In the New Testament, People often thought Jesus and His disciples were crazy. Bloody crosses and empty tombs and Jew/Gentile unity—all sounded insane to the surrounding world.
Not only that, but these Christians were always concerned not with the powerful and the influential but the orphans, with widows, serving the broken and feeding the hungry. Why did those Christians always hang out with the least “useful” people of their day—the ones who had no influence or wealth, those who could offer nothing in return? It all seemed so strange, so counterintuitive.
And that’s the point.
Grace always turns the world’s expectations upside down. After all, who would have thought that the ruler of the universe would be born in a manger to a peasant girl suspected of infidelity? Who would have thought that tax collectors and prostitutes and laborers would be the pillars upon which the church would be built?
The power of Grace is seen most clearly if it looks strange to the culture around it. The message of the Gospel explains why we look after those in need: precisely because we believe Jesus’ teaching that “the last shall be first” and the kind of grace he demonstrated in his life he called us to model as well.
Worldwide, depending on where you get your statistics, there are about 800 million really hungry people. Many of the most vulnerable—the children—die young, and people don’t have enough energy to be fully productive. In our country, one in six kids lives in a home that sometimes runs out of food.
It is important to know that the extent of hunger is declining. World Bank estimates that the number of extremely poor people worldwide is less than half what it was in 1990. In the United States, the number of people in poverty has, roughly, been cut in half since the 1960s. So we have made progress.
If you believe in the one who called himself the Bread of Life, this is something for which to give thanks. People are being set free in a very real sense, from a type of bondage. This great liberation from material misery is like the biblical exodus—an experience of our God working in the world.
For many Christians, the concept of hunger ministry brings to mind a governmental agency or a local food pantry. Yet the needs around the world are diverse, and the ministries required to meet these needs will also be.
There are lots of ways you can help to reduce hunger. You may not have to look far. You can help struggling people among your family and friends. You can give time and money to food banks or other community efforts. You can pray and keep yourself informed.
Jesus’ teachings were strange in the ears of many who heard him. Those who follow him can be equally “out of touch.” Still, if concerning ourselves with orphans, with widows, the vulnerable and needy is crazy, count me among the insane. If feeding the hungry is what the Bread of Life is doing, then I want in.