dissapointment

I just finished a 4-part sermon series on the poor, equality and justice.  I went to a local Christian book store to look for books on the poor and justice.  To my surprise books on justice and the poor were very difficult to find!  In fact the first trip through I found only one!  Why is it that books on this topic are so sparse?  Isn’t ours a God of justice?  Isn’t ours a God who is deeply concerned for the well-being of the poor?  Doesn’t our God say this:

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
       and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
       then your light will rise in the darkness,
       and your night will become like the noonday.  Isaiah 58:10

And this…

Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.  Deuteronomy 16:20

I was very dissapointed in what I saw…or actually what I didn’t see.  Western Christians largely neglect this topic.  However, it is close to impossible to be followers of Jesus, kingdom people, and to neglect justice and the poor.  Or maybe the problem is not the scarcity of books on these topics - a quick search on Amazon revealed quite a few books on this topic.  Maybe there’s just not a big demand for these kinds of books.  Maybe that’s why they don’t end up in the christian book stores.  I don’t know who or what is responsible for the books on the shelves there…but regardless, I’m dissapointed not to see more of them.

~ by ryanmcbride on June 11, 2007.