Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27 ESV)
There are orphans and widows in this cinderella-land we call home, Katy. Many of them are in need of our support. However, widows and orphans were seen a little differently during the time of James’ writing. It was such a patriarchal culture in which generations of families would plan their lives around the location and vocation of the male father/grandfather. Widows and orphans were complete outcasts within the culture and often times left without a way to provide for themselves and those under their care. They were people who were suffering without support.
We live in a culture where we are masters of projecting the picture of a perfect family and life. The needs and struggles within our culture are not as obvious as they would have been for those in James’ day. The suburban facade we project makes our homes appear to be successful and perfectly put together. However, we know there are people struggling with substance addiction, crumbling marriages, difficult and wayward children, homes cracking under the weight of extreme debt, and all sorts of inappropriate sexual affairs and addictions.
I want to hear from you (yes YOU!). Regardless of how long you have lived in the Katy or West Houston community, I’d like to hear from you. Even if you don’t live within this community but live in one or have lived in one that resembles the suburban realities I have described, I’d like to hear from you too.
In a culture where we go to extreme lengths to hide our problems/struggles, who are the oppressed and suffering who are living life around us everyday?
Matt Powell serves as teaching pastor at Crossings Community Church, a body of believers whose mission is to engage, equip, and empower homes for gospel transformation in Katy, TX.
I think the children in broken homes or in families where parents shuffle them off to activities to get them out of their hair are some of the most oppressed and suffering that I know. These are all affluent families for the most part, but the level of functional neglect these children are facing in these families will be highly damaging in the long-term.
Very good observation, Joel. Still orphans in regards to the active relational participation of their parents in their lives…. challenging.
I have experienced opportunities to meet the needs of “orphans and widows” from broken homes even in our neighborhood. It’s amazing how there seems to be nothing I can give them to help take the pain away: meals, money, help, etc. The only real solution is Jesus. May we be bold to share the truth that is Jesus Christ.
Yes… Emily you’re making a profound point here in that we don’t have to look ‘under the bridge’ to find widows and orphans. I pray God opens our eyes to see them and love them as you have described.
A few additional thoughts on who this is as I asked myself, “who is distress/afflicted around here?”…
1) Literally, adoptive and foster families. Everyone’s story is different, but there is very often distress and affliction in their histories – kids as well as parents. We have an opportunity to care for them – whether that means pursuing adoption/foster care ourselves, becoming respite care providers so that foster parents can have a night out, ministering to unwed mothers, mentoring kids in after-school programs, praying for couples walking through infertility – there is a huge spectrum here.
2) As far as oppressed and suffering, again literally speaking, the Houston area is home to a staggering number of human trafficking victims. That massage place that you pass every day and is strangely still open past midnight? That seedy looking spa you see behind strip clubs (and even the clubs themselves)? The unmarked storefront next to adult stores? The women who work there – whether by force or by choice – and the men who go are all hurting in some way and deeply in need of the Savior. There are such places in Katy, and if you listen, you’ll find that you probably have neighbors and co-workers who visit them.
Good word Shayna
Yes, yes, and yes! Shayna, your words are so right and as I read them it is so heart-wrenching to affirm we are surrounded by these realities.
I’d like to add an answer to my own question.
Hopefully that is okay….
I see the hidden oppression of substance abuse in our culture as one which is bred by the social pressures of being a ‘good’ Katy family.
The social pressures of keeping up with the proverbial Jones’ creates unreachable expectations. These unreachable expectations push many to either find solace/comfort through various substances such as drugs and alcohol or look for the added boost to go faster, work more, or stay up later to get the laundry done and the kids prepared for another day.
The paradox is that the social pressures of keeping up push people to these substances and those same pressures prevent people from asking for help.
Do I dare enter the very delicate waters of “people who are here illegally?” I can’t help but think that these are some of the people who are “looked down upon” most in our society. We (Christians included) tend to have reasons why we think they don’t “deserve” our support (ex: they broke the law in coming over here; they can be a “drain” on the economy (though that is certainly debatable), etc). Regardless, these people are here now: they are often hurting more than any “classification” of people and yet we often completely overlook them as needing our support. I can’t help but think that the Pharisees may have used similar “excuses” in not reaching out to the widows/orphans of their day.
WHAT???? I hear the evangelical police sirens coming……….
Seriously, I think you are exactly right. By God’s sovereignty He has them here now around us and we are to faithfully steward the gospel to those around us – regardless of how or why they are here. It is such a sad reality that our political convictions could possibly seem more compelling than someone’s need to hear about the redeeming story of Jesus Christ.
