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By Ron Sider
Advertising puts forth the great lie of our age: money/wealth/possession can make one happy or loved.

Reality//
--1.2 billion survive on a dollar a day
--2.6 billion people survive on less than $2/day

Three realities: poverty abounds in our world, the Bible has hundreds of verses talking about how God cares for the poor, and as Christians grow richer we are giving less and less.
Infant mortality is 9x higher in the rest of the world than it is in the US.

Four Key Biblical Themes:
1. Gods care for the poor-Ex. 3:7 (God acts on Gods promise to Abraham but also because of oppression). God lifts up poor and needy persons. God pulls down wealthy persons (ex. Magnificat; James 5:1). It is wrong for people to gain wealth by oppression. It is also wrong for rich people to not share, be generous. God works against such people. If we claim to be Gods people and do not share Gods concern for the poor and oppressed, we are not Gods people. This does not mean God is biased. But God sides with oppressed people because we arent naturally inclined to do so.

2. Sin is personal and social-Evangelicals used to focus on personal sins. Mainliners used to talk about corporate/social sins. Neither group do this as much any more. Both types of sin equally disturb God. Laws can be unjust. Its so subtle that we can participate in social sins without much thought.

3. Key understanding of economic justice-Old Testament serves as the example. People work hard on their own land. Every 7 years they make sure that everyone has land to work hard on. Economic justice demands that everyone has access to the productive resources. In our society, education is a capital commodity.

4. Biblical responses to wealth-the material world, in the biblical sense, is good. Its not bad in any way in and of itself. We were made in Gods image as workers and co-creators. Creating wealth is a good thing. However, this must be done justly and in a way that respects Gods creation. We also must not over-emphasize material possessions.

Some poverty is created by 1) laziness, 2) worldviews (ex. Hindu caste system), 3) natural disasters, 4) people dont have the right tools (community development), 5) unjust systems (ex. women do 63% of the work, make 10% of the worlds income, and own 1% of the worlds wealth).

Rons view is that a market economy is superior to a state run, socialist economy provided that everyone has access to the market resources.

Suggested Solutions
A. We need to change ourselves. We need people to live among the poor.
B. We need to change our churches. Smaller, less elaborate buildings are essential if churches are going to offer any kind of a plausible witness in our consumer-driven culture.
C. We need to change structures. Get to the root problems rather than treating the symptoms.

Good news: progress has been made. In 1970, 35% of all people in the world were chronically malnourished. Now, its 17%. In 1980, only 20% of children in developing countries received basic immunizations. Now, 80% are immunized. But we can do better:
Example: Christians constitute 1/3 of the worlds population and possess 2/3s of the worlds wealth. If all Christians gave 1% of its wealth in loans to the poorest 1 billion people, it would take one year to raise their standard of living by 50%.

A Biblical Approach to Poverty and Affluence

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