Who are the "one percent"? About two years ago, the senior Pastor of the congregation I belonged to preached an unforgettable sermon. His sermon came during the time that the national budget was the center of political debate, and there was strong opposition to Wall Street and to greed and corruption in politics. The terms "one percent," "99 percent," and the 47 percent" were being tossed around passionately. One political party was calling for substantial cuts to three federal programs that many in the US use to survive. This Pastor, early in his sermon, declared, "As a Pastor of this denomination committed to focusing on preaching God's Word and staying out of political debate, I know you feel strongly about matters of current debate, particularly entitlements. I feel strongly about these matters though I will not speak to them. But I will speak to one thing. are hearing about the 99 percent, the one percent, and the 47 percent. In light of this world we live in, let me share one fact with each of you sitting in this room. Each of you are the one percent!"
How Are We the One Percent?
That sermon was offensive. I felt rather offended, and I'm sure some others in the auditorium also took some offense. The offense comes from our conception of who the "one percent" are, and what our culture tells us they are. That tough sermon we heard came at a time when many in the US were protesting corporate greed and corruption woven in politics. And many of us are struggling financially and are not "living the high life. I don't remember the Pastor mentioning this in his sermons, as he preached with what I thought was unusual passion. I felt rather offended because of my fixed income, because I cannot go out and buy things when I wish, and because I forgo things that many others around me enjoy. But the Pastor's thrust was valid. He was place all of us in the parish, including me, on a scale where we had to measure ourselves with the world. And on that scale, each of us, including me, had to admit that we are among the world's wealthy. This is also true of those who live in Western Europe, or in most areas of the developed world. It may be to a lesser degree than the US wealth distribution. We are blessed to live in a country where we have great wealth, even if we ourselves may have limited access to it. By default, we have and enjoy many things that so many in the Third World would consider luxuries. Many times they have never even heard of these things. My Pastor did a stellar job of driving the point home. On a world scale, we in the US are the "one percent."
Where Does This Uncomfortable Fact Leave Me?
I'm not trying to put a guilt trip on anyone. We are all in the same boat. Facing an inconvenient truth. Many of you may be facing unemployment, foreclosure, or lacking health insurance. These things are great hardship. But, in Third World countries, everyone, except the wealthy, corrupt authorities, suffers lack of access to even the potential to access clean drinking water, decent food, and they usually live in very substandard housing. As bad as economics may be in the US or other parts of the developed world, there is always the potential for our economy to bounce back and for for us to find jobs, housing, or health insurance. Or the potential is there. If it were not for caring, dedicated relief workers, people in the Third World would have no access to the basics needed to just survive. Believe me, this inconvenient truth is unsettling for me, too. I may live in a modest house in "the wrong neighborhood." But in Africa, people live often live in tiny mud huts. I may not own a smartphone. But in Africa, telecommunications are unknown. I may long for a laptop computer with more advanced features and was not secondhand. But in Africa, computers are an unheard-of luxury. I may not have the freedom to buy what I want when I want to. But in Africa, people live on pennies a day. So when I measure myself with citizens in Africa, I'm among the one percent.
What Can We Do About the 99 Percent?
My Pastor was not preaching that hard-hitting sermon in context of child sponsorship. He was not issuing any fund-raising appeal for world missions or asking anyone to go to the Third World to do relief work. But the sermon was very motivational toward any of these. If you happen to be affluent or even wealthy, there is nothing wrong with owning some or much wealth. If you came by it honestly! Where we go wrong is when we move from owning money, assets or wealth, to allowing these to own us. Scripture condemns this vicious sin from cover to cover. Greed has been spawned countless murders, all fraud and other white-collar crimes, and has destroyed countless friendships and marriages. Worst of all, it drives us away from God. I call us to do something that is the opposite of greed. To consider committing a portion of your income to a suffering child in a Third World country. If you already sponsor a child, more power to you! These children, their families, and their communities, look to us in the developed world to help them. They are not asking much. They are asking for nothing more than $38 or so a month to save and help individual children. Doing this also benefits that child's family and community. You can put a smile on the face of a precious child you may never meet in this life.
What will you do?
All photos are courtesy of Compassion International.
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