In Isaiah 58 we get a picture of what true fasting is about. It is about a revolutionary transformation that leads to increased social responsibility-- Unloosing chains of injustice, clothing the naked. As a liberal pentecostal I believe that I have responsibility to engage my community. Not to just witness good news, but to actually be good news to someone in need. This is in contrast to some Pentecostals I know who think everyone stands or falls on their own, who just need a good dose of "Jesus" to be okay. There are unjust systems and policies that exclude people (usually people of color, people who are poor, or who are undocumented). It is our systems, not the people in them which are the barriers to a full and abundant life. I am so tired of individuals being blamed for their plight. Do I think that individuals have responsibility (yes!!!), but I have gotten to know people who are poor or marginalized and I realized that they are good people who are trying hard, but the systems in which they are trapped keep them oppressed.
These are the very things we are to fight against. As it stands now I see many of my Pentecostal brothers and sisters criminalizing people who are poor as spiritual sluggards.
How have we let the gospel get usurped by American Values which are not biblical (e.g. rugged individualism, blaming the victim, social anemia)? I see a gospel which is deeply concerned for the poor, the downtrodden, and the marginalized. Often the very people in American society who are reviled by the church. Please God help us return to you and the "least of these" you refer to in Matthew 25.
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