Since I try to be a good husband, I watch American Idol with Debbie. It's not my favorite show. Sometimes it is hard to watch, especially the ridiculous song and dance routines the contestants do together and the way-too-long results shows. Although, perhaps I am biased but I did like it when the contestants sang "Shout to the Lord." A couple of weeks ago, I have to admit, Idol Gives Back was inspiring.
There are so many people with so many needs, and I love that we live in a world in which we can actually do something about it. Giving money is a tiny part of bringing help, but it can make a huge difference. It is like giving someone a boost onto the bottom rung of the ladder so they can keep climbing up.
Have you noticed how the attitude in our culture seems to be shifting? It used to be that certain churches, missionaries, and certain non-profits cared about the plight of the poor. Now even pop culture does! Sometimes the church has been slow, but other times there are followers of Christ who have paved the way.
We would be amazed with the amount of progress we can make if we began to serve those we deem untouchable. Just as slavery and colonialism have ended we can be a part of ending poverty.
In The End of Poverty, Jeffrey D. Sachs writes, “Our generation is heir to two and a half centuries of economic progress. We can realistically envision a world without extreme poverty by the year 2025 because technological progress enables us to meet basic human needs on a global scale and to achieve a margin above basic needs unprecedented in history…Let the future say of our generation that we sent forth mighty currents of hope, and that we worked together to heal the world.”
Eric Michael Bryant serves as an elder, speaker, and navigator overseeing the leadership team at Mosaic in Los Angeles. His book, Peppermint-Filled Piñatas: Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love, published with Zondervan in June 2007, seeks to move people to serve, love, and reach those who are too often overlooked because they might believe, act, or even look differently. Eric lives with his wife, Debbie, and two children, Caleb and Trevi in the middle of Los Angeles County.
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