Questions

This past week felt a little bit like miles 16-20 in a marathon. Our team hit a few walls, as the original excitement and adrenaline of beginning BAyUP had faded, but the end still seemed too far off in sight. Throughout this past week, God has been raising up a lot of questions in me and among our team, through various tensions and struggles we’ve faced, about the fine line between necessities and privileges. Thanks be to God that He has enabled us to continue pushing through, and that He has been faithfully meeting us in the midst of all our unanswered questions.

Health care
Last week, most of our team got sick. Our 3-year old neighbor (Noah) upstairs managed to cough on Sarah while he was sick, and it spread to her and to the rest of the team. Praise God that none of us were seriously sick, but it definitely was a bit scary for me as a team leader. It was also pretty interesting to wrestle as a team with the issue of medicine, and whether or not we wanted to use our food money to buy medicine. Our neighbor had given us some Airborne that we had used up, and to replace it would cost at least $6-7, nearly half of one person’s budget for a week. On top of that, we needed some type of cold medicine, which would cost at least $4-5 as well.

Struggling to pay $10 for medicine at Walgreens made me realize just how costly health care can be, and how much I take it for granted. When we were charged $4.99 for an item that was actually $3.99, I actually fought for and persist in my argument, even when a whole line of people were waiting behind us and visibly irritated. I recall feeling a mixture of shame/embarrassment and stubbornness at the same time, and I realize that I've never before fought so hard just to save $1.08.

All this made me wonder: How often do the poor just continue to go sick because of their lack of money, health insurance, and access to treatment? How many people die unnecessary deaths or remain sick for too long, simply because they don’t have the resources that so many others take for granted?

A Dirty Mess
Another interesting thing that happened this past week was that our apartment experienced a total breakdown of our plumbing system. Somehow, our drains had gotten so clogged up that any time somebody in our entire apartment complex used the water, it would come back up from the drains and flood into our toilet and into the shower tub. For almost 24 hours, our shower was constantly being filled with brownish, yellow, clumpy water, complete with shredded toilet paper bits, and our toilet bowl would unpredictably bubble up with the same brownish/yellow water.

We were super lucky to have Matt Crocker (associate pastor of CWOW) upstairs take charge and get a plumber within a day to come and fix it. But the whole experience made me realize how hard it must be for the poor to deal with unexpected emergencies, like broken plumbing.

What would we have done without Matt to advocate for us? What would happened if we didn’t have a good apartment manager, who came and actually paid for the plumbers? What would we have done if we had no money and our landlord refused to fix it?

These are the realities that so many people in poverty face.

Cows of Bashan
Then, this past weekend, we had an Amos manuscript study with all of BAyUP. For those of you who haven’t read through Amos, I highly recommend it. Through Amos, it becomes very clear just how angry, serious, frustrated, and heartbroken God is when His people do not pursue right relationships- with Him and with each other. God is constantly judging and calling out the Israelites for the ways that they did not pursue justice for all people, and His wrath is severe.

While studying a section in which God condemns the “cows of Bashan,” we learned that college students across America possess $10.5 billion worth of electronic equipment. Despite claims that they are “poor,” college students spend about $36.6 billion a year, with over $6 billion being spent on entertainment alone. Christians are no exception to this mass culture of spending, consumerism, and materialism that keeps us from the true worship God longs for.

How often do we (sometimes directly, but most often indirectly) act as these cows of Bashan? How easy is it for us to put our own comfort, security, prosperity, and pleasure over the needs and the cries of others? How often do we come into the house of God, singing songs and praying prayers that God hates and abhors because we do them while continually exploiting and oppressing our neighbors? And who will stand up as prophets and nazirites in the midst of all our sin and complacency to teach His people what it means to love good, hate evil, and seek justice in the gate?

Last Words from Amos
"You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.

For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. You oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts. Therefore the prudent man keeps quiet in such times, for the times are evil.

Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph."

-Amos 5:11-15