The following are a series of quotes lifted from The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns. Get a cup of coffee and some tissue, get comfy, end open your heart to the Spirit's lead...
Fifteen thousand Africans are dying each day of preventable, treatable diseases – AIDS, malaria, TB – for lack of drugs that we take for granted. This statistic alone makes a fool of the idea many of us hold on to very tightly: the idea of equality. What is happening to Africa mocks our pieties, doubts our concern and questions our commitment to the whole concept. Because if we’re honest, there’s no way we could conclude that such mass death day after day would ever be allowed to happen anywhere else. Certainly not North America or Europe, or Japan. An entire continent bursting into flames? Deep down, if we really accept that their lives – African lives – are equal to ours, we would all be doing more to put the fire out. It’s an uncomfortable truth.
We can be the generation that no longer accepts than an accident of latitude determines whether a child lives or dies – but will we be that generation? Will we in the West realize our potential or will we sleep in the comfort of our affluence with apathy and indifference murmuring softly in our ears? Fifteen thousand people dying needlessly every day from AIDS, TB, and malaria. Mothers, fathers, teachers, farmers, nurses, mechanics, children. This is Africa’s crisis. That it’s not on the nightly news, that we do not treat this as an emergency – that’s our crisis. Bono in his written Forward for Jeff Sachs’ The End of Poverty.
Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.” Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 8:13-15
The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other. It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity, but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich. Consequently, the modern poor are not pitied…, but written off as trash. John Berger
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Apostle Paul in Romans 8:22
More and more I come to value charity and love of one’s fellow being above everything else… All our lauded technological progress – our very civilization – is like the axe in the hand of the pathological criminal. Albert Einstein
At the beginning of this new millennium I was asked to discuss, here in Oslo, the greatest challenge that the world faces. Among all the possible choices, I decided that the most serious and universal problem is the growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on earth. Citizens of the ten wealthiest countries are now seventy-five times richer than those who live in the ten poorest ones, and the separation is increasing every year, not only between nations but also within them. The results of this disparity are root causes of most of the world’s unresolved problems, including starvation, illiteracy, environmental degradation, violent conflict, and unnecessary illnesses that range from Guinea worm to HIV/AIDS. President Jimmy Carter, former Sunday School Teacher, upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.
The great disparity between rich and poor nations… largely didn’t even exist before 1800. In 1820 the difference in per capita income between the wealthiest region of the world and the poorest was perhaps four to one. Jeffrey Sachs, The End of Poverty
Facts are stubborn things. John Adams
The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it. Flannery O’Connor
Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Jesus the Christ in Mark 10:14
The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that’s the essence of inhumanity. George Bernard Shaw
We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion – how can God’s love be in that person? Apostle John in 1 John 3:16-17
What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. James, brother of Jesus in James 2:14-17
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Jim Elliot
Live as if Christ died yesterday, rose this morning and is coming back tomorrow. Martin Luther
He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Jesus’ “inaugural address” in Luke 4:4:18-19
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Prophet Micah in Micah 6:8
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings. Prophet Hosea in Hosea 6:6
If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that may be said to possess him. Sir Francis Bacon
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. Jesus in Luke 9:23-24
The place where God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. Frederick Buechner
Chose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Joshua in Joshua 24:15
To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice. Confucius
The true gospel is a call to self-denial. It is not a call to self-fulfillment. John MacArthur
We have shrunk Jesus to the size where he can save our soul but now don’t believe he can change the world. Anonymous
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. Jesus in John 10:10
Christ has no body on earth but your, no hand but yours, no feet but yours. Your eyes are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now. Saint Teresa of Avila
Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, or learning. Frederick W. Faber
Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need. God in Deuteronomy 15:10-11
Christianity is flourishing wonderfully among the poor and persecuted while it atrophies among the rich and secure. Philip Jenkins
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from them hand of the wicked. Asaph in Psalm 82:3-4
Today’s 1,125 billionaires hold more wealth than the wealth of half of the world’s adult population.
The wealthiest 7 people on earth control more wealth than the combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the 41 most heavily indebted (poor) nations.
The poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts for just 5 percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of the world’s income.
The top 20 percent of the world’s population consumes 86 percent of the world’s goods.
We are continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems. John W. Gardner
He who is dying of hunger must be fed rather than taught. Saint Thomas Aquinas
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me? God in Jeremiah 22:16
Sometimes I would like to ask God why he allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it. But I don’t because I’m afraid He would ask me the same question. Anonymous
We’ve drifted away from being fishers of men to being keepers of the aquarium. Paul Harvey
Biblical View of money:
It’s not our money – it all comes from God.
We are not entitled to it but entrusted with it.
God expects us to use it in the interest of His Kingdom (which ultimately is in the interest of the whole world and its people).
If charity cost nothing, the world would be full of philanthropists. Jewish Proverb
I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. Mohandas Gandhi
Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. Billy Sunday
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead
If you think you are too small to make a difference, try spending the night in a closed room with a mosquito. African Saying
Be the change that you want to see in the world. Mohandas Gandhi
Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. Henry Van Dyke
My faith demands – this is not optional – my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference. President Jimmy Carter
The one who says it can’t be done should get out of the way of the one who is doing it. Chinese Proverb
Make your life a mission – not an intermission. Arnold Glasgow
We can do no great things, only small things with great love. Mother Teresa
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
"Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ Jesus in Matthew 25:34-45
For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved. Richard Stearns, The Hole in our Gospel
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