Defending the Defenseless
Did you know that every day in the world 115,000 children are aborted, 58,000 are abducted or run away, 40,000 are orphaned because of AIDS, 25,000 die of starvation and disease and another 3,000 are sold into sex slavery? I don’t know about you, but these figures made my stomach turn within me when I first heard them, and I soon realized that the queasiness inside me was actually a sense of profound disappointment not just in what has happened to the world that I live in but in myself for not noticing it.
Though I have always been moved deeply by stories of suffering, especially among children, I realized that I have not really comprehended and appreciated what is truly happening to kids around the world every day. Though I suspected that there were children who were suffering, I never realized that the problem could really be that serious. But, when we find out that 9 million children are dying every year before reaching their 5th birthday simply because they don’t have access to food and clean water, then we can begin to truly appreciate the fact that what we really have is not so much a social problem but a veritable epidemic of suffering.
And, the question I am left with in light of this is simply: Am I doing anything to help alleviate this suffering? In other words, what am I doing personally to actually help make the world a little bit safer for its most vulnerable inhabitants? If the most vulnerable do not have the means to speak for or fend for themselves, then the reality is that someone must do it for them. And that means that if I have a voice, then I must use it for those who cannot, and if I have the strength, then I must also summon it for those who do not.
Isaiah 1:17 says “Learn to do good; seek justice; correct oppression; bring justice to the orphans; plead the widow’s cause.” So, the prophet gave us a clarion call to both speak for and defend the least protected of our society. Likewise, James 1:27 says “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.” By “visit”, James meant to champion and care for the cause of the most vulnerable around us.
So, what exactly is that “cause”? The cause, as the prophet rightly said, is justice. The cause, therefore, that we must embrace is seeking justice for the oppressed. And, the way that we seek justice is by speaking and acting on their behalf. What this means is that we are to both call attention to their suffering and intercede to alleviate their suffering.
But, why should this cause be so important to us? The answer is simply because it was important to Jesus. And, if something is important to Jesus, then it should certainly be important to us. One only has to read one chapter of Scripture to gain an appreciation for how strongly Jesus feels about the health and welfare of children. And, that chapter is the 18th chapter of the gospel according to Matthew.
In Matthew 18:3-6 Jesus says: “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
Jesus clearly told us that whoever “causes” a child to sin should suffer for his offense. And, by his words, it is obvious that Jesus is gravely serious about sinning against kids. He actually adds a jolting statement to shock the listener into appreciating the depths of his frustration over the suffering of little children. So, it is clear from Jesus’ words that it is a sin to harm a child, but would it also be a sin not to help a child? In other words, could not helping a child who is in distress be equally sinful as harming one?
The application for us would be that if we see that a child is suffering and we fail to do anything about it, then would we not be in effect contributing to the sin that is occurring? It’s interesting that when we talk about the abuse of children, we also usually talk about neglect. Whereas abuse is actively harming children by inflicting pain on them, neglect is passively harming children by failing to care for them. And, if we consider neglect to be just as wrong as abuse, then would we not be guilty of neglecting children if we fail to intercede to alleviate their suffering?
James 4:17 tells us that “whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” So, what we’re left with is the simple truth that failing to act is neglect, and neglect is sin. Therefore, it becomes not so much a matter of if I am going to help care for suffering children but how I am going to help them.
The way I see it, there are a few obvious ways that we can invest ourselves into helping to make the world a safer place for children. First, we can invest our voices. That is, we can speak out wherever and whenever we are able. Second, we can invest our time by volunteering to serve in any number of established ministries. Third, we can invest our resources by financially supporting children and the organizations that care for them. And fourth, we can invest our lives by opening our own homes to take in abused or neglected children through foster care or adoption.
The truth is that there are a host of ways that we can get involved in this issue and do the right thing for hurting children. And, choosing not to notice or care is not one of them. I truly believe that this issue matters deeply to God and that we absolutely should make it our business as followers of Jesus to understand what exactly is happening to children and then do something meaningful about it.
