Friends at the Dinner Table

One of my favorite things about living in Homewood is that we have unexpected visitors all of the time. They are mostly children and teenagers, and they stop by at all different times of day and night. Sometimes they'll come in groups of two or three, but often kids will just stop over to visit with us. They are our friends. We always have food and drinks on hand, and it is a rare occurance when we have just the four of us McCabes at dinner. We share meals with people all of the time, and I love that part of living here. Dinner time is a great relationship building time. It also gives us a chance to share with the kids in our neighborhood about the importance of good nutrition, and the chance to experience the great joy and bonding that comes with sharing a meal regularly with family and friends. We also show them, in some small but tangible way, the profound love of Jesus Christ, their creator who desires to meet their needs when they are hungry and thirsty.

Many Christians in America arrange their lifestyles so that they do not come into contact with poor people who might be hungry or thirsty. Sure, they may pile their family into a minivan and head to the city to serve meals to homeless people at a soup kitchen during the holidays, but rare would be the occurance that an actual person in need from their city would be invited to dine in their home. A Christian may go on a short term mission trip to a foreign country and serve meals to orphans, and then come back to Pittsburgh and somehow not make the connection that there are hungry children living in poverty right in their own city. From a biblical standpoint, we can be sure that God does not appreciate us distancing ourselves from the poor in our midst. God's heart breaks when Christians store up money and food for themselves while others go without.

Bartolome de las Casas wrote, "Can you consider Christian those whose bread has not fed one single hungry person? whose drink has not satiated anyone's thirst? or whose table is not known by any poor person?... Christian are the ones who are merciful to all; who are moved by those who are injured; who do not allow the poor to be oppressed in their presence; those who help the needy; who frequently aid the indigent; those who suffer with those who suffer; who feel the other's pain as their own... Anyone, therefore, who wants to be a friend of the world, becomes the enemy of God (James 4:4)."

The thought that kids are going to bed hungry in Pittsburgh tonight should greatly disturb all Christians in the area. Distancing ourselves from the poor is not going to address the problem. Visiting a soup kitchen during the holidays is not going to address the problem. Giving food and money to kids charities is not going to address the problem. Christians need to go where the kids in need are and start building authentic relationships with them. Christians need to stop storing up money and food for themselves while others go without. When we give ourselves away to others, we fulfill our collective calling as the church to be the hands and feet of Christ in this world. And Julie and I have much, much more that we could do in this area. Around the world hundreds of millions of people lack access to enough food and water, and, yet, I have food and bottled water collecting dust in my house right now. Approximately 25,000 people die from hunger every day. I pray that as God's heart breaks, my heart would also break.