An open letter to my friends

I'm really bothered by something and I really hope my friends will take a moment to read this, especially if you are one of my friends that call yourself as a follower of Christ as I do. If you are not a Christian then this doesn't really apply to you.

I consider myself to be a "radical" Christian. That is to say, I have spent the last couple of years of my life looking deep within both myself and the Word and have come to the conclusion that Jesus meant every single word He spoke. He spent his life as a living example of how we (and his followers) are to live our lives and treat our fellow man. So when He tells us the IMPORTANT things in life are to clothe the poor, feed the hungry, visit the sick and incarcerated and take care of the widows and orphans (which today would be described as the single mom), I truly believe He meant it.

What intrigues me, though, is how so many people that call themselves Christians have allowed themselves to get wrapped up in the politics of this world and have willingly chosen sides with the world, the elite...those that have chosen to receive their reward in THIS life...and have done so under the mantle of Christ and His church.

I have friends that have been on welfare, food stamps, unemployment and medicaid in the past and to this day campaign for politicians and policies that would do away with services like this that are meant to help the poorest among us. Indeed, I have some friends that are on some of these programs RIGHT NOW and use the other side of their mouth to call the President a nigger.

Brothers and sisters, this is NOT our world. We are here but for a brief time, just as Jesus was during his tenure as one of us. He showed us that things like money and possessions in this world are not important, and spent a good deal of his time telling us why the pursuit of such things is wrong.

So when I see a brother or sister bashing Wal-Mart workersfor standing up for themselves and demanding things like predictable work schedules, full time jobs and affordable health benefits and at the VERY SAME TIME complain about the government's attempt to provide health care to the working poor (which describes most Wal-Mart associates) I get angry. I'm angry because we as a society have FORCED people into a certain class and then bitched when they cry out in desperation. Our "culture of capital" requires such a class to exist so we can buy more "things" at low prices and fill more storage units and attics and garages with crap we will forget about in a month.

So if we agree that CAPITAL requires a pyramid like this how can we, as Christians, have ANY PART in opposing what should be basic human rights for those at the bottom? How does that square with the words of Jesus Christ? What do you suppose He thinks when such a large part of His church stand squarely behind a man running for president who has spent his entire, privileged life stepping on the heads of those at the bottom?

Where is your treasure?

My family and I have been blessed beyond measure. I have a great job with an excellent health insurance plan that my employer pays for 100%. But I remember what it’s like to be on the bottom of the pyramid, and I remember how I was treated while I was there. I also know that this universe is billions of years old and will go on for many more billions of years. It is because of this that our lives in this world really are so insignificant that the world will forget about us nearly the instant we are gone. It’s the “eternal” part I’m concerned with, which is why I’m neither republican nor democrat. With that, I would simply urge my friends to consider what the echo of their voice will sound like in eternity. Will you be remembered by Him for trying your best to help the rich get richer, or will you be the laborer who sacrificed himself to this world so you could better serve Him?

Jesus was a radical, an outcast and poor, all things that today's western evangelical church preaches against. Some people might call that a "clue".