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Posts Tagged ‘social justice’
Signs of the Times: More Good for People
Posted: December 13, 2010 in Christ, church, community, cultureTags: battered children, battered women, clean water, Consumer, consumer credit, Credit, Credit card, Dave Ramsey, feeding the hungry, Home, homeless, interest payments, Money Management, orphans, Personal finance, social justice, U.S. revolving debt
I was done with the Signs of the Times series until I saw this while pumping gas yesterday. Here is my final offering:
According to creditshout, “The CITGO PLUS Credit Card … has a very high APR and no rewards program.”
Yet the claim on their ad is “more good for people.”
Have you ever wondered what people they’re talking about?
Certainly not their card holders!
The Federal Reserve’s G.19 report on consumer credit shows a total U.S. revolving debt (98 percent of which is made up of credit card debt) of $813.9 billion as of September 2010.
Another report claims the average credit card interest rate is 12.4% APR. At simple interest, with no compounding, then, consumers pay at least $85 billion annually in interest on credit card and other revolving debt.
I’m not an economists.
I’m not Dave Ramsey.
I even carry a credit card or two.
But I can’t help wondering how much “more good“ could be done “for people” with the $85 billion annually we’re currently paying in interest alone.
If you had $85 billion dollars a year to spend on eliminating one global problem and doing “more good for people,” where would you start?
I think I’d start by providing clean drinking water for the entire plant. Or maybe helping the 143 million orphans in the world. Or the homeless. Or the hungry. Or battered women and children.
I can’t decide.
What would you do?
Micah (part 5a: Justice)
Posted: August 11, 2010 in Bible, Christianity, community, culture, prophecyTags: Andy Crouch, care, charity, compassion, dignity, God, justice, Micah, respect, social gospel, social justice, welfare
What exactly does God want from me anyways?
That’s the same question Israel asked:
“What can we bring to the Lord? What kind of offerings should we give him? Should we bow before God with offerings of yearling calves? Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins?” (Micah 6:7-6).
Micah answered this way:
“No, 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” (6:8).
[To keep each post relatively short, I'll break this verse into 3 parts.]
DO WHAT IS RIGHT
The Hebrew word is misphat, frequently translated as “justice.” It means to treat other people with dignity and respect. It implies a social obligation toward weaker members of society and insists on the rights of others.
Don’t confuse misphat with government run welfare.
Andy Crouch explains this perfectly:
“This is different from charity, which is simply the transfer of assets from rich to poor. It is closer to investment. Investors expect a return–indeed, they expect their own resources to grow alongside the success of the enterprises they invest in.”*
Thus, it is the responsibility of each individual to voluntarily invest in the lives of those who need their help (i.e. “to do what is right”).
What exactly does God want from you?
#1 — He wants you to care about other people (social justice).
