while they watch and critique when she misses a spot. One of her co-workers is pregnant, but cleans through the nausea because her boss does not allow sick days. They barely get breaks, and many cannot afford to buy more than a snack at the gas station for lunch.

The third final job is at Wal-Mart in Minnesota. After a mind-numbing all-day orientation on Wal-Mart procedures and the evils of unionizing, she spends her days under the watch of a critical manager while folding and sorting ladies’ clothes. She lives in a motel where the sewage backs up and mold fills the air. Even with these poor accommodations, she runs out of money and is forced to quit her project. How do those who do not have the luxury of quitting poverty survive?

Throughout the book, she references horrifying statistics that give context to her experiences. Perhaps the most disturbing statistic is that 60% of Americans do no make a living wage—equated by the Economic Policy Institute to be $30,000—and that was almost 10 years before this recession (213). Of adults seeking to obtain emergency food, sixty-seven percent have jobs (219). When polled, ninety-four percent of Americans believe that those who work should be paid enough to provide for their families and keep them from slipping below the poverty line (220). Yet, our country remains one of the few in the industrialized world that do not provide adequate healthcare, childcare, good public transportation and subsidized housing. The private sector is left alone with the impossible task of trying and failing to provide for its workers. The massive layoffs and failures of the recession make it all too clear that the private sector alone cannot support the working class.

She concludes the end of the book with a bleak picture of the low-wage workplace. Workers are forced to find jobs close to home, because they are not as mobile as their wealthier counterparts. If they are lucky enough to have cars, they may not be able to afford the gas. These workers do not have the access to computer resources for resume building and job searching, further restricting their search. When they do find a job, they are subject to searches, drug tests, and strict rules against gossip to keep workers from organizing for better conditions—all borderline violations of civil rights. The constant demoralizing and criminal treatment because of socio-economic status no doubt affects the workers’ psyche and health, not to mention kills their dreams of one day crawling out of poverty.

This is a great resource for translating the poverty experience to the middle class. Barbara Ehrenreich is a fierce advocate for the poor, especially during the last chapter where she evaluates her experience within the greater context of poverty. The discussion questions at the back of the book make it perfect for a church or social book club. Reading this book is a great opportunity to reflect about the poor in our own communities, both employed and unemployed, and think about ways to build relationships with the poor and advocate for their rights.

If you are interesting in advocating for the poor, here are a few places to start:
www.advocacyforthepoor.org
www.buildersofhope.org
www.endhomelessness.org