“Poverty Hurts Your Soul” is the title of a new paper published by the Conference of European Churches. They say “In Christian understanding, poverty and social exclusion are understood as a failure to uphold basic human rights (cf. Amos 2:6f; 4:1). The alleviation of poverty was from the beginning an essential part of the proclamation of the Gospel “to preach good news to the poor …, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, …” (Luke 4:18). Over the centuries churches therefore engaged in combating poverty and social exclusion.”

It is easy for us living in the wealth of New Zealand to consider the damaging effects of the daily struggle with grinding poverty, and to agree with a shudder that yes, poverty must be harmful to their souls. It would be harmful to my soul if I had to live like that!

Unfortunately Jesus, with his extraordinary ability to turn what seems so obvious on its head and reveal a different logic, repeatedly points to the rich and says “Poverty hurts your soul”. My failure to do anything about the poverty of my neighbour damages my soul! That is a hard message for us to hear, and one that goes against all the logic of our culture that sees prosperity as a sign of blessing. Yes, it can be a blessing, but only so long as it is used to alleviate the poverty of others. Misused it is damaging to the soul.

The paper goes on to say “The [current economic] crisis has an important ethical dimension: Our societies are suffering from a lifestyle which is focusing on individual profit, consumption and greed rather than taking responsibility for the common good, the well-being and the future for all people and for the world we are living in”. They ask some hard questions: “to what extent are methods and structures of wealth creation responsible for poverty? To what extent is creation of wealth leading to violence and ecological destruction etc.?”

What then is the business of Christianity? Some might believe that this is a complex question, but on the contrary, the answer to that question is simple and provides a template by which all churches and Christian organizations can examine their use of finances and how they prioritize their activities. It could also be asserted that the true business of the church can motivate our society at all levels.

For the Christian, the Bible acts as a source of information when examining what business we are to hold as central. James, the brother of Jesus, wrote a definition of true religion in his letter to the early church. A large part of his definition was this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress.

Time and time again the biblical record demonstrates that God has a central place for the poor, needy, marginalized and oppressed and that serving these people is the very business of anyone who calls themselves Christian. In the writings of the Bible whenever this is neglected people are called to account.

The business of religion according to Christianity is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus himself and to reflect his demonstration of service and sacrifice to lift others up. He called us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbour as we would wish to be loved. He taught us to put others first and put ourselves last. He taught us to identify “the least of these” in our world and to serve them, to meet their needs.

We live in a world that desperately needs people of all nations to take up this challenge as the excesses of extreme poverty continue to ravage entire nations. For this reason the members of Micah Challenge have identified the pursuit of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a way to combat some of the key issues that push people down and cause needless suffering.

The business of religion according to the life of Jesus is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give water to the thirsty, welcome strangers, provide for the sick and care for those in prison. This is not a business that is exclusive to those who identify with any religion though, it is a business that can be pursued by all of humanity and we call on all people of every belief or non belief, and those of any political persuasion to be challenged to pursue this business to eradicate the extremes of poverty in our lifetime.

May the pursuit of justice and mercy through humility be the business we all pursue in 2010.

Written by Paul Thompson and Frank Ritchie