Life is not fair!
The gap between the rich and the poor in the world is widening. It’s not that the poor are becoming poorer but that the assets of the wealthy are growing at an unprecedented rate, while the poorest in society continue suffering in economic hardship. The gulf between those who have a lot and those who have little or nothing seems to be wider than ever.
According
to a recent report from Oxfam, a mere 85 of the worlds wealthiest people own
more that the poorest 3.5 billion people in the world. Shocking!, and yet
this disparity between the rich few and poor masses has existed throughout
history. Wealth has never been distributed equally; but neither have
opportunity and the ability to gain wealth been equally apportioned to every
person on the planet. The world has never been a level playing field.During recent weeks a great deal of attention has focused on the implications of economic inequality. As more than 3000 of the worlds wealthiest and most powerful people met in Davos, Switzerland during the World Economic Forum there was a great deal of talk about social and political implications of economic disparity. In a message sent to the opening of the Forum, Pope Francis called on leaders to address the fact that economic success has often led to widespread social exclusion in which too many people suffer the consequences of daily insecurity. “I ask you to ensure that humanity is served by wealth and not ruled by it,” he challenged the gathering.
Ironically, as the wealthy met in luxury to discuss issues of inequality, the poorest in the world had no place at the table. I remember standing on the balcony of the exclusive “Club Nacional” in Lima, Peru after a long day of prison visits and meetings. That evening it felt good to be above it all as Chuck Colson and I were hosted by a group of wealthy businessmen who were interested in our prison work. “What can be done to solve the crime problem?” they asked us. “How can we stop the unrest and violence in our country?” Of course there were no simple answers and I am sure they knew that. As in any society, crime and violence could not be isolated from bigger issues like social inequity and political injustice.
We had just finished a sumptuous meal accompanied by the finest wines. It’s actually difficult to meaningfully discuss poverty and justice when one is fully satiated and ensconced in comfort. I had walked from our table to a balcony overlooking Plaza San Martin. The street below was teeming with people who would never be allowed inside this bastion of power and privilege – humble street vendors who were hawking vegetables, blankets, and souvenirs; poor peasant women with infants strapped to their backs begging for money; scruffy shoe shine boys jostling for position; masses of people. Across the plaza near the arcade unemployed miners were demonstrating, boisterously demanding government action. Armed, helmeted militia and menacing water cannon on an army tank kept pushing the unruly demonstrators back. There was so much happening, so much human misery beneath us in the streets.
My heart went out to the people below as I watched them. They were prisoners in their own right – prisoners of poverty and politics, of hopelessness and helplessness, and the daily grind of survival from which there was no way out. As I turned back from the balcony I was sure that if Jesus came into the city he would be found among those poor people on Plaza San Martin. Then I looked at faces of the men around our table and realized with a start that they were also prisoners. They were imprisoned by wealth and status, they had so much to preserve and to protect, they were imprisoned by a growing fear that the Shining Path revolution might succeed. In the end they were also hopeless and helpless, not knowing what to do or where to turn for help.
“These are the prisoners of the Club Nacional,” I thought as my heart went out to them. I realized that if Jesus was in Lima he would also be found with these men who are not suffering from poverty but from wealth. Jesus may have had a lot to say about wealth and poverty, and he did say it would be more difficult for a rich person to get into the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle. Yet he did not say that it would be easy for the poor to enter, for neither wealth nor poverty provides entitlement to God’s Kingdom.
If Jesus had been sitting among us at the table I am sure he would have challenged the men to trust in God for their security and satisfaction, not in their assets or the power of government, or international intervention, or even a passport to America. And if Jesus had been walking through the plaza I am sure he would have called the people to turn to God for their salvation, not to the Marxist revolution or to the lottery or stealing from the rich. The hope and help for rich and poor alike is in the love and grace of God; love and grace that compel us all to put our trust in Him and to live in humble gratitude and generosity – sharing the blessings of our lives with one another and especially with those who are not blessed in the same way as ourselves. In so doing we become God’s instruments of hope and liberation.
And this lifestyle of generosity, I was soon to learn, is not just a one way street leading from the wealthy to the poor – but that is a story for next week – my visit to the squatter settlement called “Ciudad a Dios,” the City of God, where the streets are not paved with gold.