If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:17-18)

“Poverty is often material scarcity piled on chronic pain piled on incarceration piled on depression piled on addiction – on and on it goes. Poverty isn’t a line. It’s a tight knot of social maladies. It is connected to every social problem we care about – crime, health, education, housing – and its persistence in American life means that millions of families are denied safety and security and dignity in one of the richest nations in the history of the world.” (Poverty by America 23)

As you may have heard, this year BFJN has chosen poverty as our focus area. Unlike last year where we focused on 2 issues – one at the start (housing justice) and one at the end of the year (climate change)– we decided in 2024 we would stay focused on the issue of poverty throughout the year.

Our staff has been gathering resources and investing in learning so that we can help guide the BFJN community around this issue. Our goal, as always, is to grow in understanding both from a practical and Biblical perspective and find ways to engage to make a difference. In 2024 we will seek to connect with and support organizations who are working with communities struggling with poverty, to learn about the systems and institutions that create and keep people in poverty here in the US and around the world and stand in solidarity with those experiencing poverty and those working to make a difference.

Obviously poverty can be defined in a number of ways. According to Webster poverty is:

the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions.

This definition, which highlights economic poverty in particular will be the primary way in which we examine and discuss the topic.

The UN Development project created this video asking people on the street to define poverty – some struggled and some gave some really insightful answers.

World Vision, a global relief and development organization, defines poverty as a state of deprivation in which people or communities lack access to resources and basic necessities needed to live a healthy and dignified life.

Using an official US government measure a family of four is considered to be living in poverty if they have an income of $26,500 or less. This is a federal measure and does not take into account the variable costs of living in different parts of the country. By this measure almost 40 million Americans are currently experiencing poverty including 9 million children.

Globally, the World Bank defines poverty as someone living on less than a dollar a day. According to this measure over 700 million people live in poverty.

As we seek to better understand the realities of poverty in the US and globally we will, by necessity be examining many of the injustices that are connected to or exacerbate the experience of poverty. Such as climate change, housing justice, racism, food insecurity, patriarchy and more. We will also challenge ourselves to consider how our own personal lifestyle choices might be contributing to these injustices and more broadly how we are called to change, advocate, ally and listen.

BFJN will provide an array of resources so that our community can learn, connect and grow in our understanding and engagement when it comes to poverty. Our website will have a page with resources, links and information on how to start and continue learning and engaging and we encourage you to start there. In addition, our Generous Living Foundationsseries is a great place to start considering and examining how you use and view money and be challenged to align more fully with the call on followers of Jesus to follow him with our money!

Our book club will be held online on Tuesdays in April. We will be reading Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger. I am so eager to examine this book in community and consider together the hard truths it shares about the realities of poverty and the Biblical call on Christ-followers to love our neighbors well. Stay tuned for info on how you can sign up and receive a copy of the book from us!

At the start of the book author Ron Sider offers this vision and challenge:

“In an age of affluence and poverty, most Christians . . . are tempted to succumb to the heresy of following society’s materialistic values rather than biblical truth  . . . We could refuse to let our affluent world squeeze us into its consumeristic mold. Instead, we could become generous non-conformists who love Jesus more than wealth. In obedience to our Lord, we could empower the poor through generous giving, community development, and better societal systems.” (25)