Why People Can’t Take Christians Seriously: Of Pinterest and Poverty
I am a Christian, but I hesitate to call myself a Christian. It has nothing to do with Christ – without hesitation will I say that I am a Christ follower. It’s just unfortunate that following Christ and His teachings often bears little resemblance to religion that’s grown out of the faith.
I don’t wish to perpetuate this callout culture, but I do think that people should be held accountable for their words because words, despite the old sticks and stones rhyme, are dangerous. This, for me, goes doubly for Christians, since I hold them to a higher standard. If you’re going to label yourself a Christian to tell the world you’re following the same Christ I am, then I’m going to hold you to the highest standard there is for us, and that’s, well, Christ.
And so I debut a new series of ongoing posts examining Christians in the public view. My goal really isn’t to tear down, but maybe to get Christians to reexamine the content they put into the world. A small disclaimer: using the title “Why People Can’t Tale Christians Seriously” (or WPCTCS) isn’t meant to present me, my faith, or my religion as a martyr. It isn’t meant to speak for my entire religion. It’s just thoughts that I have, and an attempt, pitiful as it might be, to put some change in the world.
I have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest. Like most users, I find lots of cool stuff and pin it, and then do maybe a project a year, and that project usually ends badly (hence the upcoming Liss vs Pinterest series). But also, Pinterest labors under the constant delusion that I’m getting married, I own several puppies, and have a marked interest in the Once Upon A Time. (For the record I’m chronically single, deathly afraid of dogs, and dislike OUAT.) But sometimes it pops random articles in just for the hell of it, like today.
As I scrolled through a bunch of awe inducing elephant photos, an article scrolled across: How One Woman Fights Poverty. Poverty is a nebulous, devastatingly huge problem worldwide. I am one woman, and I’m always looking for ways to make this world a better place for everyone, so I figure, hey, right up my alley! How disappointing it was to dive in and discover I’d been religiously click-baited. Instead of discussing how a single person can make an impact on poverty, the author waxed philosophical for a hot second about a female bush pilot in Africa that visited a dying man in his hut before moving forward with the assertion that if the man, having lived in a poor African village for his whole life, had had a woman to sweep the floor of his hut and feed him, he would not have, in fact, suffered from poverty.
She continued with a story about nursing her husband through a bout of the flu, and how folding his underwear gave her a revelation, that she can fight poverty by doing little acts and labors of love and kindness for her family. I am assuming she means spiritual poverty even though she never phrases it thusly, simply because she and her family live in a house that isn’t falling down, she has a variety of foods she can feed her ailing hubby, and she has a washing machine to do her laundry. This isn’t a review of the article. I’m not even going to link to it, because I’m not trying to make that author, or the ministry she works for, look foolish. Rather, I’m trying to appeal to Christians everywhere to think before they speak—or blog. Emotional and spiritual health are important aspects of health, and often unlooked. But comparing real, can’t-eat-because-there-is-literally-no-food poverty and emotional, life-takes-a-toll-and-everything-can-suck dearth is like putting the Mona Lisa up to a painting I did in the one painting class I took in college and pretending like it’s the same thing.
It’s also insulting to insinuate that the biggest contribution women can make to holding a household together is heating soup on cold days and making toilets sparkle, but that’s a discussion for a different time.
Teddy Roosevelt once observed that “Complaining about a problem without posing a solution is called whining.” In the interest of not whining, here are some places you can start to fight poverty. Not that this a perfect or even a complete list, but it could be a diving board for you.
- Find a local foodbank. There’s a foodbank in my immediate community that I regularly donate food and clothing to. They’re nonprofit and make a real difference in my community. Fighting poverty is a worldwide issue, yes, but sometimes contributing locally allows you to see the impact.
- Oxfam International has a 3 (of 4) star rating on Charity Navigator.
- CARE also has a 3 star rating on Charity Navigator.
No matter what you do, just do it. 2016 could be the year you make a world of a difference.