Great essay by Russell Moore this morning: Is the Orphan My Neighbor? . He suggests (and I think he is correct) that many Christians are afraid of orphans and because of that avoid them entirely.
The reason I think about this conversation so much these days is because I am finding—more and more often—that one of the primary obstacles for Christians in advocating for the fatherless can be summed up right there in that measuring tape: the issue of fear. As much as we might not want to admit it, many of us don’t think much about orphans because, frankly, we’re scared of them.
Orphans are unpredictable. Often we don’t know where they’ve come from, what kind of genetic maladies and urges lie dormant somewhere in those genes. Moreover, in virtually ever situation of fatherless, there is some kind of tragedy: a divorce, a suicide, a rape, a drug overdose, a disease, a drought, a civil war, and on and on. We’d rather not think about such things, and we’re afraid often of what kind of lasting mark they leave on their victims.
As Dr. Moore also points out, pretending orphans don't exist is not an option for followers of Christ:
The followers of Jesus should fill in the gap left by a contemporary Western consumer culture that extends even to the conception and adoption of children. Who better than those who have been welcomed by Christ to care for the most feared and least sought after of the world’s orphans? After all, who are we, as those who are the invited to Jesus’ wedding feast? We are “the poor and the crippled and the blind and the lame” (Lk. 14:21). Since that is the case, Jesus tells us, we are to model the same kind of risk-taking, unconditional love (Lk. 14:12), the kind that casts out fear.
Yes, orphan care can be risky. Justice for the fatherless will sap far more from us than just the time it takes to advocate. These kids need to be reared, to be taught, to be hugged, to be heard. Children who have been traumatized often need more than we ever expect to give. It is easier to ignore those cries. But love of any kind is risky.
Amen to that. I am more and more heavily burdened by the plight of orphans in light of the very easy life I and my family live. Jesus is calling us to die to ourselves and live for others, I certainly am not doing a very good job of that.
5 comments:
Further on a local scale, I think we've satiated ourselves by making it a government problem and then feel like we're playing the role of the "good Christian" when we rail against the deficiencies of CPS, or whatever acronym your local Child Protection Services takes on.
Jason, excellent point. We have effectively abdicated the care of orphans to the government and then complain about it when an inherently inefficient system is...inefficient. Great insight, I am going to use that in another post I am working on (full credit will be extended of course)
Yes, good points about our problems with CPS. And the result? Of course, the longer a child is "in the system" the exponentially less chance he/she has of being adopted, because the problems only grow larger over time.
There's one adoption advocate ministry I read once that claimed that if every church in America provided for just one adoption (please don't misunderstand here, if every CHURCH, not every FAMILY) for one of its families, every adoptable child in America would be adopted with a waiting list left over. I'm not sure of the actual numbers, but the scope of the claim is pretty close. And it's sad.
Arthur,
You should go take a look at one of the sites on my blogroll, Transformed from Glory to Glory. Here's the link:
http://fromglory2glory.blogspot.com
These folks are missionaries in Uganda, and they have adopted many native children. Her stories inspire me!
Bethany
Jesus gave us an axiom of where our heart will be. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Believers whose faith is dominated by institutionalized habits are bound by their system to devote 75 - 85% of their giving to buy buildings and hired staff. These two items primarily benefit the givers themselves. This is all considered normal and essential for church life. This is pooling not giving.
With this systematized approach to believers giving, how can their hearts be directed more than 25% to those beyond themselves? It's just not possible. The pooling must be converted to giving must before the heart can be released. There is a great way to do church where 100% of giving goes beyond the givers. What a release of heart and faith that would bring huge results to orphans, widows, and those who have never heart of Christ around the world.
One of the families in our fellowship has adopted 8 hispanic children (five from one sibling group last month) out of the foster care system in CA. Since our gathering is 100% intergenerational, we all are able to bless and be blessed by these children. We all play a part in their spiritual adoption.
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