When Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy food, he was responding to wise government policy. Unlike its neighbors, Egypt had stored its grain and other food items during years of plenty. When drought and famine became widespread, needy people like Jacob and his family turned to that nation to help them survive. None of those who journeyed from Canaan to Egypt recognized it was a God thing.
When King Cyrus gave permission for his servant Nehemiah to lead a group of refugees back to their homeland, Cyrus saw it as a wise political move. A trusted servant could help bring stability to a wild and troublesome area of Cyrus’ vast empire. The Persian king had no idea it was a God thing.
When the rich countries of the world forgave some of the debt of the world’s poorest countries at the beginning of this millennium, no one called it a God thing. The decision was politically expedient. Yes it was religious groups who championed the biblical concept of forgiving debt as part of the Jubilee Debt Relief Campaign, but politicians saw the proposal as a way to bring stability to a chaotic portion of the world.
Go to a bush village in Mozambique, and the action might be seen as something else. See a village with a two-room school where both boys and girls study free of charge. See a visiting doctor treating patients for common injuries rather than bullet wounds. See children with something to eat in their bowls rather than the bloated bellies of the starving.
Across Africa, the decision of the United States and other industrialized countries to forgive some of the national debt of nations in the direst situations who agreed to embark on programs of development has resulted in 29 million more children being in school today compared to 10 years ago. The death rate of children has dropped.
If you are a parent of one of these children, then you have no doubt. What happened was an answer to prayer. For you, it was a God thing even if some do not recognize it.
God working through government may seem far-fetched to some, but it is one of the ways God chooses to work. The Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) makes this point in its promotion of this year’s World Hunger Offering. On its Web site one reads, “While the Bible primarily speaks to individual Christians and churches about caring for the downtrodden, there is also a role for government to aid them.”
Psalm 72:4 says of the godly King Solomon, “May he vindicate the afflicted among the people, help the poor and crush the oppressor.” Daniel 4:27 ties together the command to “show mercy to the needy” as a way of King Nebuchadnezzar pleasing God. The Old Testament shows God promoting a system and rule of law that called for the community to help meet the needs of the poor. Romans 13 teaches government can be a gift from God for doing good.
The teachings of both the Old Testament and the New Testament apply to individuals as well as the corporate nature of society. Proverbs 21:13 cautions, “the one who shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will himself also call out and not be answered.” James 2:15–17 counsels, “If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,’ but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.”
When governments fail to act in accordance with God’s desire for good, it is because of sin just as it is when individuals fail. The ERLC declares, “Sin has affected governments and caused natural disasters, oppressive economic systems, internal greed and laziness, all of which play a role in the existence of poverty.”
It is the role of Christians who love God to keep His commandments individually (John 14:15) and to help create a society that keeps His commandments. It is as important to urge government to help the hungry as it is to urge elected officials to stand against moral evils like electronic bingo gambling.
In the United States, hunger is on the rise after decades of decline. First it was the steep rise in food and fuel costs. Then came the economic recession. The result has been to undo years of progress in combating hunger.
America’s Second Harvest estimates it serves more than 25 million people per year and the number is growing. That is almost as many Americans as are on food stamps (about 25.7 million).
More than 36 million Americans suffer from food insecurity, limited access to food because of a lack of money and other resources. That is 11.1 percent of American households. In rural areas, 17.5 percent of households with children are food insecure.
What is true in this country is compounded overseas. In the United States, the average family spends about 20 percent of its income on food. In developing countries, the average is 80 percent. Higher food prices and falling incomes have pushed about 75 million people back into hunger. Most of these are in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
The numbers are staggering. More than a billion people across the world live in hunger, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes. That is one child every five seconds. Poor nutrition and calorie deficiencies cause nearly one in three people to die prematurely or have disabilities, according to the World Health Organization.
Jesus cared about hungry people. He fed hungry people. Baptists care about hungry people, too. This month’s World Hunger Offering allows Baptists in Alabama and around the world to extend helping hands in emergency food distribution and establishing sustainable programs to fight hunger and poverty.
And by contacting local, state and national officials, we help government fulfill its role in doing good for the most vulnerable among us.
Pray for the hungry and then do something to help them. It is a God thing.
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