CCECYOUTH.COM

By Daniel Godden

It’s been a long time since I last wrote about India and all the crazy people I came across there. That was way back in the second J-Walk. I promised then, and I mean to make good on it now, that I would write about poverty in India.

India is a country of paradoxes. As a nation it is upwardly mobile. It currently has the highest population in the world. Public works like train systems and airports leave Australia far behind in terms of technology and accessibility.

All this said India has the lowest minimum wage on earth. A majority of the population does not have running water within their houses and the infant mortality rate is soaring. As well as this there are certain practices in India that keep the problem going.

Firstly, Indians love expensive things. While most Indians live in sub-standard housing they all have mobile phones. An Indian man is much more likely to spend his money on expensive shoes or jeans rather than saving it and putting it towards something more worthwhile.

The problem with this is that rather than saving their money and putting it away to gain interest or investing it for the future, Indians love to spend. I became friends with a family in Bangalore made up of a Grandmother, a Dad, a Mum, two young Kids, and a household servant, all living in a two bedroom flat. However, they also owned three tvs, all with digital set top boxes, and two dvd players as well as a computer, a fancy car, and a motorbike.

It is easy to judge this kind of living as unwise or consumerist, but my generation in Australia does exactly the same thing. We all have expensive mobile phones, and mp3 players but we haven’t even moved out of home yet. Kids are getting credit cards earlier and earlier. We spend hundreds of dollars on music and dvds. What a waste!

God has given us his resources so that we can grow his kingdom. We blow it all on trinkets and shiny things. It would not surprise me if in the near future no one can buy houses anymore because they all have massive phone bills and car repayments. We live outside our means. As a school student you may only earn $200 per week. Yet you frequently spend a quarter or more of your weekly wage on clothes or shoes. Think about your spending. Is there a way that you can be a better steward of the money God has given you?

Secondly, there are social practices and religious obligations in place that mean people stay poor. The predominant religion in India is Hinduism. Hinduism teaches that people are not equal but rather they belong in different ‘castes’. A caste is your social position. It is fixed. So those who belong to the lowest castes are never expected to move beyond their caste. A rich Indian will rarely give money to a poor Indian because that is where they belong.

This caste system means that the rich in India do not take responsibility for the poor in their own country. This has been the case for thousands of years. India is full of massive palaces, temples and mansions that were built by poor Indians for rich Indians.

This also is similar to many in Australia. While we don’t formalize our feelings into something called ‘the caste system’, we often don’t take responsibility for the poor in our society because we see their poverty as something they have brought upon themselves.

It would be interesting to see the difference between money that Australians send overseas to help the poor in other nations compared to what individuals give to help the poor in our own backyard. So often we gasp when we see the child starving on our TV screens but we avoid the drunken beggar in the streets of Gosford. These people are part of our country, our society, our community. We need to be meeting their needs.

But why? All this talk about India and Australia and poverty is nice because we feel something should be done… but is that it? Is that the only reason we help the poor – because it feels right?
No. I think there is much more to it then that. We should be caring for the poor firstly because God tells us to. Particularly in our own church. In Nehemiah 5 we see God’s people ripping each other off. The rich Israelites are forcing the poor into paying tax and Nehemiah calls the whole country to account because of this. God’s people are to be responsible for caring for the poor not making their lot worse! In James we also read: ‘Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.’ (James 1:27)

In Deuteronomy 15:11 we read:
‘There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.’

Here it is a command for God’s people to be generous to the poor even though they will always be with us. Caring for the poor is not just something that some Christians are to do. All Christians should be compassionate. It is a command. But it’s more than that as well. It is also a response.

God is a compassionate God. The fact that he puts in place laws so that the poor will be cared for show that his heart is with the poor. God sees injustice and he feels the pain of those who hurt through poverty. Jesus, when he came to Earth, spent his time with those who were poor. You can see his compassion for the needy and the sick. You read about his care for widows and those with disabilities. Jesus was a compassionate person. But more than that. Jesus came to show compassion not just to those people but to people who were lost. People who were poor in spirit. People who had no hope. Jesus died in our place when we were at rock bottom. This is what God is on about in history. Showing compassion to the needy – us. How can we see God’s compassion and feel nothing for those who are poor around us. When we see Jesus attitude in Philippians 2, we should be modeling ourselves on that. Humble, generous, giving, compassionate. If you don’t feel compassion then you need to pray and work hard at it.

As a youth group we need to think of ways that we can be expressing our compassion. I think that there are lots of areas where this can happen. Perhaps your G-team could sponsor a child from India. Perhaps we could sponsor a less fortunate Youth group overseas. Perhaps it can be as simple as offering a lift to those who are not fortunate enough to have a car to get to youth group. Perhaps it is caring for those who are poor in social skills that you come across.

Remember Jesus and be compassionate.