Here are some relevant organizations and ministries that you can support and/or get involved in:
www.azhope.com
www.casaforchildren.org
www.cfcare.org
www.childhelp.org
www.compassion.com
www.fh.org
www.helpingmothersandbabies.org
www.ijm.org
www.joy.org
www.littlemiracles.org
www.medsandfoodforkids.org
www.mentorkidsusa.org
www.missingkids.com
www.rememberpoor.org
www.streetlightphx.com
www.visionabolition.org
www.withchildphx.org
www.younglife.org/younglives
Hey Kent,
great post. Not sure if your looking for local efforts or not but one that Adrienne and I are involved with locally is Branded Phx. They are under Food For The Hungry and they raise awareness and battle the child sex trade here in Phoenix. Good people who are always looking for more partners.
grace and peace,
matt gibson
Thanks, Matt. Yes, I’ve added that link to my list. Being that it’s localized ministry, we’ll look closely at that one.
Dear Kent,
I wish I had your gift for revealing truth to people in a way that inspires them to act!
I can not imagine how it must break God’s heart to see so much prosperity on the one hand and so much abject poverty on the other. How can we complain about the price of gas and how we’ve only had just the one cup of coffee today when children have no water to drink or food to eat. It’s revolting. When we returned to the states after our trip to the ranch, I was really disgusted with the way I had selfishly surrounded myself with creature comforts when so many children in Honduras are sleeping on the streets and begging for food every day. I am so glad we are going there now to take action.
If you are looking for a good place where donations of time or money can make a tangible difference in the lives of children living on the street, please contact us. See what we are about at http://www.wgoreach.org/html/rancho_ebenezer.php. We might not be able to help all of the children living on the streets, but with the help of families willing to sponsor us each month, we can rescue six! And maybe more if other families are willing to come join us.
So thanks again for making more people aware of what is truly grieving God’s heart.
In His hands,
Wendy Welton
Kent, Thank you so much for your post and for your sermon last night. We agree with your stance that God calls us and commands us to do something to support the orphans in this world. Lost Child Ministries just met with local CPS and is partnering with them for a holiday sock, underwear, and pj drive that we hope to open to the church this coming week. We also would love to open a discussion time in the coming weeks to follow up with the church body who may be interested in learning more about foster care and adoption. CPS is also looking for weekly and monthly volunteers.
Also, Jason and I visited Ethiopia (myself, twice) and their is a great Christian organization called Hope for the HOpeless (HopeForEthiopia.wordpress.com) whos pastor is in downtown Phoenix (Surafel) though the orphanages are in Ethiopia. The children are taken off the streets of Addis Ababa. We connected Surafel with Miles and at the time, the Lord did not make a connection for the kids at Hope for the Hopeless but perhaps the tides have turned? We would be able to do child sponsorship and run it through Lost Child Ministries. At the time, the church was hoping to get the profiles from the orphans in India instead but it didn’t work out… Let’s chat and see how Lost Child can fall into the vision of the elder board on this stuff.
So great to see God working in our church and in the lives of those that need a voice and an advocate. PRAISE GOD in all His glory!!!
Great post, brother!! I wasn’t in town when you preached this topic, but I have heard many positive stirrings within the body. The deception is when we tell ourselves that someone else will do it; someone else will be the hands and feet of a God who cares for the widows and orphans and starving and those dying of thirst…and we are willing to risk those lives on the wager that someone else will come along and take action where we have not (i.e. James 2:15-16, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, ?and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good? is that?”). In my heart I know how devastating the phrase “someone else will do it” has been in our world…the lives it has cost (and let’s be real…the lives that have been lost by our church and ME saying it)
It is easy to say that “it’s not clear what God is asking of us” or “God is not particularly calling me to that”, and yet Micah 6:8 says, “He has told you, O man, what is GOOD; and ?what does the Lord REQUIRE of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to ?walk humbly with your God?”. I can think of nothing less just, more antithetical to kindness, or more void of humility than to know of these statistics and atrocities and yet do nothing.
I’m excited about this, brother…we need to be a “hands and feet and voice” church!!