This is a tricky one. As long as we aren’t helping them break laws, I’d say we should definitely be reaching out in appropriate ways. The fact that people have broken the law matters, and until those laws change, we should not enable others to break them in the name of compassion. For the most part, very few of us actually know, when we offer assistance, if the people we are helping are law breakers, so it’s probably a moot point. However, if, for example, we were knowingly hiring people that were here illegally out of a sense of compassion, and thus breaking the law ourselves, I think there is a problem with that. Everyone needs the gospel and we should seek to reach as many as we can, but we should never thwart the laws of the land to do so unless those laws are CLEARLY inconsistent with scripture. Matt can cover this off in great detail when he gets to Romans 13:1-7.
I knew I’d get some feedback on that one.
I have many thoughts, none of which are well formulated, so give me some grace … I think, first and foremost, we should start with certain baselines with respect to this issue: first, that the gospel is littered with calls for us to serve others, place their needs ahead of our own, be servants and (as Matt pointed out) care for the “widows and orphans.” We can’t get away from that call on our lives and I certainly don’t think that call is limited in its application–i.e., it’s not simply limited to people who are in our country legally (please note that I’m not saying you made that argument). My guess (and it’s truly a guess) is that James’ call to “care for widows and orphans” may have included a call to actually go against certain laws of the day (or, at the very least, some fairly ingrained societal norms that dominated the day). Regardless, I don’t think its difficult to realize that illegal immigrants (and their families–many children of which are here legally) clearly “live in the shadows” in our culture. They are, for the most part, trying extremely hard to simply survive and provide for their families in a land that is very hostile to them–not unlike the widows and orphans of James’ day. So, given that backdrop, I think we are compelled to help them; in fact, commanded to help them. If we know of a family that is struggling (in many instances far worse than anyone in our churces) and the parents are illegal, can we give them money to survive? Provide them shelter? Give them a fraction of the hoards of clothes and toys that sit aimlessly in our closets? My argument would be “yes we can” and “yes we should.” (Please note again that I’m not suggesting that you would say “no” to those questions, but I think many believers would)….Quick story to cap off this long reply: on the first day that trash picked up after Christmas, I (like many of us) took out tons of stuff to the corner that we were no longer going to use (ex: wrapping paper that was “out of style”; a tree whose lights didn’t work perfectly, etc.). A Hispanic guy in a truck pulls up and asks if he can have this stuff. Of course, I said yes. My educated guess is that he was here illegally. Of course, I didn’t ask him, but my actions wouldn’t have changed if I had and he had said “yes.” I tell that story for two reasons: one because it had a profound impact on me (it makes you realize how blessed you are when literally you’re junk is another man’s treasure). But two: it brought home that there really are people in need out here in our community and we are simply not doing a good enough job of locating them and reaching out to them.
Yes, rightly stated that it is tricky. I just think we have to tread carefully and proceed evaluating all of our actions. I don’t know that we can hold to blanket always/never restrictions in our efforts to faithfully extend the gospel.
Blurring our devotion to a specific law of the land is a constant within missiological discussions. We send missionaries to communicate an illegal gospel in places where their conversion to Christ would be illegal.
I think both of you are defining that delicacy of discernment well. We need to be aware and respectful of the law of the land. At the same time, we need to be (appropriately) relentless in our efforts to clearly communicate the love of Jesus indiscriminately.
Great discussion guys! Love seeing this on the blog….
Well said. I definitely think we should lean towards compassion. This one requires a delicate balance.
So after that discussion, what are we called to do? I know that we can’t give a formulaic answer, but how do we make this practical? We don’t want to throw the law of the government down yet we desire to show love and compassion to those who are distressed.
So what can we (individually and as a church) do to reach out and care for the illegal immigrants to our nation? What about the other groups of people mentioned above, who are here legally and still hurting?
I don’t have an answer, but maybe someone does?
Good questions, Serge. I think you answered them to some extent affirming there isn’t going to be a one-size-fits-all approach. So we proceed carefully evaluating each opportunity within its own context.
I can tell you that my approach is to extend gospel-centered compassion through assisting in physical needs (as Mark described), emotional needs (through relationship/conversation/care), and spiritual needs (sharing the gospel indiscriminately).
I also think this is a bit more of a philosophical quandary for most of us than it is a spiritual dilemma. The reality is we aren’t going to check IDs before ‘we visit someone in their affliction’ (as James says). If you own a business or regularly drive from Mex to the US then the story changes – check the IDs of those you employ or pick-up in Mex.
To be completely transparent, I am pretty ignorant about the specific laws and political debates on this issue. Yet my study of the scripture leads me to believe, again, there must be some variance based on specific situations. We all know that Paul did things for the gospel, against the governing authorities, which placed him in a jail cell (and produced some really good letters).
So, what are we called to do? Easy. (1) make disciples of all peoples and (2) be subject to the governing authorities (Mt 28, Rm 13). See… easy.